The pinnacle of the NFL season is the Super Bowl, and the cherished title of ‘World Champion.’ What does it take to reach this pinnacle? Vince Lombardi, the legendary coach whose Green Bay Packers won the first two championship games said, “Success rests not only on ability but upon commitment, loyalty, and pride.” In this era of player free-agency at the pro level, and the transfer portal at the college level, loyalty may be the most challenging aspect for sustained success in sports, as well as for your company, employees, and customers.
We are well aware the most powerful way to increase customer loyalty is simple: make your customers happy. But the 2024 Widewail Voice of the Customer Report details the difficulty of this premise: negative mentions of dealership staff rose 20% YoY, and that included luxury and non-luxury brands. How do you build a positive staff? Venerable business leader Harvey Mackay shared his view in 2011, “Employee loyalty begins with employer loyalty. Your employees should know that if they do the job they were hired to do with a reasonable amount of competence and efficiency, you will support them.”
Dan Crumpton, Director of People Strategies for Strong Automotive, agrees with the importance of loyalty, but noted, “Loyalty today absolutely looks different than it did in the past, and I think it’s less about tenure and more about engagement, alignment, and purpose.”
Our company has over 160 employees, with approximately 40 having been added in the past 12 months. Crumpton pointed out the importance of initially identifying an employee’s potential for fitting well with a company, “We use Culture Index to gain insights into candidates’ natural traits and strengths, and model our interview process on Patrick Lencioni’s The Ideal Team Player. This helps evaluate humility, hunger, and people smarts, qualities we believe create lasting value for the team.”
Employee engagement is key, and the challenge is creating an environment where people want to be where they are, not just because of a paycheck but because they believe in what a company is doing, and the importance of their role. Crumpton outlined three factors to fostering loyalty:
Clarity & Purpose: Making sure employees understand how their work connects to the bigger picture.
Trust & Transparency: Open communication, and consistent feedback to keep people aligned and motivated.
Growth & Recognition: Giving employees opportunities to develop, and celebrate their contributions
Football coaches are looking for the right players. Our suggestion for your company – it is about hiring the right people and then continually re-recruiting them by reinforcing culture, vision, and purpose…whether it’s big, or little. The loudest cheer during our last Employee Meeting was not for an added day-off, but for the new coffee makers being installed.