SURVEYING FEMALE PROFESSIONALS IN INDIA TO

UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY ARE LOOKING FOR IN

TERMS OF RETENTION POLICIES AND COMPANY
OFFERINGS

By

Devangshi Saraf and Saikrupa Viswanathan

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements

for the Degree of Master of Business Administration – Human
Resources

2018
 DECLARATION

I, Devangshi Saraf hereby declare that this dissertation entitled ‘Surveying Female
Professionals in India to Understand What They Are Looking For In Terms Of Retention
Policies And Company Offerings’ is the outcome of my own study undertaken under the
guidance of Dr. Geeta D’Souza, SVKM”s NMIMS, Mumbai. It has not previously formed
the basis for the award of any degree, diploma or certificate of this or any other university. I
have duly acknowledged all the sources used by me in the preparation of this dissertation.

13/03/2018 [Signature of the student]

Devangshi Saraf

I, Saikrupa Viswanathan hereby declare that this dissertation entitled ‘Surveying Female
Professionals in India to Understand What They Are Looking For In Terms Of Retention
Policies And Company Offerings’ is the outcome of my own study undertaken under the
guidance of Dr. Geeta D’Souza, SVKM”s NMIMS, Mumbai. It has not previously formed
the basis for the award of any degree, diploma or certificate of this or any other university. I
have duly acknowledged all the sources used by me in the preparation of this dissertation.

13/03/2018 [Signature of the student]

Saikrupa Viswanathan

i
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the dissertation entitled ‘Surveying Female Professionals in India to
Understand What They Are Looking for In Terms Of Retention Policies and Company
Offerings’ is the record of the original work done by Devangshi Saraf and Saikrupa
Viswanathan under my guidance. The results of the research presented in this dissertation
have not previously formed the basis for the award of any degree, diploma or certificate of
this or any other university.

13/03/2018 [Signature of the guide]

Dr. Geeta D’Souza

School of Business Management

SVKM’s NMIMS

ii
 PREFACE

Globalization has given a chance to a more diverse workforce and has acknowledged
diversity as a fundamental, essential part of empowerment. As the work environment changes
because of globalization, as a result of globalization, diversity and technology, these
strategies must be strategically accommodated by the organizational leaders. These leaders
need to proactively keep their organizations competitive in the long run and not simply as
survivors in an era of such a cut throat competition. This article discusses how important it is
to understand how to retain women in the workforce thereby contributing to the
organizational success. Women at different life stages face different challenges.

Women in junior roles face different challenges as they are going through changes on their
personal front too. The various challenges are:

 Some roles are still considered unsuitable for girls

 Transition from campus to workplace
 Protected environment at home lead to lack of confidence in being assertive while
dealing with male managers
 Life changing events –marriage etc.
 Lack of aspirations and clarity with respect to career goals

Middle level women employees have lots of work at home after their workday ends. They
want to utilize all the opportunities opening up for them. The challenges faced by them are:

 Dual pressure due to work, both at home and work

 Joining work after maternity leave gets challenging leading to high risk of exit.
 Issues like child care, spouse relocation etc.
 Biased culture in India with respect to managing work and home both

Senior level women employees have achieved what they wanted to. They are financially
comfortable. They aspire to do something different that interests them. Challenges faced by
them are:

 Challenges on domestic front with old parents, husband being busy, adolescent
children.
 Change in priorities as they are financially sound. Health issues tend to occur
 They dislike repetitive work; hence it is challenging to motivate them.
 Lots of job opportunities available.

iii
  Lack of top team commitment for women leadership.

A common challenge for organizations is to retain women talent over a potential career span.
A difficult situation is being faced by companies. The concept of diversity is well
acknowledged by organizations but the different means deployed to achieve it are proving to
be ineffective. It is essential to examine the challenges in detail and explore strategies which
are currently being used successfully.

Mumbai Saikrupa Viswanathan

13/03/2018Devangshi Saraf

iv
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The completion of this task was not an easy one. Firstly, we thank the God Almighty for
giving us the strength to carry out this study.

The project was a result of commitment and combined efforts of many people to whom we
are heartedly indebted to thank. With a lot of sincere appreciation we are proud to
acknowledge our faculty mentor, Dr. Geeta D’Souza for providing us with her valuable
comments, advice, positive criticism, encouragement, and guidance throughout this study.

We would also like to express our gratitude to our respondents who took time to answer the
questions in the questionnaires. It was a great effort without which this study would have
been impossible.

Saikrupa Viswanathan

Devangshi Saraf

v
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Tech companies are in a constant battle to attract and retain diverse talent. Voluntary turnover
of well-trained and well adapted employees creates a vacuum. The organization ends up
losing key skills, knowledge and business relationships. There is a significant body of
research that proves the business case for diversity in workplace is irrefutable. This
competition has made retention tough. This study’s main focus is to understand women
employees’ perception with respect to the retention strategies employed by a sample of tech
companies and also to suggest recommendations to strengthen retention.

