Project On Retention

A REPORT ON WAYS TO IMPROVE EMPLOYEE RETENTION
Submitted by:XYZ REG. NO. XXXXXXX
SYMBOISIS CENTRE FOR DISTANCE LEARNING YEAR 2xxx
CONTENT
OBJECTIVE Chapter 1 AN OVERVIEW
. 2 .. 4 12
IMPROVE EMPLOYEE RETENTION
Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5
RETENTION MYTHS VS. RETENTION SUCCESS EMPLOYEE TURNOVER EMPLOYEE RETENTION STRATEGIES EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
.. 13 25 . 26 32 . 33 57 . 58 63 .. 64 . 65 . 3 .. 66 67
CONCLUSION LIMITATION METHODOLOGY BIBLIOGRAPHY ANNEXURE 70 Questionnaire List of graph and tables
OBJECTIVE At present there is a high demand in the public and private sectors for workers in critical areas such as health care, information technology, engineering, accounting, and auditing. The supply of qualified workers is limited and good workforce planning requires a twofold approach of
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aggressive recruitment and innovative retention strategies. Retention policies need to focus on elimination of unwanted turnover. By Douglas T. Geinzer, President/Publisher, Recruiting Nevada Retaining a good employee is one of the most cost-efficient practices a company can employ. The cost of replacing an employee is always more than the cost of recruitment. In fact, the cost of replacement in all cases is several months salary Unwanted turnover is expensive: - Costs to the employer can include separation benefits, lost productivity, and recruitment Costs, training costs, and diminished services as new employees get up to speed. According to the newsletter of the International Association of Professionals in Employment Security, When a valuable employee leaves, it costs the employer money possibly up to a third of the employees annual salary. Separation Costs Exit interview Administrative and paperwork costs Disbursement of benefits to separating employees Diminished productivity of remaining personnel
Replacement Costs Job advertisements Recruitment activities Administrative processing
Entrance interviews Applicant selection Testing

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Travel and moving expenses (in certain situations)
Research by various human resource services groups indicate that employees, emboldened by rising employment and economic indicators, are poised to demand increased compensation and job satisfaction from their employers. If these expectations arent met, workers will move on to another job. As the economy improves, business leaders are dealing with new operational and financial issues, leaving them with less time to manage people resources. In this climate of increased employee dissatisfaction and greater employment opportunity, lack of management could have serious negative consequences for employee retention perhaps just as businesses are beginning to show gains in other areas. These assumptions and conclusions create the main objective for the project to address these issues.
Chapter 1
AN OVERVIEW
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Employee retention is a business management term referring to efforts by employers to retain current employees in their workforce. The purpose is to avoid employee turnover and associated costs: hiring and training expenses; productivity loss; lost customers; diminished business; and damaged morale among remaining members of the workforce. Retention is particularly a problem in high stress occupations.
An effective Employee Retention Program is a systematic effort to create and foster an environment that encourages employees to remain employed by having policies and practices in place that address their diverse needs. Retaining skilled employees plays an important role in this process, because employees knowledge and skills are central to companies ability to be economically competitive. Given that employee retention is very important for the functioning and competitiveness of a company, this study focuses on the organisational and personal factors that influence employee retention. A special interest is taken in employees learning, because this is seen as a retention supporting activity. A questionnaire was administered to 349 employees, and 11 employees were interviewed. The interviews are used to illustrate and contextualism the quantitative results. The results show a large positive contribution of appreciation and stimulation of the employee to employee retention. This result is consistent with findings of earlier research. However, the retention benefits arising from personal development offer new possibilities when attempting to enhance employee retention. This study also showed that individual differences influence employee retention. Leadership skills and seniority have a positive relationship with employee retention and the level of readiness and initiatives regarding learning are negatively related to retention.
1.2
REASONS DEPARTURES
BEHIND
EMPLOYEE
Typical Reasons for Leaving

