Loyalty - what is it in simple words

“You need to be more restrained, learn to be loyal to this”, “You are too loyal to this” - in such forms we most often come across the concept of “loyalty”. Most people subconsciously understand what it is, but cannot accurately formulate a definition. Just as they cannot understand what is required of them. Let’s dot all the i’s on the topic of loyalty: what it means, what “loyal” is, how loyalty develops and where it manifests itself.

Definition

Loyalty (from the French “loyal” - fidelity)

– devotion to something (source of value); adherence to the law, which gives a person full legal rights due to his law-abiding nature. This concept, in addition to its content component, has a quantitative indicator and emotional, rational and behavioral components. Loyalty shows the degree of probability of a subject switching to another source of value. This is a socio-psychological category that reflects a stable, persistent over a long time, acquired predisposition to a certain reaction to specific things or phenomena.

Synonyms for loyalty are: devotion, trustworthiness, benevolence, good intentions, loyalty. The first documentary mention of the term dates back to the 15th-16th centuries. In Britain, the concept of loyalty was first used to mean “fidelity in service, in love, or in a given oath.” In the context of various scientific fields, there are a number of private definitions: brand loyalty, customer loyalty, company loyalty.

Signs of loyalty

Many marketers interpret loyalty based on their own ideas about this concept, which are very often far from not only the definitions in science, but also from an understanding of practical benefits. Let us highlight the main signs of consumer loyalty to the products of a certain manufacturer:

Emotional consumer commitment to a product brand: from a positive attitude to conscious involvement in the values that the purchase of this product brings.
Awareness and understanding of functional (convenience) and non-functional (fashion, status) benefits from using a product.
Reduced sensitivity to competitors’ pricing policies/tolerance to manufacturer’s erroneous actions.
Positive experience of using the product.
The fact of making subsequent purchases of goods of the same brand or a conscious desire to make them.

Loyalty is

Loyalty is a commitment to something that involves tolerating problems and rejecting alternatives.

Why is loyalty important? The fact is that the absence of negative reviews from consumers does not mean that these are motivated regular customers who will become a source of word of mouth, support in difficult times and will be a guarantor of stability.

For example, if you were the only one providing some service, and then dozens of competitors appeared, then the lack of loyalty can lead to customers quickly fleeing. And there can be a lot of reasons for this. Closer to “stomp.” Lower prices. Better service. Beautiful sign. And so on.

It is also important to understand that resolving conflicts with a loyal client is a completely different level. Firstly, less effort and time is spent. Secondly, the client is interested in solving the problem, rather than demanding it. Thirdly, compromises are possible, not concessions (they are perceived differently: the first is “general”, and the second is “I will remember”). And so on.

Types of employee loyalty

Behavioral – matures over a long period of time working in the same company. It manifests itself in the employee’s identification with the company.
Affective - occurs when work brings pleasure, when a person experiences positive emotions during its implementation, on the basis of which a stable emotional connection is formed. Employees are loyal to their employer and do not leave their place of work because they are supporters of the company's goals and principles.
Normative – based on a sense of duty to occupy a certain position as a result of pressure from the outside. Reasons: reluctance to disappoint or not live up to the employer’s expectations; employee concerns related to the formation of a negative opinion of colleagues about him.

The affective loyalty of employees is the most valuable for a company leader. Only this type is manifested in the direct interest of staff in performing their job functions.

Loyalty is: in simple words about the complex

So, what is human loyalty? Loyalty in psychology is a character trait inherent in a particular individual. It is identified with devotion. There is no need to expect a trick or inappropriate action from a loyal person.

Loyalty is tolerance of circumstances.

In a general sense, loyalty to an employer also implies fidelity. In this regard, the employee's commitment to achieving company goals is taken into account. A loyal employee is ready to put up with the employer’s demands even in situations where the company is going through a crisis.

Staff loyalty is very important for the company.

After all, what does loyalty mean? Such employees:

do not quit when the company experiences temporary difficulties;
embrace organizational change;
are afraid of losing their job in the company;
perform their duties responsibly;
make efforts to improve the company's performance by approaching problem solving creatively.