This study contains mainly 6 chapters. The first chapter introduces the topic and the
objectives are clearly outlined. It also covers any reviews of relevant literature which are
applicable and useful to this study. The second chapter covers research methodologies. The
population for the study was chosen from 10 companies. Primary research was carried out by
employing tools like face-to-face interviews, focus group discussions and telephonic
interviews using a structured questionnaire. This helped in the understanding of current
women retention practices in the organizations. Secondary research was also used to
understand existing practices in these companies. After this, the researcher focused on
perceptions of women employees with respect to effectiveness of the following areas, in one
of the tech organizations. These areas were effectiveness of onboarding, organizational
culture, performance management, career growth, training and development, workplace
satisfaction and recognition. The researcher added few open ended questions to understand
the perspective of the women respondents in various stages of the employee life cycle. This
helped in understanding which stage was the weak link and the expectations of these women
employees. The main reasons for the voluntary employee turnover using exit interview data
was also analyzed after this step.

The third chapter is based on data analysis. The collated data was analyzed using non -
statistical data methods. Descriptive analysis using pie-charts was used to understand the
attributes of the data. In chapter 4, results indicate clearly that women want improvements
made to these stages-effectiveness of onboarding, training and development process,
performance management, recognition and workplace satisfaction. After qualitative gap
analysis of employee expectations and reality, the researcher recommends retention practices
in two of the above identified problem areas. This study concludes with the significance of
women employee retention strategies in tech organizations. It has brought to light, some
imperative insights into the applicability of strategies for the effective retention of women

vi
employees. New women employee retention strategies should be drafted, after analyzing the
effect it creates on retention.

vii
Contents
CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1
1.1 TOPIC ............................................................................................................................................. 1
1.2 BACKGROUND STUDY ................................................................................................................... 1
1.3 LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................................................... 2
1.4 COMPANY PROFILE ....................................................................................................................... 7
1.5 RESEARCH GAP AND RATIONALE OF THE STUDY .......................................................................... 8
1.6 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY ........................................................................................................... 8
1.7 ETHICS AND VALUES INVOLVED IN THE STUDY ............................................................................ 9
CHAPTER II- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................... 10
2.1 RESEARCH QUESTIONS................................................................................................................ 10
2.2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................... 10
2.3 RESEARCH DESIGN ...................................................................................................................... 10
2.3.1METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................................ 10
2.3.2 RESEARCH SITE ......................................................................................................................... 11
2.3.3 RESPONDENTS FOR THE STUDY ............................................................................................... 11
2.3.4 DATA COLLECTION METHODS.................................................................................................. 11
2.3.5 TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES FOR DATA ANALYSIS ....................................................................... 12
CHAPTER III – RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ......................................................................................... 13
3.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 13
3.2 DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS ............................................................................................ 13
Chapter IV – CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTITIONERS AND RESEARCHERS ........... 19
4.1 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................... 19
4.2 RECOMMENDATION ................................................................................................................... 20
APPENDIX .......................................................................................................................................... 21
REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................................... 29
AUTHORS PROFILE ............................................................................................................................ 31

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ix
 CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION

1.1 TOPIC

Surveying Female Professionals in India to Understand What They Are Looking For In
Terms Of Retention Policies And Company Offerings

1.2 BACKGROUND STUDY

Human resource is a source of human skills, education and talent and is essential in today’s
dynamic world as per Bhatti et al (pg 127, 2013). Effective utilization through identifying,
recruiting and channelling human resource can help in improving productivity and efficiency.
Motivated, qualified and experienced employees are very essential in a globalized world to
survive tough business environment. As per Van Eeden (2014), the rate of retention is
inversely proportion to staff turnover and it is seen if a high number of staff stay in a
company for a specified period of time then the retention rate is high where as the turnover
rate is low i.e. (retention rate =1/turnover rate). Objective of each company is to hold on to
their employees in order to avoid wastage of time, effort and money spent in recruiting and
training new employees. Analysis by Moynihan and Pandey (2007) called staff turnover as an
organisation's loss of memory. Majorityof the companies are concerned with holding the best
performers, who have key knowledge and expertise required to run the company.

Workforce is becoming more diverse, difficult situations and decisions are being faced by
companies to align culturally and strategically in order to remain competitive and successful
in an era of globalization. Diversity has varied impact on performance. It provides better
capabilities, decision making. So, in order to promote and retain women in the workforce,
organizations should focus on empowerment and flexibility to build careers of women with a
desire for upward spiral. Women employees go through a lot of struggle in the workplace.
Flexibility can be leveraged upon as a strategic approach to empower women is a win-win for
women employees as well as the employers. This will result it productivity, innovation,
employee satisfaction and retention. Today, women employees are looking for flexibility in
their workplace so policies based on these will help in attracting diverse and talented women
employees.

