Employee Retention – Causes and Remedies

WHAT MAKES EMPLOYEES LEAVE?
Employees do not leave an organization without any significant 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 don’t 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 won’t 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 candidate’s job and career stagnant.

Lack of appreciation: If the work is not appreciated by the supervisor, the employee feels de-motivated and loses interest in job.

Lack of trust and support in co-workers, seniors and management: Trust is the most important factor that is required for an individual to stay in the job. Non-supportive co-workers, 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 companies 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.

STRATEGIES FOR EMPLOYEE RETENTION
The basic practices which should be kept in mind in the employee retention strategies 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.

HOW TO INCREASE EMPLOYEE RETENTION
1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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 bi-annually, celebrating anniversaries, sports activities, et al.

6. Gifts at Some Occasions: Giving out some gifts at the time of one or two festivals to the employees making them feel good and understand that the management is concerned about them.