TALENT RETENTION STRATEGIES

The Art of keeping the People, Who Keep You in Business.

Paper Submitted By
M. TULASINADH IIMBA K.B.N COLLEGE VIJAYAWADA.

Abstract
Retention of key employees is critical to the long-term health and success of any organization. It is a known fact that retaining the best employees ensures customer satisfaction, increased sales, satisfied colleagues and reporting staff, effective succession planning, and deeply embedded organizational knowledge and learning. Hence, failing to retain a key employee is a costly proposition for an organization. Corporate is facing a lot of problems in employee retention these days. Hiring knowledgeable people for the job is essential for an employer, but retaining them is even more important than hiring. There is no dearth of opportunities for a talented person; there are many organizations which are looking for such employees. If an employee is not satisfied with the job he is doing, he may switch over to some other more suitable job. The top organizations are on the top because they value their employees and know how to keep them glued to the organization. For gone are the days when employees would stick to an employer for years to get increment and promotion. Employees today are different. They are not the ones who dont have good opportunities in hand. As soon as they feel dissatisfied with the current employer or the job, they switch over to the next one. So in todays dynamic and competitive environment it becomes very important for organizations to retain their employees. In the present study an attempt has been made to explore the various aspects of employee retention, why is it needed, basic practices, myths and strategies etc. This study is based on primary as well as secondary data collected from the reliable sources and the results shows that what employees strive for, is open mindedness and transparent work culture.

INTRODUCTION
Employee Retention involves taking measures to encourage employees to remain in the organization for the maximum period of time. It is a process in which the employees are encouraged to remain with the organization for the maximum period of time or until the completion of the project. Employee retention is beneficial for the organization as well as the employee. Effective employee retention is a systematic effort by employers to create and foster an environment that encourages current employees to remain employed, by having policies and practices in place that address their diverse needs. Retention of key employees is critical to the long-term health and success of any organization. It is a known fact that retaining the best employees ensures customer satisfaction, increased product sales, satisfied colleagues and reporting staff, effective succession planning, and deeply embedded organizational knowledge and learning. Employee retention matters, as organizational issues such as training time and investment, lost knowledge, insecure employees, and a costly candidate search are involved. Hence, failing to retain a key employee is a costly proposition for an organization. Various estimates suggest that losing a middle manager in most organizations costs up to five times his salary. Corporate is facing a lot of problems in employee retention these days. Hiring knowledgeable people for the job is essential for an employer, but retention is even more important than hiring. There is no dearth of opportunities for a talented person. There are many organizations which are looking for such employees. If a person is not satisfied by the job hes doing, he may switch over to some other more suitable job. In todays environment it becomes very important for organizations to retain their employees. The top organizations are on the top because they value their employees and they know how to keep them glued to the organization. Intelligent employers always realize the importance of retaining the best talent. Retaining talent has never been so important in the Indian scenario; however, things have changed in recent years. In prominent Indian metros at least, there is no dearth of opportunities for the best in the business, or even for the second or third best. Retention of key employees and treating attrition troubles has never been so important to companies. In an intensely competitive environment where HR managers are poaching from each other, organizations can either hold on to their employees tight or lose them to competition. For gone are the days when employees would stick to an employer for years for want of a better choice.

Now, opportunities are abound. Employees stay and leave organizations for some reasons. The reason may be personal or professional. These reasons should be understood by the employer and should be taken care of. The organizations are becoming aware of these reasons and adopting many strategies for employee retention. A strong retention strategy, therefore, becomes a powerful recruitment tool.

DOES EMPLOYEE RETENTION REALLY MATTER?

The changing face of workplace & corporate has stumped managers and business owners alike. How do you manage this challenge? How do you build a workplace that employees want to remain with and outsiders want to be hired into? Successful managers and business owners ask themselves these and like questions because putting it simplyemployee retention matters: a. High turnover often leaves customers and employees in the lurch; departing employees take a great deal of knowledge with them. This lack of continuity makes it hard to meet your organizations goals and serve customers well. b. Replacing the employees costs much expense. The cost of replacing an employee is estimated as up to twice the individuals annual salary (or higher for some positions, such as middle management), and this doesnt even include the cost of lost knowledge. c. Recruiting employees consume a great deal of time and effort, while sometimes much of this results in wild goose chase. Youre not the only one out there vying for qualified employees, and job searchers make decisions based on more than the sum of salary and benefits. d. Bringing employees up to the speed takes even more time. And when you are shortstaffed; you often need to put in extra time to get the work done. e. In almost all cases, it is senseless to allow good people to leave your organization. When they leave, they take with them intellectual property, relationships, investments (in both time and money), an occasional employee or two, and a chunk of your future.

WHAT MAKES EMPLOYEES LEAVE?

