Building loyalty is one of those things that might sound like a nice thing to do, but not essential to maintaining a company’s bottom line.

However, experts and academic research both indicate companies with loyal employees see a financial benefit from that devotion. Employees who feel a sense of loyalty to their employer are less likely to leave for another job – reducing training costs and lost productivity from a departed experienced worker. Studies have also show that a higher degree of employee loyalty leads to higher scores for customer service.

Building loyalty among your workforce is easy. All it takes are some well-designed policies that management must adhere to on a consistent basis.

Set up the right environment

Startup companies and tech giants in Silicon Valley have become known for creating lounge-like spaces for their employees to play foosball or relax in bean bag chairs. While those amenities may not make sense in an industrial environment, it doesn’t mean you can’t create an inviting environment employees want to walk into every day.

Make sure your facilities and equipment are clean, fresh and up-to-date. Even making minor investments like buying new tools, installing a bottle-filling drinking fountain or providing high-quality coffee will be appreciated by employees. Look around your facilities and see where minor tweaks can have a maximum impact on employee loyalty. When you tour other companies, take note of what small perks they provide their employees.

Empower your employees

An easy and low-cost way to build employee loyalty is to let them have more control in their job or work environment. Allow them to make decisions without managerial approval wherever possible or feasible. If the company holds a charity or social event, let the employees make decisions on its details. When employees have more control, they have more of a sense of ownership and a sense of loyalty to something they helped to create.

Foster two-way communication

Set up a plan complete with milestones for various teams or departments, and lay out clear expectations for employees to follow. After letting employees know what is expected of them, make sure you have a true open-door policy that invites workers to safely share their concerns and frustrations without fear of recrimination.

Regularly recognize performance

You may not be able to afford handing out bonus checks every time employees meet or exceed production goals, but that doesn’t mean their work should go unrecognized. Consistently and publicly reward good performers with everything from free food to workstation improvements. Rewards build loyalty in the people that receive them, and foster healthy competition within the workplace.

At Cornerstone, we understand that employee loyalty stats with having the right folks on the job. Simply drop us a line and we can get to work on connecting your company with highly qualified job candidates.