Five Reasons You Must Measure Employee Loyalty During a Recession

Email Article |  Facebook |  Twitter |  LinkedIn 

With unemployment in the U.S. workforce rising more rapidly than it has in a quarter century, why am I discussing employee loyalty and retention?

First, it's a recession, not a depression.  Despite the negative headlines, organizations are still functioning.  Despite great uncertainty about the future, organizations still count on their employees to help them adapt, change and grow.  Those organizations that protect their invesment in people will come out of this stronger.

So here are five reasons that you must measure and improve employee loyalty during a recession:

1. To maintain customer loyalty.  If you don't take care of your employees, they won't take care of your customers.  Loyal employees have a positive impact on customer loyalty and retention:  where 92% of loyal employees do tasks for customers "above and beyond the call of duty", only 54% of trapped and high risk employees do so, according to Walker.  Where 89% of loyal employees help coworkers who have heavy workloads, only 60% of trapped or high-risk employees do.  In a recession, of course, it is more important than ever to keep existing customers loyal, because the cost of acquiring new customers is so high.
2. To keep your top talent. Because we are faced with tough decisions, we must keep our top players to help us reach the right decisions.  Unfortunately, 47% of top-performing employees are actively looking for jobs, while only 18% of low performers are (Source: Leadership IQ).  Having owned my own company for many years, I can tell you it is a bitter irony when the good employees leave and the bad employees stay.
3. To focus on the right things. Organizations must be efficient in times like these; avoid trying to boil the ocean. Don't ask questions about issues that can't be addressed. Too often the focus is given to attributes where the organization is rating the lowest, rather than focusing on the attributes with the highest impact on employee perceptions and behavior.
4. To maintain morale and productivity.  The economy has us all a bit twitchy and insecure.  Your employees are nervous - a loyalty survey opens up the dialogue and gives you a chance to listen and respond.  A recent Walker study of human-resource professionals found that three-quarters of those surveyed had seen a noticeable decline in employee morale in the past several months.
5. To emerge from the recession stronger. You want your organization to exit this downturn with an uptick in performance.  When the economy improves, you want to have a stronger, more loyal staff, giving you a competitive edge over your competitors as you look to hire and grow:  92% of loyal employees will recommend your organization as a good place to work, compared to only 39% of trapped or high-risk employees.

So what are you waiting for?  Conduct an employee loyalty study today, or start an online community to gather insights from your employees.

[This post was inspired by a presentation given by Chris Woolard of our partner, Walker Information.]