A recent Ipsos Reid study confirms what many human resources professionals already think or strongly suspect: Canadians are increasingly less loyal to their employer.
According to the Ipsos Reid Build a Better Workplace study published in mid-July, 22% of Canadian employees feel less loyalty to their employers. JB Aloy, the study’s author, says, “Loyalty to one’s employer is very dependent on recognition. Staff who feel their involvement is not acknowledged are more likely to become disloyal.”
In addition, the sentiment is not confined solely to the factory floor, with one quarter of executives and managers saying their loyalty is decreasing—a result similar to production workers and operators. Across industry sectors, employees in manufacturing and financial services had especially negative results.
The results of this study are naturally related to the current economic downturn. In companies with a lot of staff cuts, 36% of employees feel less loyal, compared to 31% in companies where salaries have been frozen.
The figures are quite consistent across the country except for Quebec, where only 10% of workers share this attitude.
A variety of comments made implies that employees believe only reciprocity can work—that loyalty is not a given, it must be earned. In short, they will be loyal to the company if it is loyal towards them. In many cases, however, workers say that they feel disposable, and are rarely rewarded for efforts that are above and beyond the call of duty.
Aloy adds that employers should be taking measures now to hold on to their key performers.