A loyal employee is ready to work and develop for the benefit of the employer company. He always acts in accordance with his job description and does not go against the goals of the company.

What does employee loyalty mean?

When an enterprise is in a state of crisis and overcomes temporary difficulties, they do not quit, but help to survive these difficulties and look for a way out of the crisis together with the employer;
Accept organizational change: in culture, structure or resource base;
They hold on to their job and are afraid of losing it;
Make decisions independently within their competence and bear responsibility for them;
They try to contribute to improving the company’s performance, offering a creative approach to solving the company’s problems and tasks;
Are ready to work and develop professionally for the benefit of the enterprise;
Perform their duties in accordance with the job description, personal goals coincide with the goals of the company;
They strive to improve their efficiency and embody the company's potential.

Methods to increase employee loyalty:

Material and moral motivation and incentives (increased wages, payment of bonuses, praise, introduction of benefits, honor roll, etc.);
Involvement in joint decision-making;
Organizing collective activities through incentives, conducting trainings, seminars, internal corporate conferences, reducing hierarchies, etc.;
Individual approach to each employee;
Carrying out informal corporate events (general lunches, holidays, off-site events);
The employer's interest in the continuous improvement of personnel qualifications and self-development by financing courses for professional training and retraining of enterprise employees;
Identification of personnel as the main value of the company, cultivating in employees the feeling that they are part of a single team, that they are irreplaceable and very valuable;
Maintaining client awareness of corporate activities at a high level.

There are the following methods for assessing staff loyalty:

Analysis of statistical reporting of staff turnover;
Conducting interviews with employees;
Monitoring the actions and behavior of employees;
Periodic use of surveys.

The Thurstone scale questionnaire is one of the most effective questionnaires.

How to determine and evaluate employee loyalty

Recently, we have often heard from managers and HR specialists of various companies: staff loyalty, company loyalty, return loyalty, evaluate loyalty, etc. Everyone puts their own meaning into this concept.

What is the exact definition of the word loyalty?

Loyalty from English. the word "loyal" means:

loyalty to current laws, regulations of government bodies (sometimes only formal, external);
correct, favorable attitude towards someone or something.

Usually, each of us, on an intuitive level, without much difficulty distinguishes a person’s loyal behavior from disloyal one. But in the case of employees, it doesn’t hurt to be on the safe side.

Loyalty or trustworthiness?

I would immediately like to differentiate the concepts of “loyalty” and “reliability”.

By reliability we mean adherence to the norms, rules, and laws of the organization. Loyalty is the employee’s fidelity and dedication to the goals and values of the company, carrying out activities that support and help realize these goals.

That is, an employee’s trustworthiness indicates the degree of normativity of his behavior in relation to the company, and loyalty indicates the degree of acceptance of the company by the employee and tolerance towards it.

Loyalty involves the desire to perform at your best, the desire to live up to the company's principles, to unconditionally contribute to the achievement of its goals, humility to some requirements and the ability to accept others - those that were not previously part of the company's understanding.

You will feel the importance of loyalty more clearly if you imagine what loyalty, that is, fidelity, means in a situation of human relationships, for example, with a person close to you. Loyalty to a loved one means reliability, confidence that no matter what happens, you will still be in the same “bundle.”

So loyalty is...

Loyalty is characterized by the following important points:

unconditional sharing of values with the object of loyalty;
honesty and loyalty to the object of loyalty;
a sense of pride towards the object of loyalty and open demonstration of such attitude;
readiness to provide support, warn about something, assist, sacrifice something for the sake of the object of loyalty.

Loyal employees use all their strengths, capabilities and knowledge in order to achieve maximum results within the company's activities.

If you have loyal employees, you can count on the manifestation of initiative, on innovative proposals, with the help of which problematic issues become solvable. Security of secret information, tolerance for costs and difficulties in organizational activities, adherence to discipline, readiness for training and development - all this for loyal employees is not a consequence of fears of losing their job, money, or punishment, but a consequence of loyalty to the company and a sense of unity.

