Employee Retention Strategies free essay sample

Abstract: Every organization invests time and money to groom a new joinee, train his employee’s make ready material competent with the existing employees. All organizations aim to serve the needs of the people. All organizations are not only run by employees, but also it is the employees in it at various levels who bring success to the organization in these modern times. Hence retention of the employees within the system is necessary. The organization is completely at loss when the employees leave their job once they are fully trained. Thus recruitment of qualified employees, training and maintaining them becomes important. Employee turnover reduces the organizational productivity and also incurring the costs of acquiring the same for replacement and developing them. Employee retention techniques go a long way in motivating the employees for them to enjoy their work and avoid changing jobs frequently. The modern  management  literature advocates many  strategies  for employee  retention  from various dimensions such as organizational factors, compensation, rewards, job design and characteristics, work environment, employee relationship, etc. We will write a custom essay sample on Employee Retention Strategies or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Hence this paper attempts to present a few of the important employee  retention  strategies. Keywords:  Employee  retention,  employee  turnover, Indian management Introduction:- Employee Retention Employee Retention refers to the strategy employed by the management to help the employees stay with the organization for a longer period of time. Employee retention strategies go a long way in motivating the employees so that they stick to the organization for the maximum time and contribute effectively. Sincere efforts must be taken to ensure growth and learning for the employees in their current assignments and for them to enjoy their work. Employee retention has become a major concern for corporate in the current scenario. Individuals once being trained have a tendency to move to other organizations for better prospects. Lucrative salary, comfortable timings, better ambience, growth prospects are some of the factors which prompt an employee to look for a change. Whenever a talented employee expresses his willingness to move on, it is the responsibility of the management and the human resource team to intervene immediately and find out the exact reasons leading to the decision. Need Importance of Employee Retention Hiring is not an easy process:  The HR Professional shortlists few individuals from a large pool of talent, conducts preliminary interviews and eventually forwards it to the respective line managers who further grill them to judge whether they are fit for the organization or not. Recruiting the right candidate is a time consuming process. ? An organization invests time and money in grooming an individual a nd makes him ready to work and understand the corporate culture:  A new joinee is completely raw and the management really has to work hard to train him for his overall development. It is a complete wastage of time and money when an individual leaves an organization all of a sudden. ? When an individual resigns from his present organization, it is more likely that he would join the competitors:  In such cases, employees tend to take all the strategies, policies from the current organization to the new one. Individuals take all the important data, information and statistics to their new organization and in some cases even leak the secrets of the previous organization. To avoid such cases, it is essential that the new joinee is made to sign a document which stops him from passing on any information even if he leaves the organization. ? The employees working for a longer period of time are more familiar with the company’s policies, guidelines and thus they adjust better:  They perform better than individuals who change jobs frequently. Employees who spend a considerable time in an organization know the organization in and out and thus are in a position to contribute effectively. Every individual needs time to adjust with others:  One needs time to know his team members well, be friendly with them and eventually trust them. Organizations are always benefited when the employees are compatible with each other and discuss things among themselves to come out with something beneficial for all. When a new individual replaces an existing employee, adjustment problems crop up. ? It has been observed that individuals sticking to an organization for a longer span are more loyal towards the management and the organization:  They enjoy all kinds of benefits from the organization and as a result are more attached to it. They hardly badmouth their organization and always think in favor of the management. For them the organization comes first and all other things later. ? It is essential for the organization to retain the valuable employees showing potential:  Every organization needs hardworking and talented employees who can really come out with something creative and different. No organization can survive if all the top performers quit. It is essential for the organization to retain those employees who really work hard and are indispensable for the system. The management must understand the difference between a valuable employee and an employee who doesn’t contribute much to the organization. Sincere efforts must be made to encourage the employees so that they stay happy in the current organization and do not look for a change. |The basic practices which should be kept in mind in the employee retention  strategies are: | | | |1. Hire the right people in the first place. | | |2. Empower the employees: Give the employees the authority to get things done. | | | |3. Make employees realize that they are the most valuable asset of the organization. | | | |4. Have faith in them, trust them and respect them. | | | |5. Provide them information and knowledge. | | | | 6. Keep providing them feedback on their performance. | | | |7. Recognize and appreciate their achievements. | | | |8. Keep their morale high. | | | |9. 