Employee Loyalty, Productivity, and Commitment in 30 Seconds

Employee loyalty in the workplace is no longer something that grows with long-term relationships and most employers do not care. This is because of the change in organizational business motives and the sole drive for profit.

• The difference between loyalty and commitment in the workplace
• Operating with a productive team that is engaged
• The Importance of Team Loyalty
• The Role of Productivity in a Team
• Employee Engagement and Commitment
• Employee loyalty, productivity, and commitment - Summary

The difference between loyalty and commitment in the workplace

There is quite a significant difference between the two and most organizations can function with a mix of employees from both traits but the high-performing organizations are the ones that have both in sync.

Ideally, you want loyal employees that are committed to organizational goals and their long-term growth. This will require positive communication channels between leadership and the employees in order to cultivate commitment into a dominant state.

Loyalty comes from employees who love their job and will always support the organization but only for as long as they benefit from what is on offer.

Commitment is something you get from an employee who not only loves the job but will do anything to be part of the growth and execution of long-term goals. They are the ones that will stick through thick and thin to make it work.

Operating with a productive team that is engaged

One way of ensuring that productivity always plays a key role in your organization is to have the right people supporting you.

It is one of the most difficult tasks you as a manager will come across in your working career and that is to convert loyalty to commitment.

Without the right support, it will be difficult to maintain control while trying to execute the simplest of tasks which is why loyalty alone won't cut it.

One way of ensuring effective teamwork is to have the three pillars of a well-engaged team in place. These are loyalty, productivity, and commitment.

The Importance of Team Loyalty

There are so many viewpoints regarding employee loyalty and what it means. 

The only truth is there are not many organizations today that are trying to cultivate employee loyalty. This is because of the change in organizational goals which does not require loyalty.

The need is not seen as a priority due to a job market that is flooded with potential applicants who will be willing to achieve these goals for their own gain.

Over the last thirty years or so there were a couple of changes in the way that employees view loyalty to their company. 

The invention of terms such as “downsizing”, ”retrenchment”, ”restructuring” and other similar business processes suddenly started posing a threat to employee job security.

Businesses also became more profit-driven (greedy) and unfortunately, loyalty and greed do not share the same roots. 

Most employees' perceptions of loyalty changed to wherever they can obtain and maintain the standard of living that they are striving for. 

Employers view loyalty as unconditional, no questions asked supply of labour and knowledge.

The Role of Productivity in a Team

Employee productivity is sometimes perceived as how hard a certain individual is working. 

The most productive person in an organization is the one that extracts the most value for the least effort. 

Unfortunately, most managers believe no visual signs of work-related movement mean no productivity.

Productivity is the motion that is created to run and maintain all of your work processes to the maximum value. 

Where there is a lack of productivity it is almost certain that processes will fail and leadership will suffer to maintain efficiencies.

Productivity is also the key to profitability and cost control. If your productivity is not in control your costs will spiral out of control and your team will find it difficult to remain committed to your long-term goals.

Employee Engagement and Commitment

Employee commitment comes when the employee bought into the company goals with heart and soul. 

Such employees will be more productive and less resistant to changes in the workplace for as long as there is a correlation between what is happening and the overall goals he is striving for.

By being committed like this the employee becomes engaged in the important process of striving to achieve long-term goals instead of being a flash performer who focuses only on daily tasks.

Employee loyalty, productivity, and commitment - Summary

In order for productivity to work for your business, you will need to have full employee commitment and loyalty as the basis of your support.

Commitment starts with a loyal employee which provides the opportunity for you to cultivate commitment through engagement and acknowledgement.