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 he’s doing, he may switch over to some other more suitable job.
In today’s 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. 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.
What is Employee Retention? Employee retention 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. Employees today are different. They are not the ones who don’t have good opportunities in hand. As soon as they feel dissatisfied with the current employer or the job, they switch over to the next job.
It is the responsibility of the employer to retain their best employees. If they don’t, they would be left with no good employees. A good employer should know how to attract and retain its employees. Retention involves five major things: 1. Compensation 2.
Growth 3. Relationship 4. Environment 5. Support 1.
Compensation Compensation constitutes the largest part of the employee retention process. The employees always have high expectations regarding their compensation packages. Compensation packages vary from industry to industry. So an attractive compensation package plays a critical role in retaining the employees.
Compensation includes salary and wages, bonuses, benefits, prerequisites, stock options, bonuses, vacations, etc. While setting up the packages, the following components should be kept in mind: Salary and monthly wage: It is the biggest component of the compensation package. It is also the most common factor of comparison among employees. It includes * Basic wage * House rent allowance * Dearness allowance * City compensatory allowance 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 employee’s performance and his contribution to the organization.
Bonus: Bonuses are usually given to the employees at the end of the year or on a festival. 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.After retirement: It includes payments that an Employee gets after he retires like EPF (Employee Provident Fund) etc. Miscellaneous compensation: It may include employee assistance programs (like psychological counseling, legal assistance etc), discounts on company products, use of a company cars, etc. 2. Growth and Career Growth and development are the integral part of every individual’s career.
If an employee can not foresee his path of career development in his current organization, there are chances that he’ll leave the organization as soon as he gets an opportunity.The important factors in employee growth that an employee looks for himself are: 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 and dreams: Employees responsibilities in the organization should help him achieve his personal goals also. Organizations cannot 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 he’s not satisfied with his growth, he’ll not be able to contribute in organization growth.Training and development: Employees should be trained and given chance to improve and enhance their skills. Many employers fear that if the employees are well rained, they’ll leave the organization for better jobs. Organization should not limit the resources on which organization’s success depends. These trainings can be given to improve many skills like: * Communication Skills * Technical skills * In-house processes and procedures improvement related skills * C or customer satisfaction related skills * Special project related skillsNeed for such trainings can be recognized from individual performance reviews, individual meetings, employee satisfaction surveys and by being in constant touch with the employees.
3. Relationship Sometimes the relationship with the management and the peers becomes the reason for an employee to leave the organization. The management is sometimes not able to provide an employee a supportive work culture and environment in terms of personal or professional relationships. There are times when an employee starts feeling bitterness towards the management or peers.
This bitterness could be due to many reasons.This decreases employee’s interest and he becomes de-motivated. It leads to less satisfaction and eventually attrition. A supportive work culture helps grow employee professionally and boosts employee satisfaction.
To enhance good professional relationships at work, the management should keep the following points in mind: Respect for the individual: Respect for the individual is the must in the organization. Relationship with the immediate manager: A manger plays the role of a mentor and a coach. He designs and plans work for each employee. It is his duty to involve the employee in the processes of the organization.
