Nurse Leader Insight: Redefining Organizational Loyalty

By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, FAAN

A nurse leader recently complained to me about Generation Y’s lack of organizational loyalty. I asked her how she defined organizational loyalty. Her complaint centered around the turnover of new graduates in her organization. She was finding that few were staying beyond three years. Like many leaders today, she was defining organizational loyalty in terms of organizational longevity. Are they the same? Most HR experts today would suggest that they are not, and longevity does not necessarily mean that an employee is loyal to their organization.

What does organizational loyalty mean today?

Historically, organizational loyalty had been defined in terms of longevity when it was not unusual to work for one employer for decades. With the economic downturns that began in the 1980s, a lifetime commitment to one organization was no longer possible for many employees. Experienced, well performing staff were often “right sized” out of an organization through no fault of their own. Job tenure in all industries became shorter. Both organizations and employees began to view commitment in a different way. Today, experts who study organizational suggest that there has been a redefinition.

Fred Reichheld in his book, The Loyalty Effect defines loyalty as the willingness to make an investment or personal sacrifice to strengthen a relationship. Loyalty now means aligning with the values and goals of the organization and giving one’s best to an organization while one is employed. It means being engaged in one’s work. This may or may not involve a long-term commitment to the organization. Just because someone has worked for your organization for twenty years does not necessarily mean he or she is loyal or even engaged in their work. Maybe he is unhappy but doesn’t feel like looking for another job, or maybe she doesn’t have marketable skills and can’t find another employer to hire him or her.

Inspiring organizational loyalty

Engaging staff and inspiring organizational loyalty are important in healthcare and has been shown to result in better patient outcomes. Yet employee engagement and loyalty can be challenging in our current turbulent healthcare environment where there is such a focus on reducing costs and improving quality. A2013 State of the American Workplace Report from the Gallup organization indicates that only 30% of US employees are actively engaged in their work. So how can we better promote organizational loyalty and engagement. Here are five key strategies:

Promote identification with the organization: help staff to see how the mission and values of the organization are consistent with his or her personal values.
Connect staff to the success/status of the organization: encourage staff to develop a sense of pride in an organization by showing how their contributions matter in the organization’s accomplishments and status.
Create security: give staff a sense of security about their employability and potential career paths within the organization.
Provide recognition and opportunities to build skills: validate the skills and worth of staff and promote camaraderie and teamwork. Most nursing staff today look for opportunities to develop their skills and mastery at their jobs. Mastery is a desire to get better and better at something that matters.
Build trust: build an environment of trust and transparency. Demonstrate that as a leader, you trust your staff and can personally be trusted.

It is time to shift the conversation from “organizational loyalty” to employee engagement. There are compelling reasons to keep staff engaged in their work. Research done in hospitals who have received magnet designation clearly indicates that a more satisfied and engaged staff promotes better patient outcomes. While employees definitely share responsibility for staying engaged, nurse leaders also play an important role in promoting the type of passion and enthusiasm that leads to staff engagement.

Read to Lead

Amabile, T. & Kramer, S. (2011). The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement and Creativity at Work. Boston: Harvard Busines Press.

Hess, V. (2013). 6 Shortcuts to Employee Engagement. Catalyst Consulting, LLC.

Loehr, J. & Schwartz, T. (2003). The Power of Full Engagement. New York: Free Press.