Being loyal to a boss, what a mistake!

The risk of loyalty should only be treated as a good puppy… (Photo: James Barker for Unsplash)

Damn work! A segment where Oliver Schmouker answers your toughest questions [et les plus pertinentes] In the modern business world… and, of course, its quirks. An appointment to read On Tuesdays And this On Thursdays. Would you like to participate? Send us your question at [email protected]

K. – “I have been working in the same company for many years and I have never seen this before: young people pass away and you will never see them again! How did it come about? Can they find a better job elsewhere? Have they not harmed themselves by showing such lack of faith?” – Jacks

A. – Dear Jacques, It is clear that authenticity is a beautiful and noble quality. A sign that one is truthful, honest, and sincere. A faithful person honors his obligations and we can trust him without hesitation. He is a valued member of his team.

That said, one more question remains: Does being honest really pay off? Yes, is the one who shows faith rewarded in the end?

Matthew Stanley is a PhD student in Psychology and Neuroscience at the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, Durham, USA. Along with two other researchers, he asked several hundred managers to lend themselves to a small experiment: to distribute tasks among different teams according to hypothetical scenarios.

Naturally, this allowed us to uncover some fascinating things:

– More requests. An employee who is considered “loyal” to his employer is routinely asked to perform additional tasks. This is not the case of an employee who is considered to be “potentially unfaithful”.

– always more. A loyal employee accepts additional tasks and is asked to do more and more. “It’s a vicious circle,” the researchers note in their study.

– Zero reward. A loyal employee is someone who goes the extra mile for no reward. This is not the case of an employee who is considered to be “potentially unfaithful”.

“If you’re a loyal worker, you’re likely to be an exploited worker,” sums up Matthew Stanley and his team.

How to explain this phenomenon? Researchers have found that one characteristic of loyal people works against them at work: they are willing to make “personal sacrifices” for the cause of their loyalty. That is, they are willing to act in the interests of their employer, even if it “causes a personal cost”.

Managers, consciously or not, feel that a loyal employee is willing to take on more than others without demanding anything in return. Many of them have a reflex to jump at the chance.

Back to your question, Jack, what you think is not necessarily true. In fact, “potential betrayal” may even pay off, as managers tend to offer bonuses to employees for taking on additional duties. I don’t know the exact reason why so many young people leave your company, but we can assume it must be because they guess the grass is greener elsewhere.

By the way, the French dramatist Etienne Ray said in “De l’Amour de Stendhal”: “In faith there is laziness, fear, calculation, peace, weariness and sometimes credulity”.