Recent statistics show that workers in their twenties change jobs every two years. The percentage of people now working as “free agents” is over 28 percent and growing each year. Free agents include contractors, independent professionals, temporary and part time workers, and freelancers. Another 17 percent of the work force express the desire to be a free agent. Speculation is that by the end of the decade, almost 50 percent of the workforce will be free agents. More workers want to be their own boss and have fewer restrictions on balancing their work and personal lives.



The free agent mentality in the emerging work force creates new challenges for management in attracting and retaining the talent needed to operate a business. This frustrates employers who associate people readily changing jobs with lack of loyalty. Many factors have caused this shift in attitudes and perspectives towards loyalty. One factor is simply the law of supply and demand. There is a shortage of skilled and capable talent to meet the current needs of business. Companies who want the top talent will have to be willing to pay for it. Many jobs have become like commodities—there is no differentiation in perceived working conditions, so people gravitate to the best paying position.

Another factor is that being with an organization is no longer viewed as a source of security. The rate of change in business and markets today have accelerated the need to downsize and reorganize. Working for an established company no longer is a guarantee of life time employment. Therefore, the concept of loyalty has changed. People are not loyal to companies or organizations—they are loyal to jobs which provide meaning and purpose. For example, a nurse can be highly loyal to the profession of nursing, but not loyal to a specific hospital. As long as the job provides meaning and purpose to the nurse, it is almost irrelevant where that purpose is achieved. Therefore, the nurse will seek the highest pay and best working conditions in order to achieve the purpose.

Finally, people who have entered the work force over the past ten years have a different perspective on the need to balance work and personal lives. The Baby Boomer generation is credited with creating the sixty hour work week and are viewed generally as “company people”. The newer generation of workers does not see things from this perspective. They are willing to be loyal when at the job, but they also divide their loyalties to other things as well.

Leaders who want to attract and retain talent need to rethink their attitude towards the meaning of commitment and loyalty. This means examining all aspects of compensation and work practices. Rigid polices may need to be replaced with flexible guidelines that balance the need for the business to succeed with the needs of the work force.

Companies cannot expect unlimited and unquestioned loyalty by its employees. Today's workers have multiple and competing loyalties. They may have families, outside interests, and career aspirations that all compete with the company for loyalty.

Loyalty to personal interests such as a career and loyalty to the company do not have to be mutually exclusive. Here are a a few suggestions based on an article by Linda Hill, Professor of Business Administration at Harvard University:

1. Align career growth with company goals. Find ways to increase the capability of people that help them I their career growth while at the same time help the company to achieve its strategic goals. Develop a process to define each person's strengths and how to best leverage those talents for the companies benefit.

2. Design work with variety and autonomy. Freedom to make decisions and make mistakes creates extensive loyalty according to experts. Allowing people to take ownership gives people the opportunity to show what they can do.

3. Focus on relationships. As I have said in other articles and writings, the most important relationship is the one between boss and subordinate. Most of the feelings that an employee has about a company comes down to the relationship that he or she has with their immediate supervisor.

According to business writer John Putzier, the number one reason that people leave an organization is not pay or benefits—it is the day-to-day relationship with their immediate supervisor. Supervisors must begin by clarifying expectations and providing the resources required to meet those expectations.

4. Highlight the link between employees' values and the company's mission. In the past, the implied lifetime employment contract was the primary way to build employee loyalty. However, it is not the only way. Emphasizing a company's purpose creates loyalty when employees can identify with that purpose. The purpose is not making money, but rather is built around the value that the products or services provided by the company creates.

Companies are not longer a source of security, but rather a source of identity. Companies whose practiced values and image are aligned with the values of its people have the greatest chance of having higher levels of loyalty. These higher levels of loyalty translate into higher productivity, lower turnover, and happier customers.