These are incentives that increase compensation, but are they really loyalty programs? Because I get two weeks of paid vacation, does that make me loyal to a corporation? I don't think so.

Because I get profit sharing after five years, does that make me more loyal? I don't think so. Because I get profit sharing after five years, does that make me more loyal? I don't think so.

These are important aspects of the total compensation package that should constantly be reviewed to stay competitive, but they are not loyalty programs. Money does not buy loyalty.

The brutal reality is that most companies profess to have great employee and customer loyalty, but the bottom line always seems to overshadow it.

I don't think that most companies today, big or small, know how to cultivate loyalty in their people or their customers. A discount program just doesn't do it. Instead, loyalty has to be a mind-set.

This attitude starts at the top. Leadership inspires loyalty, and it must have a cascading effect. An executive who doesn't know employees' names, for example, is a problem, or a manager who is unwilling to pitch in is a problem. My personal sequence of priorities is customer, employee, company and then me.

The employees should come before management. Now, this succession does not mean that it is a blind process and that it is carved in stone. It sometimes has to be fluid, but management should never put itself in front of employees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The "sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language.

"Now thats a mouth full." -Sonny