ABSTRACT

Today, more and more corporate leaders are turning to volunteer

employee programs as a key strategy to help realize their business goals
while positively engaging their employees in helping to meet the needs of
the local community. Promoting Employee Retention is thus part of the
ongoing evolution taking place in the private sector to move beyond a
sole focus on the bottom line to becoming socially responsible corporate
citizens. With more than 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies currently
supporting some form of employee volunteer program, standards for
such activities are now being developed to help track their impact on the
community and improve employee volunteer program practices.
The growing interest in these activities has triggered some important
questions. Why is volunteering in the community important in the first
place? What are some of the challenges facing companies as they get
more involved in employee volunteer efforts? What are some of the
benefits and added value for local NGOs? Given the time pressures at
the workplace, what are the most effective and efficient ways to mobilize
volunteers? What have we learned over the past few years that can help
both companies and local NGOs work together successfully to promote
such efforts? To address some of these questions, we have chosen to
highlight examples of how the staff of one company Lucent
Technologies has supported the work of the International Youth
Foundation (IYF) and its partner organizations in the field.
In this instance, Lucent staff are contributing their time and talents to
youth programs managed by the Global Fund for Youth Development
(GFYD), an initiative of IYF and the Lucent Foundation (now called
Alcatel-Lucent Foundation).

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Why Get Involved?

Volunteering in the community can, among other benefits, help
individuals learn new skills, contribute their knowledge and experience,
gain self-esteem and self-confidence, develop important new contacts,
and make a difference in someone elses life.
Employee Retention is the level of commitment and involvement an
employee has towards their organization and its values. An engaged
employee is aware of business context, and works with colleagues to
improve performance within the job for the benefit of the organization. It
is a positive attitude held by the employees towards the organization and
its values. The paper focuses on how Employee Retention is an
antecedent of job involvement and what should company do to make the
employees engaged. The paper also looks at the Gallup 12 point
questionnaire, twelve-question survey that identifies strong feelings of
Employee Retention and the steps which shows how to drive an
engaged employee.

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OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The following are the objectives of the study relevant for the project: -

Planning face-to-face visits between the company and local NGOs to

discuss project plans and Employee Retention helps foster a spirit of

teamwork.
Assigning point-people from both the company and the NGO partner

improves coordination and communications.

Providing training or other orientation to volunteers helps them be
better informed about expectations and more comfortable in their
volunteer activities, particularly when working with youth or in

disadvantaged communities.
When company volunteers are not always able to travel to participate
in activities, holding training sessions locally allows employees to have

more consistent links with the project.

Local youth organizations and the company must maintain clear and
constant communication for the program to function well and to ensure

that both parties feel comfortable with the relationship.

Having a cheerleader in the company who is deeply committed to
the project, and who can encourage employee involvement is vital, as

is gaining support of company executives.

Forging new alliances can require significant investments of time.
Increased workloads may require outlining commitments under agreed

time frames, which are realistic for all concerned.

To ensure that employees are enthusiastic about getting involved, it is
important to find creative and meaningful ways for them to participate
so that their efforts can really make a difference, and they feel they
have a positive role to play.

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INTRODUCTION TO INDUSTRY

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INTORDUCTION TO ORGANIZATION

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THEORECTICAL PERSPECTIVE
EMPLOYEE RETENTION

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THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
EMPLOYEE RETENTION
Employee Retention involves taking measures to encourage employees
to remain in the organization for the maximum period of time. Corporate
is facing a lot of problems in employee retention these days. Hiring
knowledgeable people for the job is essential for an employer. But
retention is even more important than hiring. 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
hes doing, he may switch over to some other more suitable job. In
todays 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. In this section we are going to study about various topics
related to employee retention, why is it needed, basic practices, myths,
etc. in detail.
Managing Employee Retention
The task of managing employees can be understood as a three stage
process:
1. Identify the cost of employee turnover
2. Understand why employee leave
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3. Implement retention strategies

Identify the cost of employee turnover:
The organizations should start with identifying the employee turnover
rates within a particular time period and benchmark it with the competitor
organizations. This will help in assessing the whether the employee
retention rates are healthy in the company. Secondly, the cost of
employee turnover can be calculated. According to a survey, on an
average, attrition costs companies 18 months salary for each manager
or professional who leaves, and 6 months pay for each hourly employee
who leaves. This amounts to major organizational and financial stress,
considering that one out of every three employees plans to leave his or
her job in the next two years.
Understand why employees leave:
Why employees leave often puzzles top management. Exit interviews
are an ideal way of recording and analyzing the factors that have led
employees to leave the organization. They allow an organization to
understand the reasons for leaving and underlying issues. However
employees never provide appropriate response to the asked questions.
So an impartial person should be appointed with whom the employees
feel comfortable in expressing their opinions.
Implement retention strategy:
Once the causes of attrition are found, a strategy is to be implemented
so as to reduce employee turnover. The most effective strategy is to
adopt a holistic approach to dealing with attrition. An effective retention
strategy will seek to ensure:
Attraction and recruitment strategies enable selection of the right
candidate for each role/organization
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New employees initial experiences of the organization are positive

Appropriate development opportunities are available to employees, and
that they are kept aware of their likely career path with the organization
The organizations reward strategy reflects the employee drivers
The leaving process is managed effectively

How To Increase Employee Retention

Companies have now realized the importance of retaining their quality
workforce. Retaining quality performers contributes to productivity of the
organization and increases morale among employees. Four basic factors
that play an important role in increasing employee retention include
salary

and

remuneration,

providing

recognition,

benefits

and

opportunities for individual growth. But are they really positively

contributing to the retention rates of a company? Basic salary, these
days, hardly reduces turnover. Today, employees look beyond the money
factor.

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Employee retention can be increase by inculcating the following

practices:
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

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company. Organizations can offer various technical certification

courses which will help employee in enhancing his knowledge.
4.
5. 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.
6. 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 biannually, celebrating anniversaries, sports activities, et al.
7. 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.

