Loyalty and the work place.

Loyalty is difficult to find and harder to hold onto. If you have employees that have become loyal to you and your studio, stand by them. Talk to them, engage them in whatever way you can.

Show them they matter.

Keep them loyal.

Nothing can help your studio more than an employee that touts its successes and praises you as a boss.

On the flip side of this lies a lethal poison. If we don't show them that we are worthy of their loyalty and hard work, they will turn sour and eventually leave us. Now the tale they tell of us becomes venomous. "They were worked too hard and never really felt appreciated."

Most employees, good and bad, do leave us but keeping the great ones within in our good graces is an important part of being good employers.

We have all had the bad apples, the laze abouts, the truly tardy, the Forgetful Freds and Chatty Cathys. These are easy to come by and just as easy to let go. That is why it is so important to hold tight to those employees that have shown themselves to be so loyal. That loyalty means that they care about your business. They want you to succeed and they want to be part of that success.

Could we hope for more?

Scales of employment

Employing people is difficult, no doubt about it. Though employing chimpanzees now that would be a challenge. So let's ask ourselves if employing chimpanzees might be worth it in the long run. Let's do a pros and cons list.

Pro- They work for bananas and playtime.
Con- They play much more than they work.

Pro- They are make us laugh and enjoy a good wrestle now and then.
Con- They have the strength of 5 men and bite.

Pro- They can be trained to do the exact things you ask.
Con- They also throw feces.

So you see employing Chimps, though entertaining, may not be in our best interest.

Let's apply this to our current employee hiring practices. It is important to weigh the pros and cons of keeping someone in your employ. They may be very good with the customers but if their work in other areas is costing you money you must weigh whether the positives are enough to keep them under your hire. What if they are great at doing all the things you ask but seem to have no people skills? Again can the risk of them upsetting a customer be outweighed by their diligence in other areas? Only your scales will answer these questions.

Keep in mind, if you spend more time worrying about one employee than you do all the rest of your staff, I think your scales have tipped.