Determining the level of loyalty of an employee, establishing what exactly can motivate him and contribute to the formation of a loyal attitude towards the company is much easier than predicting exactly what a disloyal employee will do.

How can employee disloyalty be expressed?

It could be rebellion —outright disobedience. Usually ends with the dismissal of the rebel and a loud scandal. As a rule, it becomes the cause of a chain reaction (the dismissal of another group of employees).

Another option is hidden disobedience - sabotage . This form of protest is expressed in the form of blocking, obstructing the functioning of the system in general, or the action of a specific order in particular. It is clear that the harm from this form of behavior is colossal. And perhaps it is even greater than with open disobedience. After all, a rebellion, an obvious protest, is a phenomenon, albeit destructive, but one-time and understandable. But a saboteur can act for a very long time and it will be very difficult for management to understand what is really happening. Saboteurs are great at finding excuses and difficulties.

There is even a type of strike, Italian, when workers strictly follow their job descriptions, do not deviate one step from them, and do not do anything outside the scope of their duties. Moreover, this type of strike, even though the employer is aware of the time and place of its holding, is considered the most ruinous. It would be better if they just didn’t work!

Such demonstrations, by the way, are partly reminiscent of the third form of disloyal behavior. This is indifference . An indifferent person is characterized by very low labor productivity . At the slightest weakening of control, such a person tends to completely stop performing his immediate duties. In favor of, for example, a smoke break with programmers from a neighboring department, drinking (endless) tea with co-workers, or simply “walking” on various social sites on the Internet.

At the same time , saboteurs indifferent , even if they themselves are not looking for another job, will leave the company at the first opportunity. You just have to come across a slightly better offer. Moreover, for such people, not only the proposed amount of payment is important, but also how much less work they will have to do in the new place.

So, we have established that employee loyalty allows you to avoid at least two misfortunes: employee protest (in any form) and staff turnover. And, as a result, achieve greater efficiency in their work.

Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to directly measure loyalty. You have to use either sociological methods (for example, an anonymous survey or a survey conducted by a professional psychologist), or determine it by indirect signs. A parameter that can be measured using a sociological survey or questionnaire is the “degree of disagreement” or “frequency of disagreement” with management decisions or corporate norms.

If there is no opportunity to conduct such research, then loyalty can be assessed by such an indirect indicator as “staff turnover.” An increase in staff turnover (under the same economic operating conditions) signals a decrease in loyalty. A decrease in turnover, accordingly, means its growth.

Staff loyalty levels

The more expressed the level of loyalty, the more reliable the employee is. We can talk about several levels of loyalty that you can easily identify among employees. Each subsequent level provides a higher degree of commitment to the company.

The first level of loyalty lies in external attributes that indicate belonging to the company. This is a formal, material level that speaks only about the expected behavior of a person who owns or uses one or another company attribute. There is no talk of any loyalty here yet. Accordingly, for the initial stage of loyalty formation, the presence of external characteristic differences is simply necessary. Branded clothing, badges, corporate goods with a brand name (pens, calendars, ashtrays, booklets, diaries) - all this creates a feeling of belonging to a certain community, a sense of involvement on an external level.

Loyalty at the level of behavior implies the fulfillment of certain norms and rules governing such actions of employees, such as, for example, the obligatory discussion of the organizational events of the past day during morning tea or collective congratulations to the head of the department on the presentation of a valuable gift. All this is directly related to the corporate culture of the company and the acceptance by employees of its principles. Therefore, it is very important to ensure a favorable psychological climate in the organization, to promote the formation of organizational traditions, informal rules, to support this in every possible way and to encourage employees to display such behavior.

Loyalty at the ability level implies a stronger commitment to the company than at previous levels. Let's start with the fact that the degree to which a particular specialist's abilities meet the company's requirements should be determined when hiring, that is, by you. Therefore, loyalty largely depends on how competently you approached the selection of personnel. Loyalty at the ability level implies that a person has skills and abilities that meet the goals and requirements of the organization, adheres to certain principles, and therefore can reproduce the expected and required behavior.