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 1.3 LITERATURE REVIEW

Organizations invest huge amount of time and money to groom and train their new
employees, make them corporate ready and to bring them at par with the existing workforce.
When the employees leave their job on being fully trained the organization is at a complete
loss. This is where employee retention comes into play. Employee retention is a process to
encourage employees to remain with the organization for the maximum period of time by
taking into account the various measures so that an individual stays. Lack of job-satisfaction
is one of the major reasons behind employee’s turnover (Robbins, 1996). Hence, it is
essential for managers and leaders in the organization to deal with employee dissatisfaction.

To a highly competitive market, women contribute with a new and diverse business
perspective. Studies suggest that “investments in women yield large social and economic
returns” (The business of empowering women, 2010, p.7). Empowerment was defined as “the
process of raising others’ self-efficacy perceptions” Chen, Kark, and Shamir (2003, p. 248).
Thus it is important to empower employees to act on their abilities and self-motivation, which
involves innovative thinking and welcoming new ideas.

As per Tower Watson’s global merger and acquisition study 88% companies with high-
retention rate their transaction in terms of meeting strategic objectives is mostly successful in
compared to 67% of low-retention companies. This highlights the critical impact of talent
retention on deal success. Six ways in which high retention companies behave differently
from low retention companies are:

 They tap senior leadership for information about which employees to keep (66%
versus 27%).
 They include management discretion in selection process and retention-agreement
(32% versus 8%).
 High retention companies offer retention target value which is higher than low-
retention acquirers. Among high-retention companies the retention plan is 60% of
base salary where as for low retention companies it is 35%. Difference of similar kind
exists for retention packages offered to nonexecutives (28% versus 16%).
 Theyidentify eligible employees for retention on the basis of their ability to affect
business transaction success

2
  Cash bonus is given more importance than other forms of retention awards. 80% for
senior leadership and 89% for other employees compared to low-retention firms 50%
and 55%, respectively.
 They don’t rely on data from HR systems to identify retention candidate. 28% of
high-retention companies use job description data when compared to 58% of low
retention companies.

Other important practices used by high-retention companies include identifying candidates

for retention at the earliest, employing a global retention strategy and philosophy with
regional variations, realizing the importance of culture, role of managers and factors in
keeping top talent and combining pay-to-stay and pay-to-perform metrics.

Retention process should start by focusing on senior leaders. As they are a limited group of
people who are responsible for getting the deal done getting them on board and aligning
strategies of the acquisition is essential. This can be effectively done by providing them with
a personal stake.For nonexecutive employees cash is an attractive reward as it provides high
degree of certainty. Employees know what they will receive cash rewards, making it easier
for them to determine whether staying is worthwhile or not. For employee departures
companies with low retention rates cite reasons like retention packages are not good enough,
they are not happy with the pay and benefit structure. Thus, a generous retention package will
lead to better retention.Overusing performance based metric can backfire in cases where
metrics are unattainable or beyond their control and can lead to employees seeking
employment elsewhere. Even if they stay they will feel less engaged. So the challenge is to
strike a right balance between encouraging top performance and setting performance metrics
which are reasonable and reflect job level, role and skills of employees.Organizations can
retain top talent during and after a merger by focusing on cultural issues and by clearly
articulating the employment contract and frequently communicating with senior leadership.
Paying attention to pay differentiation and career development for top performers should also
be looked upon.

Better financial position: Diverse board has a clear impact on an organizations financial
performance. McKinsey & Company between 2008 and 2010 reviewed 180 public traded
companies in Germany, France, US and the UK with more diverse executive teams to see if
they outperformed their less diverse peers. The findings were consistent: for companies
ranking in top quartile of executive-board diversity, Returns on Equity (ROE) were 53%
higher, than those in the bottom quartile. Forbes examined the stock performance of 26
publicly traded companies and reached a similar conclusion, ‘2010 Power Women 100’ list
3
that are headed by women, these companies outperformed their industries by 15% and the
overall market by 28%. Fortune’s ‘100 Most Desirable MBA Employers’ list for women
outperformed the industry medians when in terms of financial measures such as profit as a
percentage of revenue, assets and equity, which were 55, 50 and 59% higher, than the median
respectively. A study by Catalyst showed companies with the most women board directors
outperformed those with return on invested capital by 26% and the least return on sale by
16%.

Better business performance and reputation: Deloitte modelled the relationship between
inclusion and diversity and business performance and identified an uplift of 80% when both
diversity and inclusion were high, when only one of them were high the business outcomes
are not as impressive as the high diversity and high inclusion combination. Catalyst titled
‘Why Diversity Matters’ showed that a board with the presence of atleast one woman was
associated with a lower likelihood of financial restatement, which can adversely impact
corporate reputations. Boards with no woman which had restatements were more than 74%. It
was found that firms with higher proportions of women as board of directors and those led by
women chairs were less likely to commit fraud, inflate profits, fabricate assets, embezzle
shareholders, violate security regulations and manipulate prices thereby damaging both
business performance and reputation. It was also discovered that gender-inclusive leadership
led to higher levels of corporate philanthropy, higher quality of social and environmental
initiatives leading to a positive impact on reputation.

