‘Our people are our greatest asset’ was one of the things I resented hearing at work.
It’s not that I disagree with this comment; rather, it’s that I have barely ever encountered a department head or boss who truly meant what they said, and then lived it.
But the truth is our people are our greatest asset. They are the biggest differentiator between us and our competition. And the better we treat our teams and the more engaged we can make them, then more successful we will be.
The trick is figuring out how to do that?
In his book, Fiercely Loyal, Dov Baron gives us a clear plan on exactly how to, not only create an engaged team, but how to create a fiercely loyal team. One which will help your company stay ahead of the competition.
In too many companies, they look to motivate their top performers with money, giving them bigger pay rises, in order to make them stay. But when you look at the top reasons why people leave companies, it’s rarely because of money, and it’s not the top reason why people stay at companies either.
I want to share some of the top points in the book which really resonated with me, and these are:
- Connection and Involvement
- The Principle of Reciprocity
- Autonomy
- Purpose
When we become connected and involved with our teams it shows we care, and caring is a major contributor in driving loyalty. I actually think it’s the most important area that we can work on. Leaders caring about their teams is not often covered in leadership training, but from my own experience the benefit of being a caring leader are significant.
The Principle of Reciprocity states that, if we want people to show us loyalty, then we need to show them loyalty too. This is so simple but often over looked, as leaders we need to model the behaviours that we want to see, so by being loyal ourselves will build loyalty within our teams.
Nobody likes to be micromanaged, and the less direct management we do the happier our teams will be. We should look to set goals and then give out teams the autonomy of how they will achieve them. When we let our teams be self-directed it has an immediate impact on moral and motivation.
Purpose is a much bigger motivator than money ever will be. We all want to believe that we have achieved something worthwhile, that has a bigger meaning, and if we can give our teams that then they will work hard and go the extra mile for us. Purpose is what gets us out of bed every day to go to work, it’s not about the money.
Jut following these four quick tips will have a significant impact on our teams loyalty, and more importantly on our results!
If you want to know more about building strong engaged teams that will hep you achieve your full potential then I suggest that you read Fiercely Loyal as it is packed with great insights, great information and the best advice on how to achieve it.
For more information check out this link.
If you want to learn more about creating highly engaged teams or being a better leader click the link to view our course.