To ensure this level of staff loyalty, first of all, you need to pay attention to the professional and personal qualities of candidates when hiring and current employees, which are decisive for your organization.

An employee who is loyal at the ability level is valuable to the organization. He is always well versed in the changes taking place, is proactive, as he has the necessary knowledge and is interested in achieving the company's goals. You can expect effective innovative proposals from him; his gaze is always aimed at the prospect of the company's achievements. This is exactly the kind of employee you need, isn't it?

The highest levels of loyalty are loyalty at the level of beliefs and loyalty at the level of identity.

Belief loyalty implies full acceptance of the organization's beliefs and principles. The values of the organization become the personal values of the employee, therefore the stability of these positions is the highest. Formal obedience and adherence to rules here is replaced by open commitment. This level of loyalty is possessed by managers, employees occupying senior and key positions in the organization, employees who are satisfied with their work, pay, conditions, and also who have extensive experience in this place. However, if a company changes its previous ideals, it may lose such valuable employees. Reorientation of employees will not happen quickly and easily if these ideals-beliefs determine their way of life. Now everything will depend on how patient the management is, how loyal it is to its employees and how ready and willing the employees themselves are to change.

Loyalty at the identity level is demonstrated to the highest degree by the company owner himself. He invests all his strength, savings and time in achieving excellence and development of the company. Moreover, if he was at the very beginning and took the first steps in establishing his business mainly on his own. This loyalty to the company is no longer just unconditional - it is taken for granted.

Factors contributing to employee loyalty

Let's try to determine what factors contribute to employee loyalty to the organization.

First of all, this is past experience. The model of relationships at the previous place of work, the degree of trust in the company is the main point that should be focused on when interviewing a candidate. If at his previous place of work he quite clearly experienced a sense of trust and belonging to the company, then the manifestation of such an attitude in the new organization is more likely (of course, under favorable conditions). If the level of loyalty was low, then in order to form loyalty in this employee to the company, much more effort will have to be made.

Therefore, during the interview, it is advisable to ask the candidate the following questions:

“What kind of relationships did you have with your colleagues and management at your previous place of work?”
“What satisfied you, and what were you not satisfied enough with, that is, what did you want to change?”
“What should the relationship between colleagues be like, in your opinion? Employees and manager? Employees and organization?

Directly related to past experience is a factor such as a system of personal values. Beliefs formed over time, in specific life situations, now determine a person’s attitudes and the nature of his relationships. In other words, if a person is firmly convinced that professionalism and diligence do not determine the success of achievements, and in professional growth, the main importance is personal connections and the ability to be in the right place at the right time, then you can hardly expect behavior from him that confirms the opposite.

Aspects of value orientations that are indicative for us can also be identified in an interview, having received the candidate’s answers to the following questions:

“What would you never allow in a relationship inside
“The basic principles that guide you in life?” and etc.

Providing attention to an employee on the part of the company is an important factor for the formation of employee loyalty. The feeling of importance for the company contributes not only to a favorable attitude towards it, but also to the desire to “repay” it with trust. The role of the human factor cannot be overestimated - we work with people who, in addition to performing their duties, are also included in the system of relationships. An employee will never be initially loyal to the organization he just joined. He becomes loyal if the company demonstrates that it is worth it, if it creates all the conditions for such a relationship and it deserves this trust.

Moreover, it should be remembered that for each person different moments and factors will be significant for the development of a trusting attitude towards the organization. For one, it will be important that the management always personally congratulated him on his birthday, for another - drawing up a work schedule taking into account his wishes or always receiving wages on time and regular material incentives, for a third - the leader’s closeness “to the people”, his charm and the ability to always cheer up with a compliment or energetic parting words. With such treatment, the employee himself will strive to justify it. There should be a mutual exchange of affection and acceptance of each other.

The employee must be as cooperative as the company, in which the company must take care of him. If the organization is dominated by a steely atmosphere of strict rules with disregard for everything that does not relate to work, and the desire to achieve the goal at any cost, even at the cost of the employee himself, it is unlikely that the employer will be able to count on the dedication of his team and the readiness to throw himself “into the fire and into the fire.” water." And loyalty to the company means just that.

