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SSRN Id1961430
SSRN Id1961430
CASE ANLYSIS
Dr. D.N.S.KUMAR
Professor and Associate Director,
Centre for Research-Projects,
Christ University,
Hosur Road, Bangalore – 560029.
Tel: +91 80 40129018, Fax: +91 80 40129000
Mobile: +91 9342266072
Email: dns.kumar@christuniversity.in
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PERSPECTIVES ENVISAGING EMPLOYEE LOYALTY-A
CASE ANLYSIS
ABSTRACT
It is difficult for companies to gauge how much effort they should put into promoting loyalty,
given the mobility of workers today. In another dimension, many studies have proved the
connection between loyal employees and business success. This study attempts to throw some
light on both employee loyalty to organizations and vice versa. The pertinent case analyses
perceptions among various employees with respect to loyalty towards Polyhydron Pvt. Ltd, Belgaum,
India. An interview schedule containing 40 items was used to collect data from the different strata of
employees. Results indicated a significant effect of organizational variables on employee loyalty. The
study also builds a case with appropriate variables while exploring various ways to enhance the
employer’s loyalty towards the organization and its employees, interlinking perspectives from view point
Key words: Employee loyalty, employer’s loyalty, employee perceptions, changing perceptions of loyalty.
Electronic
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availableat:
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PERSPECTIVES ENVISAGING EMPLOYEE LOYALTY
-A CASE ANLYSIS
*D.N.S.Kumar
**Nandini Shekhar
I. INTRODUCTION:
Employees‘ perceptions of their organization drive employee commitment to the job, as well as
to the organization. This, in turn, commitment drives employee loyalty. Loyalty is ―the
2001). Although business ethicists have theorized frequently about the virtues and vices of
employee loyalty, the concept of loyalty remains loosely defined. Hart and Thompson (2007)
say that loyalty is an attitude that resides in the mind of the individual and is an individual-level
In other words, the various perceptions that indicate high employee loyalty are - a) A willingness
to remain with the organization (Solomon, 1992), b) Productivity that exceeds normal
expectations, i.e., goes beyond the call of duty (Mowday, Porter & Steers, 1982), c) Altruistic
behavior (Laabs, 1996) and d) Reciprocal, i.e., the employee's loyalty to the organization must be
matched by the organization's loyalty to the employee (Solomon, 1992). So in short, employee
loyalty is more than just tenure with the same organization. It is about wanting to be there too.
______________________________________________________________________________
* Professor and Associate Director, Centre for Research-Projects, Christ University, Hosur Road, Bangalore – 560029.
Tel: +91 80 40129018, Mobile: +91 9342266072. Email: dns.kumar@christuniversity.in
** Assistant Professor, Centre for Research- Projects, Christ University, Hosur Road, Bangalore – 560029.
Tel: +91 80 4012 9019, Mobile: +91 9880542671. Email: nandini.shekhar@christuniversity.in
workers gave up the right to question authority, to criticize the company, or to do their jobs in
any way but the "one right way" approved by the organization. Orders were handed down the
bureaucratic chain of command, to be followed precisely, and then released to the next level.
Today, the traditional view of loyalty no longer applies. Recent changes in the business world
and in the workforce require a different approach. Workers can no longer expect lifetime, or
long-term, employment. Nor can they expect stability. Change has become a fact of corporate
life to be accepted and dealt with. What separates the mediocre organization from the good
organization is the ability to manage changes. What differentiates the good organization from the
superior or great organization is managing both the changes and the people involved.
Thirty years ago, loyalty was viewed broadly as an employee feeling of attachment to an
organization (Buchanan, 1974). This attachment was later connected to specific behavior such
as supporting an organization and the individuals in it (Niehoff et al, 2001), and practicing good
citizenship (Rusbult et al, 1988). Such attachment was also thought to be evident when an
employee passed on an attractive position with another organization (Logan, 1984) or simply
remained with one organization for some length of time (Reichheld, 1996).