EMPLOYEE AND LABOR RELATIONS

Just as human resource developers make sure employees have proper
training, there are groups of employees organized as unions to address
and resolve employment-related issues. Unions have been around since
the time of the American Revolution (Mondy and Noe, 1996). Those who
join unions usually do so for one or both of two reasons to increase
wages and/or to eliminate unfair conditions. Some of the outcomes of
union involvement include better medical plans, extended vacation time,
and increased wages.
Today, unions remain a controversial topic. Under the provisions of the
Taft-Hartley Act, the closed-shop arrangement states employees (outside
the construction industry) are not required to join a union when they are
hired. Union-shop arrangements permit employers to hire non-union
workers contingent upon their joining the union once they are hired.

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The Taft-Hartley Act gives employers the right to file unfair labor practice
complaints against the union and to express their views concerning
unions.Not only do HR managers deal with union organizations, but they
are also responsible for resolving collective bargaining issuesnamely,
the contract. The contract defines employment related issues such as
compensation and benefits, working conditions, job security, discipline
procedures, individuals' rights, management's rights, and contract length.
Collective bargaining involves management and the union trying to
resolve any issues peacefullybefore the union finds it necessary to
strike or picket and/or management decides to institute a lockout
SAFETY AND HEALTH
Not only must an organization see to it that employees' rights are not
violated, but it must also provide a safe and healthy working
environment. Mondy and Noe (1996) define safety as "protecting
employees from injuries caused by work-related accidents" and health as
keeping "employees free from physical or emotional illness". In order to
prevent

injury or

illness,

the

Occupational

Safety and

Health

Administration (OSHA) was created in 1970. Through workplace

inspections, citations and penalties, and on-site consultations, OSHA
seeks to enhance safety and health and to decrease accidents, which
lead to decreased productivity and increased operating costs.
Health problems recognized in the workplace can include the effects of
smoking, alcohol and drug/substance abuse, AIDS, stress, and burnout.
Through employee assistance programs (EAPs), employees with
emotional difficulties are given "the same consideration and assistance"
as those employees with physical illnesses.

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HUMAN RESOURCE RESEARCH

In addition to recognizing workplace hazards, organizations are
responsible for tracking safety- and health-related issues and reporting
those statistics to the appropriate sources.
The human resources department seems to be the storehouse for
maintaining the history of the organization everything from studying a
department's high turnover or knowing the number of people presently
employed, to generating statistics on the percentages of women,
minorities, and other demographic characteristics. Data for the research
can

be

gathered

from

number

of

sources,

including

surveys/questionnaires, observations, interviews, and case studies. This

research better enables organizations to predict cyclical trends and to
properly recruit and select employees.
EMPLOYEE RETENTION
Engagement at work was conceptualized by Kahn, (1990) as the
harnessing of organizational members selves to their work roles. In
engagement, people employ and express themselves physically,
cognitively, and emotionally during role performances. The second
related construct to engagement in organizational behavior is the notion
of flow advanced by Csikszentmihalyi (1975, 1990). Csikzentmihalyi
(1975) defines flow as the holistic sensation that, people feel when they
act with total involvement. Flow is the state in which there is little
distinction between the self and environment. When individuals are in
Flow State little conscious control is necessary for their actions.
Employee Retention is the thus the level of commitment and involvement
an employee has towards their organization and its values. An engaged
employee is aware of business context, and works with colleagues to
improve performance within the job for the benefit of the organization.
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The organization must work to develop and nurture engagement, which

requires a two-way relationship between employer and employee.
Thus Employee Retention is a barometer that determines the association
of a person with the organization Engagement is most closely associated
with the existing construction of job involvement. Job involvement is
defined as the degree to which the job situation is central to the person
and his or her identity (Lawler & Hall, 1970). Kanungo (1982) maintained
that job involvement is a Cognitive or belief state of Psychological
identification. Job involvement is thought to depend on both need
saliency and the potential of a job to satisfy these needs. Thus job
involvement results form a cognitive judgment about the needs satisfying
abilities of the job.
Jobs in this view are tied to ones self image. Engagement differs from
job in as it is concerned more with how the individual employees his/her
self during the performance of his / her job. Furthermore engagement
entails the active use of emotions. Finally engagement may be thought of
as an antecedent to job involvement in that individuals who experience
deep engagement in their roles should come to identify with their jobs.
When Kahn talked about Employee Retention he has given important to
all three aspects physically, cognitively and emotionally. Whereas in job
satisfaction importance has been more given to cognitive side. HR
practitioners believe that the engagement challenge has a lot to do with
how employee feels about the about work experience and how he or she
is treated in the organization. It has a lot to do with emotions which are
fundamentally related to drive bottom line success in a company. There
will always be people who never give their best efforts no matter how
hard HR and line managers try to engage them.

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But for the most part employees want to commit to companies because
doing so satisfies a powerful and a basic need in connect with and
contribute to something significant.
Aspects of Employee Retention
Three basic aspects of Employee Retention according to the global
studies are:

The employees and their own unique psychological make up and

experience
The employers and their ability to create the conditions that

promote Employee Retention

Interaction between employees at all levels.

Thus it is largely the organizations responsibility to create an

environment and culture conducive to this partnership, and a win-win
equation. Engaged employees care about the future of the company and
are willing to invest the discretionary effort. Engaged employees feel a
strong emotional bond to the organization that employs them. (Robinson)
Emotional attachment
Only 29% of employees are actively engaged in their jobs. These
employees work with passion and feel a profound connection to their
company. People that are actively engaged help move the organization
forward. 84% of highly engaged employees believe they can positively
impact quality of their organization's products, compared with only 31%
of the disengaged. 72% of highly engaged employees believe they can
positively affect customer service, versus 27% of the disengaged.