The next condition for the emergence of trust in the company is the necessary feeling of pride on the part of the employee in connection with belonging to this particular organization. A feeling of pride in a company’s achievements and its prospects is always accompanied by a desire to belong to this particular company and not to another.

Now think about what your employees can be proud of? Not you personally, but your employees? Most likely, you will remember more than one advantage that, in your opinion, you can be proud of. But do others know about this? If not, then you can work on it. In addition, it is never too late to create something new - something that will make your company fundamentally different from others, “stand out” from a number of similar ones.

Researchers have found that there is a direct relationship between job satisfaction, pay, working conditions and loyalty to the company. In addition, satisfaction with each component of the “company-employee” system (management, team, nature of relationships, organization of work and its intensity, professional growth and others) is a key condition for the emergence of loyalty.

Staff loyalty is an issue of interest to many; they try to check it with anonymous surveys and tests, but all this requires your time and the time of the staff. Do not rush to give managers the task of urgently measuring staff loyalty. Just look around carefully, assess the situation and it will become clear to you whether your staff is loyal.

Here are several main indicators (signals) of loyalty:

the employee’s interest in the company, or more precisely in its activities;
dedication to your business, your work;
the desire to improve the professional level of both yourself and your subordinate;
a creative approach to proposals coming from management;
manifestation of desires to improve the company, initiative;
the company’s goals and the employee’s goals coincide;
awareness that the growth of a company is its prosperity, this is the growth and prosperity of everyone

Remember the world-famous words: “Personnel decides everything!” Today, every self-respecting top manager knows that it is the loyalty of employees that will help the company not only survive in the face of various crises and ongoing competition, but will provide the opportunity to have a huge competitive advantage.

The issue of staff loyalty is quite relevant at the moment, and it is impossible not to be happy about it. It should be noted that resolving this issue will require sufficient time and patience. Loyalty, like a living organism, lives its own life, i.e. stages. Unfortunately, the attenuation stage also takes place here. Don't think that once you regain an employee's loyalty, you can keep it forever.

But, always remember - employee loyalty is your company’s trump card!

Tatyana Liberova, Head of Consulting Department at LiCO

What does customer loyalty mean?

Understanding the nature of customer loyalty is the basis for building long-term and mutually beneficial relationships with customers. High quality of products offered and level of service are two important factors in creating customer loyalty, but they are not enough to create a stable emotional predisposition. Other equally important factors influencing the perception of goods and services are:

The degree of satisfaction of needs from the purchase of a particular product;
The perceived advantages of the company's product compared to competitors' products;
Image, reputation and brand image of the company;
The number of positive reviews and recommendations from relatives, friends and acquaintances.

The components of customer loyalty are rational and emotional loyalty.

Rational is based on an analytical understanding of the value of a product, what benefits it brings and to what extent it satisfies the need associated with its acquisition.

Emotional is a kind of positive energy that comes from the company, it is a flow of positive emotions and impressions. Examples of successful companies that were able to create emotional customer loyalty to their products are: Apple, IKEA, LC Waikiki, etc. Not every company is able to create and maintain a wow effect around its brand, but everyone should strive for this.

To increase the number of loyal customers, each company must find answers to the following questions:

How can we surprise our clients?
What is the value of our products for consumers?
How can we create a positive reaction in customers when purchasing our brand?
How can we improve the customer's opinion about products?

In simple terms, customer loyalty is a positive attitude towards a company and the products it sells, manifested in a willingness to make regular purchases and recommend the brand’s products to family and friends.

Types of loyalty: emotional and functional

Emotional loyalty

The main essence of emotional loyalty is that the client chooses a product based on affection, rather than technical aspects. So, for example, the price has become higher - “we will support”, the quality has temporarily decreased or the competitors have better - “we will support”, an unsuccessful version of the product has been released - “we will support”, there is a promotion in a nearby place - “no need”. In general, unless something unexpected happens to a product, such customers rarely look towards competitors.