Better customer connections and market share: It has been recognised by business leaders
that diverse workforce enjoys a competitive edge when it comes to selling to diverse
audiences as diverse individuals are better able to understand and meet the needs of clients
and customers and addressing business opportunities. It is important to integrate women in
the decision-making processes as they are the ones who significantly influence household
purchasing decisions.

Better innovation and group performance: Forbes Insights in 2011 revealed that 56% of the
companies with annual revenue of more than $10 billion agreed that diversity helps
innovation. Thus, in order for innovation to flourish, diversity must be valued and nurtured
because they are capable of handling contingencies owing to their differences and coming up
with innovative solutions due to their different perceptions.

Better and broader talent: In order to recruit the best talent, an organisation must consider a
diverse range of people. How well a company embraces peoples’ individuality is the key. As
per the 2011 Forbes those winning the global talent fight are designing their diversity and
4
inclusion policies using recruiting and retention tools so as to broaden the talent pool a
company can recruit from and to build an employment brand that is considered to be fully
inclusive. Diversity climate will lead to reduced staff turnover as people will have lower
intent to leave the company thereby improving the performance of diverse teams. Catalyst
has reported that employees feeling like an outcast have a negative impact on the
performance of both individuals and the organization as a whole. If employees feel they no
longer belong in an organization or feel they will thrive in some other organization that
appreciates their uniqueness fails to create a diverse workplace by alienating key employees,
who are more likely to disengage and eventually leave. Senior leaders set the tone of the
organization so it is essential to make sure that the organisation is populated with leaders who
represent diversity. This helps in creating an environment that allows people from different
background to believe ‘if they can, I can’. Catalyst demonstrated the importance of role
model and stated that 30% women board directors in 2001 had, on an average, 45% more
women corporate officers by 2006 than companies with no women board directors.

Globalization is resulting in businesses to grow and the workforce becoming more diverse,
difficult situations and decisions are being faced by companies to align culturally and
strategically in order to remain competitive and successful. A wrong decision in the
workplace can have a detrimental impact on the success of a company. Hence, effective
decision making is critical. Technological innovation and globalization are factors that have
led to competition. Growing number of females entering the workforce and the increased
focus on retaining them is another significant factor (Cabrera, 2009). Women are the “most
dynamic and fastest- growing economic force in the world today” (Kent, 2010, p.3). Despite
this, there are only a handful of women who are holding managerial positions. Only 12
females were able to reach to the position of chief executive in the Fortune 500 ranking, in
2007 (Hill, 2008). Only 2.8%, that is 11 women are CEO’s of the fortune 500 companies
(Sperling, 2011). This percentage has remained constant from 2007 to 2011. It is extremely
important for organizations to increase the count of women in leadership positions.If
companies raise the number of women working in middle management it would help in
significantly altering the pipeline. This would help in balancing workforce at
executivepositions and also in increasing the probability of sustaining gender diversity at
various levels in the organization.

Women’s impact on profits and productivity and employee satisfaction are critical metrics in
employee retention theory especially female retention. Therefore, organizations are re-
evaluating what matters to their employees so that they can retain talent and remain
competitive. In order to retain females in the workplace, leaders in the organization should
5
consider the concepts of empowerment and motivational factors inspired by transformational
leadership (Chen, Kark & Shamir, 2003). Other factors that must also be taken into
consideration are money spent in training female employees, the time invested by the
organization and relationships, both internal and external, are costly given the population of
female workers in organizations.

Women employees struggle to climb the corporate ladder due to domestic and other
responsibilities; companies are not being able to retain female employees, which are leading
to a loss of profit and competitive advantage. The ratio of executive females to males is low
when compared to the number of females in the workplace. Thus, it is essential for
organizational heads to re-evaluate their strategies to retain talented women employees and
remain competitive in the market.

Gender equality at workplace leads to improved practices, increased awareness and

importance of education amongst women, reduced wage gap and women participation in
decision-making at the political level (Global Gender Gap, 2010). Klaus Schwab, Founder
and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum made a statement about gender
equality that leader “Low gender gaps are directly correlated with high economic
competitiveness. Women and girls must be treated equally if a country is to grow and
prosper. We still need a true gender equality revolution, not only to mobilize a major pool of
talent both in terms of volume and quality, but also to create a more compassionate value
system within all our institutions” (Global Gender Gap, 2010)

Diversity has discrete and varied impact on performance of the organization. Promoting
diversity in work groups helps employees to understand their organizations. It provides better
capabilities to penetrate larger margins of various markets. Diversity in organization decision
making system leads to conflicts but the potential payoff within a new work culture makes it
all worthwhile. So, in order to promote and retain women in the workforce, organizations
should focus on empowerment and flexibility to build careers of women with a desire of
upward mobility in the long run. There is a lot of struggle which women employees go
through in the workplace to thrive in their careers as well as in their family lives. Flexibility
can be leveraged upon as a strategic approach to empower women is a win-win for women
employees as well as the employers. This will lead to increased productivity, innovation,
employee satisfaction and retention thereby leading to cost savings. Today, women
employees are looking for flexibility in their workplace, so formulating a flexibility initiative
will allow employers to retain talented women. Empowerment and flexibility based policies

6
will help in attracting the most talented women in the workforce, thereby positioning
themselves as an employer of choice.