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68% of highly engaged employees believe they can positively impact

costs in their job or unit, compared with just 19% of the disengaged.
Engaged employees feel a strong emotional bond to the organization
that employs them. This is associated with people demonstrating a
willingness to recommend the organization to others and commit time
and effort to help the organization succeed. It suggests that people are
motivated by intrinsic factors (e.g. personal growth, working to a common
purpose, being part of a larger process) rather than simply focusing on
extrinsic factors (e.g., pay/reward).
Involvement
Eileen Appelbaum and her colleagues (2000) studied 15 steel mills, 17
apparel manufacturers, and 10 electronic instrument and imaging
equipment producers. Their purpose was to compare traditional
production systems with flexible high-performance production systems
involving teams, training, and incentive pay systems. In all three
industries, the plants utilizing high-involvement practices showed
superior performance.
In addition, workers in the high-involvement plants showed more positive
attitudes, including trust, organizational commitment and intrinsic
enjoyment of the work.
The

concept

has

gained

popularity

as

various

studies

have

demonstrated links with productivity. It is often linked to the notion of

employee voice and empowerment.
Commitment
It has been routinely found that Employee Retention scores account for
as much as half of the variance in customer satisfaction scores. This

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translates into millions of dollars for companies if they can improve their
scores.
Studies have statistically demonstrated that engaged employees are
more productive, more profitable, more customer-focused, safer, and
less likely to leave their employer. Employees with the highest level of
commitment perform 20% better and are 87% less likely to leave the
organization, which indicates that engagement is linked to organizational
performance.
For example, at the beverage company of Molson Coors, it was found
that engaged employees were five times less likely than non-engaged
employees to have a safety incident and seven times less likely to have
a lost-time safety incident.
In fact, the average cost of a safety incident for an engaged employee
was $63, compared with an average of $392 for a non-engaged
employee. Consequently, through strengthening Employee Retention,
the company saved $1,721,760 in safety costs in 2002. In addition,
savings were found in sales performance teams through engagement. In
2005, for example, low-engagement teams were seen falling behind
engaged teams, with a difference in performance-related costs of lowversus high-engagement teams totaling $2,104,823.3 (Lockwood).
Life insurance industry
Two studies of employees in the life insurance industry examined the
impact of employee perceptions that they had the power to make
decisions, sufficient knowledge and information to do the job effectively,
and rewards for high performance. Both studies included large samples
of employees (3,570 employees in 49 organizations and 4,828
employees in 92 organizations). In both studies, high-involvement

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management practices were positively associated with employee morale,

employee retention, and firm financial performance.
Watson Wyatt found that high-commitment organizations (one with loyal
and dedicated employees) out-performed those with low commitment by
47% in the 2000 study and by 200% in the 2002 study.
Productivity
In a study of professional service firms, the Hay Group found that offices
with engaged employees were up to 43% more productive. The most
striking finding is the almost 52% gaps in operating incomes between
companies with highly engaged employees and companies whose
employees have low-engagement scores. High-engagement companies
improved 19.2% while low-engagement companies declined 32.7% in
operating income during the study period.
For example, New Century Financial Corporation, a U.S. specialty
mortgage banking company, found that account executives in the
wholesale division who were actively disengaged produced 28% less
revenue than their colleagues who were engaged. Furthermore, those
not engaged generated 23% less revenue than their engaged
counterparts. Engaged employees also outperformed the not engaged
and actively disengaged employees in other divisions. It comes as no
surprise, then, that engaged employees have been statistically linked
with innovation events and better problem solving.
Generating engagement
Recent research has focused on developing a better understanding of
how variables such as quality of work relationships and values of the
organization interact and their link to important work outcomes. 84% of
highly engaged employees believe they can positively impact the quality

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of their organization's products, compared with only 31 percent of the

disengaged.

Page 21 of 85

From the perspective of the employee, "outcomes" range from strong

commitment to the isolation of oneself from the organization. The study
done by the Gallup Management Journal has shown that only 29% of
employees are actively engaged in their jobs. Those "engaged"
employees work with passion and feel a strong connection to their
company. About of the business units scoring above the median on
Employee Retention also scored above the median on performance.
Moreover, 54% of employees are not engaged meaning that they go
through each workday putting time but no passion into their work. Only
about of companies below the median on Employee Retention scored
above the median on performance. Access to a reliable model enables
organizations to conduct validation studies to establish the relationship of
Employee Retention to productivity/performance and other measures
linked to effectiveness.
It is an important principle of industrial and organizational psychology
(i.e. the application of psychological theories, research methods, and
intervention strategies involving workplace issues) that validation studies
should be anchored in reliable scales (i.e. organized and related groups
of items) and not simply focus on individual elements in isolation.
To understand how high levels of Employee Retention affect
organizational performance/productivity it is important to have an a priori
model that demonstrates how the scales interact. Unfortunately, the
major consulting firms have ignored this basic and critical aspect. To
date, the only a priori model of which I am aware is that by Dr. Paul
MarcianoThe RESPECT Model. There is also overlap between this
concept and those relating to well-being at work and the psychological
contract. As employee productivity is clearly connected with Employee
Retention, creating an environment that encourages Employee Retention

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is considered to be essential in the effective management of human

capital.
Influences

Employer engagement - A company's "commitment to improving the

partnership between employees and...employer." Employers can stay
engaged with their employees by actively seeking to understand and

act on behalf of the expectations and preferences of their employees.

Employee perceptions of job importance - According to a 2006
study by Gerard Seijts and Dan Crim, "...an employees attitude
toward the job['s importance] and the company had the greatest
impact on loyalty and customer service then all other employee factors

combined."
Employee clarity of job expectations - "If expectations are not clear
and basic materials and equipment not provided, negative emotions
such as boredom or resentment may result, and the employee may
then become focused on surviving more than thinking about how he

can help the organization succeed."

Career advancement/improvement

opportunities

"Plant

supervisors and managers indicated that many plant improvements

were being made outside the suggestion system, where employees
initiated changes in order to reap the bonuses generated by the

subsequent cost savings."

Regular feedback and dialogue with superiors - "Feedback is the
key to giving employees a sense of where theyre going, but many
organizations are remarkably bad at giving it." "'What I really wanted
to hear was 'Thanks. You did a good job.' But all my boss did was

hand me a check.'"
Quality of working relationships with peers, superiors, and
subordinates - "...if employees' relationship with their managers is
fractured, then no amount of perks will persuade the employees to

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perform at top levels. Employee Retention is a direct reflection of how

employees feel about their relationship with the boss."

Perceptions of the ethos and values of the organization "'Inspiration and values' is the most important of the six drivers in our
Engaged Performance model. Inspirational leadership is the ultimate

perk. In its absence, [it] is unlikely to engage employees."

Effective Internal Employee Communications - which convey a
clear description of "what's going on". "'If you accept that employees
want to be involved in what they are doing then this trend is clear
(from small businesses to large global organisations). The effect of
poor internal communications is seen as its most destructive in global
organisations which suffer from employee annexation - where the
head office in one country is buoyant (since they are closest to the
action, know what is going on, and are heavily engaged) but its
annexes (who are furthest away from the action and know little about
what is happening) are dis-engaged. In the worst case, employee
annexation can be very destructive when the head office attributes the
annex's low engagement to its poor performance when its poor

performance is really due to its poor communications.

