INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT 0976 International Journal of Management (IJM), ISSN 0976 6502(Print), ISSN (IJM) 6510(Online), Volume

me 3, Issue 2, May-August (2012) ISSN 0976 6367(Print) ISSN 0976 6375(Online) Volume 3, Issue 2, May- August (2012), pp. 171-176 IAEME: www.iaeme.com/ijm.html Journal Impact Factor (2012): 3.5420 (Calculated by GISI) www.jifactor.com

IJM

IAEME

EMPLOYEE PERCEPTION TOWARDS TALENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES - AN EMPIRICAL STUDY WITH REFERENCE TO SOFTWARE COMPANIES IN CHENNAI CITY
1

Maya .M and 2Dr. R. Thamilselvan Research Scholar, Dept. of Management Studies, Sathyabama University, Chennai. 2 Research Guide, Sathyabama University, Chennai. Email: mayavadivelan@gmail.com

ABSTRACT People are the greatest asset of software companies around the world. Retaining key potentials in this hyper competitive Indian business environment is the crucial challenge faced by HR managers in Information Technology sector. This paper makes an attempt to study the employee perception towards talent management strategies among Software Developers working in IT companies in Chennai city. To measure the employee perception, talent management strategies such as Alternative Work Schedule (AWS), Wellness Programs, Mentoring/Coaching, Job Rotation and New Assignments, Rewards and recognition system, Employee Suggestion Program, Training opportunities - job related& Personal Development, Employee Engagement Program, Retention bonus / scheme, Share Option (Esop) were taken for the study and compared with the demographic variables such as gender, age, experience, income & designation. Descriptive statistics of the demographic variables of the respondents are tabulated. To measure the significant association among Demographic variable and Talent Management strategies chi-square test was employed. Keywords: Talent management, strategies, demographic variables, software developers, Chennai INTRODUCTION Highest employee retention is one of the important attractive qualities a new prospect looks for before selecting a company for a position. A study conducted by Forbes indicates around 85% of the organization was in the view that employee left the company

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International Journal of Management (IJM), ISSN 0976 6502(Print), ISSN 0976 6510(Online), Volume 3, Issue 2, May-August (2012)

due to wanting more money; but the exit review result showed 80% of the employees stated that they left for reasons due to poor management of dysfunctional company culture. At each level employees have different needs. Employees look for attention, interaction, clear direction, good salary & increment structure, development opportunities, trust, good peer group relationship in their work environment. This gives the employees even more reason to stick with their organization. This is a critical issue which needs immediate attention by the employers. Retaining talent should not be viewed as an expense but it is an investment. The solution for this challenge is the implementation of simple strategic talent management strategy in the organizations. METHODOLOGY The study was conducted in various software development companies in Chennai city. 80 respondents were selected on a simple random basis for the survey. These respondents were employees working in IT companies situated within Chennai city. The respondents were asked to give their opinion on the talent management strategies practiced in their organisation currently. This helps to have a birds eye view on the different perception level on talent management strategies based on their demographic variables. Descriptive research design was employed for the study. Employee feedback was collected using a structured questionnaire. Simple random sampling technique was used to select the sample for the survey.Data were analyzed and interpreted using various statistical tools. Descriptive analysis was done on the demographic variables of the respondent. To measure the significant association among demographic variable (viz. gender, age, income, experience, designation) and Talent Management strategies (viz. Alternative Work Schedule (AWS), Wellness Programs, Mentoring/Coaching, Job Rotation and New Assignments, Rewards and recognition system, Employee Suggestion Program, Training opportunities - job related& Personal Development, Employee Engagement Program, Retention bonus / scheme, Share Option (Esop) ) chi-square test was done. The study was carried out to reach the objective of finding the employee perception towards talent management strategies among employees in IT sector and to identify the employee difference in opinion on the talent management strategies. Employee perception on talent management strategies based on demographic variables The significant association of respondents demographic variables on talent management strategies was analyzed using Chi-square test. Employee perception on these strategies was measured with the help of the hypothesis, which was tested at 5% significance level; H : Respondent demographic variables have no significant association with talent management strategies. H : Respondent demographic variables had significant association with talent management strategies.

