Managing employee retention for your enterprise

According to the recent observation by HR managers, employee retention has become one of the biggest problems today vis-a-vis the increasing attrition rate and a variety of job options available to a job hunter in the job market. Now, have the organizations realized how much they lose due to an employee turnover?

The employee turnover can cost an organization almost 4-5 times an employees’s annual compensation and as researched by some of the best B-schools, 80% of employee turnover is attributable to blunders committed during the recruitment process.

Surprisingly, in fact, many managers still follow the traditional methods of hiring and this is what causes major hiccups later when employee turnover increases. It is time now that organizations should abandon the ineffective strategies of employee retention and should adopt newer ways of reducing the employee turnover.

Many a times you have hired the best employees and still came to realize that they leave as soon as they get good offers. There could be other reasons like lack of congenial atmosphere and proper working environment and not very good relationship with the superior and colleagues.

At this point of time, you should adopt certain nick strategies which will help you to save your organization from the perils of increasing employee turnover.

Strategies:

* When hiring, look for other constraints and factors : When you interview a candidate, always consider other factors apart from his experience and qualification like locational constraint, his family background, the current job profile he is handling etc. Often, an employee may leave because of the locational disadvantage. He will switch over to a job location which is nearer to his house and so convenient for him to commute. Or an employee may leave because of some personal problems. The recent trends on the job market has revealed that employees are frequently changing job profiles but not jobs. So, the best advice is readthe candidate thoroughly.
* Identify each employee’s needs: After you have hired the employees, keep a note of their activities and assess their performance. If they are excelling in their work, it’s time you should reward them. If they are taken care of in all respects, never can he leave the organization at any cost. An employee may ask for a salary hike, for which if an employee is capable, you must provide a raise in his salary.
* Emphasize on good organizational culture: Always give your employees the good organizational climate to which adapts easily, does not feel a loner and where he learns new things, develops good habits and also develops good relationships with co-colleagues. It has been observed that when an employee conditions himself to a particular environment, he hinders from switching on to another job even though it might be a good offer. At the same time, an employee needs en emotional boost from time to time, so boost up his morale. Overall a good treatment from a boss is expected in any organization. Often an employee leaves because of the bad behaviour of his boss.

* Be flexible in your approach: Try to be flexible in the work arrangement into which you put your employee. Ease off the workload when it becomes unbearable for him to carry off all the tasks successfully. Offer growth opportunity when it is desirable and also give liberty to an employee to speak up for himself. He may at times like to consider a flexible work arrangement, like telecommuting or flex timing etc. If possible, give him the option.

Other factors which you should consider are training and orientation after an employee has been recruited. See the employee’s interest in learning and the knack for new technologies. In a nutshell, poor pay package, lack of good organization climate etc. puts a scourge on the employee an hence the employee turnover increases. Finally, do remember that the traditional style of working may not always help you to retain the existing employees. So, facilitate change as change is essential to bring a paradigm shift.