Reward to engage - Look at employee benefits and acknowledge the
role of incentives. "An incentive to reward good work is a tried and test
way of boosting staff morale and enhancing engagement." There are a
range of tactics you can employ to ensure your incentive scheme hits
the mark with your workforce such as: Setting realistic targets,
selecting

the

right

rewards

for

your

incentive

programme,

communicating the scheme effectively and frequently, have lots of

winners and reward all achievers, encouraging sustained effort,
present awards publicly and evaluate the incentive scheme regularly.

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Potential red flags

Inappropriate use of Benchmark Data - some of the more well
established Employee Retention survey companies will state that the
most important part of post survey follow up is related to comparison
of internal survey data to numerous external benchmarks. This seems
to have rubbed off onto internal sponsors who demand very specific
benchmarks. Whilst some research analysts claim that the standard
comparisons by industry sector are flawed others disagree.
Is it right to compare a Bentley employee to one from Vauxhall (GM)
because they are in the same automotive sector? The alternative
arguament is that both organisations would likely draw from similar
worker pools and would as such wish to better understand
expectations of workers in that industry and how they compare to
competing employers.
Categories of Employee Retention
According to the Gallup the Consulting organization there are there are
different types of people:Engaged--"Engaged" employees are builders. They want to know the
desired expectations for their role so they can meet and exceed them.
They're naturally curious about their company and their place in it. They
perform at consistently high levels. They want to use their talents and
strengths at work every day. They work with passion and they drive
innovation and move their organization forward.
Not Engaged---Not-engaged employees tend to concentrate on tasks
rather than the goals and outcomes they are expected to accomplish.
They want to be told what to do just so they can do it and say they have
finished. They focus on accomplishing tasks vs. achieving an outcome.
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Employees who are not-engaged tend to feel their contributions are

being overlooked, and their potential is not being tapped. They often feel
this way because they don't have productive relationships with their
managers or with their coworkers.
Actively Disengaged--The "actively disengaged" employees are the
"cave dwellers." They're "Consistently against Virtually Everything."
They're not just unhappy at work; they're busy acting out their
unhappiness .They sow seeds of negativity at every opportunity. Every
day, actively disengaged workers undermine what their engaged
coworkers accomplish. As workers increasingly rely on each other to
generate products and services, the problems and tensions that are
fostered by actively disengaged workers can cause great damage to an
organization's functioning .
Importance of Engagement
Engagement is important for managers to cultivate given that
disengagement or alienation is central to the problem of workers lack of
commitment and motivation (Aktouf). Meaningless work is often
associated with apathy and detachment from ones works (Thomas and
Velthouse). In such conditions, individuals are thought to be estranged
from their selves (Seeman, 1972) .Other Research using a different
resource of engagement (involvement and enthusiasm) has linked it to
such variables as employee turnover, customer satisfaction loyalty,
safety and to a lesser degree, productivity and profitability criteria
(Harter, Schnidt & Hayes, 2002).
An organizations capacity to manage Employee Retention is closely
related to its ability to achieve high performance levels and superior
business results. Some of the advantages of Engaged employees are

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 Engaged employees will stay with the company, be an advocate of the

company and its products and services, and contribute to bottom line
business success.
They will normally perform better and are more motivated.
There is a significant link between Employee Retention and profitability.
They form an emotional connection with the company. This impacts
their attitude towards the companys clients, and thereby improves
customer satisfaction and service levels
It builds passion, commitment and alignment with the organizations
strategies and goals
Increases employees trust in the organization
Creates a sense of loyalty in a competitive environment
Provides a high-energy working environment
Boosts business growth
Makes the employees effective brand ambassadors for the company
A

highly

engaged

employee

will

consistently

deliver

beyond

expectations. In the workplace research on Employee Retention (Harter,

Schmidt & Hayes, 2002) have repeatedly asked employees whether
they have the opportunity to do what they do best everyday. While one
in five employees strongly agree with this statement. Those work units
scoring higher on this perception have substantially higher performance.
Thus Employee Retention is critical to any organization that seeks to
retain valued employees. The Watson Wyatt consulting companies has
been proved that there is an intrinsic link between Employee Retention,
customer loyalty, and profitability. As organizations globalize and become
Page 27 of 85

more dependent on technology in a virtual working environment, there is

a greater need to connect and engage with employees to provide them
with an organizational identity.
Factors Leading to Employee RetentionStudies have shown that there are some critical factors which lead to
Employee Retention. Some of them identified are

Career Development- Opportunities for Personal Development

Organizations with high levels of engagement provide employees with
opportunities to develop their abilities, learn new skills, acquire new
knowledge and realise their potential. When companies plan for the
career paths of their employees and invest in them in this way their
people invest in them.

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Career Development Effective Management of Talent

Career development influences engagement for employees and retaining
the most talented employees and providing opportunities for personal
development.
Leadership- Clarity of Company Values
Employees need to feel that the core values for which their companies
stand are unambiguous and clear.
Leadership Respectful Treatment of Employees
Successful organizations show respect for each employees qualities and
contribution regardless of their job level.
Leadership Companys Standards of Ethical Behaviour
A companys ethical stand ards also lead to engagement of an individual
Empowerment
Employees want to be involved in decisions that affect their work. The
leaders of high engagement workplaces create a trustful and challenging
environment, in which employees are encouraged to dissent from the
prevailing orthodoxy and to input and innovate to move the organization
forward.
Image
How much employees are prepared to endorse the products and
services which their company provides its customers depends largely on
their perceptions of the quality of those goods and services. High levels
of Employee Retention are inextricably linked with high levels of
customer engagement.

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Other factors
Equal Opportunities and Fair Treatment
The Employee Retention levels would be high if their bosses (superiors)
provide equal opportunities for growth and advancement to all the
employees
Performance appraisal
Fair evaluation of an employees performance is an important criterion for
determining the level of Employee Retention. The company which follows
an appropriate performance appraisal technique (which is transparent
and not biased) will have high levels of Employee Retention.
Pay and Benefits
The company should have a proper pay system so that the employees
are motivated to work in the organization. In order to boost his
engagement levels the employees should also be provided with certain
benefits and compensations.
Health and Safety
Research indicates that the engagement levels are low if the employee
does not feel secure while working. Therefore every organization should
adopt appropriate methods and systems for the health and safety of their
employees.

