Being a lifelong Chelsea fan and being at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon, I was one of over 40,000 people there to celebrate the loyalty of a player who has given his life to a club since the age of 14! I came across this article and although it mentioned in the opening paragraph that ‘Companies are not football teams’, surely there are similar foundations when creating loyalty between an employee and employer as with those of a player and club?
First of all when reading the article it suggests there are always two sides to any relationship and both have to take responsibility. The job market has seen a dramatic decrease in employer loyalty which is very similar to that of football and a players loyalty to a club. The article then focuses on viewing from an employee (or player) perspective, what do you need to be loyal? There are four conclusions:
- Emotional investment
- Purpose
- Familiarity
- MONEY!
Having watched back the interview John Terry gave post-match and some of the many interviews he had given leading up to his final game at Stamford Bridge, it was clear that these points were all key factors that kept him loyal in an industry where individuals are renowned for not being! The commitment from a club at a young age to give him the opportunity to play (emotional investment), captain the side for over 10 years (purpose), same club for 22 years (familiarity) and a premier league footballer’s salary (money)!
So if you are on the job market, I feel there is plenty that we can take from John Terry’s career and loyalty, to focus on when deciding on your employer. Pick the right one and you could end up with 15 major honours!
Let’s be clear right from the off. Companies aren’t football teams. No matter how many emails internal communications send out talking about how the firm is one big family, it’s nothing of the sort. Your employees work there because they get something out of it, and when they get a better offer elsewhere, they’ll leave.
Read the original article here