Employee loyalty gone down the toilet: What’s the scoop?

Yesterday I came across an article from ABC News titled “Economic Recovery:Employee Loyalty at Low; Many May Look For New Jobs.” I was intrigued by the statistics in this article taken from a recent survey by MetLife that said one-third (36%) of employees survey said they would jump ship if given the chance or if something came better came along. Here is the article http://abcn.ws/ibCxaD.

What did I do with this new-found statistical information? I posted it on my Facebook wall. To my surprise I immediately started gaining a deluge of comments from both former corporate employees and employers as well. Here are a few of the comments:

• Employee loyalty has decreased as a direct response and corollary to the decrease in employer loyalty. Employers no longer honor, respect or encourage their employees

• I don’t agree that employers no longer honor, respect or encourage their employees. That lumps everyone in a category. Being an employer myself, I know that’s far from true for me and my employees

• I am learning it is part our responsibly to learn how to hire better. The better we can screen and hire the right person(ality) the more apt we are to end up with a team member, not just an employee.

What I found to be of interest in this particular article and data was that a lot of employers were clueless and felt a strong sense of loyalty from their employees.The article states “Employers can be unaware of their employee needs, which can lead to high turnover. This can especially be the case when employees see other companies hiring.”

The article went on to say that benefits are very important to employees and that 59% of those surveyed stated non-medical benefits such as dental and short and long-term disability insurance were factors driving employee loyalty. One conclusion made was that the reason 1 in 3 employees is dissatisfied is because they feel undervalued, experience a loss of trust in management, come across a better opportunity or realize that the job is not aligned with their true passions or purpose.

I think I opened a can of worms when re-posting this article but I love hearing all sides to these kinds of issues. In reality, either what we have experienced ourselves, what we have seen happen in the lives of family or friends, are all factors which form our thoughts, opinions and beliefs.

Shouldn’t we be allowed to voice them?

What are your thoughts concerning this particular issue? We’d love to hear them.