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Job Satisfaction
Only a satisfied employee can become an engaged employee. Therefore
it is very essential for an organization to see to it that the job given to the
employee matches his career goals which will make him enjoy his work
and he would ultimately be satisfied with his job.
Communication
The company should follow the open door policy. There should be both
upward and downward communication with the use of appropriate
communication channels in the organization.
If the employee is given a say in the decision making and has the right to
be heard by his boss than the engagement levels are likely to be high.
Family Friendliness
A persons family life influences his wok life. When an employee realizes
that the organization is considering his familys benefits also, he will have
an emotional attachment with the organization which leads to
engagement
Co-operation
If the entire organization works together by helping each other i.e. all the
employees as well as the supervisors co-ordinate well than the
employees will be engaged.
How to measure Employee Retention?
Gallup research consistently confirms that engaged work places
compared with least engaged are much more likely to have lower
employee turnover, higher than average customer loyalty, above average
productivity and earnings.
Page 31 of 85

These are all good things that prove that engaging and involving
employees make good business sense and building shareholder value.
Negative workplace relationships may be a big part of why so many
employees are not engaged with their jobs.
Step I: Listen
The employer must listen to his employees and remember that this is a
continuous process. The information employees supply will provide
direction. This is the only way to identify their specific concerns. When
leaders listen, employees respond by becoming more engaged. This
results in increased productivity and employee retention. Engaged
employees are much more likely to be satisfied in their positions, remain
with the company, be promoted, and strive for higher levels of
performance.
Step II: Measure current level of Employee Retention
Employee Retention needs to be measured at regular intervals in order
to track its contribution to the success of the organisation. But measuring
the engagement (feedback through surveys) without planning how to
handle the result can lead employees to disengage. It is therefore not
enough to feel the pulsethe action plan is just as essential.
Knowing the Degree in which Employees Are Engaged?
Employee Retention satisfaction surveys determine the current level of
Employee Retention. A well-administered satisfaction survey will let us
know at what level of engagement the employees are operating.
Customizable employee surveys will provide with a starting point towards
the efforts to optimize Employee Retention.
The key to successful employee satisfaction surveys is to pay close
attention to the feedback from the staff.
Page 32 of 85

It is important that Employee Retention is not viewed as a onetime

action. Employee Retention should be a continuous process of
measuring, analyzing, defining and implementing.
The employee survey is a diagnostic tool of choice in the battle for the
hearts of employees. Studies of Gallup, Mercer, Hewitt and Watson
Wyatt (consulting companies) asked workers number of questions
relating to their job satisfaction. Gallup being one of oldest the consulting
organisation {in conducting engagement survey} creates a feedback
system for employers that would identify and measure elements of
worker engagement most tide to the bottom line. Things such as sales,
growth, productivity and customer loyalty are all accessed. After
Hundreds of focus group and thousands of interviews with employees in
a variety of industries.
The interpretation of the questionnaire and one of the companys
engagement level is summarized in the table below.

Page 33 of 85

Some of the discussions which come from Gallups questions are: Know what is expected of me at work- employees should know exactly
what is expected of them. If expectations are unclear, employees will
inevitably face frustration, and will be open for other opportunities where
they do know what's expected of them, and where their contributions are
measured and recognized.
Materials and equipment- Employees need the right tools and equipment
to support their skills, experience and talents & perform their jobs at an
optimum level.
Do what I do best every day - Are your employees cast in the right roles?
Knowing the critical demands for every role is a key to ensuring that
talents fit those demands. Supervisor/Someone at work cares -Managers
must spend most of their time with their most productive talent. Many
managers give their greatest degree of attention to employees who are
falling behind.
Talented, productive people crave time and attention from their
managers, and will leave your company if they have a weak relationship
(or no relationship) with their manager or supervisor.
Co-workers committed to quality.-Many companies arbitrarily put teams
together without considering that employees only psychologically commit
to teams if they perceive their team members will support their high level
of commitment and performance. Talented employees set high standards
and depend upon those around them to support their growth toward
excellence.
Opportunities to learn and grow- The Company should create an
environment that encourages employees to drive towards innovation or
to create better systems for more productive results.
Page 34 of 85

Great managers always ask what skills and knowledge need to

accompany talent to result in the greatest outcome for each
Having a best friend at work or receiving recognition every week makes
you feel cared for and proud respectively. If you want to keep recreating
those positive emotions, then you keep coming back to work.
Thus the mechanism of the broaden- and build theories and the action
tendencies of positive emotions help in understanding of predicting
outcomes. Borden and Build theory is about evolutionary significance
of positive emotions. Positive emotions are better observed over the long
haul. Their effects accumulate and compound overtime and the adaptive
benefits are evident from later, when people face new challenges. The
Gallup research has thus made a contribution in adding an additional P
to the 4 Ps of marketing i.e. product, price, and promotion place and now
people to the mix.
In the combination of engaged employees, Gallup brings engaged
customers to form the concept of human sigma. These include customer
engagement, loyalty and emotional attachment. Customer engagement
hierarchy, customer engagement scores and developing the culture of
engagement and customer focus. The Gallup Organization decided to
initiate a multi-year research project to try and define a great workplace a great workplace was one where employees were satisfied with their
jobs and this thus helps to produce positive business outcomes.
According to the study of Watson Wyatt, the service profit chain
establishes relationship between profitability, customer loyalty and
employee satisfaction, loyalty and productivity. The links in the chain
(which should be regarded as propositions) are as follows: profit and
growth are stimulated primarily by customer loyalty. Loyalty is a direct
result of customers satisfaction. Satisfaction is largely influenced by the
services provided to customers.
Page 35 of 85

Satisfied, loyal and productive employees create value. Employees

satisfaction inturn results primari ly from high quality support services
and policies that enable employees to deliver results to customers. While
many organizations are beginning to measure relationship between
individual links in the service only a few have related the links in the
meaningful ways that can lead to comprehensive strategies for achieving
lasting competitive advantage of building Employee Retention. In a study
of its seven telephone customer service centers (MCI found that there is
a clear relationship between employees perceptions of the quality of
services and Employee Retention.
Step III: - Identify the problem areas
Identify the problem areas to see which are the exact areas, which lead
to disengaged employees
Step IV: Taking action to improve Employee Retention by acting upon
the problem areas
Nothing is more discouraging to employees than to be asked for their
feedback and see no movement toward resolution of their issues. Even
the smallest actions taken to address concerns will let the staff know how
their input is valued. Feeling valued will boost morale, motivate and
encourage future input. Taking action starts with listening to employee
feedback and a definitive action plan will need to be put in place finally.