Perceived lack of opportunity for advancement Unsatisfactory presence and clarity of development plan Lack of opportunity to use skills at work Bad fit with job Work-life balance issues Clash with organizational vision, mission and values Dissatisfaction with management style and skills Overall negative perception of leadership Level of respect and support Lack of opportunity to learn new skills and develop new talents Unsatisfactory benefits Corporate lack of commitment to training and development Organizations use of obsolete technology Unsatisfactory salary Breakdown in the relationship with immediate supervisor Lack of recognition of achievements Communication issues Unsatisfying job responsibilities Problems with working conditions Interpersonal conflicts Personal problems (family, health, etc.) Wealth of external opportunities 1.3 RETENTION INVOLVES FOLLOWING FIVE MAJOR THINGS: 1. Employee Relationship Chain :
Organization should believe moving up the relationship chain is critical for organizations. A long-lasting relationship that converts to strong retention is the desired results for companies that want to sustain themselves through good times and bad. We define the employee relationship chain as: Stage 1: Share of Opportunity - Contract Stage 2: Share of Mind - Partnership Stage 3: Share of Heart - Relationship These stages have been studied and utilized extensively in the world of marketing and branding. We believe it adds equal if not greater value to the world of employee retention. Stage 1: Share of Opportunity - Contract When a company makes an offer that is accepted by a future employee, many call it entering a relationship. We beg to differ. It is a mere contract at this point in time, and not a relationship by any measure. What you have just won is share of the opportunity for the company and the employee. Your employee has entrusted the company with providing meaningful work in a secure environment. There is a degree of skepticism so employee orientation is conducted to assist with the transition. Every now and then discussion will be around fit, task and measures for success. The focus is on adherence. Stage 2: Share of Mind - Partnership In this stage, the employee has experienced consistency and decided there is a fit. This stage is achieved only if you have engagement where the company delivers what is promised especially in the way of meaningful work, compensation, and measurement. You have employees share of mind where his/her skepticism turns to confidence. At that time s/he starts becoming engaged in areas beyond the scope of the specific work assignments. They may join task teams or participate in employee forums and event. The focus at this stage is on the outcome; with
less emphasis on adherence (although no less importance as confidence can be lost faster than gained). Stage 3: Share of Heart - Relationship This is the most desirable state of the employee relationship chain. The employee now views the organization and its leaders as trusted advisors. Now that the company has a share of his/her heart, both are gaining the maximum value and the employee becomes a true brand ambassador for the organization. Employees share and embrace the organizations vision, core values and direction for the future. The focus on this stage will not be so much about performing but on transformative opportunities and deep sustained impact (still the previous two stages cannot be forgotten as stages are cumulative). It is in this stage where if the employee is uncertain about certain aspect of the business, s/he will trust the company to provide the missing pieces. In this stage everyone has the opportunity to co-create value. What are the needs of employees in turbulent times? Here are those we feel are critical shown in alphabetical order so as not to imply priority. Priority is determined by the specific requirements of each unique circumstance. Assistance with emotional factors Consistent decision making about employee policies Continuous communication from leaders Job security Know that leaders value their contributions Meaningful work assignments News before it is in the news Opportunities to express oneself with leaders Patience
Reinforcement of core values Restoration of compensation (particularly bonuses and variable pay) Socialization activities Workload balancing
2. COMPENSATION
Compensation programs, both fixed and incentive-based, are another means of recognizing employees. Although pay is not often cited as a reason for staying with a company, it is often cited as a reason for leaving. In the new job economy, an organizations compensation system must be perceived to be competitive from a recruitment perspective. For this reason, it is imperative that organizations review their current systems and evaluate their competitiveness with the external market, making adjustments as necessary. Current employees must feel the organizations compensation system is equitable and understandable. These factors, which influence employees perception of fairness in the workplace, can have significant impact on retention.
Salary: It is the biggest component of the compensation package. It is also the most common factor of comparison among employees. Salary and wages represent the level of skill and experience an individual has. Time to time increase in the salaries and wages of employees should be done. And this increase should be based on the employees performance and his
contribution
to
the
organization.
Retention Bonus: Retention Bonus is one of the important tools that are being used to retain employees. Retention bonus is an incentive paid to an employee to retain them through a critical business cycle. Retention bonuses are becoming more common in the corporate world because companies are going through more transitions like mergers and acquisitions. They need to give key people an attractive incentive to stay on through these transitions to ensure productivity. Long-term incentives: Long term incentives include stock options or stock grants. These incentives help retain employees in the organization's startup stage. Health insurance: Health insurance is a great benefit to the employees. It saves employees money as well as gives them a peace of mind that they have somebody to take care of them in bad times. It also shows the employee that the organization cares about the employee and its family. Miscellaneous compensation: It may include employee assistance programs (like psychological counseling, legal assistance etc), discounts on company products, use of a company cars, etc.
3. ENVIRONMENT A normal working individual spends at least eight to ten hours a day in the office. They pass the rest of the time engaged in the other daily chores of life. Now consider a situation wherein you are spending the chunk of your day at a place you don't enjoy. The environment is stuffed and managing office politics is more crucial than any other part of
the day's work. Such occurrences only have a negative impact and do not leave a place for a positive attitude towards the regular day to day work. All organizations irrespective of size or nature of work performed face this problem in different forms. The environment tends to demoralize even the most creative workers. High performers subside without any impelling force to gear up and strive towards new avenues. The only option that remains is looking for a new job. Organizations should focus on managing the work environment to make better use of the available human assets. Organization environment includes:
Culture Job satisfaction Values Company reputation Quality of people in the organization Employee development and career growth Trust Leading technologies
Employees want to work for an organization which provides: Appreciation for the work done A friendly and cooperative environment Ample opportunities to grow A feeling that the organization is second home to the employee
Types of environment the employee needs in an organization:Support environment: Organization can provide support in the form of work-life balance. Work life balance includes: Flexible hours Dependent care Telecommuting Alternate work schedules Wellness Vacations
Work environment: It includes efficient managers, supportive co-workers, challenging work, involvement in decision-making, clarity of work and responsibilities, and recognition. Lack or absence of such environment pushes employees to look for new opportunities. The environment should be such that the employee feels connected to the organization in every respect.
4. GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
Growth and development are the integral part of every individuals career. If an employee can not foresee his path of career development in his current organization, there are chances that hell leave the organization as soon as he gets an opportunity. The important factors in employee growth that an employee looks for himself are:
IMPROVING EMPLOYEE RETENTION
Work profile: The work profile on which the employee is working should be in sync with his capabilities. The profile should not be too low or too high. Personal growth: Employees responsibilities in the organization should help him achieve his personal goals also. Organizations can not keep aside the individual goals of employees and foster organizations goals. Employees priority is to work for themselves and later on comes the organization. If hes not satisfied with his growth, hell not be able to contribute in organization growth. Training and development: Employee training and development should be looked upon as an investment, rather than a cost, with planning and budgeting requirements similar to those dedicated to capital improvements. An organizations human capital is one of its key sources of differentiation, and employees are more likely to remain satisfied if they receive an effective orientation and regular access to technical and non-technical training. Ongoing competency-based training and development increases employee productivity, reduces turnover, improves job satisfaction, aids in the recruiting process, rewards long-time employees, and reduces the need for employee supervision. 5. SUPPORT Lack of support from management can sometimes serve as a reason for employee retention. Supervisor should support his subordinates in a way so that each one of them is a success. Management should try to focus on its employees and support them not only in their difficult times at work but also through the times of personal crisis. Management can support employees by providing them recognition and appreciation. Employers can also provide valuable feedback to employees and make them feel valued to the organization.
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The feedback from supervisor helps the employee to feel more responsible, confident and empowered. Top management can also support its employees in their personal crisis by providing personal loans during emergencies, childcare services, employee assistance programs, counseling services, etc. Employers can also support their employees by creating an environment of trust and inculcating the organizational values into employees. Thus employers can support their employees in a number of ways as follows: By providing feedback By giving recognition and rewards By counseling them By providing emotional support
1.4 EMPLOYEE WELLNESS SURVEY
1. EVALUATING EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION One of the best ways of finding out how satisfied employees are with different aspects of their work life is to ask them directly through a wellness survey. Such a survey can give valuable and detailed insights into how staff feels about factors pertaining to workplace recognition, commitment, compensation, and flexibility. 2. CUSTOMIZATION AND CONFIDENTIALITY In a well-designed employee wellness survey, the questions are customized to suit the organizations nature and circumstances. Equally important is building an evaluation process that will enable the organization to acquire meaningful information. And, whether interviews are conducted face to face with staff (individually or in small groups) or a questionnaire for filling in is sent around, there must be a means of respecting confidentiality and keeping respondents identities (in the case of a questionnaire form) anonymous. It is imperative that the organization also assures all employees that under no circumstances will survey results be used in a negative or retaliatory way.
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3. FOLLOW-UP Respondents usually complete surveys with the expectation that management will actually consider the information in future developments. Therefore, if staff dont hear anything about the survey results later or dont see any changes in the organization, they might become cynical and disillusioned about the organizations intentions. For this reason, survey follow-up is very important. It can range from distributing a summary report throughout the organization or meeting with respondents to discuss the survey results, to designing initiatives based on the survey results and communicating managements intention to implement change.
4. CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT Conducting a wellness survey annually can help monitor the organizations progress in meeting employees needs and improving retention strategies. Online tools, such as Survey Monkey, offer a simple and basic method to conduct surveys. NOTE: Option to consider You may want to hire an independent third party to conduct your survey to ensure anonymity and confidentially of the results and maximize honesty.
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Chapter 2
RETENTION MYTHS VS. RETENTION SUCCESS 2.1 Retention Myths vs. Retention Success
Despite years of research that point to far different solutions, many companies use the wrong tactics when trying to improve employee morale, satisfaction and retention. These myths prevail, in part, because businesses have used these methods, however wrong, for a very long time and have become used to trying the same ideas. Myth #1: People most often leave a company for more pay. Exit interviews, conducted to learn why people leave an organization; contain some of Indias greatest fiction. People frequently say theyre leaving for more money because its the easiest reason to give. More often the causes leading to departure are related to issues that were unsatisfying in the job or the company. Typical issues that cause dissatisfaction are company policies and procedures, quality of supervision, working conditions, relationship with the immediate supervisor and salary. Yes, pay does matter. While research shows most people dont actually leave a job for more money, there are two important facts: Very-low-income workers will leave for more money because its a survival issue. For the rest of workers, the issue of money actually is about fairness. People become dissatisfied with pay when they feel it is unfair within the company, within the industry or when pay doesnt seem to match the amount or type of work required. To increase employee satisfaction and retention, companies make more gains by working to improve whether people feel a sense of achievement, recognition, competence and growth, whether there are choices about how work gets done and whether employees feel respected by management..
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Myth #2: Incentive programs produce long-term profits and improve productivity and morale. So, who doesnt like free stuff? However, incentives such as gifts and cash bonuses for meeting speed and volume goals dont affect employee commitment. Theyre really a throwback to outdated management beliefs that workers must be coerced in order to work hard. All the extras dont add up to the real glue that creates employee commitment: the chance to learn and grow, meaningful work, good supervisors and respect and appreciation for a job well done. Incentives have been over-used particularly in the past decade, as management books touted the importance of improving recognition of excellent work. Yet, studies show that carrotand-stick motivation actually does not pay off in long-term company profitability or employee satisfaction or retention. To the contrary, incentives can harm quality when employees aim for speed or other goals rather than quality. Myth # 3: People dont want more responsibility. They dont want more work if theyre already overloaded due to lean staffing; but people indeed want the opportunity to grow and develop their skills, advance their careers and have the opportunity for greater variety. Keep in mind what the research confirms: People do want to try new things, to feel skillful and to experience the personal satisfaction of higher levels of achievement. People dont need a job promotion in order to gain more responsibility. The same job can be broadened to include more variety, more contact with different parts of the organization and greater control over decisions on accomplishing work tasks. Myth #4: Loyalty is dead. Not at all, though it is ailing in many organizations. People are seeking greater work-life balance than in the past, and employers have made great strides in providing more flexible Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 17
hours and dress codes. Still, people seek to make a contribution, and organizations that provide healthy doses of the main satisfiers enjoy significantly lower turnover and higher morale. Profits are higher, too, according to recent research studies. Things have changed, indeed. Todays workers will, in fact, change careers and jobs much more often. When the economy is good, people have become much more at ease in changing companies, are more likely to acquire new skills and move to companies that offer greater chance to use more of their knowledge and more willing to take the risks of starting anew at another organization. What has emerged in current management studies are that the same qualities that hold employees are the ones that best serve the customers: Employees who can make quick decisions on behalf of the customer and the company; employees who have a broader scope of responsibility that allows them some freedom and leverage to solve customer problems; learning opportunities that give employees the skillfulness to address customer issues; and supportive management and supervisors who use any mistakes that occur as teaching opportunities. Myth #5: Improving employee satisfaction is expensive. Research tells us the true satisfiers cant even be bought: career growth, meaningful work, respect and appreciation and being able to influence how work gets done. In these leaner times employers have the same opportunity to gain true loyalty despite lowered budgets. The trinkets and prizes given in recognition and rewards programs arent necessary ingredients for developing an engaged workforce. The glue that holds people is made of much different stuff: Management that listens and responds to employees ideas about improving service, supervisors who support peoples growth and initiative, training in how to do the job successfully, good relationships with coworkers and genuine appreciation for a job done well. There are no costs incurred to build or enhance these motivators. Myth #6: Employee satisfaction is fluff. Does having engaged workers make a difference in the bottom line? Studies now show that Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 18
lower turnover and greater levels of employee satisfaction have a definite positive impact on customer satisfaction and profitability, which are the key factors in company growth and sustainability. Consider these facts: A strong link was found in a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers between employee retention and the quality of service as rated by companies customers. According to the American Society of Training & Development, organizations that invested the most in training had higher gross margins and income per employee. The cost of replacing an employee who leaves has been estimated by various studies to be between 70 and 200 percent of that workers annual salary. The Council on Competitiveness found that a 10-percent increase in education has a more positive impact on productivity than a 10-percent increase in work hours. The bottom line on the bottom line? Investing in people and using the most effective management practices increases profits. Myth #7: Supervisors are the problem. Many senior leaders express dismay about the quality and actions of their middle managers and front-line supervisors. The blame game is old, yet the solutions are strikingly similar to those required to build an engaged workforce. In most organizations today, supervisors have more people reporting to them than in the past, more demanding customers than ever and greater amounts of change all occurring at the same time. Yet, the amount of training provided to managers and supervisors in many organizations is minimal. More importantly, the amount of time that senior managers spend in dialogue with middle and line managers also is minimal. Middle managers and supervisors can appear resistant to improvement efforts. However,
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the true failure exists in our understanding of their world, the challenges they face and the support they need in order to be successful. Successful organizations seek to build teamwork between senior leaders and middle managers and line supervisors (which is a key ingredient in creating teamwork throughout the company). Myth # 8: My company/industry/people are different! Yes, every company is unique, and every industry has its own set of unusual challenges. However, a very costly mistake is made when we believe information from other sectors doesnt apply to us or our organization . Retention research studies cross all industries, all types of work settings and in varied economic conditions. Still, the same results come up time and again. We build employee loyalty and, indirectly, customer loyalty through providing people with growth and learning opportunities, minimizing red tape, allowing people to think and make good choices, supporting middle managers and front-line supervisors and appreciating the efforts that people give to help our customers. Its downright dangerous to ignore these findings risky to the bottom line and the organizations future.
2.2 THE BENEFITS OF EMPLOYEE RETENTION Every company should understand that people are their best commodity. Without qualified people who are good at what they do, any company would be in serious trouble. In the long run, the retention of existing employees saves companies money. As Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan-Evans stated in Training and Development: "Studies have found that the cost of replacing lost talent is 70 to 200 percent of that employee's annual salary. There are advertising and recruiting expenses, orientation and training of the new employee, decreased productivity until the new employee is up to speed, and loss of customers who Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 20
were loyal to the departing employee. Finding, recruiting, and training the best employees represents a major investment. Once a company has captured talented people, the return-oninvestment requires closing the back door to prevent them from walking out." When an employee leaves a company for a direct competitor, there is always a chance that they will take important business strategies and secrets with them to be exploited by the competition. This is yet another reason why the retention of employees is so crucial to some businesses. While this practice seems a bit unscrupulous, it stills happens quite frequently. As Bill Leonard stated in HR Magazine: "Because employers know that the best-qualified applicants will come directly from competitors, recruiting and hiring employees away from the competition becomes a necessity in an ultra-tight labor market. And necessity is the mother of inventive and sometimes controversial business practices. Recruiting and hiring from your competitors is probably as old as business itself. But what is newand a hot topic among employersis how to attract and retain qualified candidates in a highly competitive labor market while also preventing their own intellectual capital from winding up in the hands of competitors." One way for a company to prevent employees from giving valuable information to competitors is to make it a policy to enforce strict noncompete and confidentiality agreements amongst its employees. The existence of such agreements could in fact deter a competitor from hiring a valuable employ because they might not want to risk possible legal entanglements with the other company. Of course, all this could possibly lead to animosity with the employee who could feel that his or her options are being limited. Many employees don't always remember signing such a document, so a copy of it should always be kept on file for the employee to refer to. This area could prove to be a highly sensitive one between employer and employee, so extreme caution is suggested in all instances. BENEFITS:1. The Cost of Turnover As most HR managers know, the cost of turnover adds hundreds of thousands of dollars to a company's expenses. While it is difficult to fully calculate the cost of turnover (including hiring costs, training costs, productivity loss), industry experts often quote 25% of the Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 21
average employee salary as a conservative estimate. For example, if the average salary is $20,000/yr the cost of one employee turnover is $5,000. If you have 30 employees terminating per month, the cost to the organization equals $150,000/month. Multiply that by 12 months and you have $1,800,000 in added annual expense.
2. Loss of Company Knowledge When an employee leaves, they take with them valuable knowledge about your company, your customers, current projects and past history (sometimes to competitors). Often much time and money has been spent on the employee in expectation of a future return. When the employee leaves, the investment is not realized. 3. Disruption of Customer Service Customers and clients do business with a company in part because of the people. Relationships are developed that encourage continued patronage of the business. When an employee leaves, the relationships that employee built for the company are severed, which could lead to potential customer loss. 4. Turnover spirals into more turnover When an employee terminates, the effect is felt throughout the organization. Coworkers are often required to pick up the slack. The unspoken negativity often intensifies for the remaining staff.
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Chapter 3
EMPLOYEE TURNOVER
3.1 OVERVIEW The impact of turnover has received considerable attention by senior management, human resources professionals, and industrial psychologists. It has proven to be one of the most costly and seemingly intractable human resource challenges confronting organizations. This paper provides a summary of information, abstracted from published research, on the costs of turnover, factors contributing to its magnitude in organizations, and proposed remedies. 3.2 COSTS OF TURNOVER Analyses of the costs associated with turnover yield surprisingly high estimates. The high cost of losing key employees has long been recognized. However, it is important for organizations to understand that general turnover rates in the workforce can also have a serious impact on an organization's profitability, and even survival. There are a number of costs incurred as a result of employee turnover. These costs are derived from a number of different sources, a few of which are listed below. 1. Recruitment of replacements, including administrative expenses, advertising,
screening and interviewing, and services associated with selection, such as security checks, processing of references, and, possibly, psychological testing. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Administrative hiring costs. Lost productivity associated with the interim period before a replacement Lost productivity due to the time required for a new worker to get up to Lost productivity associated with the time that coworkers must spend away Costs of training, including supervisory and coworker time spent in formal Costs associated with the period prior to voluntary termination when workers
can be placed on the job. speed on the job. from their work to help a new worker. training, as well as the time that the worker in training must spend off the job. tend to be less productive. Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 23
8. 9.
In some cases costs associated with the communication of proprietary trade Public relations costs associated with having a large number of voluntary or
secrets, procedures, and skills to competitive organizations. involuntary terminations in the community spreading gossip about the organization. 10. Increased unemployment insurance costs. Using an example from the health care industry, Cascio (2000) calculated that the cost of replacing 288 employees per year (in a hospital with 200 beds employing 1200 persons with a turnover rate of 2% per month) was $2,888,295.52 when all sources of costs were analyzed. Moreover, a recent Business Week (1998) study estimated that the replacement costs alone, are over $10,000 for about half of all jobs and approximately $30,000 for all jobs. These estimates highlight the considerable costs that can be associated with turnover.
3.3 THE CAUSES OF TURNOVER

