Loyalty - A vital Organ
‘It’s such a huge gift to have given, he’ll never want for anything in his life.’ Said a colleague of Mr Nick Ross who donated one of his kidneys to his boss, the mega media proprietor Mr Kerry Packer. ‘What Nick has done is pretty bloody huge, it’s the gift of life the man has given….’ (Sydney Morning Herald 24/11/00).
It’s not everyday an employee has the opportunity to demonstrate the depth of their loyalty by giving away a vital organ to their boss. A number of surveys conducted in recent years have found that few employees would in fact give away one weekend a year, let alone a body part.
According to an American survey published last September, the Australian work force is the least loyal to its employers of any work force on earth.
The Walker Information Global Network and Hudson Institute stated it surveyed employers of 9,718 staff in 32 countries and found Australians the most ‘detached’ employees of all. ‘Employees in Australia don’t have a strong commitment to their employers and they don’t plan on staying’ an executive of the research group commented.
Have employees lost the desire to be loyal?
Gillian Allen, 38 – an employee of Westpac for 19 years who was retrenched in December 1999 says that in her experience ‘…it’s not the desire but the mechanics of loyalty that have disappeared.’ Many believe the change came in the 90’s when retrenchment was the word on everybody’s lips.‘ Anyone who is retrenched actually questions the need to be loyal’ Allen adds.
But it’s not all doom and gloom.
Martin Lindstrom, worldwide chief operating officer of Internet joint venture BT Look-smart is quick to point out that ‘It’s more your feeling of loyalty and commitment to a good leader or manager in an organisation that will keep you in a job.’
This is not a revelation rather it is a well-known fact, one of the commandments of good business management. If you want loyalty and commitment, if you want a team that will get you to the top, employ the best leaders. Once you have them in place seek out the best trainers and train the people management capabilities they need to get the commitment and loyalty needed to be a true success, who knows they might even be willing to give away a vital organ! |
The ‘R’ word has now turned into RESURGENCE. I was recently reading an article by Alan Kohler in the Financial Review from where I have taken the following excerpts.
‘… the March Quarter national accounts came out with positive GDP growth, back from a negative December.’
‘The question now being asked is whether we may actually be headed for a boom- that is, strongly rising property and share prices, a return to 4% plus economic growth…. The Australian all ordinaries index is now up 10% since the start of April and a couple of days ago hit a new record.’
Others have looked at us as being lucky to service a slowing economy. We have taken a positive , and strategic approach to make sure that we are here for the long term. For us, luck has nothing to do with it.
We have actively taken to brand awareness campaigns, direct marketing, and a restructuring of our business to achieve economies of scale. We have put on hold our aggressive expansion in Victoria and South Australia to ensure that we achieve results for our existing clients.
Internally we call our Sydney Office, Happening People Head Quarters or HPHQ. HPHQ have provided more support services in the short term to the other Australian states and international countries. This year we have expanded our clients by 25% and they will continue to feel special.
We appreciate having our existing relationships which have been built over the years. So when you book 10 training or management consulting days in June for the second half of the year we will give you the 11th at no cost to you or your company.
Thank you for supporting our business, during the past economic slow down, many consulting companies have disappeared.
Kind regards
Sam
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