By Deb Boelkes

I usually hear a resounding “YES!” whenever I ask a business leader or military officer whether loyalty is important in the workplace.

Yet, I find some leaders to be more focused on customer loyalty than employee loyalty. They rationalize that loyal customers spend more money over the long term and therefore offer greater long-term value. This may explain why some companies spend fortunes on customer loyalty programs—to incent customers to feel good about purchasing their brand.

But have you ever heard of companies spending fortunes on employee loyalty programs?

It has been my experience that the most impactful customer loyalty programs are organic. Organic customer loyalty costs little because it is the result of consistent interactions with enthusiastically loyal employees who love where they work. Happy, loyal employees naturally share their “lovin’ feelin’s” with customers who, in turn, become enthusiastically loyal to your brand.

Too often when I ask leaders, “What do you do to instill loyalty in your employees?” I get blank stares. They don’t know what to say. Instead, they express bewilderment that employees just aren’t loyal like they used to be. If this is indeed so, could it have something to do with their own lack of showing employees that they care about them?