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International Journal of Management (IJM), ISSN 0976 6502(Print), ISSN 0976 6510(Online), Volume 3, Issue 2, May-August (2012)

Table 1: Chi-square Table Depicting Association of Demographic Variables with Talent Management strategies
Variables Alternative Work Schedule (AWS) Wellness Programs Mentoring/Coaching Job Rotation and New Assignments Rewards and recognition system Employee Suggestion Program Training opportunities - job related& Personal Development Employee Engagement Program Retention bonus / scheme Share Option (Esop)

Gender 28.32 (P value =0.005) 9.745 6.177 9.654 16.13 12.168 14.564 18.127 25.975 27.257

Age 13.29 5.896 17.071 29.569 (P value=0.095) 15.982 18.152 17.532 18.887 11.933 34.451

Income 13.14 10.218 17.214 12.13 22.228 (P value=0.033) 28.567 6.291 9.436 16.832 19.436

Experience 23.65 19.12 23.45 15.321 27.642 12.745 27.627 7.365 9.144 26.133 (P value=0.090)

Designation 13.34 8.651 17.951 16.913 28.325 15.162 10.435 23.421 31.95 (P value= 0.001) 19.247

Chi-square test revealed that all the demographic variables showed significant association with any one of the talent management strategies. Gender of the respondents showed significant association with Alternative work schedule strategy (P value = 0.005). Age of the respondents was associated with Job rotation & New assignment strategies (P value = 0.095. Respondents Income showed a significant association with talent management strategy such as Reward & Recognition system (P value = 0.033). Experience of the respondents had significant association with Share option strategy (P value = 0.090). Demographic variable such as designation showed a significant association with retention bonus scheme (P = 0.001). Table 2: Descriptive Analysis Respondents demographic variables
Item
Male

Frequency
56 24 80 Female Total 20-30 yrs 31-40 yrs

Percentage
70 30 100 40 33.75 12.5 13.75 100

Valid percentage
70 30 100 40 33.75 12.5 13.75 100

Gender

Age

41-50 yrs 51-60 yrs Total

32 27 10 11
80

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International Journal of Management (IJM), ISSN 0976 6502(Print), ISSN 0976 6510(Online), Volume 3, Issue 2, May-August (2012)
<3 Lakh 3-5 Lakhs

Income

5-7 Lakhs >7 Lakhs Total

2 58 14 6
80

2.5 72.5 17.5 7.5 100 31.25 51.25 12.5 5 0 100 21.25 26.25 22.5 16.25 6.25 7.5 100

2.5 72.5 17.5 7.5 100 31.25 51.25 12.5 5 0 100 21.25 26.25 22.5 16.25 6.25 7.5 100

Experience

0 -5 yrs 6-10 yrs 11 - 15 yrs 16 - 20 yrs above 20 yrs

Total Associate Sr. Associate Team leader

25 41 10 4 0
80

Designation

Project Leader Project manager Hr manager Total

17 21 18 13 5 6
80

Table 2 show that 70% of the respondents are male. Majority of the respondents are of the age-group 20-30yrs(40%) followed by the age-group of 31- 40years (33.75%). Income group of the majority of the respondents falls under 3 5 lakhs per annum (58%). 26% of respondents ar in the Senior associate level, next comes team leaders level with 22.5% followed by Associates level which carries 21.25%. Majority of the respondents are with experience between 6 10yrs (51.25%), then followed by 0 -5 years (31.25%) of experience. No respondent has got above 20years of experience. Employee perception on Talent Management Strategies in Software companies Different strategies are followed by each IT organisation based on the specific needs and circumstance. Ten strategies which are practiced commonly in IT organisations in Chennai were identified and used for analyzing the preference level of the employees. The respondents were asked to rate their opinion these strategies on a 5 point scale. Score 1 was assigned to the opinion very important,2 to Important, 3 to Neutral, 4 tonot very important, and 5 to not at all important.Based on the ranks assigned mean score and thecorresponding standard deviation were calculated and thefindings for the same are presented below in table 2