There are a number of factors that contribute to employee turnover. We explore some of these factors in more detail below.
1. The economy - in exit interviews one of the most common reasons given for
leaving is the availability of higher paying jobs. Some minimum wage workers report leaving one job for another that pays only 50 cents an hour more. Obviously, in a better economy the availability of alternative jobs plays a role in turnover, but this tends to be overstated in exit interviews.
2. The performance of the organization - an organization perceived to be in
economic difficulty will also raise the specter of impending layoffs. Workers believe that it is rational to seek other employment.
3. The organizational culture - much has been written about organizational
culture. It is sufficient to note here that the reward system, the strength of leadership, the ability of the organizations to elicit a sense of commitment on the part of workers, and its development of a sense of shared goals, among other factors, will influence such indices of job satisfaction as turnover intentions and turnover rate.
4. The characteristics of the job - some jobs are intrinsically more attractive
than others. A job's attractiveness will be affected by many characteristics, Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 24
including its repetitiveness, challenge, danger, perceived importance, and capacity to elicit a sense of accomplishment. A job's status is also important, as are many other factors.
5. Unrealistic expectations - Another factor is the unrealistic expectations and
general lack of knowledge that many job applicants have about the job at the time that they receive an offer. When these unrealistic expectations are not realized, the worker becomes disillusioned and decides to quit.
6. Demographics - empirical studies have demonstrated that turnover is
associated in particular situations with demographic and biographical characteristics of workers. But to use lifestyle factors (e.g. smoking) or past employment history (e.g. many job changes) as an explicit basis for screening applicants, it is important for legality and fairness to job applicants to verify such biodata empirically.
7. The person - In addition to the factors listed above, there are also factors
specific to the individual that can influence turnover rates. These include both personal and trait-based factors. Personal factors include things such as changes in family situation, a desire to learn a new skill or trade, or an unsolicited job offer. In addition to these personal factors, there are also trait-based or personality features that are associated with turnover. These traits are some of the same characteristics that predict job performance and counterproductive behaviors such as loafing, absenteeism, theft, substance abuse on the job, and sabotage of employer's equipment or production. These traits can be measured and used in employee screening to identify individuals showing lower probability of turnover. It is important to note that the factors we've listed above can be classified as being within or beyond the control of the employing organization. In order to actively participate in reducing costs associated with turnover, organizations need to identify those factors over which they do have some control and initiate necessary changes to reduce turnover attributable to these "controllable" factors. Adopting an effective applicant screening procedures is an efficient and cost effective method of identifying employees who possess the necessary traits and behavior s to succeed on the job and are, therefore, less likely to leave. SIGMA's Employee Screening Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 25
Questionnaire 2 (ESQ2) measures both productive and counterproductive job behavior s and, as such, provides employers with a tool for reducing involuntary turnover resulting from poor selection decisions. In addition to reducing involuntary turnover, the ESQ2 also has the ability to reduce voluntary turnover by identifying those applicants who are likely to be satisfied and committed to their jobs.
3.4 IS ATTRITION IMPORTANT TO YOUR ORGANIZATION? Employee attrition costs 12 to 18 months salary for each leaving manager or professional, and 4 to 6 months' pay for each leaving clerical or hourly employee. According to a study by Ipsos-Reid, 30% of employees plan to change jobs in the next two years. Do the math and discover how much your company may pay for attrition. Although employee turnover can help organizations evolve and change, an American Management Association survey showed that four out of five CEOs view employee retention as a serious issue for organizational success. If managers know the real causes of attrition, managers can control attrition and retain employees. Each retained employee can save money and lead to better opportunities. Why Employees Leave Most employees leave their work for reasons other than money - and your organization can correct these reasons. Most leaving employees seek opportunities that allow them to use and develop their skills. Leaving employees want more meaning in their work. They often indicate that they want to use their qualities and skills in challenging teamwork led by capable leaders.
Managerial staff cite "career growth" and "leadership" as the major factors that influence attrition and retention, together with "opportunities for management" "ability of top management" "use of skills and abilities" and work/family balance
Professional employees cite concerns about "supervisory coaching and counseling," "company direction" and interesting work Clerical employees voice concerns such as "type of work," "use of skills and abilities" and opportunities to learn Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 26
Hourly employees notice whether they are treated with respect, have capable management and interesting work
Employee Orientation New employees who attend a positive orientation program are 70% more likely to be with the company three years later (Corning Glass). Mergers/Acquisitions Lee Hecht Harrison, a HR consulting firm, advises, "Far more employees will leave following a restructuring than are laid-off or terminated as a result of downsizing. This lost talent, and cost can be minimized through good communication." Exit Interviews Exit interviews provide an excellent source of information of internal problems, employees' perceptions of the organization, underlying workplace issues, and managers' leadership abilities. Ineffective Managers High employee turnover can be recognized and properly attributed to poor managerial performance, emotional intelligence and ineffective leadership. Poorly selected or improperly trained managers can be expensive... A Workforce Magazine article, "Knowing how to keep your best and brightest," reported the results of interviews with 20,000 departing workers. The main reason that employees chose to leave was poor management. HR magazine found that 95 percent of exiting employees attributed their search for a new position to an ineffective manager. Hire attitude; Train skills We can help you hire and inspire appropriate employees ...
Build positive, friendly, teamwork attitudes and commitment to customer services Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 27
Help new employees feel comfortable as they participate as valued team members Provide periodic refresher courses to maintain team purpose and functionality Apply Expert Modeling to rapidly transfer expert skills within a workforce
Reduce Attrition: Managers and Professional Employees We can help you adjust your company vision and manager's performance reviews to reflect employee turnover, and provide mentoring and interpersonal training to inexperienced managers.

