What's Your Loyalty Quotient?

If you're the boss, you should be concerned with your Loyalty Quotient (LQ). Your LQ reflects how dedicated your staff is to you. Since most people don't leave companies, they leave bosses; your LQ will make the difference between having a motivated and dedicated staff and having a group of employees who keep their resumes dusted off at all times. Your goal should be to build solid relationships with your employees based on mutual trust and respect. They don't have to love you, but they do need to feel like you're fair, competent and supportive.

The higher your LQ, the more likely you will have high achievers who are willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. On the other hand, if you have a low LQ, your employees may do the minimum to get by, exhibit low morale or demonstrate mediocre job performance.

So what's your LQ? Take this quick LQ Quiz to see where you need to improve. Answer yes or no to the following statements:

1. I know ALL the names of my staff's immediate families.

2. My employees look for and volunteer for additional responsibilities on a regular basis.

3. Besides money, I know what motivates each of my employees the most.

4. I know the short and long-term career aspirations of each of my staff.

5. I recognize specific accomplishments of my staff every week.

If you answered "no" to any of the above statements, your LQ is not as high as it could be. Take specific steps to address immediately.

Will Turner is the Founder and President of Dancing Elephants Achievement Group, a sales training and consulting company. Will has over 20 years of sales and sales management experience and is the author of over 150 sales-related articles and programs as well as the co-author of the book, Six Secrets of Sales Magnets. Will is an expert on sales management training and can be reached at Will@dancingelephants.net.