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. | [pic] For an organization to do well and earn profits it is essential that the high potential employees stick to it for a longer duration and contribute effectively. The employees who spend a considerable amount of time tend to be loyal and committed towards the management and always decide in favor of the organization. When you meet someone, there is hardly any attachment in the beginning, but as the friendship matures, a sense of loyalty and trust develops. In the same way, when an individual spends a good amount of time in an organization, he gets emotionally bonded to it and strives hard for furthering the brand image of the organization. The management can’t completely put a full stop to the process of employees quitting their jobs but can control it to a large extent. Let us go through some strategies to retain an individual: ? An employee looks for a change when his job becomes monotonous and does not offer anything new. It is essential for everyone to enjoy whatever he does. The responsibilities must be delegated according to the individual’s specialization and interests. It is the responsibility of the team leader to assign challenging works to his team members for them to enjoy work and do not treat it as a burden. Performance reviews are important to find out whether the employees are really happy with their work or not. Foster employee training development programmes. This could be training to learn a new job skill or tuition reimbursement to help further your employee’s education. ? Constant disputes among employees encourage them to go for a change. Conflicts must be avoided to maintain the decorum of the place and avoid spreading negativity around. Promote activities which bring the employees closer. Organize outdoor picnic s, informal get together for the employees to know each other better and strengthen the bond among themselves. ? The human resource department must ensure that it is hiring the right candidate. Frustration crops up whenever there is a mismatch. A finance professional if is hired for a marketing profile would definitely end up being frustrated and look for a change. The right candidate must be hired for the right profile. ? Employee recognition is one of the most important factors which go a long way in retaining employees. Nothing works better than appreciating the employees. Their hard work must be acknowledged. Monetary benefits such as incentives, perks, cash prize also motivate the employees to a large extent and they prefer sticking to the organization. Performance appraisals are also important for an employee to stay motivated and avoid looking for a change. The salary hike should be directly proportional to the hard work put by the employees. Partiality must be avoided as it demotivates the talented ones and prompt them to look for a better opportunity. ? The salary of the employees must be discussed at the time of the interview. The components of the salary must be transparent and thoroughly discussed with the individuals at the time of joining to avoid confusions later. The individuals should be made to join only when the salary as well as other terms and conditions are acceptable to them. ? The company’s rules and regulations should be made to benefit the employees. They should be employee friendly. Allow them to take a leave on their birthdays or come a little late once or twice in a month. It is important for the management to understand the employees to gain their trust and confidence. The consistent performers must also have a say in the company’s decisions for them to feel important. ? Create open communication between employees and management. Hold regular meetings in which employees can offer ideas and ask questions. Have an open-door policy that encourages employees to speak frankly with their managers without fear of repercussion. ? Make sure employees know what you expect of them. It may seem basic, but often in small companies, employees have a wide breadth of responsibilities. If they don’t know exactly what their jobs entail and what you need from them, they can’t perform up to standard, and morale can begin to dip. ? Maintain congenial human relations, interpersonal dynamics employee recognition programmes. Improve manager and employee relationships. Concentrate on the people that stay with you to learn what makes them happy †¦ then give them more of it! People leave managers, not companies. If you have a turnover problem, look first at your managers,   ? Emphasis on succession planning development. Encourage succession planning. Identify roles for which employees may be suited in the future and work with them on designing their succession plan within the organization. Invest in cross-training, job shadowing, coaching, mentoring, and cross-experience. Take proactive measures in identifying employee grievances, dissatisfaction frustration levels employ corrective measures. ? Encourage internal mobility job change through innovative practices. ? Provide good employee orientation. The people you hire today are potentially your greatest resource for corporate success in the years ahead. As a