Develop and communicate a strong strategic vision Provide relationship coaching and help people develop to their potential Reward managers for their relationship skills - not only on technical know-how and financial results People dont leave jobs, they leave managers! Replace managers who will not develop relationship skills
Reduce Attrition: Clerical and Hourly Employees We can help you communicate. Most employees want to know more about their work. We can explain each process and help employees understand the importance of their work. Your employees will become more knowledgeable about their effectiveness. Here are a few ways ...

Compliments and thanks cost little and can bring great benefits Let employees know that their opinions are valuable Keep employees informed - don't let them hear important news through rumors Update employees with technical information Address staff by their first names Publicly praise what the employee has accomplished and say why it was important Criticize privately about what the employee can do better and explain how to do it better Create community with activities such as informal meals or events outside work Involve employees in organizational planning Titles cost little and remind employees that they are valuable Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 28
Attrition Control "People" Skills for Managers Benefit from attrition control programs that Provide your managers with the help your company keep its best people. communication and leadership skills.
best
We offer effective systems coaching, coach training and mentorship. We train people to coach individuals, partners and teams to resolve emotional, educational and relationship challenges 3.5 THE AVERAGE COST OF EMPLOYEE TURNOVER
What Am I Worth? Employee attrition and turnover is a fact of corporate life and part of the cost of doing business. But unfortunately many companies have no idea how to compute, manage, control, or avoid that cost. In the end turnover leads many otherwise successful firms over the brink and into a sea of red ink, as more aware and proactive competitors take the lead with their own seasoned and loyal workforces. The primary reason that replacing workers is so expensive is that turnovers leave a vacuum within an organization that demand a great deal of energy and time to properly fill. Pricewaterhouse Coopers Saratoga Institute often uses this basic simplified equation to calculate the average cost of employee turnover: Turnover Formula: Total Employee Turnover Cost = Costs of Hiring New Employees + Costs of Training New Employees While the numerous variables contributing to turnover costs are diverse and often hard to pinpoint, main factors include items such as:
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The preliminary costs of paying a recruiter or internal HR person to first evaluate the requirements of a position and then create and implement a marketing campaign to attract qualified applicants. The cost to review candidates, conduct interviews, and narrow down a field of applicants to choose the right person for a position. Miscellaneous tasks such as background fact checking and drug screening add to the incidental turnover costs during this phase. The employer incurs added expenses of time and money for training and orientation. New workers contribute less than full productivity during their first few months on the job, so companies also pay a premium due to lost productivity during this introductory phase. Additional losses occur as supervisors and other higher-paid employees dedicate their own valuable time and energy - at an additional cost to the employer - to bring the new hire up to speed. New sales people rarely meet the targets of those they are hired to replace. When calculating financial loss due to turnovers of sales personnel, it is necessary to project and include the value of lost sales during the first few months that new people are on the job. Trying to figure out how to save money without losing good workers confounds many business leaders. Without expert and accurate metrics to guide their decision-making, even the most talented executives often succumb to flawed conclusions and faulty decisions. According to studies published by the Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, for example, increasing worker wages is one way to prevent turnover. The research indicated that when workers were given a 15 percent wage increase, the volume of corresponding turnovers decreased by 13 percent. Most employers prefer to let someone go rather than incur a 15 percent wage increase. But a preponderance of research has determined that to replace a typical employee lost to turnover costs a company, on average, 150 percent of that person's base salary. Retaining someone through a wage increase - or through some other proactive investment worth the same amount - can result in higher retention levels and deliver a powerful return on the dollar. Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 30
On the other hand, lose someone making $30,000 a year because you failed to take adequate steps to keep them and replacing them will likely cost between $45,000 and $60,000. If employees earn $35,000 and you lose a dozen a year, turnover costs approach $250,000 per annum, or more. Lose a total of 150 and that loss rises to more than $2,600,000. Crunch the same numbers based on worker salaries of $45,000 a year and the cost to replace 150 people tops $3million by a generous margin. Start to factor in the loss of managerial level human resources, where pay grades are higher and turnovers can cost as much as 250 percent of baseline salaries, and the financial damage skyrockets. The bottom line is obvious. Retaining workers by avoiding turnovers pays huge dividends. The cost to implement a program to identify the causes of turnover and then solve the problem before it happens will usually pay for itself many times over, in a variety of significant ways.
3.6 ATTRITION RATES AND COSTS IN INDIA As world economy tries to stay afloat in slowdown, Indian businesses are increasingly realizing the importance of their biggest assets- Employees. As economy takes a full circle and is nursed back to its best health, onus lies on the companies to retain their top performers while taking tough decisions on the non-performing. Investments into Right People during these times will lead to a new era of growth when times become better. HR managers have shown a keen interest in finding out the profile of employees who dont stick for long as they become cognizant of the huge costs associated with recruiting and training new employees vis--vis retaining current employees. India Attrition Study-2008, conducted by Business Today and People Strong HR Services categories leavers as follows: 1. Top Performers: As the name suggests, this is the cream of the company and they carry majority of the company on their shoulders. Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 31
2. Early Leavers: Those who leave the company within 12 months of joining. 3. Universal Leavers: All the remaining leavers who are important for sustaining current operations of a company. Across industries, the proportion of Early Leavers is relatively higher in the services sector BFSI, ITES, Retail and Telecom. It is interesting to see that the age-old industries of FMCG and Manufacturing sectors witness the smallest proportion of Early Leavers. In new industries like IT with a huge growth curve, close to one in two people leaving are Top Performers which doesnt augur well for growth in the future. Even the big brands are also facing the same problem. According to the survey conducted by BES and Data Quest, Sierra Atlantic recorded highest attrition rate (29%) followed by Kanbay with 25%. Below are the details of attrition rates of various players in IT sector.
(Figure 3.1)
The Job role at which employees, who are early leavers varies considerably by industry. While the ITES sector has the highest share of Executive level leavers, Retail and BFSI are sectors where about one in five of those who leave within a year are Managers. Further, the IT sector accounts for the highest share of Supervisors who leave in under a year.
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(Figure 3.2)
Region wise, the share of Early Leavers is seen to be highest in the North while the Rest of India has a high share of Universal Leavers. North India has a high share of both Early and Universal Leavers where surprisingly females form a major chunk of early leavers defying the usually accepted phenomenon of females being more stable.
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(Figure 3.3)
3.7 WAY TO REDUCE EMPLOYEE TURNOVER Let us explore some ideas to reduce employee turnover 1. Hire the best candidate. 2. Welcome new employees. Customize your induction program for new employees according to the requirements. Same induction program can not be applied to all the candidates. Make them feel welcomed. 3. Produce quality managers who can really manage employees well. 4. Provide employees with work schedules that are flexible enough to suit their needs. 5. Dont be too demanding. You are hiring human beings who have their own life and family commitments. Respect them. 6. Provide career counseling and development. 7. Discuss your future plans regarding the candidate with the candidate. Let them know that the management is interested in retaining them and cares for them. 8. Take proper feedback from employees regarding their grievances.
9. Remember your ex-employees. They can be of help in future. It is also a part of
employee retention. 3.8 IS ATTRITATION IS ALWAYS BAD? Attrition is not bad always if it happens in a controlled manner. Some attrition is always desirable and necessary for organizational growth and development. The only concern is how organizations differentiate good attrition from bad attrition. The term healthy attrition or good attrition signifies the importance of less productive employees voluntarily leaving the organization. This means if the ones who have left fall in the category of low performers, the attrition in considered being healthy. Attrition rates are considered to be beneficial in some ways:
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If all employees stay in the same organization for a very long time, most of them will be at the top of their pay scale which will result in excessive manpower costs. When certain employees leave, whose continuation of service would have negatively impacted productivity and profitability of the company, the company is benefited.
New employees bring new ideas, approaches, abilities & attitudes which can keep the organization from becoming stagnant. There are also some people in the organization who have a negative and demoralizing influence on the work culture and team spirit. This, in the long-term, is detrimental to organizational health.
Desirable attrition also includes termination of employees with whom the organization does not want to continue a relationship. It benefits the organization in the following ways: It removes bottleneck in the progress of the company It creates space for the entry of new talents It assists in evolving high performance teams
There are people who are not able to balance their performance as per expectations, lack potential for future or need disciplinary action. Furthermore, as the rewards are limited, business pressures do not allow the management to over-reward the performers, but when undesirable employees leave the company, the good employees can be given the share that they deserve.
Some companies believe attrition in any form is bad for an organization for it means that a wrong choice was made at the beginning while recruiting. Even good attrition indicates loss as recruitment is a time consuming and costly affair. The only positive point is that the realization has initiated action that will lead to cutting loss.
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ATTRITION COST CALCULATION (The following table can be helpful to calculate the cost of employee turnover per week or per month) Employee Detachment Cost Exit interview (One Hour: Preparation, interview, follow up) Cost of termination time Cost spent in administrative procedures Increased unemployment (based on the Department of Labor) Cost of vacancy Overtime Labor Wages Cost of substitution Job advertising Pre-employment administration Cost of new hires interviews Staff cost Cost of training Stationary cost (Books, training manuals, etc.) Formal training sessions (Class room, lab, etc) Informal training (Mentors, etc.) Employee performance differential Difference in performance (Productivity, learning, etc.) TOTAL TURNOVER COST PER EMPLOYEE (Table 3.1) 3.9 TRUTH ABOUT EMPLOYEE TURNOVER (ATTRITION) It is difficult to accept when organizations say they have zero attrition rates. Companies may have healthier turnover rates, however, there is no such thing as zero attrition. There are other such facts about turnover, about which most of us are not aware. Some of such facts have been highlighted below: 1. Turnover always happens Companies who believe in zero attrition rates only fool themselves. This happens because employees keep on moving due to reasons like marriage or further education. Nothing can Amount
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stop these employees from moving on. So, rather than achieving zero attrition companies should focus on identifying whom they want to keep so that they have healthy attrition rate. 2. Turnover includes cost Turnover always includes some costs. Consider the costs of replacing the key employee who falls in to the category of high performers. This includes the costs of recruitment advertisement, referral bonuses, selection testing, training costs, etc. Moreover, turnover results in loss of time and efforts, low productivity, loss of morale, loss of knowledge and so on. 3. Some Turnover is Desirable Zero attrition is not desirable mainly because of two reasons. Firstly, if all employees continue to stay in the same organization, most of them will be at the top of their pay scale which will result in excessive manpower costs. Secondly, new employees bring new ideas, approaches, abilities & attitudes which can keep the organization from becoming stagnant.
4. High salary doesnt work Most managers assume that a high salary package is enough to keep employees loyal to their organization. Employees may face other problems like low job satisfaction, low engagement levels, no recognition, poor working conditions, less support from superiors and so on. Salaries are not always the solution to attrition. Managers should try to identify the roots of the problem and then find a feasible solution. 5. The manager can reduce attrition Managers should take primary responsibility for retaining their employees. Much of the employees perception of job satisfaction stems from the relationship they share with their immediate supervisor. Managers should try to support their subordinates and give proper feedback on performance. HR managers should work in collaboration to make the key employees last in their organization. 6. Reducing Turnover takes Commitment
