When you’re the leader of a team, you need to build a productive workforce in order to maintain healthy employee retention rates. When you have a low rate of staff turnover, you foster a more positive culture for your team to exist in. They feel more secure in their jobs, the culture on the whole is better, and you enjoy increased productivity with your team. Employee loyalty is hugely important as far as benefits to your business are concerned, and so it should be a big part of your business plan.
That said, loyalty isn’t something that you can just snap your fingers and get. You can’t just start giving your staff free lunches and hope that they’ll then stick around for a further ten years – no you need to do a little more than that. In order to be the kind of leader who people will want to follow, you need to inspire people with your vision and your prospects. While it may take a lot of personal effort to get to the point where you have a loyal band of followers, it’ll be totally worth it when you have a team of people who will be willing to lie down and take a bullet for you!
We’ve outlined our top ways to create a culture of trust and loyalty in your team in the hopes that it helps you to get to where you want to be.
Be trustworthy
When you’re out there leading the charge, your team are right behind you. They need to be able to trust that you’re going to take them in the right direction, and they also need to trust that even when you don’t know where you’re going that you can get everyone through the hellfire. A great leader can be trusted to do the job to 100% of their capacity, and this kind of dedication and trust then goes on to instil in your team a sense of trust and loyalty.
Trust your team
While you need to be trusted, you also need to do some trusting. You need to be able to trust the people in your team, because it creates a greater sense of self worth for your team. People need to be able to flourish and thrive without micromanagement, and they need to feel like they’re able to put forward ideas without censorship.
Lead by example
A team will be loyal to a leader who demonstrates the way work should be done. If you’re nipping off early a few days a week, then how on earth do you expect your staff to want to stick around past knocking off time to get a job done? You need to get into the trenches when the work calls for it, because if you think you’re too good to get your hands dirty then, a: you’re wrong, and b: your team aren’t going to be too pleased with you. By not getting in and grafting, your team will get the message that their job is a menial and unimportant or difficult one through your inability to commit to a task.
Have clarity
A team will follow you to the ends of the earth, provided that you know where the ends of your earth are. If you don’t know where you’re going it’s kinda tough for your team to stay loyal… because they won’t know where they’re headed. People want to know if they’re going to have a promotion, more responsibility (or even a job), in a year’s time. If you don’t have a business plan in place – or at least some real clarity with your vision – then people won’t be able to follow you.
Foster relationships
Boundaries are vital at work, but within these boundaries there are plenty of opportunities to recognise the very human people who are working with you every day. Once you look past your work, you can recognise that things aren’t too serious, and that you can celebrate birthdays and other significant milestones. Just be sure to respect the professional boundaries for people and you’ll be fine.
Be honest
Loyalty is bred through honesty. Be open, be honest and people will feel included and like they are part of the team. An honest leader is going to make a team want to stick around far longer than a dishonest leader or someone who isn’t transparent with staff. You don’t need to give too much away, but a certain level of openness is going to help.
If you’re ready to take the next step with your career and are looking to make your team into the ultimate dream team then why not take a look at the accidental counsellor course offered by Pure Magic Business? This is the perfect course for training yourself to be a leader – without risk of burning out.
