Achieving a loyal workforce is something that most organizations strive for, and with good reason. Loyal employees are typically more committed to the company’s goals, values, and culture, and therefore are more likely to stay with the company for an extended period. This reduces employee turnover, which can be costly and disruptive to the organization.
Loyal employees are also more likely to put in extra effort and go above and beyond their job requirements to help the company achieve its goals. This can lead to higher productivity, better customer service, and increased innovation. Moreover, they are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs, which can positively impact their job performance and job satisfaction.
In addition, loyal employees are valuable assets for the company because they can serve as mentors and trainers for new employees. They have developed a deep understanding of the company’s culture, processes, and systems, and can pass on this knowledge to others, thereby increasing organizational efficiency and effectiveness.
A double-edged sword
While loyalty can be highly beneficial for employers, however, it’s often much less so for employees themselves. Research from Duke University reveals that managers can often target workers perceived as loyal, resulting in them receiving more unpaid tasks and additional responsibilities than their less loyal peers.
“Companies want loyal workers, and there is a ton of research showing that loyal workers provide all sorts of positive benefits to companies,” the researchers explain. “But it seems like managers are apt to target them for exploitative practices.”
The study involved almost 1,400 managers who were presented with a fictional scenario about a 29-year-old employee named John. The managers were told that John’s company was on a tight budget and had to decide whether to ask John to take on extra work without any extra pay.
The managers consistently demonstrated a greater willingness to ask John to do unpaid work when he was portrayed as loyal. Even letters of recommendation that praised John’s loyalty resulted in an increased willingness to recruit him for unpaid work. The study found that loyalty, rather than honesty or fairness, was the key factor that led to managers exploiting John for unpaid labor.
“It’s a vicious cycle,” the researchers explain. “Loyal workers tend to get picked out for exploitation. And then when they do something that’s exploitative, they end up getting a boost in their reputation as a loyal worker, making them more likely to get picked out in the future.”
The price to pay
The researchers believe that loyal workers tend to get picked on more as managers perceive that as simply being the price they have to pay for their loyalty. In other words, managers believe that alongside loyalty comes a duty to make clear and personal sacrifices for the good of the organization.
The researchers are at pains to point out that this behavior may not be born out of malice but rather what they refer to as “ethical blindness”, or general ignorance of the situation.
“Most people want to be good,” they explain. “Yet, they transgress with surprising frequency in their everyday lives. A lot of it is due to ethical blindness, where people don’t see how what they’re doing is inconsistent with whatever principles or values they tend to profess.”
Boosting self-awareness
The researchers are generally unable to provide a solution for the exploitative practices among employers. However, one feasible remedy could be the cultivation of self-awareness among managers, prompting them to identify and rectify ethical blind spots.
Although fidelity to a company may potentially come at a cost, the researchers emphasize the importance of not completely renouncing work commitments or avoiding unpaid overtime. Such unfavorable outcomes are merely incidental to an otherwise commendable quality, which the study discovered is also common among other aspirational traits such as generosity.
“I don’t want to suggest that the take-away of the paper is to not be loyal to anybody because it just leads to disaster,” the authors conclude. “We value people who are loyal. We think about them in positive terms. They get awarded often. It’s not just the negative side. It’s really tricky and complex.”