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Reducing turnover takes an investment in coaching, developing, motivating, mentoring & listening to people. There should be universal acceptance of the goal of reducing turnover along with top management commitment and dedication
Chapter 4 EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
Definitions of employee engagement vary greatly across organizations. Many managers wonder how such an elusive concept can be quantified. The term does encompass several ingredients for which researchers have developed measurement techniques. These ingredients include the degree to which employees fully occupy themselves in their work, as well as the strength of their commitment to the employer and role. Fortunately, there is Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 38
much research on these elements of engagementwork that has deep roots in individual and group psychology. Employers typically assess their employees engagement levels with company-wide attitude or opinion surveys. A sampling of the criteria featured in such instruments reveals 10 common themes related to engagement: 1. Pride in employer 2. Satisfaction with employer 3. Job satisfaction 4. Opportunity to perform well at challenging work 5. Recognition and positive feedback for ones contributions 6. Personal support from ones supervisor 7. Effort above and beyond the minimum 8. Understanding the link between ones job and the organizations mission 9. Prospects for future growth with ones employer 10. Intention to stay with ones employer 4.1 MEASURING EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT In order to increase employee retention, the organization should know how engaged their employee are. Here are a few questions which can be asked to the employees to measure employee engagement levels in the organization.
10 Questions to measure employee engagement : Does the employee know the organizations expectations from him? Does the employee have all the resources (material, tools, information) to do his work right? Does the employee find opportunities at work to do what he is best to do? Does the employee get any recognition, praise or acknowledgement for his work in the last seven days? Does the supervisors or colleagues care about the employee as a person? Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 39
Is the employee encouraged for his development at work? Does employees opinion matters or counted? Does the employee feel that his work is important for the organization? Are your fellow employees doing quality work or are committed to do so? Does the employee have a best friend at work?
4.2 INCREASING EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT An organizations productivity is measured not in terms of employee satisfaction but by employee said to be engaged attitude toward to commitment engagement. Employees are when they show a positive the organization and express a remain with the organization.
An organization who wants increase in employee engagement levels should focus on:
Culture: It consists of a foundation of leadership, vision, values, effective communication, a strategic plan, and HR policies that are focused on the employee
Continuous
Reinforcement
of
People-Focused
Policies:
Continuous
reinforcement exists when senior management provides staff with budgets and resources to accomplish their work, and empowers them.
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Meaningful Metrics: They measure the factors that are essential to the organizations performance. Because so much of the organizations performance is dependent on people, such metrics will naturally drive the people-focus of the organization and lead to beneficial change.
Organizational Performance: It ultimately leads to high levels of trust, pride, satisfaction, success, and believe it or not, fun.
Provide variety: Tedious, repetitive tasks can cause burn out and boredom over time. If the job requires repetitive tasks, look for ways to introduce variety by rotating duties, areas of responsibility, delivery of service etc.
Conduct periodic meetings with employees to communicate good news, challenges and easy-to-understand company financial information. Managers and supervisors should be comfortable communicating with their staff, and able to give and receive constructive feedback.
Indulge in employee deployment if he feels he is not on the right job. Provide an open environment.
Communicate openly and clearly about what's expected of employees at every level - your vision, priorities, success measures, etc. Get to know employees' interests, goals, stressors, etc. Show an interest in their well-being and do what it takes enable them to feel more fulfilled and better balanced in work and life.
Celebrate individual, team and organizational successes. Catch employees doing something right, and say "Thank you."
Be consistent in your support for engagement initiatives. If you start one and then drop it, your efforts may backfire. There's a strong connection between employees' commitment to an initiative and management's commitment to supporting it.
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Growth opportunities: Management should provide the employee ample opportunities to enhance their skill set for his career development and growth.
Confidence: Good managers should induce and boost confidence in an employee. Control: Managers should let the employees utilize the control which they have on their job and career.
Clarity: Managers should have a clear vision of what job is to be done and how it is to be done. Also the managers should effectively communicate these visions and plans.
Contribute: Give opportunities to employees to contribute in the management decision making process. Ask for suggestions, new ideas, and ways of improvement.
Credibility: Managers should set examples for the employee by imbibing and teach others to practice ethical standards and practices. He should maintain companys reputation.
4.3 HANDLING NON ENGAGED EMPLOYEE Not all the employees are engaged in an organization. There are those who are not engaged and tend to concentrate on tasks other than the goals and outcomes they are expected to accomplish. Efforts are to be made to raise levels of engagement for those who fall in the not-engaged range. These non engaged employees want themselves to be spoon fed in terms of work targets and are rarely seen to take initiatives. They focus on accomplishing a task rather than achieving an outcome. Managers tend to believe giving targets to employees keeps them engaged. In real terms, manager who provides only a task to an employee reinforces notSubmitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 42
engaged behaviors and actually move away from engaging the heart, mind, and soul of that employee. Actively disengaged employees aren't just unhappy at work. They spread their discontentment to every other employee and undermine the work of others. They are not just indifferent to company goals and mission but also express their mistrust and animosity. Employees who are not engaged tend to feel their contributions are being overlooked, and their potential is not being tapped. They often feel this way because they don't have productive relationships with their managers or with their coworkers. Too often people have to work with others who have become actively disengaged. The way to get people to become a part of an organization is through relationships. Employees who feel disconnected emotionally from their coworkers and supervisor do not feel committed to their work. They hang back and do the minimum because they believe their contribution hardly counts. These employees lower the bar for themselves by doing the least amount of work necessary. Managers should try to interact with these non engaged employees so as to identify the improvement areas. Providing consistent and positive feedback to the subordinates can help in boosting the morale of non engaged employees. By exhibiting a caring nature, manager can show his employees of what importance they are to him. Managers can also help employees refocus on the demands of their roles and on the skills, knowledge, and talents they bring to their jobs. The manager who takes the proper time to have a dialogue about an employee's strengths and how these can make a difference creates essential ties that lead to employee commitment. As employees increasingly work with each other to deliver commitments, the problems and tensions that are fostered by actively disengaged workers cause great damage to an organization's functioning. A good manager has to identify those who are disengaged and explore the reasons behind their discontentment to determine if coaching or other interventions are appropriate. In some cases, employees respond favorably to opportunities to reconnect and rekindle their interest and enthusiasm for their jobs. However there are some who thrive on the negativity and refuse to become part of any solution. If they repeatedly refuse opportunities to engage again, terminating their employment should be
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seriously considered in order to avoid further damage to staff morale and organizational progress.
4.4 EMPLOYEE SCHEDULING Higher employee retention rates call for innovative methods of managing workforce. Employees are leaving their workplaces at a faster pace because of which managers have to take corrective action to make employees stick to their organizations. One of the reasons why employees leave is low levels of work engagement among them. Poor scheduling of work may result in employees who either are overloaded with work or dont have any work at all. For the purpose of engaging employees effectively, managers follow the workforce scheduling process. Employee scheduling refers to the assignment of tasks between the employees. It is a difficult and a time consuming process. It involves producing detailed daily (or monthly) schedules for individual employees while taking the organizations goal into consideration. Managers often misuse workforce scheduling to refer to employee scheduling. Workforce scheduling is basically the short-term allocation of tasks in time. The people scheduled are assumed to be homogeneous in terms of their skills, that is, individual skills are not taken into account while scheduling employees. On the other hand, employee scheduling takes into account individual skills and distinguishes employees in terms of their skills and abilities. How it is done Following points are to be taken into account while scheduling employees: Set of skills and the level of proficiency for each employee. This allows him/her to be assigned to simple tasks in a new skill, thus allowing a gradual development. Employees previous assignments so as to ensure that maximum work duration does not exceed in the current month or quarter. Skill and proficiency level required for each activity type. Company skills to develop, employees designated for training in these skills Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 44
Scheduling history can also be used to produce schedules that are balanced with respect to values of counters.
The companies create a scheduling model which is a detailed assignment of employees to activities or skills on each day of the week. The schedule must consider the different timely (daily or weekly) constraints on work and rest duration, total work duration and total work duration per skill. Since employee scheduling is a complex process, many software are available in market which make it an easy task like VasTech's integrated workforce management tools for scheduling. It focuses on workforce scheduling and self scheduling, credentialing and expiration notification, payroll, costing, and time and attendance systems.
Chapter 5 EMPLOYEE RETENTION STRATEGIES
Companies have now realized the importance of retaining their quality workforce. Retaining quality performers contributes to productivity of the organization and increases morale among employees. Four basic factors that play an important role in increasing employee retention include salary and remuneration, providing recognition, benefits and opportunities for individual growth. But are they really positively contributing to the retention rates of a company? Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 45
Basic salary, these days, hardly reduces turnover. Today, employees look beyond the money factor.
5.1 GET IT RIGHT AND KEEP IT RIGHT Employee retention starts with recruitment. Early departures arise from the wrong recruitment process. Lets look at the most common reasons employees leave and what recruiters can do to improve the retention of the employees they recruit for their organizations: 1. The job or workplace was not as expected. This can be addressed during the recruiting and selection process. Recruiters need to present a clear and accurate description of the job, the performance expectations, the supervisors
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management style, weaknesses and strengths, the corporate culture and values. The corporate company and the candidate going into a new job should be fully informed. 2. Poor fit. There is a mismatch between the job and the hire, or the hire and the supervisor. This, too, can be addressed during the recruiting and selection process. The assessment process should be rigorous. Drill down; then, drill down again. 3. There are too few growth and advancement opportunities. Again, this is an issue that can be addressed during the recruiting and selection process. Recruiters should ensure that there will be enough of a career runway for the candidates ambitions. The recruiter should understand the candidates career objectives and carefully assess motivations. 4. The employee feels devalued and unrecognized. This, too, is a communications and management problem. Again, we are proactive and facilitate communication between the manager and employee. Recognition is one of the most effective ways to retain and motivate your employees. A well designed recognition program can have a significant impact on employee loyalty and also influence behaviors, attitudes, values, customer satisfaction, process improvements, time to market, quality the list is potentially endless, and unique to every company. The point is, people respond to recognition and appreciation. 5. The employee is stressed from overwork and a work-life imbalance. This is frequently a communication problem, and it is usually solvable. The key is to acknowledge the conditions and not permit them to persist without attempting to relieve the pressure, even temporarily. Without relief, the pressure will build and lead to a resignation. 6. There is a loss of trust and confidence in senior leaders. This is frequently a communication problem. Leaders who dont communicate or communicate ineffectively are often unaware of the problem. The employee should be
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encouraged to precipitate communication with their Manager, to ask questions, to get informed, to network in the company and to reach out to the human resources department.