Page 36 of 85

Employee Retention Schemes

Examples of Employee Retention Approaches
OPC
Employee Retention through compelling Internal Communication
A successful Employee Retention strategy helps create a community at
the workplace and not just a workforce. When employees are effectively
and positively engaged with their organisation, they form an emotional
connection with the company. This affects their attitude towards both
their colleagues and the companys clients and improves customer
satisfaction and service levels.
There's more than one way to improve the level of Employee Retention
in a company. In fact, there are many different things that companies not
only can do, but need to do. Most organisations have a range of
practices to improve the engagement level of their employees.
One of the pitfalls of any Employee Retention programme is a failure
whether real or perceived - to follow through on the initial that the
company is felt by their employees If your organisation is to succeed you
must look use as many different approaches as you can.
Here is a round-up of some of the best approaches.
Employee Retention approaches for new employees
Best practice recommends starting right at the selection or recruitment
stage with:

The right person and giving them a realistic job preview

A strong induction and orientation programme

Page 37 of 85

Rigorous training and development, from technical to soft skills to

leadership development programmes.

Regular technical/soft-skill updates.
Certification programmes to drive people towards excellent
performance

Employee Retention approaches for all employees

Beyond initial recruitment and induction, Employee Retention activities
can be broken into a number of groups. These include:

Communications activities
Reward schemes
Activities to build the culture of the organisational
Team building activities
Leadership development activities

Communications activities
These help employees find out what is going on within the company
outside of their immediate team. They also help to create an environment
of trust and openness within the organisation where they are able to talk
openly. Employees who feel they are listened to are able to express
dissatisfaction and work together to resolve their causes, without it
affecting

their performance. Good examples of communications

approaches include:

Communication forums to provide regular feedback to all people,

including team meetings, conferences and away days

In-house magazines
On-line communications, including discussion boards and blogs by
company personnel including senior management

Monthly updates on corporate goals and directions

Regular employee opinion and satisfaction surveys

Page 38 of 85

Active soliciting of employee feedback, including opinions and pet

peeves

Reward schemes
Reward schemes are an important part of a company's overall Employee
Retention programme. Studies have long shown that, while money in
itself is not a motivating factor, the absence of financial reward can be a
significant demotivator. Thus the role of reward schemes in boosting
Employee Retention is:

to remove barriers to satisfaction in the organisation;

to provide a framework for rewarding everyone in the organisation for

their
performance;
to give those who are motivated by financial gain an opportunity to

achieve
this.

Typical approaches include:

Compensation and benefit programmes

Stock ownership and profit sharing
Recognition programmes
Idea collection schemes linked to rewards for idea generation
Long service and good performance awards

Activities to develop the culture of the organisation

Giving employees a feeling of belonging is crucial in creating a thriving
organisation that people feel committed to and others want to join.
Common approaches includes:

Clear and humane HR policies

Pro-social corporate objectives and Corporate Social Responsibility
Equal opportunities policies and practices
Page 39 of 85

Initiatives to maintain the quality of work life and a balance between

personal / professional lives

Developing a safe, clean and inspiring work environment
Demonstrating a commitment to employees well being
Team building activities
Culture-building activities are great for generating a feeling of belonging,
but all organisations are build out of smaller teams who can get on and

work together.
Popular approaches include:
Small team recreational activities, such as bowling, skating, trips to the

cinema (or the pub!)

Social activities, such as family gatherings and barbeques
Community outreach activities such as volunteering and fund-raising.
Leadership development activities
A great organisation needs not just a great leader, but people with
leadership skills. This stimulates good performance, boosts creativity and
eases succession planning.
Good practices include:

Effective Leadership
Effective Performance Management Fair evaluation of performance
Empowerment through effective delegation
Coaching and mentoring activities to give honest feedback by

supervisors and peers

An open and transparent culture to empower people and develop
entrepreneurs

Case Study: Employee Retention in action: Sun Microsystems

Employee Retention becomes that much more critical in such a virtual or
global environment.

Page 40 of 85

Employee Retention is imperative for an organisation like Sun as they

operate in virtual teams across the world:
At Sun the virtual nature is partly due to flexible working practices. While
flexible working arrangements are a plus for many employees and
reduces facility costs for the organisation, that flexibility comes with some
downsides like; isolation, loneliness and an increase in personal
distractions
Isolation, especially when paired with the demands of work in an
increasingly competitive environment, can wear down the sense of
connection, commitment and excitement about any job. Thus a critical
challenge for managers of virtual teams is how to keep remote
employees engaged.
At Sun, the concept of Employee Retention starts right from the top:
Scott McNealy, the CEO, interacts with Sun employees through WSUN,
a forum on Suns intranet. He uses this to sustain an active an ongoing
dialogue on the corporate goals and direction. Through this interactive
on-line resource he also solicits their feedback and opinions
Other senior management members like Jonathan Schwartz, the COO,
engages with employees on technology directions through his personal
blog
Business Unit Heads and Executive Vicepresidents have a target of
holding six town halls with employees every year across the globe
At the country level, Senior Management is tasked with constantly
engaging employees through various forums, communication media and
events to build excitement and passion including some that also reach
out to the employees families.
Employee Retention Activities
Page 41 of 85

1. Picnic at regular intervals

2. Movie at interval of 2 months
3. A daily column, written by CEO, on the intranet with company
announcements / programs etc.
4. Update via an overhead paging system, which is used to recognize
employees for significant business achievements.
5. Employee suggestion systems / quick responses.
6. Replay on the intranet about the presidents / CEOs press conference.
7. Live version of internal house magazine.
8. CEO spending time in face to face communication with staff.
9. CEO based FAQ questions on company business.
10. ONLINE ask the CEO mailbox.
11. Monthly staff awards
12. Annual staff awards
13. Weekly blog related to serious business issues and staff to read /
comments.
14. Appointment of disaster management team
15. Appointment of emergency management team
16. Problem solving committee.
17. Quality assurance committee.