Researchers have studied turnover relationship with regards to employee retention to examine
employee benefits as a key retention strategy. Several motivation theories by Abraham
Maslow’s Need theory, Alderfer’s ERG theory, McClelland’s Achievement Need Theory,
Edwin Locke’s goal theory have been used to explain the importance of motivation on
employee retention.

Herzberg’s two factor theory indicates factors that are responsible for job satisfaction
(motivators) and are different from factors which cause dissatisfaction (hygiene factors)
among employees making retention difficult thereby leading to employee turnover.

Adam’s Equity theory focuses on dissatisfaction among employees due to unclear incentive
programme which were introduced as retention strategy when organization was undergoing
changes.

The expectancy theory highlights how certain effort would lead to performance, resulting in a
desirable outcome thereby leading to better incentives and advancements.

On the basis of these motivational factors it has been found out that factors affecting retention
comprise of proper onboarding and inductions processes, Individual development plans, clear
compensation strategies, performance based pay, mentoring programs, reward and
recognition, networking groups and a good organization culture and work environment.

1.4 COMPANY PROFILE

Accenture is a leading global professional services company providing a range of strategy,

consulting, digital, technology and operational services. It is a Fortune 500 Global company.
It was incorporated in Dublin, Ireland since 1 September, 2009. In 2017 the net revenue was
34.9 billion dollars with an employee count which exceeded 4,25,000. It serves clients in
more than 200 cities in 120 countries.

We surveyed and conducted informal discussions at TFAO - Technology for Accenture

operations which is an industrial group of Accenture and conducted an analysis of exit
interviews of 318 employees.

7
 1.5 RESEARCH GAP AND RATIONALE OF THE STUDY

Women face different challenged in different stages of their life both in the domestic and
career front. The various challenges involve some roles being considered unsuitable for them,
transitioning from campus to workplace, protected environment at home and lack of
assertiveness while dealing with male managers and lack of clarity with respect to career
goals. Joining work after maternity gets challenging for them. Issues like child care, spouse
relocation, biased culture in India with respect to managing work and home both affect their
stay at workplace.They have to manage their responsibilities towards old parents, husband
being busy, adolescent children.

Thus, working women at each stage in life face somewhat similar challenges. Though, the
ways and means to address the issue vary across organisations. Organizations are deploying
innovative methods to retain valuable talent. Women face significant changes in their
personal and professional front with growing experience. In order to ensure smooth
transitions in their career it is essential to lay down certain strategies to make it easier for
them to face challenges. A noticeable change in team dynamics can be seen with emergence
of women leaders, so, continued sensitization of teams and team managers along with stress
on fair policy administration is essential. The environment has to be made conducive and
culturally healthy to accommodate their changing needs but fortunately the concept of gender
diversity is already an important inclusion agenda in most large organizations, though, the
momentum has to be maintained and reinforced constantly.

1.6 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Limited number of responses and small sample size restricted the scope of the research. Some
refused to fill the questionnaires and some who took them, did not answer as required and on
time. Time was spent on educating a few prospective interviewees on the subject matter and
its importance plus lot of time went on discussion and documentation to get required data.
The interview with respondents could have led to comprehensive understanding of their
expectations from their respective organizations. Limited time was available for conducing
this research which was not enough for an in-depth study of the strategies, their consequences
and also the effect of turnover on the organizations.

8
 1.7 ETHICS AND VALUES INVOLVED IN THE STUDY

We have handled issues like privacy of participants, consent and possible deception and
plagiarism and academic dishonesty by adopting measures necessary in carrying out a
dissertation.

Three essential areas of ethical issues concerned with implementing interviews are
maintaining confidentiality, having an informed consent and consequences of the interview.
Also, four major areas of principles were identified by Diener & Crandall (1978): whether
there is lack of informed consent, harm to participants, deception is involved and an invasion
of privacy.

It was made sure that all ethical issues are taken care, for instance, the interviewee is aware of
the consequences of the dissertation, informed consent of the interviewees was there, benefits
of the dissertation in general and also that the dissertation will be of no harm to the
participants or others with respect to who will own the data, access to the data and so forth. It
was made clear that the data acquired will be utilized only for this dissertation and there was
no other intent. The feedback will be confidential and all measures will be taken to ensure the
secrecy of the data collected.

9
 CHAPTER II- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

2.1 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The questionnaire was divided into subheadings like Onboarding, performance management,
organization culture, individual development plan, mentoring and coaching on the basis of
the employee life cycle to evaluate the importance of these factors in retaining employees in
the organization by understanding how satisfied women employees are with these practices.
How these practices are impacting them and what role they play in retaining them has been
assessed.

