The old “employment contract” is gone, and employees aren’t
guaranteed lifetime employment anymore.  They are responsible for
managing their careers.  As a leader, it is a good business
strategy to help them. Helping your staff in unconventional ways
builds trust and loyalty and makes for wiser, more efficient team
members.  Here are some strategies to help you cultivate trust and
loyalty.

-Have a “Reading Meeting”. Assign each of your staff a different
industry-related trade publication.  Once a week, get your team
together and ask employees to relate any interesting stories,
trends, or products they discovered in their reading.

-Provide in-house seminars.  Staff members can benefit from
learning how a business is run:  basic accounting skills, financial
forecasting, budgeting, and so on.  Use the experts in your company
as resources to conduct the seminars.

-Be a “mentor headhunter”.  You can’t mentor everyone; but you can
help your staff find mentors either within the company or through
other networks.  Use your influence and standing to reach out to
other business leaders.
 
Take action, remember, you get what you focus on.  When you focus
on cultivating trust and loyalty you will reap the rewards.

Until next time,
Stephanie
 

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