Page 42 of 85

18. Conducting soft skills training program as well as required training

programs
19. Online real-time tracking of progress. Employees can view company
progress towards targets / goals.
20. Provide long term strategic vision for business growth.
21. Indoor Games as well as Outdoor games, like Chess, Cricket,
Badminton etc..
22. Celebration of Employees Birthday

Page 43 of 85

BPO EMPLOYEE RETENTION

Attrition is the biggest problem faced by BPOs these days. Attrition rate
in BPOs is more than the attrition rate in any other sector. It is very
important to control this attrition rate. Many retention schemes are
applied in BPOs for retention.
A single tool like training alone is not sufficient for employee retention.
The best results for employee retention can be achieved by applying
different tools strategically. Let us now learn about various strategies
which can boost successful employee retention in BPOs.
First know the cost.
This is the most basic and initial part of the retention process. A good
retention plan needs all the facts. The turnover cost includes cost of
selection process, hiring, induction, training, lost productivity, etc.
Hire from known sources like employee referrals through trustworthy
employees.
Hire the right people.
Retention starts with recruitment itself. Identify the characteristics of the
people you want to hire who fit in organizations culture. To retain
employees, the people who are productive and are likely to stay for a
longer time should be hired. Focus on employee orientation. It is the first
impression that the employee takes home with him. A proper welcome
form the management will encourage the employee to stay with the
organization.
Individual development

Page 44 of 85

Develop career plans for employees. Initiate mentorship and higher

education programs to keep the learning and development moving.
Training for managers
An important factor that keeps the employee in the organization is the
manager. Employees need a manager who manages them well. A
manager should be a good listener and motivator. Proper training should
be given to the managers.
Find the reason why employees are leaving. Conduct exit interviews with
the employees after 3-4 months of leaving the job. This is because most
of the employees would not like to reveal the true reason of quitting the
job as long as they are in the organization and are associated with the
job. The exit interviews can be conducted online. Then the employees
can talk straight-from-the-shoulder.
Employee recognition
Star of the month, top performer, picture on bulletin boards, appreciation
cards and certificates, etc, increase employee moral and confidence.
This is a great way to retain employees of a call center.

Manager Role in Retention

When asked about why employees leave, low salary comes out to be a
common excuse. However, research has shown that people join
companies, but leave because of what their managers do or dont do. It
is seen that managers who respect and value employees competency,
pay attention to their aspirations, assure challenging work, value the
quality of work life and provided chances for learning have loyal and
engaged employees. Therefore, managers and team leaders play an
active and vital role in employee retention.
Page 45 of 85

Managers and team leaders can reduce the attrition levels considerably
by creating a motivating team culture and improving the relationships
with team members. This can be done in a following way:
Creating a Motivating Environment:
Team leaders who create motivating environments are likely to keep their
team members together for a longer period of time. Motivation does not
necessarily have to come through fun events such as parties,
celebrations, team outings etc. They can also come through serious
events e.g. arranging a talk by the VP of Quality on career opportunities
in the field of quality. Employees who look forward to these events and
are likely to remain more engaged.
Standing up for the Team:
Team leaders are closest to their team members. While they need to
ensure smooth functioning of their teams by implementing management
decisions, they also need to educate their managers about the realities
on the ground. When agents see the team leader standing up for them,
they will have one more reason to stay in the team.
Providing coaching:
Everyone wants to be successful in his or her current job. However, not
everyone knows how. Therefore, one of the key responsibilities will be
providing coaching that is intended to improve the performance of
employees. Managers often tend to escape this role by just coaching
their

employees.

However, coaching

is

followed

performance and providing feedback on the same.

Page 46 of 85

by monitoring

Delegation:
Many team leaders and managers feel that they are the only people who
can do a particular task or job. Therefore, they do not delegate their jobs
as much as they should. Delegation is a great way to develop
competencies.
Extra Responsibility:
Giving extra responsibility to employees is another way to get them
engaged with the company. However, just giving the extra responsibility
does not help. The manager must spend good time teaching the
employees of how to manage responsibilities given to them so that they
dont feel over burdened.
Focus on future career:
Employees are always concerned about their future career. A manager
should focus on showing employees his career ladder. If an employee
sees that his current job offers a path towards their future career
aspirations, then they are likely to stay longer in the company. Therefore,
managers should play the role of career counselors as well.
Retention Bonus
Higher attrition rates within a particular industry have forced companies
to use some innovative strategies to retain employees. Retention Bonus
is one of the important tools that are being used to retain employees.
Retention bonus is an incentive paid to an employee to retain them
through a critical business cycle. Retention bonuses are becoming more
common in the corporate world because companies are going through
more transitions like mergers and acquisitions.
Page 47 of 85

They need to give key people an attractive incentive to stay on through

these transitions to ensure productivity.
Retention bonuses have proven to be a useful tool in persuading
employees to stay.
A retention bonus plan is not a panacea. According to a survey, nonmanagement employees generally receive about 10 percent of their
annual salaries in bonuses, while management and top-level supervisors
earn an additional 50 percent of their annual salaries. While bonuses
based on salary percentages are the generally used, some companies
choose to pay a flat figure. In some companies, bonuses range from 25
percent to 50 percent of annual salary, depending on position, tenure and
other factors.
Employees

are

chosen

for

retention

bonuses

based

on

their

contributions to management and the generation of revenue. Retention

bonuses are generally vary from position to position and are paid in one
lump sum at the time of termination. However, some companies pay in
installments as on when the business cycle completes. A retention period
can run somewhere between six months to three years. It can also run
for a particular project.
A project has its own life span. As long as the project gets completed, the
employees who have worked hard on it are entitled to receive the
retention bonus. For example, the implementation of a system may take
18 months, so a retention bonus will be offered after 20 months.
Although retention bonuses are becoming more common everywhere,
some

industries

are

more

likely

than

others

to

offer

them.

Retail/wholesale companies are the most appropriate to implement stay-

Page 48 of 85

pay bonuses, followed by financial service providers and manufacturing

firms.