The downside of such loyalty is that the image (image) plays a huge role. This means that reputational issues, often not specific to the product, can have a drastic impact on sales. Plus, this applies to situations like “now something else is in fashion.”

An example for understanding. Let's say a video appears where you swear and use abusive language. A wave of indignant people will arise with the slogans “how can you use a product from a person who allows himself to do this,” even if it was just a squabble between old friends (as if in personal life).

Loyal to functionality

The main essence of loyalty to functionality is that, on the contrary, only technical aspects are important to the client. Intrigues, rumors and other vanity are usually not perceived by such people.

It is a huge plus if the quality of the goods and the price remain the same or better. So, for example, negative reviews appeared on the Internet - “sales are stable”, they heard on social networks - “sales are stable”, competitors licked everything from head to toe - “no need”. In general, similar to the previous one, only the emphasis is on the capabilities of the product.

The downside is that loyalty to functionality requires clear and constant monitoring of the price-quality ratio of both your product and your competitors. For example, if analogues have added functions, then such clients will not wait long for the moment when you have something similar.

Mixed option

It is a mixture of two approaches. In this case, the proportions can be quite varied. For example, emotional attachment, but the price range is limited. Or loyalty to the capabilities of the product, but a harsh reaction to certain events and topics (for example, “How?! You don’t like cats! Although the product is cool, I can’t stand this!”).

The main advantage is that there are many such “proportions”, which means it is more difficult for competitors to lure customers away. As they say, if your borscht tastes better, then this is important in one place and not important in another.

There are at least two main disadvantages. First, people's priorities are not always constant. For example, a person got a cat - the topic of furry animals became important. Secondly, both reputation and technical aspects must be taken into account. For example, “increased the price” and “video on YouTube” can have the same impact.

General understanding of loyalty programs

Marketing research shows that it is much cheaper for a company to retain existing customers than to attract new ones. In order for every new client to want to purchase the products of this company again and again and become a regular customer, companies have to apply various strategies: introducing bonus programs, discount cards, holding sales, enticing with gifts and promotions, etc. The set of marketing tools and activities aimed at retaining existing customers and developing repeat sales to these customers in the future is called a loyalty program. American Airlines was the first to use marketing loyalty in its activities in the early 80s of the last century, encouraging in various ways those customers who often flew on this company's planes.

The results of research by the American organization COLLOQUY showed that discounts and bonus cards alone are no longer enough to arouse interest in the products of a certain manufacturer. Loyalty programs have become so common, ubiquitous and taken for granted that customers have stopped responding to them.

Important!

To retain a client, an acceptable price and high quality of a product are very few. The company needs to constantly study its customers and their needs and, on this basis, improve the methods of implementing loyalty programs.

Before applying it, the enterprise needs to find out whether it is really necessary and what strategy should be based on.

Here are the companies in whose activities the use of loyalty programs will be quite effective:

Mobile operators;
Internet providers;
Shopping and entertainment centers;
Food retail outlets in residential areas of the city;
Clothing and footwear brands;
Retail;
Car service;
E-commerce, etc.

Companies that find it more profitable to attract new customers:

Construction companies;
Car dealers;
Real estate sellers;
Car showrooms, etc.

Let's look at the main types of loyalty programs.

Bonus programs

Bonus programs are most beneficial for grocery stores.

The main disadvantage is the need for customer feedback. This type allows you to form long-term relationships with customers. What is necessary:

To ensure that interest in the company does not fade away, you need to constantly encourage and stimulate customers;
Knowing not only the frequency with which purchases are made, but also the average costs per receipt;
Equivalence of accrued bonuses to expenses incurred.

Multi-level loyalty program

Works effectively in aviation companies, restaurant and hotel businesses, insurance, and beauty salons. Its features are the use of progressive incentives for the company’s clients.

Alignment of company and customer values

It works most effectively at points of sale of cosmetics, food products and household chemicals. Its features are the company’s declaration of values that would coincide with the personal views and principles of customers. But not a simple declaration, but their implementation in life. Example: the H&M brand boutique gives each customer a discount for every kilogram of unnecessary items donated in the store, the proceeds from the sale of which are sent to charitable foundations.