I see so many people complaining about managers and owners that don't treat them right. I'm kind of tooting my own horn here, but I wanted to share my experiences with building employee loyalty, not to the company, but to you as a leader.
I've been in many managerial roles in my short 35 years of life and I have to say that I have had some of the happiest and most loyal employees ever. The way I accomplished this is simple, I treat employees like people and individuals, not as expendable company assets. Some examples follow:
I make sure that I am the one that picks up the slack if we're short-handed due to sickness. I don't bother someone on their day off, I go in or stay late to cover that gap.
If they are having a bad interaction with a client, I step in and backup/support/defend my employees. I will never let a customer/client disrespect my employees. I'd rather lose a one time $100 ticket and risk a bad review because I refused service than have an employee that just had someone scream at them for something completely out of everyone's control feel like they are less than human.
I will also send someone home, without them asking, if I can see something isn't right with them(literally saved my front desks marriage because of this). If they can't afford to take that time off because they're out of PTO(or just don't want to use it) I pay their days wages out of my own pocket and make sure they are not worried about losing that money alongside whatever they were stressing over. (I'm sure I've paid at least 5k over the years so employees don't have to worry about meals or bills because I sent them home for a mental health day).
I also keep a full supply of snacks and drinks(out of my own pocket). As well as buying them lunches every week as a thank you. This isn't some generic “pizza time” thing, they take a vote and choose what they get. I pay for and drive to pick it up. I currently have an employee who was homeless until recently. The first week I did this with them it drove them to tears. They just got off the streets the last thing they need right now is worrying about meals. So I upped the quality of the snacks to include microwave dinners that they can eat throughout the week.
I never guilt someone that calls out sick(even if I know theyre not sick) into coming in, they need the day for a reason, it's their PTO to use however they want/need.
Simple things like this make a world of difference. I've been told by my current employees that I am the best manager they've ever had. The quality and quantity of work I receive for these small things is astonishing. Obviously these are what I do. If you can't afford to do the things that require money
TL;DR As a manager you do not work for the company, you work for your employees under your charge. Take care of them and you will be rewarded with loyalty beyond simply “I need a paycheck”. Employees first before profits, there are no profits without employees.