The key to workplace loyalty

Keeping one’s employees loyal for decades is both rare and complex.

A Sandton-based furniture company, Bakos Brothers, appears to have the secret recipe.

Preshila Govind, who has worked for Bakos Brothers for 32 years said, “This place is my pride and joy. All of the knowledge that I have has been obtained at this company. I started here when I was 19 and had a limited knowledge of accounts. I now deal with all of the company’s creditors because of the insight that I have gained here.”

According to Nirvana Marini, a consultant who has an honours degree in industrial psychology, this level of loyalty is rare in the workplace for numerous reasons. She said, “It cannot be disputed that workplace loyalty has undoubtedly come under fire in recent years.

“We have, on the one hand, a rising millennial workforce that seeks instant gratification with respect to constant ongoing training and development opportunities, quick career promotions and competitive pay, and on the other hand, firms that have difficulty being able to fulfill all these variables to attract and retain the best and the brightest.”

She added that it was important for the employer to have his or her employees’ best interests at heart when making decisions.

Govind highlighted that one of the reasons why she had not found the need to leave the company was because she felt as though ‘the loyalty in this place is something quite special and we all respect and love each other’.

She added that she was not the only employee who had been working with the company for decades. A colleague, Josiah Khoza started working at Bakos Brothers in 1984, the same year that Govind started. He said he would never consider leaving his job because ‘my interests are always considered here and I feel respected’.

Govind concluded by saying, “I value my family and my culture and these values have always been respected [at the company]. This is why I have stayed in this same job when so many others cannot even last a year at one company.”