There’s an undeniable connection between success and emotional attachment. Marketers know this, which is why you see so many commercials meant to manipulate your heartstrings. The point of these stirring advertisements is to engage consumers on a deeper level, and thus, create brand loyalty. It stands to reason that the same strategy can be applied to retaining and engaging your employees.

Studies by Dr. John Fleming of Gallup show that customer loyalty to a brand, product, person, or company, happens when a person who is satisfied with the subject makes an emotional connection. To take someone from point A (satisfied), to point B (loyal), a formula can be employed that focuses on what you deliver and how you deliver it. Jay Forte of REWORK explains this formula:

• If we don’t get it right, we create a dissatisfied customer. These customers don’t return.
• If we get it right (deliver the service or product as expected) then we create a satisfied customer. These customers may return.
• If we get it right and do something more (something that creates an emotional connection), then we create a loyal customer. These customers not only return, but they become brand evangelists.

Makes sense, right? Think for a moment of your favorite brands and ask yourself why you’re so loyal. According to this formula, you may be able to trace this “conversion” from satisfied to loyal when you experienced something more than what you expected of the brand.

Now apply this formula to employees who may be satisfied with their job, but perhaps not engaged, emotionally invested, or even loyal. If you’re looking to inspire such loyalty amongst your staff, then try delivering an aspect of their job that they’re satisfied about in a way that exceeds their expectations, thus making an emotional connection.

To give you an example of this, let’s consider the different ways your company can go about providing employees with technology--an aspect of the job that many workers care deeply about.

Not getting it right: When employees are given technology that’s slow or frequently breaks down, frustration mounts and they will perceive that management doesn’t care about their job performance (so why should they?).

Getting it right: The technology provided to employees works just fine and minimal downtime is experienced. The pain points associated with using subpar technology are alleviated, allowing workers to do their job to the best of their abilities. In a technology scenario such as this, employers and employees are satisfied, which produces good work--but not great work.

Getting it right and doing something more: Instead of just assigning an employee a workstation, you take the time to listen to their preferences when it comes to technology and do your best to accommodate. This could mean allowing employees to use their personal devices for work purposes, or even giving them the flexibility to work away from their desk or even remotely. By taking the extra effort to meet the needs of your employees, an emotional connection will be made and they’ll stick around longer and perform better.

When it comes down to it, most of the reasons employees leave are because managers don’t think proactively about what can be done to get them to stay. Similarly, the main reason why technology breaks down is because issues are not proactively taken care of--a need which Argentum IT can handle for you.

At Argentum IT, we don’t want to provide just satisfactory IT service, we want to exceed your expectations and make you happy. Tell us how we can do this by calling us today at (502) 473-6407.