LOYALTY IN THE AGE OF DOWNSIZING

Companies appreciate loyal employees because they are highly committed and reliable, further organizational goals, and are unlikely to seek jobs elsewhere. But, as companies downsize and restructure, managers a re becoming more loyal to their careers than to their employers. In re search beginning in 1989, Stroh and Reilly found that loyalty is dimin ishing, but that managers who are free agents or take responsibility f or managing their own careers are more loyal to their new employers th an they were : to their former employers. Many managers who left their employers in 1983 recognized that better career opportunities were av ailable outside their industries. They also saw their organizations as less political than those in which they worked in 1989. The managers who stayed with the same organization were significantly less loyal an d perceived few career opportunities in their organizations. The attit udes of those who stayed with their 1983 organizations became less fav orable relative to those who found new jobs elsewhere. Stroh and Reill y's conclusions: 1. Managers who are free agents fare better than thos e who are not. 2. Women managers are particularly sensitive to a perce ived supportive corporate climate. 3. Maintaining a strong employer-ma nager relationship is essential. A manager who is willing to risk chan ging employers in order to further career development may contribute a s much or more to a new employer as a long-term manager. And companies must meet employees' needs for career development and growth.