My wife Michele, recently sent me an article written by Oleg Vishnepolsky. He talked about loyalty between employees and their companies. I live in Summerville, South Carolina and we are experiencing a lot of growth in our area. Boeing has come in and made a big splash in the area, along with Daimler building Mercedes Benz vans. Volvo is coming on fast as they open a new plant in Ridgeville. Keeping quality employees is going to be tough. Mr. Vishnepolsky’s article really made me think about our own culture in my program. Am I creating the right culture where our employees want to stay and work with us even though thousands on new jobs are being created around us? A couple of ideas hit me that I think have helped to brand loyalty in our team.

1. Challenge employees to excel- Our program at BAE is ever changing. Our production schedule is tough as we meet our customer expectations. Motivating employees to meet production goals along with safety and quality is our top priority. We have implemented several programs that reward excellence while we push to increase efficiency. Our workforce has responded well to these challenges as our program continues to mature.

2. Ethical Conduct- Employees want to see their leadership doing the right thing. It is an old statement but you must “walk the walk”. Every company has an ethics program but the true grit of a company is whether ethical conduct is expected daily and shown through decision making.

3. Accountability- My career in the Army taught me that there is standard for everything we do. We taught a task, the conditions in which that that task would be accomplished, and stated the standard to which we must accomplish this task. It is hard to hold someone accountable for something if they don’t know what they are supposed to do. Going beyond a standard is how we create an atmosphere where employees want to stay with us. Employees want to be part of a winning team.

4. Team- I talk all the time about being a team. It has been said there is no “I” in team. That is true but there is a “M” and an “E”. There is a “me”. To be a full team everyone must do their part. Being a Cubs fan I think of Tinkers, Evers, and Chance. Each of them had to do their part to make up this great double play combination. “Me” means that I must do my part to make the team successful. Challenge employees to do their part for the team and they will respond.

5. Lastly, be there for your employees. Be a part of their world. The level of leadership doesn’t matter. Know their weaknesses, know their strengths, and just know them as a person. This means know them in a professional and personal way so that you can mentor them to excellence.

There is much more that keeps an employee loyal to a company than I have mentioned here. I would like to start a discussion on your thoughts of loyalty? Let’s go!