Applying The Acid Test

In Loyalty Rules! How Today's Leaders Build Lasting Relationships (Harvard School Business Press, 2001), author Frederick Reichheld presents an acid test in the form of a survey companies can use to measure the level of loyalty among employees. The survey (one for employees, another for customers) can be downloaded at http://www.LoyaltyRu.... Reichheld enlisted the following loyalty leaders to beta-test his survey: Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Harley-Davidson, Intuit, L.L. Bean, Northwestern Mutual, sas, usaa and The Vanguard Group. Results from employees at these companies have been used to develop the following benchmarks:

- I believe this organization deserves my loyalty: 74 percent

- I believe this organization is committed to win/win solutions and will not profit at the expense of partners or customers: 72 percent

- I believe this organization attracts and retains outstanding employees and partners: 62 percent

- Employee loyalty is appropriately valued and rewarded at this organization: 55 percent

- The company communicates openly and honestly: 60 percent

- I trust leaders to behave with fairness and integrity: 70 percent

Impact of Leadership Integrity

Leadership integrity and employee loyalty go hand-in-hand, according to the survey. For example, 65 percent of employees who agree that their senior leaders have high integrity also agree that the organization deserves their loyalty. Conversely, just 9 percent of employees who agree that their senior leaders have high integrity disagree that the organization deserves their loyalty.

Source: Loyalty Rules! How Today's Leaders Build Lasting Relationships, http://www.LoyaltyRu... (Note: these figures exclude "neither agree nor disagree" responses.) —E.K.