Employee loyalty can be difficult to build and even more difficult to maintain. So how do company leaders ensure a sense of allegiance between themselves and the rest of their employees?
Trust. At four Los Angeles-based tech companies, the methods for practicing trust may be different, but they all agreed that employee loyalty begins with it.
Social impact company Enervee trusts employees to make their own decisions in the interest of the company. Digital marketing agency GR0 trusts employees to work through challenges and ask for support when needed. Healthtech software company SimplePractice trusts employees to do the best they can to get the job done. And consumer goods company MeUndies trusts employees to provide authentic feedback in order to improve processes.
To dig deeper into their methods, Built In LA connected with leaders from each of the above companies. They shared what their methods look like in action as well as the impact they’ve had on their respective companies.
SimplePractice is a management software platform for health and wellness professionals to manage their businesses. Co-Founder and CEO Howard Spector said that the key to developing loyalty with employees is trusting them to do their jobs. At SimplePractice, this means consistently giving employees support and recognition for their hard work as well as giving them permission to take risks to achieve lofty goals.
What is the key to developing employee loyalty, and what does this look like in action?
Like any relationship, employee loyalty has to be nurtured and maintained over time. Loyalty is built on trust and trust is conditional in a relationship — you don’t just get it blindly without giving it in return. At SimplePractice, this means giving our employees both the autonomy to make an impact and the connection and support systems to ensure that it’s clear that everything we do is part of a team effort. We’ve got a lot of high achievers here, but everyone is working toward a shared success. They trust that their efforts are recognized (because we are big on constant feedback loops) and they also know that they have permission to take risks in pursuit of lofty goals.
From day one, our people are told that we trust that they are doing the best they can, and in return, we not only get the best out of people — we have incredible employee loyalty to both our customers and our team.
What impact has employee loyalty had on your business over the years?
Our employee net promoter score is consistently in the 70s or higher, which is far higher than the industry average of 50. While we’re really proud of that score, it takes constant attention on our part. If we don’t listen to our employees, then we’re not listening to our customers, and that’s not a recipe for success. Our team knows that trust and support are behind them as long as they are putting in their best allows us to be a successful innovator and first-mover.
From day one, our people are told that we trust that they are doing the best they can.”
Our employees aren’t loyal just to SimplePractice. They’re loyal to their teammates, and most of all, they’re loyal to our customers, who they know help make the world a better place. Our employees do work with purpose, work that supports health and wellness professionals and ensures they have what they need to build a private practice and still have time for their own care.
GR0 is a digital marketing agency focused solely on helping direct-to-consumer startups grow organically online. Co-Founder and CEO Kevin Miller said that in order to develop loyalty, companies need to interact with their employees on a regular basis and be there for them, whether they’re doing a great job or need a little bit of help to push through.
What is the key to developing employee loyalty, and what does this look like in action?
Employees are the most valuable asset to a company. It’s our job as the leaders of GR0 to show our team how much we appreciate and support them, and want to help them become their best. And building that trust takes time.
This means doing weekly meetings where every employee gets to interact with the full leadership team, giving shoutouts to team members who have been crushing it silently behind the scenes, and providing them the resources to expand their knowledge of SEO. But it’s more than just praise when they’re doing well — when a team member is faltering, the first thing we ask is always, “Is everything OK?” followed by, “How can we help?” We want to make sure they know that we have their back in every situation.
At GR0, we truly believe that loyal, hardworking employees do absolute wonders to the success and future of a company.
What impact has employee loyalty had on your business over the years?
Employee loyalty has been extremely important to the success of GR0 in our first year as a business. In the last 12 months, the company has undergone many changes as we tried to gain our footing. Without the loyalty of our team members, who have stuck with us through these constant twists and turns, we wouldn’t have been able to flourish in the way we have. Our team went the extra mile investing in their work, dedicating their own time to our clients, innovating new ideas and workflows, and in general, always exceeding our expectations.
At GR0, we truly believe that loyal, hardworking employees do absolute wonders to the success and future of a company.”
The team has always gone above and beyond, with some even taking on extra roles and doing basically two jobs at once, or building whole systems into existence to enhance our workflows.
We’re lucky to have employees that were loyal and believed in GR0 from the very beginning.
Enervee is a social impact company that aims to reduce consumers’ energy consumption by empowering them to choose the most efficient and energy-saving products. The company builds employee loyalty in a number of ways including encouraging transparency and open communication, and trusting team members to make their own decisions, VP of Finance and People Roopali Mehta said.
What is the key to developing employee loyalty, and what does this look like in action?
Enervee is a mission-driven company and this, in large part, has brought together a group of people that are truly passionate about being part of this mission and driving us forward. We are using business to help solve a huge problem our planet is currently facing. Energy consumption is by far the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions and we are empowering consumers to make more efficient choices when making purchases.
Our mission has fostered a culture of collaboration, innovation and inclusion, and I think this really resonates with employees. We believe that transparency, open communication, a focus on building a long-term, sustainable business model, and trusting the team to make decisions that are in the best interest of the company, are all critical for building employee loyalty.
We are all collectively invested in the success of our mission and we recognize this and offer every employee equity in the company as well as above par health and retirement plan benefits. It also helps to think of the small things that can make a difference. When we moved to working remotely and could not offer office catered lunches anymore, we set up a meal delivery service for our employees.
Our mission has fostered a culture of collaboration, innovation and inclusion, and I think this really resonates with employees.”
What impact has employee loyalty had on your business over the years?
Over 30 percent of our employee base have been with us for five years or more and the shared knowledge and experience they bring to the team is invaluable. Our employee attrition, in general, has been below the average seen for the tech industry. Experiencing how everyone across teams comes together to solve challenges and help scale our mission is truly motivating.
MeUndies is a direct-to-consumer underwear and loungewear brand. In order to develop and foster employee loyalty, the company uses team feedback to implement and improve new initiatives. People Operations Manager Bree Garcia said using team feedback has led them to implement learning and development programs, diversity and equity initiatives, career laddering and more.
What is the key to developing employee loyalty, and what does this look like in action?
At MeUndies, it’s important to us to constantly invite feedback from our team to help inform the work we do. In order to cultivate employee loyalty, we have to be willing to listen to our people. In practice, this means giving our team multiple avenues to share their ideas and opinions with our people team — whether that be via tools or by way of a conversation. The work we do is largely dictated by the wants and needs of our broader team — from new initiatives, policies, and procedures, to how we recruit and handle company perks.
Demonstrating action based on the team’s feedback helps to relay the message that we genuinely appreciate what our team has to say. Not only does this create trust, but the team is more likely to speak up when they see action being taken.
By investing in the development of our team, our employees have undoubtedly become our most impactful retention tool.”
Most recently, we’ve used team feedback to implement or improve our learning and development programming, diversity and equity initiatives, best practice guidelines for meetings, and career laddering to help illustrate the growth trajectory and expectations for each individual at MeUndies, and so much more.
Listening to our team’s needs instead of assuming them has proven to be a successful avenue for employee loyalty.
What impact has employee loyalty had on your business over the years?
By investing in the development of our team, our employees have undoubtedly become our most impactful retention tool at MeUndies. They hold each other accountable and lift each other up so that we are constantly growing together. Because of the loyal employees we have in place, we’ve been able to build the business that we have over the years.
Additionally, we prioritize creating a space where employees feel fulfilled both personally and professionally, which means celebrating every type of win is an important part of the MeUndies DNA.