2.2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The objective of the research topic is to understand that different approaches are required to
be deployed to retain diverse workforce especially women. Detail understanding of what
organizations are currently doing to retain women and what women expect out of their
organizations in terms of retain policies and practices is essential in order to understanding
the gaps that exists. Recommendation is provided in order to address and bridge the gap that
exists.

2.3 RESEARCH DESIGN

2.3.1METHODOLOGY

Research methodology is gathering, recording, analysing and interpreting the data. It is a

process used in collecting data for the purpose of making business decisions. It highlights the
procedure followed by the researcher in collection of data to reach the objective in the most
effective manner. A better solution to the problem can be reached if we have an effective
research methodology in place as it is useful in performing data analysis and interpretation.
Research methods can be best utilized when the researcher is clear about the logic behind
using a particular method or a technique for data collection and its analysis.

10
We have made use of both primary and secondary method of research.

2.3.2 RESEARCH SITE

The dissertation was carried out inside the premises of NMIMS Mumbai.

2.3.3 RESPONDENTS FOR THE STUDY

Our sample included only women employees. We surveyed 65 respondents, 40 from

Accenture and 25 across other organizations. We conducted Focus Group Discussion with 21
employees, telephonic interviews with 13 employees and face to face discussion with 8
employees.

2.3.4 DATA COLLECTION METHODS

This research employed the qualitative method more than the quantitative method. The
qualitative measure involves conducting interview in order to gain in -depth information on
the strategies employed in reducing the turnover of employees and how the company
promotes retention. It was difficult getting access to the managers due to busy schedules. The
quantitative method measures employees’ perspective about the company was observed and
the questionnaire was utilized as a data collection tool.

Primary Methods

Questionnaires: Close ended questions were incorporated in the questionnaire and circulated
to the respondents. This method helped in getting information from multiple channels.

Interview: Open discussion interview technique was used to get in-depth information. The
interview was guided by research questions which helped us to be systematic in collecting
relevant information. Telephonic conversation and face to face informal discussion
techniques were used.

11
Focus Group Discussions: We conducted focus group discussion with 40 employees. It is a
qualitative research method with a predetermined structure. They were asked about their
perceptions, beliefs, opinions towards retention policies.

Secondary Methods

Documents: This involves reviewing various documents on retention factors and

strategies online, HBR articles, SHRM report etc.

Exit interview Analysis: We conducted exit interview analysis of 318 women employees at
TFAO, industrial group of Accenture.

2.3.5 TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES FOR DATA ANALYSIS

Technique used for data analysis was descriptive data. Pie charts and graphs were used to
analyze data.

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 CHAPTER III – RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 INTRODUCTION

Once the data was collected through surveys, it was analysed using qualitative techniques.
This research used the descriptive analysis for penning down the findings and results of the
data collected and it is labelled using pie charts and tables. The graphical technique is
recognized for recognizing characteristic of large quantities of data. The charts gives precise
quantified data. These descriptive method shelp the reader understand the findings. The key
objective of this analysis is to provide the exact measures of the research questions about
women employees’ retention. The researcher identified the key factors to be effectiveness of
onboarding, organizational culture, performance management, career growth, training and
development, workplace satisfaction and recognition after literature review analysis.

This chapter analyses the collected data from the sample of women employees working in
Accenture. The aim is to identify the elements or variables that hold important roles in
reducing employee attrition and also strengthening retention of employees in the organization
In order to understand the attributes of the collected data, a descriptive analysis was carried
out by using pie-charts.

3.2 DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

1%
10%
vol-personal reasons
1%

vol-better opportunity

28%
invol-unsatisfactory performance
60%

Vol- job abandonment due to family

Vol-dissatisfied with working conditions

FIGURE 1: MAJOR HEADERS FOR EXIT

13
This pie chart shows the split up of reasons due to which women employee attrition happened
in the TFAO (Technology for Accenture Operations) industry group of Accenture. This data
was captured for a sample size of 318 women employee respondents. We analyzed this data
from the exit interview data that the company had for a particular department. From the
figure above, we can see that 60% of women employees quit voluntarily due to
dissatisfaction with working conditions. 28% of them quit voluntarily due to availability of
better opportunities. 10% of them contributed to involuntarily attrition due to unsatisfactory
performance. 1% of them quit voluntarily due to personal reasons and another 1%,
abandoned their job. Most likely reasons from major headers are voluntary reasons which are
classified as personal reasons and better opportunities

Career growth/ Better opportunities

2% 2% 1%
2% 1% Personal reason not disclosed
3% family reasons
1%
Relocation
5% Elbow exit
26%
Health reasons
10%
Personal interest

Role dissatisfaction
9%
ML-related problems
25%
13% Compensation

Vol- job abandonment due to family

Vol-dissatisfied with working

conditions
Better role

FIGURE 2: SUB HEADERS FOR EXIT

From the above figure it is clear that under personal reasons-family reasons, relocation and
health reasons are the major causes for exit. Under better opportunities-career growth,
compensation and role were the major influencers.

