506. Expert Interview: Employee Loyalty Isn't Dead–It Just Looks Different, with Lee Caraher

Lee Caraher

Lee Caraher is the author of “Millennials & Management,” a book based on her experience with failing, and then succeeding, at retaining Millennials. Lee Caraher is the CEO of Double Forte PR & Digital Marketing and is known for her practical solutions to big problems. Her most recent book, “The Boomerang Principle,” was published in April 2017.

Employee Loyalty Isn't Dead–It Just Looks Different

After the release of her book, “Millennials and Management,” many Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers would ask Lee Caraher, “”Why are millennials so not loyal? These people are dead to me after they leave. Why should I spend any time on them?” I knew I had to disabuse them of that thought! I would tell them employee loyalty is not dead, it just looks different. We need to think differently about branding: how we brand our companies and how millennials are branding themselves, developing their own personal brand.

Why Is This Important?

“We’re at the cusp of a big change in terms of the employer brand, a focus on being a great place to work—with ping pong tables and perks. We are finding more and more that the more you stuff into that package of perks, the less people actually want them. The more important thing is to become a talent brand, not an employer brand. It’s a bit of a nuance. When you are a talent brand, you’re a place where great people work.”

What Are the Key Lessons Learned Here?

“We need to be thinking about employee loyalty, not only during tenure when you’re paying them. Is that really loyalty when they are getting paid for it? If we focus on lifetime employee loyalty—regardless of whether or not we are paying them—then we are building companies that have tremendous sustainability, that have a much easier time in the workforce. if you are a talent brand, where only the greatest people work, it’s much easier to recruit. What you’re doing is getting the people, and particularly the millennials, who know they have to create their own personal brand today in order to have a career over a full lifetime.”