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As of now, with the tech slowdown and stock market crash, times are tough, so there is no problem getting employees to stick. However with demand expected to remain for good knowledge workers, the problem of retention will intensify in future. It is no wonder that human resource professionals are pulling out all stops in an effort to attract new hires on one hand and keep their best people on board on the other. Companies today need to be proactive, creative, and even experimental, in exploring solutions to their retention challenges. This has resulted in the emergence of a whole range of new employee perks, such as club memberships, all-expenses-paid holidays, to encourage loyalty and increase retention. Amidst all this retention hype, it is important that companies maintain a clear understanding of retention realities so as to avoid misconceptions and move in the right direction. Some of the most commonly occurring myths: Myth 1: It’s fine to ignore employees during periods of uncertainty. This attitude is absolutely wrong. In fact, it is during these periods of uncertainty that organizations need to be mindful of how employees are likely to perceive these changes. Employees today are all too ready to leave a company if they fear the organization’s new direction or dislike the way the change was conducted or administered. Effective retention is achieved by helping all employees understand the change. This involves getting people’s commitment to company goals and integrating people with the structure, strategy and culture of the new organization. The HR and top management must keep this in mind. A few meetings during this time where the top management addresses all the employees will greatly help the situation. Myth 2: Money is an end all Surely an increased compensation is a very powerful lure to entice employees to accept new opportunities. But money is not necessarily the be all and end all. Ever since the time of Maslow (American Psychologist, 1908 - 1970, considered an expert on human motivation) this has been understood but even in this present day, mistakes are committed. Ask a seasoned employee and he will tell you that career development and challenging work opportunities are often greater incentives than money to stay or start with an employer. A study abroad by one the leading outplacement companies in the world (currently doing a large project at one of the large banks in India) revealed that remuneration was ranked a low fourth in this list, following lack of career path, lack of advancement opportunities, and long working hours. Myth 3: Training and development will only make employees more marketable and will result in them leaving. Contrary to this common misperception, offering training and development opportunities is a very worthwhile retention strategy. While providing employees with the latest in learning opportunities may indeed raise the market value of people, training and development tend to have a positive impact on retention. This is because when companies provide the opportunity for their employees to acquire new skills, job satisfaction increases and those employees are more likely to stay as employees begin to get loyal to their companies and slight disruptions in the normal course of events will not hamper their motivations. Myth 4: Recruitment and retention are not related This is absolutely wrong. An effective retention strategy begins at the earliest stages of the selection and recruitment process. Selecting the “right” people, whose skill sets and attitudes fit the organization’s needs and values, also ensuring that these people are provided with comprehensive orientation programs can have a significant impact on retention. In fact poor orientation can result in disgruntled employees, which is not desirable. Solid recruitment practices need to be implemented to counter this. Don’t we see companies like HSBC having full 2-day selection procedures? Going forward, more and more companies will adopt this procedure in an attempt to recruit and retain the best. Myth 5: If they are going, simply let them go ? The traditional approach to employee separation is to send departing employees on their way and get on with business. But valuable lessons may be learned from those who leave, particularly during exit interviews and these should be encouraged. Attaining and analyzing staff feedback is a critical component in creating a retention strategy that will be right for your organization, and exit interviews are an effective tactic to understand why people are leaving and how to most effectively enhance retention. It may be helpful to utilize a third party to conduct the meeting—someone with whom the departing employee can be open. Conclusion: When we consider that the most precious assets for going forward are going to be in employee’s heads it makes sense to adopt a retention strategy sooner rather than later. Not doing so, at least for your best employees, will have dire consequences for the business as a whole. This article is from the website of peopleone consulting. To read more such articles visit www.people-one.com Issue BG9 Dec01
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