14
FIGURE 3: INTERNAL AREAS’ RESPONSE SUMMARY

This response summary shows us the individual pain points under the six areas in the
employee life cycle. It helped understand the existing scenario at Accenture in terms of the
major six areas. Questionnaire responses, interview and FGD responses of Accenture
employees, were subjected to pure qualitative analysis after which the following was
identified.

3.2.1 EFFECTIVENESS OF ONBOARDING

75% were provided with vision and mission upon employment and 65% were provided with
strategic development plan

3.2.2 ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

82.5% felt organizational core values are repeatedly communicated. Around 70% feel there is
open communication. More than 80% feel co-workers give respect and make them feel
important

3.2.3 PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

42.5% rated goal setting process as highly effective and 57.5% rated mid-year assessment as
very effective

3.2.4 TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

15
 16
14
12 14
10
8 11 10
6
4
2 3 2
0
Strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongly
disagree

FIGURE 4: INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

Around 60% were clear about the competency development plan and only 67.5% were
provided with a mentor.

3.2.5 CAREER GROWTH

14
12
10 13
8 11
6 9
4
2 2 4
0
Strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongly
disagree

FIGURE 5: MENTORING COACHING AND SPONSORSHIP

Around 40% women were unhappy with their career growth in terms of mentoring and
coaching.

3.2.6 WORKPLACE SATISFACTION

Around 40% of employees were motivated to come to work and less than 20% of them felt
co-workers / managers hold back information. 62.5% said that they would refer someone to
work here.

16
3.2.7RECOGNITION

14
12
10 12
11
8 9
6
4
2 0 2
0
Strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongly
disagree

FIGURE 6: RECOGNITION – REPRESENT OUTSIDE ORGANIZATION, LEADING

VISITS ETC

62.5% received timely recognition and 67.5% felt valued at work.

3.2.8LEADERSHIP ALIGNMENT

20
15
10 15
5 10
5 8 2
0
Strongly agree neutral disagree strongly
agree disagree

FIGURE 7: SENIOR LEADERS ALIGNED TO DIVERSITY INITIATIVES

Around 25% felt senior leaders are not putting themselves out there to drive down the
initiatives.

3.2.9FLEXIBLE WORK HOURS

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 14
12
10 13 12
8
6
4 7 6
2 2
0
Strongly agree neutral disagree strongly
agree disagree

FIGURE 8: FLEXIBLE WORK HOURS

45% of the employees were not happy with the current system of flexibility

3.2.10VISIBILITY OF LEADERS

15
10 13 13 12
5
1 1
0
Strongly agree neutral disagree strongly
agree disagree

FIGURE 9: VISIBILITY OF KEY LEADERS

30% of the employees felt the need for more leadership connect sessions.

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 Chapter IV – CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR
PRACTITIONERS AND RESEARCHERS

4.1 CONCLUSION

After thorough review of different articles and review of research work we understood the
several factors that affect retention and their effect on organizational performance. Then the
underlying motivational factors in earlier studies were reviewed which helped us form a
complete understanding about the concept of retention and formed the basis for setting up the
questionnaire. In this research the researcher used the Likert scale for few questions and
binary options of yes or no for few questions. This kind of specific answer choices for
particular questions helped respondents give their choices easily. This study concludes the
significance of woman employee retention strategy in organization.

Organizations need to retain their talent as it’s vital for them to remain in business depends
on it. Although this study attempted to bring forth all the factors related to employee
retention, this complex area of human resource needs further investigations. Current research
did not emphasize much on the employee category, the sector or the type of business that are
mainly affected by these factors.

To reduce the high turnover rate, organizations must make effective changes in areas
regarding effectiveness of onboarding, organizational culture, performance management,
career growth, training and development, workplace satisfaction and recognition. If
Accenture starts working on these factors then they can strengthen retention targeted at
women employees.

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 4.2 RECOMMENDATION

The major areas which the research needs to be done is training and development,
performance management and Recognition. In the field of training and development, reverse
mentoring is an effective practice to gain the trust of the higher ups. It also helps to establish
proper feedback mechanism. Manager sensitization training uniformly implemented across
the industrial unit of the company will help managers develop empathy towards women
employees, especially women who are joining after a maternity break. Focused leadership
communication with respect to recognition, will show employees the importance shown by
leaders towards recognition as an aspect. It will also boost employee morale and increase
productivity. The employers should work on introducing new retention strategies in the
identified areas of the employee life cycle and improve existing retention factors so as to
strengthen overall women employee retention. For this to work out smoothly, management
must start taking feedback from their employees on a quarterly or atleast half-yearly basis and
make appropriate which will definitely help retain their women employees. Other areas of
improvement could be workplace satisfaction which can be done by having robust women
hackathons and active grievance redressal helplines handled by women employees.

