Loyalty in the Workplace

As I mentioned in my last blog the perceived talent level of the applicant pool has not risen much despite record unemployment.  This makes me wonder if companies are just jettisoning their dead weight. 

If so, why are they waiting until now?  It is pretty rare that a company does not know who the good employees are from the bad ones (if they don't know, they have a whole set of other issues).  I recognize that in a few rare cases, a bad employee can turn into a good employee with training, coaching, etc.  Those cases are rare though.  

I believe by removing the bad employees, it will actually help improve employee loyalty.  In most companies, there is a problem in consistently applying employee policies and the execution of the policies is a key driver of employee engagement.  What could be more inconsistent than treating bad employees the same as good employees by allowing them both to collect a paycheck (probably for similar amounts) while the good employee is probably carrying more of the load and giving the organization a better return on its investment.  This kind of behavior is common in organization and is a good way to get rid of the good employees and keep the bad ones.