5.2 TRANSPARENT WORK CULTURE In todays fast paced business environments where employees are constantly striving to achieve business goals under time restrictions; open minded and transparent work culture plays a vital role in employee retention. Companies invest very many hours and monies in training and educating employees. These companies are severely affected when employees check out, especially in the middle of some big company project or venture. Although employees most often prefer to stay with the same company and use their time and experience for personal growth and development, they leave mainly because of work related stress and dissatisfactions. More and more companies have now realized the importance of a healthy work culture and have a gamut of people management good practices for employees to have that ideal fresh work-life. Closed doors work culture can serve as a deterrent to communication and trust within employees which are potential causes for work-related apathy and frenzy. A transparent work environment can serve as one of the primary triggers to facilitate accountability, trust, communication, responsibility, pride and so on. It is believed that in a transparent work culture employees rigorously communicate with their peers and exchange ideas and thoughts before they are finally matured in to full-blown concepts. It induces responsibility among employees and accountability towards other peers, which gradually builds up trust and pride. More importantly, transparency in work environment discourages work-politics which often hinders company goals as employees start to advance their personal objectives at the expense of development of the company as a single entity. Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 48
Employees comprise the most vital assets of the company. In a work place where employees are not able to use their full potential and not heard and valued, they are likely to leave because of stress and frustration. In a transparent environment while employees get a sense of achievement and belongingness from a healthy work environment, the company is benefited with a stronger, reliable work-force harboring bright new ideas for its growth.
5.3 PEOPLE LEAVE THEIR BOSSES NOT THEIR JOBS When asked about why employees leave, low salary comes out to be a common excuse. However, research has shown that people join companies, but leave because of what their managers do or dont do. A Florida State University study scheduled for full release in the Fall 2007 issue of Leadership Quarterly shows that 40% of employees work for bad bosses based on survey results. The reasons that employers score poorly are varied and many: 39% of workers said their supervisor failed to keep promises. 37% indicated their supervisor failed to give credit when due. 31% said their supervisor gave them the "silent treatment" during the past year. 27% report their supervisor made negative comments about them to other employees or managers. 24% indicated their boss invaded their privacy. 23% said their supervisor blamed other to cover up personal mistakes or minimize embarrassment. Therefore, managers and team leaders play an active and vital role in employee retention.
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Managers and team leaders can reduce the attrition levels considerably by creating a motivating team culture and improving the relationships with team members. This can be done in a following way: Creating a Motivating Environment: Team leaders, who create motivating environments are likely to keep their team members together for a longer period of time. Motivation does not necessarily have to come through fun events such as parties, celebrations, team outings etc. They can also come through serious events e.g. arranging a talk by the VP of Quality on career opportunities in the field of quality. Employees who look forward to these events and are likely to remain more engaged. Standing up for the Team: Team leaders are closest to their team members. While they need to ensure smooth functioning of their teams by implementing management decisions, they also need to educate their managers about the realities on the ground. When agents see the team leader standing up for them, they will have one more reason to stay in the team. Providing coaching: Everyone wants to be successful in his or her current job. However, not everyone knows how. Therefore, one of the key responsibilities will be providing coaching that is intended to improve the performance of employees. Managers often tend to escape this role by just coaching their employees. However, coaching is followed by monitoring performance and providing feedback on the same. Delegation: Many team leaders and managers feel that they are the only people who can do a particular task or job. Therefore, they do not delegate their jobs as much as they should. Delegation is a great way to develop competencies. Extra Responsibility: Giving extra responsibility to employees is another way to get them engaged with the company. However, just giving the extra responsibility does not help. The manager must spend good time teaching the employees of how to manage responsibilities given to them so that they dont feel over burdened. Focus on future career: Employees are always concerned about their future career. A manager should focus on showing employees his career ladder. If an employee sees that his Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 50
current job offers a path towards their future career aspirations, then they are likely to stay longer in the company. Therefore, managers should play the role of career counselors as well. Apart from above all the basic practices which should be kept in mind are: Hire the right people in the first place. Empower the employees: Give the employees the authority to get things done. Make employees realize that they are the most valuable asset of the organization. Have faith in them, trust them and respect them. Provide them information and knowledge. Keep providing them feedback on their performance. Recognize and appreciate their achievements. Keep their morale high. Create an environment where the employees want to work and have fun.
These practices can be categorized in 3 levels: Low, medium and high level.
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Low Level Employee Retention Strategies: 1. Appreciating and recognizing a well done job 2. Personalized well done and thank-you cards from supervisors 3. Congratulations e-cards or cards sent to spouses/families 4. Voicemails or messages from top management 5. Periodic days off for good performance 6. Rewards ( gift, certificates, monetary and non monetary rewards) 7. Recognizing professional as well as personal significant events Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 52
Wedding gifts Anniversary gifts New born baby gifts Scholarships for employees children Get well cards/flowers Birthday cards, celebrations and gifts
8. Providing benefits 9. Home insurance plans 10. Legal insurance 11. Travel insurance 12. Disability programs 13. Providing perks: coupons, discounts, rebates, etc Discounts in cinema halls, museums, restaurants, etc. Retail store discounts Computer peripherals purchase discounts
14. Providing workplace conveniences: On-site ATM On-site facilities for which cost is paid by employees laundry facility for bachelors Shipping services
15. Assistance with tax calculations and submission of forms: Financial planning assistance Casual dress policies Facilities for expectant mothers Parking Parenting guide Lactation rooms Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 53
Flexi timings
16. Fun at work : Celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, retirements, promotions, etc Holiday parties and holiday gift certificates Occasional parties like diwali, holi, dushera, etc Organize get together for watching football, hockey, cricket matches Organize picnics and trips for movies etc Sports outings like cricket match etc Indoor games
17. Occasional stress relievers : Casual dress day Green is the color day Handwriting analysis Tatoo, mehandi, hair braiding stalls on weekends Mini cricket in office Ice cream Fridays Holi-Day breakfast
18. Employee support in tough time or personal crisis: Personal loans for emergencies Childcare and eldercare services Employee Assistance Programs ( Counseling sessions etc) Emergency childcare services
Medium Level Employee Retention Strategies: 1. Appreciating and recognizing a well done job 2. Special bonus for successfully completing firm-sponsored certifications Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 54
3. Benefit programs for family support 4. Child adoption benefits 5. Flexible benefits 6. Dependents care assistance 7. Medical care reimbursement 8. Providing conveniences at workplace 9. Gymnasiums 10. Athletic membership program 11. Providing training and development and personal growth opportunities 12. Sabbatical programs 13. Professional skills development 14. Individualized career guidance High Level Employee Retention strategies: 1. Promoting Work / Life Effectiveness 2. Develop flexible schedules 3. Part-time schedules 4. Extended leaves of absence 5. Develop Support Services 6. On-site day care facility etc. 7. Understand employee needs: This can be done through proper management style and culture Listen to the employee and show interest in ideas Appreciate new ideas and reward risk-taking Show support for individual initiative Encourage creativity
8. Encouraging professional training and development and/or personal growth opportunities: It can be done through: Mentoring programs Performance feedback programs Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 55
Provide necessary tools to the employees to achieve their professional and personal goals Getting the most out of employee interests and talents Higher study opportunities for employees Vocational counseling Offer personalized career guidance to employees
9. Provide an environment of trust: Communication is the most important and effective way to develop trust. 10. Suggestion committees can be created 11. Open door communication policy can be followed 12. Regular feedbacks on organizations goals and activities should be taken from the employees by: Management communications Intranet and internet can be used as they provide 24X7 access to the information Newsletters, notice boards, etc.
5.4 QUALITY WORK The success of any organization depends on how it attracts, recruits, motivates, and retains its workforce. Organizations need to be more flexible so that they develop their talented workforce and gain their commitment. Thus, organizations are required to retain employees by addressing their work life issues. The elements that are relevant to an individuals quality of work life include the task, the physical work environment, social environment within the organization, administrative system and relationship between life on and off the job The basic objectives of a QWL program are improved working conditions for the employee and increase organizational effectiveness. Providing quality work life involves taking care of the following Page - 56 aspects:
Occupational health care: The safe work environment provides the basis for the person to enjoy working. The work should not pose a health hazard for the person. The employer and employee, aware of their risks and rights, could achieve a lot in their mutually beneficial dialogue. Suitable working time: Organizations are offering flexible work options to their employees wherein employees enjoy flexi-timings for dedicating their efforts at work. Appropriate salary: The appropriate as well as attractive salary has always been an important factor in retaining employees. Providing employees salary at par with the other counterparts of above that what competitors are paying motivates them to stick with the company for long.
QWL consists of opportunities for active involvement in group working arrangements or problem solving that are of mutual benefit to employees or employers, based on labor management cooperation. People also conceive of QWL as a set of methods, such as autonomous work groups, job enrichment, and high-involvement aimed at boosting the satisfaction and productivity of workers. It requires employee commitment to the organization and an environment in which this commitment can flourish. Providing quality at work not only reduces attrition but also helps in reduced absenteeism and improved job satisfaction. Not only does QWL contribute to a company's ability to recruit quality people, but also it enhances a company's competitiveness. Common beliefs support the contention that QWL will positively nurture amore flexible, loyal, and motivated workforce, which are essential in determining the company's competitiveness. 5.5 SUPPORT Organizations these days want to protect their biggest and most valuable asset and they want to do this in a way that best suits their organizational culture. Retaining employees is a difficult task. Providing support to the employees acts as a mantra for retraining them.
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Employers can also support their employees by creating an environment of trust and inculcating the organizational values into employees.
The management can support employees directly or indirectly. Directly, they provide support in terms of personal crises, managing stress and personal development. Management can support employees, indirectly, in a number of ways as follows:
Manage employee turnover:
Employee turnover affects the whole organization in terms of productivity. Managing the turnover, hence, becomes an important task. A proactive approach can be adopted to reduce attrition. Strategies should be framed in advance and implemented when the times arrives. Turnover costs should also be taken into consideration while framing these strategies.
Become employer of choice:
What makes a company an employer of choice? Is the benefit it offers or the compensation packages it gives away to its employees? Or is it measured in terms of how they value their employees or in terms of customer satisfaction? Becoming an employer of choice involves following a road map which tells where to go as a brand.
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Engage the new recruits:
The newly hired employees are said to be least engaged in the organization. Keeping them engaged is an important task. The fresh talent should be utilized to maximum before they start feeling bored in the organization.
Optimize employee engagement:
An organizations productivity is measured not in terms of employee satisfaction but by employee engagement. Employees are said to be engaged when they show a positive attitude toward the organization and express a commitment to remain with the organization. Employee satisfaction also comes with high engagement levels. So, organizations should aim to maximize the engagement among employees.
Coaching and mentoring:
Employees whose work performance suffers due to poor interpersonal relationships or because of lack of interpersonal skills should be provided proper coaching by their superiors. Planed coaching sessions help an individual to work through issues, maximize his potential and return to peak performance
