The Loyalty Fallacy

The next time you feel like doing a "loyalty check" on your staff, don't. Here are my thoughts on why loyalty has no place in the work place.



Whether openly or implied, many employers and corporate leaders tend to expect loyalty from their teams. They expect their employees to give their best in their respective jobs (and perhaps occasionally go the extra mile if necessary), protect sensitive information like trade secrets and competitor data--generally to uphold the company's best interests--out of loyalty to the proverbial hand that feeds them.

But here's a shout-out to such employers and corporate leaders: WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE!

Before you ask for loyalty from your staff, ask yourself this question: if a certain employee were no longer productive for whatever reason, would you continue to keep him in your employ? If you cannot answer this question with a definite "yes", then you are in no position to expect loyalty from them. Because that's what loyalty is--the act of giving one's unconditional allegiance to someone, whether or not there is any benefit to the giver. Loyalty is a mother remaining by her child's side come hell or high water. Loyalty is a soldier laying down his life for a country that may or may not remember his name after the fact. Loyalty is a Christian remaining faithful to God in the face of prosecution and certain death.

What employers often mistake for loyalty is, in fact, honesty. It is perfectly just for an employer to expect his or her staff to put out their best work, because that's what they are paid to do. There is nothing wrong with expecting your staff to protect the company's best interests, because it will enable the company to continue paying its employees' salaries. It is alright to ask your employees to be honest--to give what is commensurate to what they are taking, no more and no less.

The bottom line is that an employer-employee relationship is a business partnership. Like it or not, it's all about mutual benefit. Consequently, when the benefit is no longer mutual, then it's time to end the partnership. Neither party needs to feel bad about it; it's just business. It's never about loyalty.