Much of the recent attention to loyalty has been prompted by discussions of the changing nature
of the employment relationship (Grosman 1989; Pfeiffer 1992; Haughey 1993). The role and
limits of loyalty have also featured prominently in debates about issues such as downsizing
Relevant work-related loyalties relate to the whole organization, a supervisor, coworkers, or the
job. Employee loyalty (typically synonymous with commitment) to the organization has
sometimes been viewed as an attitude (Meyer & Allen, 1991). However, it is not so much an
attitude (or thought component) that is important in organizations, but rather it is the bottom-line
action component. Some of these behaviors are simply prescribed aspects of the employee‘s
written job description, e.g., working safely, adhering to rules, following orders, maintaining
quality of output, and taking care of company property. But other behaviors are based on
unwritten policies or norms of the organizational culture, e.g., staying late to complete a project,
flexible, open to renegotiation with a special focus on profits and cost, innovation, continuous
improvement and added value. In opposition to this, the past form was mainly cemented on
unions and collective representation. Another difference is how the past form advocated growth
within the company, whereas nowadays it seems that one has to take individual responsibility for
one‘s own career growth, be it within the organization or outside it, aiming mainly at saleable
contracts, outsourcing, down-sizing and restructuring, global nature of work and fluid markets
work may not mean ‗forever‘. Maybe, what we need is a redefinition of loyalty.
Recent studies show that loyalty is giving one‘s best when one is attached to a particular
organization. Loyalty to the current organization and furthering one‘s career are not always
mutually exclusive and are in fact in most cases closely related. The very skills one needs to
acquire for his/her career growth may also be essential for the current company. Therefore,
employers can foster loyalty, by encouraging career development and helping employees to
master new skills required for their progression, ideally within the same company. What is
undesirable would be to have de-motivated employees who may be present at work physically
but not in terms of productivity and energy. This is especially the case when job-dissatisfaction is
chronic and contagious in a way that it affects the others around. Limited career progression is
not the only cause that hinders loyalty. Furthermore, monotonous work routines, high stress
levels and dictatorial management styles are factors that can get in the way. Experts note that
providing variety, calculated risk-taking and the freedom to make decisions can endanger
extensive loyalty. Besides, we all know that for most employees‘ loyalty is prompted and
promoting loyalty.
Employers, on the other hand, are encountering a far more skeptical workforce, with a different
set of expectations and demands. Employees today no longer believe that top management will
guide their career progression. Workers are creating their own career paths, and, in most cases,
consider job-hopping a normal route to professional success. Today's employees are educated to
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Why does an employer have to care about employee loyalty? The reason is - Employees are a
vital resource for nearly all organizations, especially since they represent a significant investment
in terms of locating, recruiting, and training let alone salaries, healthcare plans, bonuses, etc.
Anything less than a loyal, productive worker will cost a company; which is why performance
goal setting and review are so important for weeding out the ‗bad‘ ones; or for providing
Loyalty is a two way street. If a company wants its employees to be loyal, they must earn it by
creating a stable and challenging workplace. Opportunities abound for organizations that take
the initiative in creating realistic guidelines for mutual loyalty in the workplace. But this requires
a new definition of corporate loyalty and new expectations on the part of workers and leaders.
The collapse of old traditional loyalty opens opportunities for a new, enlightened form of loyalty
based on shared values and goals, and mutual caring and respect. Organizations can benefit by
tapping into the commitment of their workers. Employees yearn to feel emotionally connected to
their work. It is the right time to address these mutual needs and to redefine loyalty in ways that
will serve both organizations and employees. Also, loyalty is important because it determines
whether the actions taken by and the behaviors of employees will be positive or negative for the
organization. That ultimately is what will drive customer loyalty and business success.
Source: www.loyaltyresearch.com
The above exhibit depicts the effect employee loyalty has on customer loyalty and ultimately, on
business success.
LOYALTY:
Since each employee is a unique individual, no single approach works for everyone, but the
following are general pointers to show that organizations can, with some changes, manage to
keep and harness its human resources in a comparatively more successful manner than the rest.
1. Offer more than just a job: Employees who view their current job as part of a rewarding
career path with their employer are naturally more motivated in their work. They may also be
more likely to view necessary but tedious parts of the job in the context of the bigger picture.
2. Appropriate Compensations: While you can't buy loyalty, you can destroy loyal ties if
company practices gives them a stake in the business' success and promotes team spirit.
4. Invest in training and development: If you invest in your employees, they are more likely to
invest in your company. They'll also have a better understanding of your organization's business
5. Share your vision: Communicate your company's direction and decisions. Employees feel
trusted and are more trusting when they know about company decisions.
6. Challenge employees: Experience says that setting and meeting high expectations makes
7. Recognize and reward often: Employees appreciate positive feedback and tend to be more
productive after receiving it. Additionally, a productive employee tends to inspire and motivate
co-workers by example.
