DO YOU WANT YOUR EMPLOYEES TO LOVE YOUR COMPANY?

Do you actually want your associates to love the company?


I don't have the answer to that question.  
I know that I was and still am fond of the company I worked for the longest.

I must have been more than fond of it because:
I talked about it a great deal to people outside the company.
I thought about it when I wasn't at work.
I often sacrificed to give to it.
I could intuit its needs.
I was proud of it.
I wanted it to win. 
I wanted it to be healthy and worried when it wasn't.
Sounds like love to me.

And I am not that different from people who work in your company.  Many many people love their company.
Being asked to leave for a right sizing (there is no "right" word for this) is as disruptive as a divorce and just as jarring to self-esteem.
Seeing a company not live its value, as stated, is disappointing and upsetting.
Watching the erosion of trust is threatening.
People begin to learn to care less, love less.
And to leave. 
"The company's just not that into you."

That's when you begin to hear, "It's just business"-- code for "I'm going to hurt you and your loyalty but I'm not really the one doing it. Business is."

It's hard not to care for something you have given a lot of time and energy and caring.  Hard to be loyal and not love.

So it's not a cavalier question to ask, "Do you want your associates to love your company?"  Don't be blind to the fact that many do.  That's very valuable goodwill. 

But:
Would it be a good change to have people care less?
Would they work smarter and better--loyal to themselves but getting work for the company done?
Is loving your company an antiquated concept?
Can free agents be cohesive?
Can you get the x factor of performance without strong caring.
Can self interest run a company?

It's your call in many ways.  Do you want people to love your company?