5.6 EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT An empowered organization is one in which individuals have the knowledge, skill, desire, and opportunity to personally succeed in a way that leads to collective organizational success." Stephen Covey An organizations human resource is its most valuable asset. The employees are the repository of knowledge, skills and abilities that cant be imitated by the competitors. Technologies, products and processes are easily imitated by the competitors; however, at the end of the day, employees are the most strategic resource of the company. Generally, people are a firms most underutilized resource. And that is why management tries to empower the employees. But employees often are afraid of taking this Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 59
responsibility. They fear the additional work pressure that they will have to bear as a part of being empowered. Besides, they also fear being held accountable for the decisions they make. But, what does employee empowerment actually mean? Does it mean absolute authority or absolute power? The answer is certainly NO. Empowerment refers to enlargement of an employees job responsibility by giving him the authority of decision making about his own job without approval of his immediate supervisor. Empowerment is the degree of responsibility and authority given to an employee. By empowerment, the employees are supported and encouraged to utilize their skills, abilities and creativity by accepting accountability for their work. Empowerment occurs when employees are adequately trained, provided with all the relevant information and the best possible tools, fully involved in key decisions, and are fairly rewarded. Employee empowerment entails identifying how much responsibility and authority an individual can effectively handle without becoming over-burdened or distressed. Empowerment includes supervisors and employees working together to establish clear goals and expectations within agreed-upon boundaries. Why employee empowerment fails? Employee empowerment means that an employee has the power to take some decisions without consulting his boss or reporting manager. Employee empowerment is an essential part of employee retention. But due to many known or unknown reasons, it fails. Some of the reasons may be: Managers dont take employee empowerment seriously in the first place. It becomes more of a prestige issue to give control to others. Even if managers take it seriously, they are unable to lay down proper boundaries for the empowerment. Managers sometimes fail to provide a strategic framework.
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Managers sometimes dont provide the information, and growth & learning opportunities that are needed by the employ to empower himself and take good decisions.
On the other hand, managers sometimes hand over all responsibilities to the employee. This may lead to misuse of powers given to the employee. Some managers act like a barrier and hamper the decision making practice of the empowered employee out of jealousy.
5.7 COMMUNICATION BETWEEN EMPLOYEE AND EMPLOYER
Communication is a process in which a message is conveyed to the receiver by the sender. The message may be or may not be in a common format or language that both the sender and receiver understand. So there is a need to encode and decode the message in the process. Encoding and decoding also helps in the security of the message. The process of communication is incomplete without the feedback.
Communication is the solution to almost everything in this world. Same applies to employee retention also. Straight-from-the-shoulder communication is what the employees need from their employers. Employees look for organizations where communication and process are transparent. Nothing is hidden and shared with the employees. There are 3 categories of employees: A: Who will leave their current employer in 3 years of their employment Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 61
B: Who have a probability of leaving their current employer in next 3 years C: Who will stay with their current employer in the next 3 years Category A: These are the employees who lack communication with their employers. Category C: These are the employees who have proper, well structured communication with their employers. Communication is also the way to win the employees trust in the organization. Employees trust the employers who are friendly and open to them. This trust leads to employee loyalty and finally retention. Employers also feel that the immediate supervisors are the most authenticated and trusted source of information for them. So the organizations should hire managers who are active communicators. Communication mediums: Open door policy: Organizations should support open door policies so that the employees feel comfortable and are able to express their doubts and feeling to their employers. Frequent meetings and Social gatherings Emails, Newsletters, Intranet and many more
So there should be effective communication across the organization and this communication should be two-way. Communication alone can lead to unimaginable heights of employee retention. 5.8 FEEDBACK Feedback acts as a channel of communication between the employee and his manager. The amount of information employees receive about how well or how poorly they have performed is what we call feedback. It is a dialog between a manager and an employee which acts as a way of sharing information about the performance. It suggests where the employee performance is effective and where performance has to improve.
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Managers can provide either positive feedback or negative feedback to employees. This feedback helps the employee assess his performance and identify the improvement areas. Positive feedback communicates managerial satisfaction. Positive recognition for good performance boosts up morale of employees and results in performance improvement to a higher productivity level. It is believed that positive feedback is the only type of feedback that generates performance above the minimum acceptable level. Negative feedback obviously communicates managers dissatisfaction. However, negative feedback sometimes make employee to put more efforts to improve his performance. But such times are very rare. Moreover this improvement is short term. Some managers do not provide any kind of feedback to their employees. Due to no feedback, employees may assume that they are performing productively or they may feel that the manager is satisfied with their performance. Studies reveal the performance tends be same or even decreases if no feedback is provided. Thus, feedback is necessary because:
It builds trust and enhances communication between manager and employee. It gives managers and employees a way to identify and discuss skills and strengths. Positive feedback leads to employee retention and motivation. It helps in identifying performance areas that need improvement and specific ways to improve them. It acts as an opportunity to enhance performance by identifying resources for skill development.
It is an opportunity for managers and employees to assess and identify career and advancement opportunities. It helps employees to understand the effectiveness of their performance and contributes to their overall knowledge about the work
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Managers have tendency to ignore good performances of their employees. Providing no feedback may demotivate employees and may lead to employee absenteeism. Input from managers side is necessary as it help employees to improve their performance and increase productivity.
5.9 RETENTION BONUS Higher attrition rates within a particular industry have forced companies to use some innovative strategies to retain employees. Along with transparent work culture, support, good communications between employee and employer, Retention Bonus is one of the important tools that are being used to retain employees. Retention bonus is an incentive paid to an employee to retain them through a critical business cycle. Retention bonuses are becoming more common in the corporate world because companies are going through more transitions like mergers and acquisitions. They need to give key people an attractive incentive to stay on through these transitions to ensure productivity. Retention bonuses have proven to be a useful tool in persuading employees to stay. A retention bonus plan is not a panacea. According to a survey, non-management employees generally receive about 10 percent of their annual salaries in bonuses, while management and top-level supervisors earn an additional 50 percent of their annual salaries. While bonuses based on salary percentages are the generally used, some companies choose to pay a flat figure. In some companies, bonuses range from 25 percent to 50 percent of annual salary, depending on position, tenure and other factors. Employees are chosen for retention bonuses based on their contributions to management and the generation of revenue. Retention bonuses are generally vary from position to position and are paid in one lump sum at the time of termination. However, some companies pay in installments as on when the business cycle completes. A retention period can run somewhere between six months to three years. It can also run for a particular project. A project has its own life span. As long as the project gets completed, the employees who have worked hard on it are entitled to receive the retention bonus. For example, the implementation of a system may take 18 months, so a retention bonus will be offered after 20 months. Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 64
Although retention bonuses are becoming more common everywhere, some industries are more likely than others to offer them. Retail/wholesale companies are the most appropriate to implement stay-pay bonuses, followed by financial service providers and manufacturing firms. Companies of all sizes use retention bonus plans to keep knowledge employees retained in the company. To retain its key senior employees post merger with EDS Corporation, Mphasis is providing cash component based retention bonus plan for its employees. This is mainly to retain good employees and provide them a cash incentive to keep them motivated.
The Following table describes the Key Drivers adopted by different organisations to Attract and Retain Talent.
Employers
Key Drives To Attract And Retain Talent Early responsibilities in career Flexible and transparent organizational culture Global opportunities through a variety of exposure and diverse experiences Performance Recognition Strong global brand
Procter and Gamble India
American Express (India)
Value-based environment Pioneer in many people practices Learning and growth opportunities Competitive rewards
NTPC
Opportunity to grow, learn and implement Strong social security and employee welfare performanceoriented culture Strong values of trust, caring fairness, and respect within the organization Freedom to operate at work Early responsibility in career
Johnson & Johnson
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Training and learning opportunities Visible, transparent and accessible leaders Competitive rewards Employers Innovative HR programs and practices Key Drives To Attract And Retain Talent Performance-driven Rewards Its belief in Growing our own timber Comprehensive development and learning programs Glaxo Smith Kline Consumer Healthcare Flat organization, where performance could lead to very quick progression Challenging work context Competitive rewards Exhaustive induction and orientation program Organization philosophy and culture Tata Steel Job stability Freedom to work and innovate Company brand Open , transparent, and caring organization Management according to the managing with respect to guiding principles Training ad development programs Structured career planning process Wipro Global career opportunities Companys brand as an employer Early opportunities for growth High degree of autonomy Value compatibility Innovative people program
Colgate Palmolive India
Employers Indian Oil Corporation
Key Drives To Attract And Retain Talent Company brand image Page - 66
Work ethics Learning and growth opportunities Challenging work assignments Growing organization The group brand equity Strong corporate governance and citizenship TCS Commitment to learning and development Best in people practices Challenging assignments Opportunity to work with fortune 500 clients
CONCLUSION The old style of "my-way-or-the-highway" style of management is a thing of the past. Today's Employee retention is most critical issue facing every organization from small to big one as a result of the shortage of skilled labor, economic growth and employee turnover. Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 67
Today pay package is not alone a foremost reason for an employee to leave an organization. Working environment, career growth, relationship with managers and colleagues are also play equivalent role as resignation motivators. Now the Managers / Supervisors have to understand the need of his employees and have to deal with them very tactfully. They should : Give recognition to each of the employee Listen to their ideas and show interest on it. Give them opportunity to show their endowment Give responsibilities to the employee according to his capabilities Give them training for the growth of their skills. Create a transparent and friendly work environment Make employee feel as a part of the management by asking suggestions / feedback as and when required. Appreciate deserved employees efforts with reward time to time.
Employees all needs can be summarized in three words i.e. Recognition, respect and reward. Circumventing any of them can easily increase the attrition rate of an organization. However, an organization requires a healthy attrition, which means exit of less productive workforce from organisation. Employee retention takes effort, energy, and resources...and the results are worth it.
LIMITATION
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In isolation no problem has been faced while collecting data from sources like books, magazines etc. The problem occurred when the working people have been requested to take out some time from their schedule for reply to the questionnaire prepared for this project. The verbal interactions were also successfully made.
METHODOLOGY
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The methodology to prepare this project involves following steps: 1. First of all a questionnaire has been prepared and distributed amongst various employees working in different fields and different organizations. Afterwards all replies have been summarized to use in the report. 2. The other data was collected by means of reading books, business magazines, newspapers etc. 3. Informal verbal interactions were also done with professionals in HR departments and other working employees of different companies to have their views and suggestions on the topic. 4. The internet also used to enhance the knowledge about the topic.
The project report was, thereafter, carried out on the basis of the data collected.
BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS
Managing Talent Retention: An ROI Approach
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By Jack J. Phillips, Lisa Edwards
Retaining your best employees: nine case studies from the real world of training By Patricia Pulliam Phillips
Managing employee retention: a strategic accountability approach
By Jack J. Phillips, Adele O. Connell MAGAZINES