8. Find common ground: Align employee career development with company goals.
9. Get to know your employees: An employee's relationship with his/her boss and coworkers is
one of the most important factors in determining how loyal that employee is. Treat employees as
The sample size was 100%, that is, all the 87 employees working at Polyhydron Pvt. Ltd (PPL),
Belgaum, Karnataka, India from various departments participated in the study. Polyhydron
manufactures Hydraulic Radial Piston Pumps, Industrial & Mobile Hydraulic Valves and
Accessories. Preliminary discussions were held with Mr. Suresh Hundre, Managing Director
PPL followed by discussions with the employees regarding the interview schedule. Sufficient
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care, but some rounding up of the results was done for ease in tabulation while the analysis.
The interview schedule consisted of a number of questions that the respondents had to answer in
a set format. Close-ended questions were asked to the respondents, and they picked a rating on
the scale of 1 - 10. The responses for the close-ended questions were exhaustive and mutually
exclusive. To achieve the best response rates the questions flow from the least sensitive to the
most sensitive, from the factual and behavioral to the attitudinal, and from the more general to
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The results are presented below in a tabular format for ease of interpretation.
analyze interrelationships among a large number of variables (40 in our study) and to explain these
variables in terms of their common underlying dimensions (factors). The data collected was further
subjected to a Principal Component Analysis. The relevant information from the SPSS output has
v5 Cooperation 0.905
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The above Component Matrix shows a simple correlation coefficient (termed as Factor loading)
between a Principal Component (PC) and a variable. This loading gives a measure of the extent
to which a variable is involved in a PC. On analyzing and interpreting Table 2, it can be seen
that the variables can be grouped as two Principal Components (PCs), which explain 91.275% of
the total variability in the data (Obtained from SPSS output). Each of these 2 PCs correspond to
Eigen values >1. The PCs are extracted in a way such that PC1 explains the maximum
variability in the data and PC2 explains the maximum of the remaining variability. The highest
loading of each variable has been made bold (to facilitate understanding and maintain brevity of
the paper) in Table 2. Integrating the variables which have high loadings under each PC, a
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Since the first two factors were the only ones that had Eigen values >1, the final factor solution
Graph 1 depicts the employee dependent variables and their respective Eigen values. It explains
80.26% variance.
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Graph 2 depicts the organization dependent variables and their respective Eigen values. It
explains 11.009% variance.
Major Findings:
Apart from the competitive advantage, the factors which help employees to be retained are:
1) Cooperation (0.905) which is team specific and the culture of the organization supports the
3) Open communication channels (0.828) lead to healthy workplace free of grapevine issues.
4) Pride in Doing a job (0.933), that is, mastering a task and then enjoying expert power can be
a very positive influential factor in case of employee loyalty. This is in accordance with the
findings of Schuler and MacMillan (1984), which show how companies can strategically gain
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management practices.
In organization specific variables, it is clearly evident that the organization reward and
recognition policy (0.938) is the key influential factor in case of the employee loyalty. This is
closely followed by flexibility (0.937). The organization culture (0.877) also plays a major
Discussion:
87% of the employees of PPL are very proud to be working for the company. This speaks
volumes about the management and ethical practices being followed by the company. However,
11% are not much aware of the ethical practices while 1% has no idea at all about these practices
in PPL. The Management needs to address these problems by conducting well managed
programmes that familiarizes new comers with the mission, vision and values of the company.
67% of the employees expressed no grievance against the management, while the remaining 33%
addressed. Regarding the grievance redressal procedures, 66% of the employees were very
happy with the manner with which these were addressed. But still the company needs to do
much in this regard. Work-life balance is important for the development of a holistic personality
Up-down and down-up communication is very important in fostering loyalty and a sense of
belongingness in any company. A climate of mutual trust needs to be created and in this regard
the comfort level of interaction seems to be fairly satisfactory with 63% very much comfortable
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correlation between sharing and caring attitude in the organization and the preparedness by
Job rotation has been recommended by management experts as a technique to relieve boredom
and overall skill development of the employee. 68% are willing to go in for job rotation while
the remaining 32% needs to be educated about the necessity to enhance their KSA (knowledge,
skill and attitude) and build confidence in them. Also regards flexibility while performing a job
only 28% feel that there is a great amount of flexibility given to them while 33% feel there is no
flexibility at all.
Meeting personal goals of the employees and aligning them with corporate goals drives loyalty
as is seen in our study, and hence needs management attention. 63% agreed that there is strong
congruence between the interest of the employee and the organization while 8% felt that there
was no congruence. Only 45% are completely satisfied with the work conditions and 75% with
the existing infrastructure. 66% were willing to accept any kind of job and 76% were glad to
have joined PPL for building their career. 70% felt that they had benefitted in many ways by
joining PPL. This talks of the image and reputation of the company.
The employees seem to be very satisfied with the job related information imparted by the
company. While 66% expressed complete satisfaction nobody expressed strong dissatisfaction.
