Many of today's CEOs are celebrities rather than leaders, spokesmen rather than representatives.

Last month's article highlighted what I believe is happening in the real estate market and the economy at large and how these factors are affecting the real estate outsourcing business. The biggest change I see coming is change itself, and over the next few months, I'm going to tackle various subjects that I feel will help the corporate real estate professional prepare for the changes we face.

Key among these issues is worker loyalty: How to win it, keep it and embed it in your employees. We are all aware that the human growth process begins at the cellular level. Likewise, aging and decline begin at the cellular level. Moreover, diseases such as cancer take hold at the cellular level--especially during stages such as aging and decline. The reason I'm making these biological references is that I believe employee loyalty has eroded over the past 20 years for these very same reasons. Loyalty to me is and has always been a function of what is taking place at the most basic level in the organization. How then, to boost worker loyalty?

Think Short-Term Locally, Act Long-Term Globally.The root cause of eroding employee loyalty lies in planning. The planning cycles for most corporations have been accelerated down below five years and in most cases, two years or less. Obviously the rate of change in a competitive, globally expanding environment coupled with a myopic shareholder-value focus validates this short-term thinking. But as cycles got shorter, so did the tenure of many would-be loyal employees. The reason is that the company lost focus of the employees in favor of Wall Street investors. But ask yourself: Does only one of these groups qualify as a stakeholder?

Now, I'm not arguing against shorter planning cycles. What I am advocating is that these cycles should be considered and packaged as intermediate steps in a long-range plan, and employees should be wedded to that plan. If your employees can't see past the next cycle, they're not apt to stick around a whole lot longer than that.

Treat Individual Cells Like Organs. Management doesn't make the wheels turn, it can only navigate. The hardworking employees turn the wheels and thus must be considered the most valuable asset in the company. Many of today's CEOs are celebrities rather than leaders, spokesmen rather than representatives. In the post-Enron world, it leaves one to wonder if anything they say is true. But truth resides at the staff level. If employees are treated like owners, if what they say and do is rewarded and revered, then the system works. Give them a function, a purpose, a name and they will rise to the occasion. Treat them like just another cell, with function and purpose but no significance, and they are apt to succumb to cancer. And in this case, the cancer is one that destroys loyalty.

Do Not, I Mean Do, Disturb the Resident.I n the Wizard of Oz, the qualities each character wanted to possess were already resident within. Similarly, I think that most employees have an innate yearning to be loyal because deep down they are loyal; they just don't know it. But, I think an opportunity exists to embed the desire to be loyal in the least of these. The solution is simple: make it part of your company's vision. Top vision statement on our list? "To create an environment that attracts and retains the best talent in the industry." Draft it, craft it, then live it.

Do I Contradict Myself? Very Well, Then… As an outsourcer, I often take advantage of the loyalty issue because employee turnover, declining performance and loss of focus are key factors in many corporate real estate outsourcing decisions. You'd think that I would cheer on the loss of company loyalty but to be frank, it is a double-edged sword. Who wants to take on an account where the client can't keep its organization together? And what if I, as the service provider, have to install a new account manager every six months? The ideal situation is when my team, loyal to my company, integrates with your team loyal to yours. Only then will my team be capable of being loyal to both of us. Same is true of any service provider.

Next Month: Training – the best defense for changing times.

Based in Anaheim, CA, Vik Bangia ([email protected]) is a managing director in CB Richard Ellis' global corporate services organization.