Employee Loyalty = Employee Retention

Brian Wunder fondly remembers the summers he spent working at his local gas station in Kansas City, MO as a teenager. Unpredictable overtime, nimble clients, and a lot of legwork were a given. But he didn’t care: he wasn’t looking to make a career out of it and he left the job as soon as the weather turned colder.

Wunder, now an account executive for Service Management Group, an Oklahoma City-based performance improvement firm, says pumping gas taught him the importance of employee loyalty. “Most quick service jobs are transition jobs anyway,” says Wunder. “It’s hard to say to employees, ‘Stay with us and we’ll make you famous,’ but you want to extend that mandate in the most meaningful terms you can.”

As Wunder learned from experience, today’s employers still have to offer more than gas in the house to retain employees. A fun work environment, opportunities to learn new skills, and a motivated manager will keep employees on your payroll longer.

Input Yield
All work and no play doesn’t work all the time. Employees of Sonic Drive-in, the 1950s-style fast food chain based in Oklahoma City, are rewarded for serving burgers and onion rings and, more importantly, for their loyalty to the company. Good customer service, cleanliness and knowledge of corporate guidelines are evaluated throughout the year at each of Sonic’s 2,300 restaurants. Its official employee retention program, called “Showdown for Sonic Gold,” features “The Dr. Pepper Games,” an Olympic-style competition with categories like Carhop for best food delivery, Fountain for tastiest beverage preparation, Switchboard for the most elegant delivery service and Toilet, Grill and Pantano for the best food preparation. Additionally, other contests held throughout the year rate the knowledge and cleanliness of the employees. Employees receive cash and points that can be redeemed for prizes ranging from a t-shirt to a home entertainment system.

When the program began in 1994, only 20 percent of drive-ins participated due to high employee turnover. Today, 2,200 of the more than 2,300 stores are participating in the 2009 Sonic Dr. Pepper games. (That’s more than 70,000 employees.) After competing in the National Finals, taking place in Las Vegas this year, the top-ranked stores will be honored on stage at the 9th Annual Sonic National Convention, taking place in Hawaii. Diane Prem, Sonic’s chief operating officer, says rewards and teamwork drive performance and keep employees working at Sonic longer. “It’s fun and gets everyone involved,” she says. “It’s like a sporting event. The team sets goals and they push each other.”

Wunder, who helped start Sonic Gold eight years ago, says he’s retaining employees in an industry known for high turnover. Throughout the year, Sonic employees learn leadership skills, how to work with others, as well as tips on customer service and food safety. All of corporate America can learn from this example, says Wunder.

According to the American Management Association’s 2008 Survey of Management Professionals, 56 percent of employees say training would improve their performance and 27 percent said more support from their manager would boost them. “With young people, you’re not looking for lifetime employees, you’re looking to add months and years to your employment,” she says. “Recognition is that people want help finding a better path in life. Help them solve problems and mentor them. That could be one of the most powerful motivators out there.”

fountain of youth
While keeping part-timers happy can be a challenge, using those same tactics in any industry, especially ones with high turnover, can work wonders for retention. “The thing that typically gets people out of the workforce faster than anything else is disrespect. Second, unfair treatment,” says Fred Martels, president of People Solutions Strategies, a performance improvement firm located in Chesterfield, MO. “Let them know what their service means to customers. When people understand how their work affects someone else, they take a higher level of pride. They are someone who really makes a contribution.”

A fun work environment that offers flexible hours and the opportunity to learn is high on the list of needs for candidates in 2008, says Martel. However, even if a slow economy doesn’t allow people to jump from job to job as freely as they once did, most employees have no problem leaving an employer that doesn’t meet their needs as soon as a better job comes along. chance. comes along with. “People like to learn,” says Martel. They want to feel like they’re accomplishing something and have opportunities to move forward, knowing they can go from A to Z after a period of time.”

Southwest Airlines employees know how to party. The airline’s 32,000 employees are encouraged to be themselves, “not robots,” at work. At its headquarters in Love Field, Texas, every inch of the five-story building’s wall is filled with memorabilia from company meetings and celebrations. Each month, an Employee of the Month is featured with a description of their work history with the airline in the inflight publication, Spirit, and on the airline’s website.

Leslie Yerkes, founder of Catalyst Consulting Group, a Cleveland-based performance consulting firm and author of Fun Works: Creating Places Where People Love to Work (Berrett-Koehler), says Southwest became the retention story of the year by successfully combining fun and effort. to work. “For some people, work takes its toll,” she says. “When you find that work is an extension of play, it gives you more energy. It’s not just about getting dressed and spinning around in your chair.”

Yerkes says that whether employees are 14 or 74, a fun environment and opportunities to grow are vital. “I’m in my early 40s, and my peers and colleagues who have invested 20 to 25 years in their careers are now making real, conscious decisions to leave high-paying jobs for others that give them more meaning and satisfaction,” he says. . “If you trust employees with your organization’s most valuable assets and share the guiding principles, values ​​and goals, why wouldn’t you trust them to strike the right balance between work and play?”