Attrition Management

High Engagement equals Low Attrition

Why is attrition a plaguing challenge?

• Attrition increases organisational cost
• Limits optimal utilisation of HR potential
• Disrupts workflow due to unplanned exits and costly replacements
• Drains organisation’s resources like recruitment expenses, training and orientation resources and time of stakeholders
• Leads to insecurity among co-workers
  

Employability gap and the vicious circle

There is an escalating paucity of the appropriate skills furnished by the education system, which is often short on quality and relevance for the workplace. This has led to a dearth of employable workforce. This, in turn, has made hiring new talent more expensive. In 1999, the average pay packet of an entry-level agent was $160–$180; now it is $300–$350. As a result of high attrition rates, every employee who leaves, costs the company another $900–$1100 to recruit and train a replacement. (Rediff.com, Sangameshwaram and Rai)

Finding the right candidate and sustaining him/her is now becoming a major challenge. Years ago, the success rate of choosing the right candidate was 20 percent - the figure today is nowhere close.

The gap between the actual and expected level of employee motivation in the industry is increasing due to the formation of a vicious circle. A new employee joins the industry with excitement (because of huge pay packet and the excitement of new work culture) resulting in high level of motivation. Low perceived value of job and growing job monotony, adds to employee’s dissatisfaction. This dissatisfaction increases with time and consequently acts as a deterrent to motivation level, which results in low efficiency. Eventually the employee quits. As more people quit, the perceived value of the role diminishes further and the vicious cycle continues.

What can we do to address employee attrition?

Given the fact that level of motivation has a direct correlation with attrition, understanding and addressing employees motivation to involve and engage the workforce properly can go a long way.

One of the flagship personality tests of Pearson Talent Assessment, the SOSIE personality test enables mapping of values over personal and interpersonal scales.

SOSIE - indicates what motivates a new or current employee and thereby helps the assessor in understanding how to engage the employee.

• Sosie personality inventory measures nine “character traits” and twelve “motivational values”.
• The applicant reads 98 series of sentences (character assessment then value system) and is required  to choose the ones that best describe him/her, least describe him/her and the ones that reflect what he/she considers as the most and least  important things in life.
• The standard result enables the assessor to put forward hypotheses regarding the character traits and values that are specific to each individual.
• This information generated is valuable in recruiting, coaching, career management and professional assessments.

How to ensure high engagement in organizations?

• Employee involvement adds to employees’ growth needs and sense of achievement by an optimal utilization of skills and potential.
• Employee participation in planning and decision making and in articulating new policies to improve employee motivation.
• Finding ways to intrinsically motivate employees to improve effectiveness and performance can have long lasting impact on their sustenance.

Some retention strategies which should be practiced at the workplace:

• Retention strategies should be different for different level & generation of employees because
  • their roles & needs are different
  • their motivators are different and
  • their reasons for exit are different
• Recognition, Empowerment , Ownership and Authority -  Employees are investors in the company and expect a return on investment.
• Ensure Retention is a part of your organizations DNA - Avoid orchestrating the retention strategies in isolation but ensure that it forms a part of the overall strategies for fortifying the pull on the human talent.
• Mentor widely and in all directions - build learning relationships

 

The above are excerpts taken from Mr. Saurabh Singh’s presentationat the Strategic HR Summit 2011, Chennai chapter. Mr. Saurabh Singh is the National Head of Talent division, Pearson Talent Assessment.