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International Journal of Management (IJM), ISSN 0976 6502(Print), ISSN 0976 6510(Online), Volume 3, Issue 2, May-August (2012)

Table 3 Talent management strategies preferred by software employees in Chennai

Talent Management Strategies Alternative Work Schedule (AWS) Wellness Programs Mentoring/Coaching Job Rotation and New Assignments Rewards and recognition system Employee Suggestion Program Training opportunities - job related& Personal Development Employee Engagement Program Retention bonus / scheme Share Option (Esop) Mean 4.467 3.045 3.98 2.89 3.64 3.98 3.467 4.38 2.64 2.785 SD 0.011 0.696 0.032 1.989 1.154 0.032 1.139 0.001 0.378 0.044 Rank
8 7
9

4 1
9

5 3 2 10

Table 3 reveals that Alternative Work Schedule (AWS), Employee Engagement Program, Mentoring/Coaching,Rewards and recognition system were having higher mean scores amongst other strategies. Strategies such as Training job related & personal development, wellness program, employee suggestion scheme and share option scheme received moderate mean values. Low mean scores were given to job rotation and new assignment, retention bonus strategies. Further the respondents has ranked, Rewards & Recognition system, retention bonus, employee engagement program, Job rotation & new assignment and Training job related & personal development were identified as the most required strategy for retention in IT companies. CONCLUSION A tailor made talent management is the need of the hour for IT organizations to address the developmental needs of talents ,new ways of looking at more into the personal problems and needs of the employees. In a labour intensive country like India, organisations should keep in mind, the enormous untapped potential. For a people based industry like IT sector leveraging and tapping potential would be crucial for achieving organisational excellence. The present study exhibits employee perception on talent management strategy based on various demographic variables. Alternative Work Schedule (AWS), Employee Engagement Program, Mentoring/Coaching,Rewards and recognition system received highest mean score among all other strategies. Based on the Respondents ranked Rewards & Recognition system, retention bonus, employee engagement program, Job rotation & new assignment and Training job related & personal development were identified as the most required strategy for retention in IT companies. The hypothesis Respondent demographic variables had significant association with talent management strategies was accepted based on the chi-square test result. Strategies such as Wellness Programs, Mentoring/Coaching, Employee Suggestion Program Training opportunities - job related& Personal Development, Employee

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International Journal of Management (IJM), ISSN 0976 6502(Print), ISSN 0976 6510(Online), Volume 3, Issue 2, May-August (2012)

Engagement Program do not show significant association with any of the demographic variables. Alternative Work Schedule (AWS),Job Rotation and New Assignments, Rewards and recognition system, Retention bonus / scheme, Share Option (Esop) were identified as the most perceived strategies by employees in IT companies. REFERENCES 1. Aston, C., and Morton, L. (2005). Managing talent for competitive advantage. Strategic HR Review, 4(5), 2831. 2. Bhatnagar, J. (2004). New dimensions of strategic HRM: HRIS managed talent management and application of HR Six Sigma. In Padaki, R., Agrawal, N.M., Balaji, C., Mahapatra, G. (Eds), Emerging Asia: An HR Agenda, New Delhi:Tata McGraw-Hill. 3. Boudreau, J.W., & Ramstad, P. M. (2005). Talentship and the new paradigm for human resource management: From professional practice to strategic talent decision science. Human Resource Planning, 28(2), 1726. 4. Erickson, T.J. &Gratton, L. (2007). What it means to work here. Harvard Business Review, 85(3), 104. 5. http://EzineArticles.com/689120 6. Powell, M &Lubitsh, G. (2007). Courage in the face of extraordinary talent: Why talent management has become a leadership issue. Strategic HR Review. 6(5), 2427.

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