May 12, 1999

Planting the seeds of team loyalty

Team loyalty does not bloom from a single seed. It is more like a spectacular garden composed of a variety of plants. This article covers some important ways to cultivate team loyalty in your company, and give you some ideas about what to weed out.

1. Sharing news. Withholding information that will impact employees promotes an "us-and-them" culture. People want to know what is going on, how their company is doing, and what is coming up. This enables people to develop a stronger sense of their place and role in their organization. If the news is good, this provides positive reinforcement of loyalty. If the news is not good, informing or even asking for assistance often rapidly builds loyalty. But if employees sense that there is a hint of insincerity, the results will be negative.

2. Transmitting information. Team spirit is suppressed when people receive information that is late or insufficient, or when information overload buries the key message. Ambiguous messages -- perhaps clear in the writer's mind, but with the intent poorly transmitted, as well as distortion resulting from the omission of important information are other inhibitors.

3. Participation in setting expectations. Do not impose goals on employees. It is not enough to say: "We budgeted 16 hours for this task. I am relying on you to help meet this goal. Keep me informed on your progress, thanks." Far better, and highly motivational, is to get people involved in planning their work and giving them the responsibility to reliably complete it on time.

4. Participation in improvements. Engage staff when looking for improvements, especially with regard to their own work area and processes. Also remember that if they understand the big picture they will more likely participate willingly in fine-tuning their procedures. When they make suggestions, acknowledge them and take them seriously.

5. Team problem solving. My experience with team problem solving has shown me that while teamwork can be satisfactory, in our culture of striving for individual excellence, teams do best when they pool the talent of the non-exceptional. Stars often tire of teams. However, prima donnas may need to be on a team to (a) lift the general level of competence; (b) share talent; (c) keep the prima donnas in check. Keeping teams in place without a direction or having a team that has outlived its purpose is like treasuring the grass cut from your lawn.

6. Attitude. Professional gripers poison the loyalty garden. Every employee should have some customer service skills. Even if they have no client contact, they still have to interact with work peers and positive attitudes foster good feelings. Those who are reluctant to grow along with their colleagues should be given extra care. If they still fail to bloom, root them out before the garden is infected.

7. Care about employees. Employers who demonstrate an understanding and caring for the personal and family lives of their staff have a far greater chance of developing a loyal group. Managers who are personally inaccessible and standoffish will find it hard to get much response when the chips are down. I suggest that managers make a point of regularly engaging front line staff in one-on-one conversation.

8. Career development. Many employees like to have advancement opportunities. The company that provides training and continuing education will also foster advancement from within. This goes beyond showing care -- it demonstrates it!

9. Fair compensation. Having enough oxygen to breathe does not motivate me. I do not even think about it. However, not enough oxygen to breathe motivates me strongly. In the same way, staff expect a fair salary and benefits. Compensation is not a motivator. The perception of unfairness, however, is a strong negative motivator. Provide extra incentive for those who not only exceed their goals, but who can creatively extend the scope of their goals. However, these efforts should be approved before they are implemented to avoid chaos.

10. Meaningful praise. Be very careful about what you praise and what you reward. If employees notice negative behavior by others being tolerated or even rewarded they may feel discouraged, fall into bad habits themselves or leave the company. In my view, negative behavior that is merely tolerated, is the equivalent to praise because the perpetrator is being rewarded by keeping his or her job without consequences. Make a conscious effort to frequently praise and reward positive behavior and results. And do it face-to-face. Managers who "do not have the time" are really managers of tasks and not managers of people, and their loyalty gardens will not bloom for long.

Previous columns:

• How to fill a leadership vacuum, 03-10-1999
• Communication pitfalls: reviewing the basics, 01-13-1999
• 1999: a prelude to change in 2000?, 12-09-1998
• Winners create their own luck, 11-11-1998
• High performance organizations, 08-12-1998
• Accountability, or the power of positive ownership, 07-08-1998
• Coaching tips for managers, 05-13-1998
• Client relations: Begin at the beginning, 03-11-1998