senior leader, your participation in new employee orientation sends a vital cultural and leadership message: We’re all involved here in the drive toward what we want to be in the future. Everyone—even the newest employee—has value. ? Work-Life Balance programs recognize that employees have important family and Extra professional obligations that compete with their work place commitments. Practices such as dependent care leave, childcare subsidies, eldercare programs, counseling and referral, and flexible working hours allow people to strike a more meaningful and potentially less stressful balance between obligations at the workplace and obligations at home. | |The task of managing employees can be understood as a three stage process: | | | |1. Identify the cost of employee turnover | |2. Understand why employee leave | |3. Implement retention strategies | | | |Identify the cost of employee turnover: | |The organizations should start with identifying the employee turnover rates within a particular time period and benchmark it with the | |competitor organizations. This will help in assessing the whether the  employee retention  rates are healthy in the company. The costs of | |high staff turnover can be incredible. Some of the substantial costs that occur when a person leaves your organization include the | |following: | |1. Recruitment costs | |? from advertising to the time spent interviewing and sourcing. | | | |2. Training costs | |? orientation materials and trainers’ time (ex. call center agents require on average 4 6 weeks or more of classroom training). | |3. Lost Productivity Costs | |? a new employee operates between 25%-50% of productivity levels for the first three months, not including the time spent by existing | |employees to assist. | |4. Lost sales costs | |? he loss of business when the role is vacant. | | | |Understand why employees leave: | |Why employees leave often puzzles top management. Exit interviews are an ideal way of recording and analyzing the factors that have led | |employees to leave the organization. They allow an organization to understand the reasons for leaving and underlying issues. | | |Implement retention strategy: | |Once the causes of attrition are found, a strategy is to be implemented so as to reduce employee turnover. The most effective strategy is| |to adopt a holistic approach to dealing with attrition. An effective retention strategy will seek to ensure: | |Attraction and recruitment strategies enable selection of the ‘right’ candidate for each role/organization | |New employees’ initial experiences of the organization are positive | |Appropriate development opportunities are available to employees, and that they are kept aware of their likely career path with the | |organization | |The organization’s reward strategy reflects the employee drivers | |The leaving process is managed effectively | Businesses can improve their ability to attract, retain and improve productivity by applying the following five-step employee retention  PRIDE  process: †¢Ã‚  P   Provide a Positive Working Environment †¢Ã‚  R   Recognize, Reward and Reinforce the Right Behavior   †¢Ã‚  I   Involve and Engage †¢Ã‚  D   Develop Skills and Potential †¢Ã‚  E   Evaluate and Measure STEP 1PROVIDE A POSITIVE WORKING ENVIRONMENT One of the main reasons employees quit is the relationship with their first-line supervisor. The fact is many supervisors and managers are unaware how their actions and decisions affect employee turnover. A critical aspect of an effective retention strategy is manager training. Properly trained managers play a major role in an effective recruitment and retention strategy. STEP 2RECOGNIZE, REWARD AND REINFORCE THE RIGHT BEHAVIOR   Money and benefits may attract people to the front door, but something else has to keep them from going out the back. People have a basic human need to feel appreciated and proud of their work. Recognition and incentive programs help meet that need. A successful reward and recognition program does not have to be complicated or expensive to be effective. STEP 3EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT People may show up for work, but are they engaged and productive? People are more committed and engaged when they can contribute their ideas and suggestions. This gives them a sense of ownership. STEP 4DEVELOP SKILLS AND POTENTIAL For most people, career opportunities are just as important as the money they make. Skilled people will not remain in a job if they see no future in their position. To eliminate the feeling of being in a dead-end job, every position should have an individual development plan. STEP 5EVALUATE AND MEASURE Continuous evaluation and never-ending improvement is the final step of the PRIDE system. The primary purpose of evaluation is to measure progress and determine what satisfies and de-satisfies your workforce. The evaluation process includes the measurement of attitudes, morale, turnover, and the engagement level of the workforce. CONCLUSION Given the growing needs for organizations to retain its best employees in the face of competition, the findings of the study suggest that certain variables are crucial in influencing employees’ decision to either leave or remain in an organization. Such variables include training and development, recognition/reward for good performance, a competitive salary package and job security. Nonetheless, importance of other variables should not be under- estimated when formulating a retention policy. It is only a comprehensive blend of intrinsic and extrinsic motivational variables that can enhance retention and reduce the high rate of employee turnover in our various organizations [pic]