Humanity Leads to Loyalty

Don’t bring your personal problems into work,” is something that I’ve heard many times over the years, and it’s completely unrealistic.

As someone who has started their own business and employs quite a few people, I want top performance every day as much as the next person. However, if your marriage is failing, or your father is dying, or your child is seriously ill, then that’s likely to be your priority. 

You only get one biological mother in your lifetime and people who have got married hope it’s for life too. In contrast, most people only spend a few years in any one job and no one guarantees it for ever. That balance should be reflected in the way that we all behave.

Personal relationships have a much bigger impact on job performance than most of us would like to admit. I don’t believe that we should demand of others what we probably couldn’t manage ourselves. After all very few people can cope with serious personal problems and still keep a dedicated focus. Employees probably aren’t able to avoid an impact, no matter how hard they try, so why should we demand it of them?

This is my approach. If an employee starts work at my company and immediately needs heaps of understanding, I’m not that sympathetic. However, when someone needs support and they have previously given loyal service, not only do they deserve it, it’s good business practice to help.

Trying to pressurise an employee to work harder when they have personal problems is counter productive. In contrast, supporting them and being generous with time off will not only help them to recover quickly, it will also build loyalty which can’t be bought. When staff trust you, they will support the business when needed. In other words, they will repay you with the loyalty that you show to them. This doesn’t just apply to the individuals concerned, it’s how many of their friends and colleagues in the business will perceive things too.

On an individual level, one rule that I would adopt is that if you go through a personal crisis, don’t change job at the same time. Some stability in one area helps in another, and employers are much more likely to be sympathetic when you have loyal service behind you.

Most of us will have one or more personal crises in our lifetimes. In fact, one out of three of us will suffer mental health problems at some point. My belief is that we should show the same consideration to employees that we would hope to be extended to us.  

And this isn’t just about good business sense, it’s about being a decent human being too.