Employees do not leave an organization without one particular reason. There are certain circumstances that lead to their leaving the organization. The most common reasons can be: Job is not what the employee expected to be: Sometimes the job responsibilities dont come out to be same as expected by the candidates. Unexpected job responsibilities lead to job dissatisfaction. Job and person mismatch: A candidate may be fit to do a certain type of job which matches his personality. If he is given a job which mismatches his personality, then he wont be able to perform it well and will try to find out reasons to leave the job. No growth opportunities: No or less learning and growth opportunities in the current job will make candidates job and career stagnant. Lack of appreciation: If the work is not appreciated by the supervisor, the employee feels demotivated and loses interest in job. Lack of trust and support in coworkers, seniors and management: Trust is the most important factor that is required for an individual to stay in the job. Non-supportive coworkers, seniors and management can make office environment unfriendly and difficult to work in. Stress from overwork and work life imbalance: Job stress can lead to work life imbalance which ultimately many times lead to employee leaving the organization. Compensation: Better compensation packages being offered by other company may attract employees towards themselves. New job offer: An attractive job offer which an employee thinks is good for him with respect to job responsibility, compensation, growth and learning etc. can lead an employee to leave the organization.

All these factors including some contingent ones lead to the attrition by the employees. Actually some people may think that money is the only cause, but it is not always true. Psychological and social maladjustment is equally responsible for the employees to leave the organization which is a response to his physical environment.

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. A few of such myths are: a. People most often leave a company for more pay. b. Incentive programs produce long-term profits and improve productivity and morale. c. People dont want more responsibility. d. Loyalty is dead. e. Improving employee satisfaction is expensive. f. Employee satisfaction is fluff. g. My company/industry/people are different!

RETENTION SUCCESS MANTRAS

In todays fast paced business environments where employees are constantly striving to achieve business goals under time restrictions; open mindedness and transparent work culture plays a vital role in employee retention. Companies invest lots of time and money 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. Some of the retention success mantras can be summed up as

Quality of Work LifeProviding 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 a more flexible, loyal, and motivated workforce, which are essential in determining the company's competitiveness.

SupportProviding support to the employees acts as a mantra for retraining them. 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 optimizing employee engagement, coaching & mentoring etc.

Open Communication: A culture of open communication enforces loyalty among employees. Open communication tends to keep employees informed on key issues. Most importantly, they need to know that their opinions matter and that management is 100% interested in their input.

Employee Reward Program: A positive recognition for work boosts the motivational levels of employees. Recognition can be made explicit by providing awards like best employee of the month or punctuality award. Project based recognition also has great significance. The award can be in terms of gifts or money.

Career Development Program: Every individual is worried about his/her career. He is always keen to know his career path in the company. Organizations can offer various technical certification courses which will help employee in enhancing his knowledge.

Performance Based Bonus: A provision of performance linked bonus can be made wherein an employee is able to relate his performance with the company profits and hence will work hard. This bonus should strictly be productivity based.

Recreation facilities: Recreational facilities help in keeping employees away from stress factors. Various recreational programs should be arranged. They may include taking employees to trips annually or biannually, celebrating anniversaries, sports activities etc.

SUGGESTIONS TO IMPROVE EMPLOYEE RETENTION

Retaining key personnel is critical to long term success of an organization. A Retention Strategy has become essential if your organization is to be productive over time and can become an important part of your hiring strategy by attracting the best candidates. In fact, some companies do not have to recruit because they receive so many qualified unsolicited submissions due to their history of excellence in employee retention. How do you get your employees to "fall in Love" with your organization? This is a great question. Some of the suggestions for this can be summarized as follows: a) Hire the right people in the first place. b) Empower the employees: Give the employees the authority to get things done. c) Make employees realize that they are the most valuable asset of the organization. d) Have faith in them, trust them and respect them. e) Provide them information and knowledge. f) Keep providing them feedback on their performance. g) Recognize and appreciate their achievements. h) Keep their morale high. i) Create an environment where the employees want to work and have fun. j) Treat your employees like you treat your most valuable clients.

k) Get your employees to "Fall in Love" with your organization. l) Retention is much more effective when you put the right person into the right job.

m) Know the job! Know the employee and their motivations. n) Leadership must be deeply invested for retention. o) Money is important but it is not the only reason people stay with an organization. Understand this fact & act accordingly. p) Recognition, in various forms, is a powerful retention strategy q) Know the trends in benefit packages. Do your best to offer the ones your employees need.

CONCLUSION
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. They need transparent work environment to work in. In a transparent environment where employees get a sense of achievement and belongingness, where they can best utilize their potential and realize their skills. They love to be the essential part of such organization and the company is benefited with a stronger, reliable work-force harboring bright new ideas for its growth. REFERENCE

Taylor Stephen (2002), The Employee Retention Handbook, The Cromwell Press

Phillips J. J, Edward Lisa (2008), Managing Talent Retention, John Willey & Sons Publications

McCooey D et al, (2009), Keeping Good Employees on Board- Employee Retention Strategies to navigateany Economic Storm, Wordclay Publications

Websites

www.hrmtoday.com www.zainbooks.com