Now is the Time to Build Employee Loyalty

When the business environment is challenging and revenues are coming up short, as they are for many companies today, there is a natural tendency to focus on reducing expenses. Too often, however, those reductions come at the very real cost of employee (and customer) satisfaction and loyalty.

It may seem counterintuitive, but it's at times like these that an intensified focus on building the loyalty of employees and customers is most critical. Demonstrating to employees that you care about them when business is slow enables you to hold onto them when a stronger economy and job market might tempt them away from you.

The first step in building employee loyalty is understanding what they think and how they feel about their work experience. Many senior executives are comfortable that they know this information from their own observations and from what they hear through the grapevine. They're often wrong, because the only way to get that information in a meaningful and reliable way is to ask the employees themselves, using an appropriate survey methodology.

For most companies, the cost of a well-designed and well-implemented survey process is less than that of replacing one mid-level employee. Developing, administering, and acting upon the results of a survey that reflects your culture, values, and priorities, and that enables you to hone in on and address problem areas, not only gives you information to strengthen your organization, but also sends a message to employees that you value them.

Much of the above applies to surveying your customers as well. At a time when they may be reducing their business, or are more vulnerable to raiding by competitors, your remaining in touch and demonstrating your care for them may well make the difference between keeping and losing them.

— Elliott Brown
Strategic Business Partner of Merit Resource Group

Let Merit Resource Group show you how we can help you acquire and effectively utilize the data you need to build the loyalty of your employees — and customers. Send us email at surveys@merithr.com or make a comment here. We look forward to hearing from you.