Loyalty. It’s a deep word, or at least it can stir deep feelings. It often inspires images of someone you can count upon, or perhaps someone who counts upon you.
How about Loyalty in the workplace?
Most of us think of loyalty as a good quality. We often want to be considered loyal. We want our co-workers to feel we are loyal. We want our supervisors and our company to feel we are loyal. Loyalty is important to good relationships both in life and in work, but it isn’t always a two-way street. And that can sometimes, though not always, lead to blind loyalty.
What’s blind loyalty?
It’s being loyal to someone or something that can’t or won’t return it. It is being loyal even when loyalty is not deserved. It is being loyal even when the target of loyalty fails to earn the honor. Perhaps your committed loyalty is to a person or entity who has become involved in something from which you should have divorced yourself. Possibly we are being loyal to a company which has forgotten how to care for its employees or has become involved in unethical issues. Blind loyalty can even apply to ideals, philosophies, and causes which fail to deliver on their intended purpose. Staying loyal under those conditions would be examples of blind loyalty.
Blind loyalty could also be found in not recognizing the boundaries of loyalty. A company or business has one true goal which supersedes all others — to stay in business. Loyalty is an admirable quality in employees and companies sometimes show loyalty as well. But we have to be realistic, a company has to do what is best for the company. When it all comes down to it, it doesn’t matter how loyal you’ve been to the employer — they have no obligation to remain loyal to you. Their true, core, base obligations are to success — of business, of stockholders, of customer satisfaction, and perhaps even to their employees as unit, but not to you as the individual. If you’re a Trekkie, you might have heard this line that kind of sums it up: “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few… or the one.”
No, I’m not going to trash my former employer or your employer for a lack of loyalty. Loyalty is a lofty ideal. It is a great personal goal, but business is business. As addressed in the previous paragraph, a business can be loyal to its employees as a whole, without being loyal to you as an individual. A company might even be considered loyal to an individual up to the point where that individual (or that individual’s position) is no longer of importance to the overall operation or success. It’s business. That’s why I can’t be all that upset about getting the axe. I knew. I knew my company made decisions which were in the best interest of my company. I’d seen those decisions take place throughout my career. I saw it affect others.
You might be a good fit for your company today. Your position might be secure for the moment. But what works for a company making $1 million, may not be ideal for a company making $10 million or $10 billion. All companies re-evaluate their position as they grow and develop. You have to recognize that.
In my case, stability was a major factor in my long term employment. I wanted to work for a company I knew would be around for a while. So, I stayed. I had other opportunities through the years, but none of them seemed as stable. I felt the risk wasn’t worth it, and I gave thirty loyal, dedicated years to a corporation. Honestly, that corporation provided well for my family during my tenure. I had little concern. I watched other companies like Enron, Sears/Kmart, Woolworth, Kodak, Blockbuster, and Borders either collapse or struggle to the point they had massive layoffs and became minuscule compared to the entities they once were.
One thing that made the company I worked for different is that it wasn’t afraid to change. Change keeps a company fresh and alive, but change often brings about change in business strategy, management structure, or locations. Each of those things impact employees.
So what’s my point?
Be loyal. Work hard. Show integrity. But don’t forget to look out for yourself. You may work for a stellar company, but that doesn’t mean there will always be a place for you. You are in charge of your future, your career, your decisions, and your family. Don’t be so loyal that you forget that. If opportunity knocks on your door, weigh the risks and consider what is best for you.
I’m not suggesting you jump from job to job. There’s something to be said for long-term employment. Just remember that when the time comes, your company is going to make the decisions necessary to stay alive, survive, and continue growth. It’s just what businesses do. Hey, if it was your business — if you were in charge and responsible for its future — you’d do the same thing. You would have no choice if you wanted to keep your job or your company. After all, a company that doesn’t make the right decisions will cease to exist, and then instead of losing a few employees they will be tossing hundreds, thousands, or millions of people into the unemployment lines. The needs of the many would be lost to the needs of the few.
