Me, I'd worry about the person whose most loyal employees were bad. It would mean they don't provide the kind of workplace where good employees stick around. The number one reason people leave jobs: they don't like their boss.
There are a lot of technically brilliant people who aren't looking to move for a 10% pay rise (unless they are grossly underpaid - sheesh, don't underpay your people). Great people will stay for a good boss (see above), a happy environment, a degree of creative freedom, opportunity to work independently, the chance to extend their skills, etc etc.
It's true that bad employees generally don't quit, though.
[Edit: Don't believe me? Ask Pixar what their staff turnover rate is. Is Pixar full of bad employees? Methinks not.]
i wouldn't consider that to be a rule of thumb, but it is definitely something worth mulling over as an employer.
i know a good number of employees who were extremely loyal not because they were bad, but because they had been with a company for so long that their skillset had narrowed from deterioration down to exactly what their job was, and they were very good at it.
Of course, not a rule of thumb. I guess loyalty comes in many flavors. Loyal good employees with not so aggressive career ambition is probably one of the good flavors for an employer. It is the loyal bad employees flavor one needs to watch out for.
I somewhat take issue with the re-wording, if only because I equate loyalty to so much more than 'sticking around'.
The statement, "bad employees don't quit" holds more water than "bad employees are more loyal." If they were more loyal, their loyalty would offset their badness, generally speaking. It's possible to have an imcompetent employee who tries really hard, but generally, the 'bad' employees are the ones who could do better, but who aren't loyal to the work, loyal to the customers, or loyal to a work ethic.
I don't know if that's what the other responder meant, but the rewording you put makes it slightly less accurate, though I definitely agree with the sentiment.
There are a lot of technically brilliant people who aren't looking to move for a 10% pay rise (unless they are grossly underpaid - sheesh, don't underpay your people). Great people will stay for a good boss (see above), a happy environment, a degree of creative freedom, opportunity to work independently, the chance to extend their skills, etc etc.
It's true that bad employees generally don't quit, though.
[Edit: Don't believe me? Ask Pixar what their staff turnover rate is. Is Pixar full of bad employees? Methinks not.]