Business Week Business Today Outlook Business
WEBSITES
www.wikipedia.org
www.humanresources.about.com
www.google.co.in www.scribd.com
ANNEXURE
QUESTIONNAIRE Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 71
PART A Indicate the extent to which each of the following statements you agree in your organization using the five point scale by marking a tick mark [] against that column. S.No Statements Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Disagree (1) 1. Your management comes forward when you are facing with critical 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. situation. You work over-time very often. Employee work loads are distributed fairly. Employee participation in management is encouraged here. Work-life balance is supported by this organization. Better infrastructure amenities are available in this organization to do 7. your job well. Recreation activities are conducted very often in this S. No 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. You have opportunities to learn and grow. Interpersonal relationships are encouraging in this organization. The welfare facilities provided by this organization are satisfactory. The job you are performing is satisfactory. You are satisfied with your Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 72 organization. Statements Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Disagree (1) (2) (3) (4) Agree (5) (2) (3) (4) Agree (5)
13. 14.
existing pay structure. Your organization conducts training programs often. Your training program is always linked with your career development. You suggest a friend/relative to join this organization. You like to plan your further career in this organization. There are no barriers of communication while you are communicating with your supervisor.
15. 16. 17.
18. Name the policy which you rate to be best of all the retention policies in your organization? (You can name more than one)
PART - B Name (optional) : __________________________________ Designation : ______________________________________ Department / Branch : _______________________________ Age : _____________________________________________ Submitted by: - xyz (REG. NO. xxxxx Page - 73
Length of service in this organization : __________________ Have you worked in any other organization previous to this company? [ ] Yes [ ] No
If yes, for what reason you shifted to this company?
The awards / rewards you received in this organization:
8. Signature (optional): Any Suggestions:
LIST OF GRAPHS AND TABLES
Graph 3.1 Graph 3.2 Graph 3.3 Table 3.1
Attrition rate in IT companies (year 2006) Leavers types across industries Leavers types across regions. Attrition cost calculation
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A REPORT ON WAYS TO IMPROVE EMPLOYEE RETENTION

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SYMBOISIS CENTRE FOR DISTANCE LEARNING YEAR 2xxx

OBJECTIVE Chapter 1 AN OVERVIEW

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Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5

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Replacement Costs Job advertisements Recruitment activities Administrative processing

Entrance interviews Applicant selection Testing

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Travel and moving expenses (in certain situations)

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Typical Reasons for Leaving

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1.4 EMPLOYEE WELLNESS SURVEY

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3.3 THE CAUSES OF TURNOVER

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