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 APPENDIX

TRANSCRIPTS FROM EXTERANAL BENCHMARKING

1. CUMMINS

 Women coming back from ML have a small celebration, cubicle decoration and extremely
flexible working hours for the first 2 months
 Women affinity groups present at all locations focusing on areas of health safety and
development
 Leadership connect with shop-floor workers
 on-site child care centres
 Trust based approach
 Nurturing Brilliance, a scholarship programme, to enable young ladies from traditionally
economically and socially disadvantaged sections of the society to go to college for
undergraduate degrees.

2. SIEMENS

 Siemens approached Talking Talent to develop and deliver its Women into Leadership
programme, for gender specific development to accelerate engagement and performance.
 The Women into Leadership programme consists of both group and 1:1 coaching, targeted
and tailored events, as well as mentoring from senior individuals in the business across a six
month period. Each cohort is made up of twelve high potential women
 The programme addresses common areas: self-belief and confidence; political savviness;
networking; influencing; authentic personal brand; presence and gravitas; and strategic career
planning.
 Focuses on the role of a woman’s line manager in career progression and provides support for
the corresponding manager cohort.
 Women’s information network to facilitate networking and exposure to executive leader
 Lunch with CEO
 Employee engagement programs,
 Welfare and benefit programs

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3. GE

 Retention plan monitored function wise

 Work life balance through flexible working hours, work from home due to a track
based approach
 Outcome driven approach; budget for womens’ network allocated and tracked.
women-specific connect sessions
 Outcome-driven retention plan and monitored at granular level
 Reverse Mentoring practice highlighted as one of the company’s best practices

4. IBM
 Diversity representation at executive level is ~13% and 40% at entry level; overall diversity
is ~30%
 Special reverse mentoring- A minimum of 45 hours of mentoring is expected of employees
in certain job roles.
 Few employees pointed out that in reverse mentoring , gaining the trust of the higher-up
and having the autonomy to take decisions helped in retention
 Expert mentoring for specific skills, long-term career mentoring, and socialization
mentoring for new employees.
 Lactation rooms, free breast milk delivery service, tie-ups for childcare facilities and work
from home
 Executive level bands 8, 9, 10 women have highly focused digital programs where high
potential women are nominated by manager and team
 100 band 5,6,7( engineer, sr. engineer and tech/team lead) candidates are selected for
business acumen training sessions out of which 20-35 are women.
 Succeeding@IBMis a 2 year on-line learning continuum that provides new hires with
information covering corporate values, strategy, tools, and the resources necessary to be
successful.

5. ICICI

 Entry level diversity 25.5% ; executive level diversity -25%

 Travel accompaniment policy- For working mother on official travel with kids upto 3 yrs,
cost of travel and stay of the child and a caregiver reimbursed
 iwork@home initiative
 Unpaid leave upto 36 days in addition to ML
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 Performance rating board checked for women in ML during that financial year
 Redressal in the case of an emergency through Quick Response Team Initiative (QRT)
6. MICROSOFT

 Manager sensitization training on inbuilt biases

th
 Every 6 month 2-3 hrs of technical sessions
 Every 3 months role specific certificate course made compulsory
 Different groups on sharepoint formed for connect sessions- IoT group , Architecture group
etc
 Coding hackathons for women
 Manager takes interest and expects employee to develop skills which will be useful for
organization but is different from the current skills- reflected on appraisal and manager’s KRA
so there is a 2-way ownership
 ‘Women who code’ competition once in 3 months across company . Best few present in front
of SatyaNadella

7. HUL

 Employer Branding through Social Media to attract and retain women talent
 An integrated playschool and nursery program
 Facility is running at 94% capacity in Bangalore and 88% in Mumbai
 Millennials @Work – Flexibility & Agility
 Job Split/ Job Share
 Location Flex 100% requests have been honored
 Career break
 Career by choice (CBC)

8. INFOSYS

 Infosys has come up with Infosys Women Inclusivity Initiative’ (IWIN) which devoted to
only women employees
 IWIN provides 24×7 counseling for the female employees. It has day care facility, deals with
parenting matters, etc.IWIN has a discussion board that helps female employees to seek
advice and suggestions regarding childcare and other similar matters. Even Online support
during child bearing period is one the best services of IWIN.
 The employees get regular visits by gynecologists, nutrition specialists, physiotherapists and
other health related specialists. IWIN has online doctors for all the employees, especially for
the female employees. It also offers special yoga classes for the expecting mothers.
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9. BOSCH

 Strong training programs like TMT and JMP

 Cross company mentoring
 2 workshops are conducted bi-annually on gender diversity
 There is a strong womens’ network called women at Bosch
 1 year MDP for women is also functioning at Bosch

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 AUTHORS PROFILE

Name: Devangshi Saraf

Profession: StudentMBA HR
Institute: SBM NMIMS, Mumbai
Email ID: saraf.devangshi16-17@nmims.edu.in

Name: Saikrupa Viswanathan

Profession: Student MBA HR
Institute: SBM NMIMS, Mumbai
Email ID: viswanathan.saikrupa16-17@nmims.edu.in

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