The importance of job security cannot be undermined these days. 64% were agreed strongly on
this aspect while in answer to the question on sticking to PPL even if offered a higher salary
elsewhere, 34% expressed their willingness to stick on while 305 said they would not at all
37% vouched strongly for the existence of informal work relationships while only 17% negated
them. Regarding creativity and freedom to schedule their jobs 31% feel there is a lot of freedom
to schedule jobs while 62% feel the presence of creative freedom to improvise on the job.
70% of the employees felt they are giving 100% to their job, while only 1% felt ―not at all‖. In a
related question 38% felt that they are performing well. Here there is scope for improvement on
both sides- the employer and employee. 60% are satisfied with the business plan at PPL which
focuses on employees as a stakeholder, while 7% are at the opposite end of the scale. 63% even
concurred that they can give suggestions and recommendations to the management without
hesitation. The organization needs to focus on the remainder of the employees who may have
constructive suggestions but fear airing them due to some imagined repercussions. The
organization needs to show that these suggestions will be considered and suitable ones
implemented.
Incentives and awards enhance and sustain performance and 39% feel PPL is doing a good job in
that area. It is interesting to note that 68% feel that they can better their performance if the
company would give sufficient incentives. This needs to be noted by the management. 45% also
felt that good performance is recognized at PPL. Future of an employee is linked to the future of
the organization. 83% are concerned and care a lot about the future of the organization. 83%
also feel that it is the best company to work for in the Belgaum region.
Many studies show that employees are the most important resource any organization has and the
competitive advantage gained through the human capital is invaluable. Hence, organizations
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highly productive workforce with long term commitment, organizations need to take the
following steps:
1. Aligning the career growth of employees with the goals of the company:
This is one of the most effective methods to enhance loyalty considering the fact that most
employees, specially the star performers, are more loyal to their careers. This ensures that
employee development is taken care off as well as the organizational goals are achieved. To
achieve this, managers need to help people identify links between their professional goals and
the company goals. Employees need to be made aware of the big picture and the organizations
vision and mission and need to be helped to align their growth in congruence with them.
Various experts have said that jobs that provide variety and the autonomy to make decisions are
most liked and they involve a higher level of commitment and loyalty. Allowing people to take
ownership of projects gives them the opportunity to reach the peak of their potential and also
enhances their skills. A commitment to variety and freedom takes some organizational
discipline—at the very least; firms must let employees know they can exercise choice.
3. Focusing on relationships:
Employee loyalty largely depends on the work relationships they share with their colleagues,
superiors and the management. Employees who experience healthy and fruitful relationships at
work are very unlikely to leave their organization. Hence, by fostering healthy relationships at
work and focusing on building healthy relationships employers can enhance the employee
loyalty.
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This is yet another measure that helps in enhancing employee loyalty. Highlighting the
connection between their values and the organization‘s mission makes them more committed and
The right mix of transactional reward and relational reward will help the organization to
understand the need to the employee which will help in retaining the employee for a longer time.
The grievance handling procedure of the organization can affect the harmonious environment of
the organization. The grievances of the employees are related to the contract, work rule or
regulation, policy or procedure, health and safety regulation, past practice, changing the cultural
norms unilaterally, individual victimization, wage, bonus, etc. Here, the attitude on the part of
management in their effort to understand the problems of employees and resolve the issues
amicably have better probability to maintain a culture of high performance. Managers must be
educated about the importance of the grievance process and their role in maintaining favorable
relations with the union. Effective grievance handling is an essential part of cultivating good
employee relations and running a fair, successful, and productive workplace. Positive labor
relations are two-way street both sides must give a little and try to work together. Relationship
VIII. CONCLUSION:
Employee Loyalty is far too important for the success of the organization to rely on gut feelings
or on information that is not scientifically valid and objective. Given employees‘ impact and
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success – organizations should start with measuring and assuring employees‘ loyalty. It is well
documented that employees are a vital resource for nearly all organizations, especially since they
represent a significant investment in terms of locating, recruiting, and training let alone salaries,
healthcare plans, bonuses, etc. Also there is considerable expense for replacing an employee.
and equitable treatment. Also, when firms help workers acquire new skills that support their
professional advancement they often win those workers' commitment—and attract loyal new
employees. So, employers can promote company loyalty by helping people grow out of their
It is important for managers and leaders of an organization to realize that in addition to these
tangible benefits, employees want to commit to companies, because doing so satisfies a powerful
and basic need to connect with and contribute something significant to the their organizations.
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Website:
www.loyaltyresearch.com retrieved on 06.08.2011.
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