What Loyalty Means in Modern Workplaces (and What It Doesn’t) 

“If someone finds a better opportunity, you should be happy for them.” — Gary Vaynerchuk.  

It’s one of Gary Vee’s most human ideas, and one of the hardest to practice.  

If we truly believe business is relational, not transactional, what does loyalty even mean when people move on? Should we fight to keep them, wish them well, or reexamine what loyalty actually is?  

At Titus Talent Strategies, we talk often about building cultures of trust and ownership, but loyalty sits right at the intersection of those ideas; a word that sounds noble but can quietly distort how we see our people and ourselves. Loyalty: a word loaded with obligation, expectation, desire, and fortitude; a word that we hang our culture upon and measure both our performance and subsequent value against.  

• I can’t believe they let Bill go after 15 years. Yes, he ate other people’s lunches, but he was so loyal to the company.  

• After all the company did for Sarah, and she just up and left! (The company tripled her workload, forcing her to work weekends, and called it a promotion).    

• We’d just completed our fourth project for them and reduced the cost, and they chose another company?!  

• Thank you for choosing BIG INTERNET for the 19th year. We’ve raised your prices by $1000, but we are runninga promotion for new customers: free internet for the first five years, and the next 20 at $19.99. Your referral would mean a lot to us. Thank you for your loyalty.  

What is loyalty, what role does it play in the workplace, and are we all on the same page? If you’re seeking to build a successful culture, words matter, and how you define and outwork those words is even more critical. Maybe your retention issue isn’t people leaving, maybe it’s stagnation; people in need of a seat change or company change. Maybe, just maybe, loyalty isn’t the issue.  

1. The Shifting Definition of Loyalty  

Once upon a time, loyalty meant tenure. Stay long enough, and you are rewarded.  

Today, loyalty looks different. It’s measured in retention rates, turnover metrics, and employee engagement scores. But those are management metrics, not measures of mutual investment.  

Gary Vaynerchuk has said that reputation is the ultimate currency — everything else is secondary. If that’s true, then loyalty is the interest you earn on reputation. It’s what happens when relationships are built on trust, not obligation.  

The issue is, loyalty can’t be forced; it has to be earned and re-earned. And that’s where so many organizations (and people) lose the plot.  

2. Relationship vs. Retention  

Retention is the company’s lens. It asks, “How do we keep people from leaving?” It’s about minimizing risk, protecting investment, and maintaining stability.  

Relationship is the human lens. It asks, “Why would someone choose to stay?”  

It’s about trust, respect, and purpose.  

When loyalty is framed through the lens of retention alone, people become metrics. When it’s framed through a relationship, they become partners.  

Simon Sinek explains it this way: “In organizations that consistently outperform their competitors, the well-being of their people takes precedence.”  — Simon Sinek  

Retention keeps people in the company. Relationship keeps people engaged in the company. The healthiest organizations balance both — knowing when to grow together and when to let people move on with respect.  

3. Should We Even Be Talking About “Loyalty”?  

Here’s the uncomfortable question: Should we even be using the word “loyalty” in business at all?  

At its core, loyalty implies owing — a kind of emotional debt.  

• “I’ve been here this long, you owe me.”  

• “We invested in you; you owe us.”  

That kind of loyalty can become transactional and manipulative. It turns what should be a mutual commitment into a form of emotional bookkeeping.  

Sinek draws a key distinction: “Strong leaders earn loyalty. Weak leaders demand it.”  — Simon Sinek  

Loyalty that is demanded feels like pressure. Loyalty that’s earned feels like a partnership. True loyalty isn’t about owing, it’s about choosing. People don’t owe us their loyalty. They owe honesty, effort, and respect while they’re here. Companies don’t owe tenure; they owe clarity, care, and opportunity while people are part of their story.  

When we remove the “owing,” what remains is commitment. Commitment is active. It’s mutual. It says, “I’ll give my best while I’m here — and I’ll leave well if I go.” That’s the kind of loyalty worth talking about.  

4. The Tenured Employee’s Crossroads  

Then there’s the tenured employee, the one who has stayed. They’ve built, endured, and adapted, but over time, the culture shifts, the leadership changes, and they look around, wondering:  

• “I’ve been loyal. Where’s the loyalty back?”  

• “Why are new hires getting opportunities I’ve earned?”  

These moments are crucibles. They can either renew someone’s purpose or break their trust.  

For employees, there are three honest paths forward:  

1. Reinvent. Re-skill, re-engage, and reassert your value.  

2. Reclaim. Have transparent conversations about growth and recognition.  

3. Release. When the season is over, leave with grace; loyalty doesn’t mean stagnation.  

And for leaders:  

Are you rewarding tenure or contribution? Are you investing in your most seasoned people as deeply as your newest hires?  

5. Redefining Loyalty — The Titus Way  

At Titus, we believe loyalty isn’t about staying. It’s about showing up. It’s about how fully you engage, how transparently you communicate, and how purposefully you grow; together.  

Here’s how we think about it:  

a) Build reciprocity into culture  

Don’t demand loyalty; deserve it. Be there for people in the tough moments, not just the highlight reels.  

b) Communicate transparently  

Let people in on the “why.” Share decisions, trade-offs, and challenges.  

As Simon Sinek writes, “You can claim to care about your people … but the issue lies in the hierarchy of that list.” — Simon Sinek.  

c) Create growth paths for the tenured  

Don’t let experience become invisible. Give your long-term people stretch roles and fresh challenges.  

d) Normalize healthy exits  

If someone leaves, honor it. Celebrate it. Keep doors open. Gary Vee often says, “Kindness is strength.” Send people off with kindness. They’ll remember how you made them feel long after they’ve moved on.  

e) Recognize contributions, not just loyalty  

Sinek suggests a powerful phrase: “If it weren’t for you…”  

Those five words build a real connection. Use them often. 

6. Loyalty vs. Retention — At a Glance 

Dimension	Retention Lens	Relationship / Loyalty Lens
Focus	Keeping people in seats	Keeping people engaged
Metric	Turnover, tenure	Trust, advocacy, discretionary effort
Driver	Control, incentives	Autonomy, growth, alignment
Risk	Stagnation, quiet quitting	Occasional exits, deeper engagement
Outcome	Stability	Belief and belonging

7. Ending Where We Began: Loving the Move  

If someone finds a better opportunity, be happy for them. That doesn’t mean you failed; it means you succeeded in creating a culture where growth is normal, even if it sometimes leads elsewhere.  

“There is a big difference between repeat business and loyalty… Loyalty is when people are willing to turn down a better product or a better price to continue doing business with you.”  — Simon Sinek  

At Titus, that’s the kind of loyalty we believe in, not the kind you can measure in years or retention charts, but the kind that shows up in advocacy, trust, and legacy. Because when you invest in people as partners — not placeholders — loyalty becomes the byproduct, not the demand.  

The Wrap Up  

How does your organization define loyalty: by years served or by the trust earned? If you’re ready to build a culture where people stay for the right reasons, let’s talk. 
Connect with Titus Talent Strategies 

Additional resources:  

Crafting Career Paths that Inspire Your People  

The Power of Purposeful Leadership