Companies of all sizes use retention bonus plans to keep knowledge

employees retained in the company. To retain its key senior employees
post merger with EDS Corporation, Mphasis is providing cash
component based retention bonus plan for its employees. This is mainly
to retain good employees and provide them a cash incentive to keep
them motivated.

Page 49 of 85

Employers

Key Drives To Attract And Retain Talent

o Early responsibilities in career
o Flexible and transparent organizational culture

Procter and Gamble India

o Global opportunities through a variety of

exposure and diverse experiences
o Performance Recognition
o Strong global brand

American Express (India)

o Value-based environment
o Pioneer in many people practices
o Learning and growth opportunities
o Competitive rewards

NTPC

o Opportunity to grow, learn and implement

o Strong social security and employee welfare
performance- oriented culture
o Strong values of trust, caring fairness, and
respect within the organization
o Freedom to operate at work
o Early responsibility in career

Johnson & Johnson

o Training and learning opportunities

o Visible, transparent and accessible leaders
o Competitive rewards
o Innovative HR programs and practices

Glaxo Smith Kline

o Performance-driven Rewards
Page 50 of 85

o Its belief in Growing our own timber

o Comprehensive development and learning
programs
o Flat organization, where performance could
Consumer Healthcare

lead to very quick progression

o Challenging work context
o Competitive rewards
o Exhaustive induction and orientation program
o Organization philosophy and culture

Tata Steel

o Job stability
o Freedom to work and innovate
o Company brand
o Open , transparent, and caring organization
o Management according to the managing with

Colgate Palmolive India

respect to guiding principles

o Training ad development programs
o Structured career planning process
o Global career opportunities
o Companys brand as an employer
o Early opportunities for growth

Wipro

o High degree of autonomy

o Value compatibility
o Innovative people program

Page 51 of 85

o Company brand image

o Work ethics
Indian Oil Corporation

o Learning and growth opportunities

o Challenging work assignments
o Growing organization
o The group brand equity
o Strong corporate governance and citizenship
o Commitment to learning and development

TCS
o Best in people practices
o Challenging assignments
o Opportunity to work with fortune 500 clients

Page 52 of 85

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Page 53 of 85

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research: Research is the process of collection, interpretation, analysis

and presentation of data into meaning information for the outcome of
final decisions. It plays a vital role in the project report where data is to
be collected from the market as a whole and required to be interpreted
and append in the report.
Objective of my study:
EMPLOYEE RETENTION
Methods of Data Collection:
There are two methods of data collection viz.
1. Primary Data: It is the process by which data is collected by personal
interview and manual gather of facts and figures.

A survey

questionnaire is put to the interviewing people and their views are

undertaken. For this I have undergone a small questionnaire which
was put forth against finance experts and professionals working in the
organization.
2. Secondary Data: It is the process of data collection from published
sources which are taken as right measure of information, facts and
figures. E.g. Company brochures, records statements, websites,
Magazines, Books and Journals etc.

Page 54 of 85

Questionnaire: Questionnaire is a sequence of questions arranged in a

serial order which are to be put before respondents in the duration of the
survey.
There are two types of questionnaires:
1. Open ended Questionnaire: Open ended questionnaire is a
questionnaire where respondents are asked to openly give his /her
views on the enquired questions put before him/her. He is free to give
his/her opinion and suggestions.
2. Close ended Questionnaire: Close ended questionnaire is a
questionnaire where respondents are limited to the choice being
provided with the questions only as asked by the interviewer. In this
pattern of questionnaire, respondent is not free to disclose his opinion
towards the questions.
A mix of Both Closeended and open ended questionnaire was framed for
getting relevant data information in getting conclusive evidence.
Sample Size: - 100 Human Resource personnel.
Sampling: - Systematic and Descriptive

Page 55 of 85

DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION

Page 56 of 85

DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION

1. Do you know what is expected of you at work?

20%

Higher Efficiency

Target Achievement
38%

18%
Professional skills and knowledge application Good communication skills
25%

The

Higher Efficiency

15

Target Achievement

10

Professional skills and knowledge application

Good communication skills

following

interpretation

mentioned

above

in

the

form

of

tabular

representation as well as graphically shown has been provided from the survey
of 40 respondents and their duly responses have been obtained from the
respective query being asked from them

Page 57 of 85

2. Do you feel that you possess the desired skills and are mentally
prepared which you need to do your work right?

3%
30%
Yes

Extensively

Some how

Improving

68%

Yes

27

Extensively

12

Some how

Improving

The following interpretation mentioned above in the form of tabular

representation as well as graphically shown has been provided from the
survey of 40 respondents and their duly responses have been obtained
from the respective query being asked from them

Page 58 of 85

3. At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?
40
35
30
25
20

Column1

36

15
10
5

0
Yes

Seldom

No

Yes

The

36

Seldom

No

following

interpretation

mentioned

above

in

the

form

of

tabular

representation as well as graphically shown has been provided from the survey
of 40 respondents and their duly responses have been obtained from the
respective query being asked from them

Page 59 of 85

4. In the last seven days, have you received recognition or praise for doing
good work?
35
30
25
20

Column1

30

15
10
5

9
1

0
Yes

Often

Seldom

Never

Yes

The

30

Often

Seldom

Never

following

interpretation

mentioned

above

in

the

form

of

tabular

representation as well as graphically shown has been provided from the survey
of 40 respondents and their duly responses have been obtained from the
respective query being asked from them
5. Does your supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about you as a
person?
Page 60 of 85

35
30
25
20
15

Column1

29

10

10

0
Yes

The

Often

Seldom

Never

Yes

29

Often

10

Seldom

Never

following

interpretation

mentioned

above

in

the

form

of

tabular

representation as well as graphically shown has been provided from the survey
of 40 respondents and their duly responses have been obtained from the
respective query being asked from them

Page 61 of 85

6. Is there someone at work who encourages your development?

30

25

20

15

Column1

26
10

14
5

0
Superior

Higher Management

Colleague

Superior

14

Higher Management

26

Colleague
The

following

interpretation

mentioned

above

in

the

form

of

tabular

representation as well as graphically shown has been provided from the survey
of 40 respondents and their duly responses have been obtained from the
respective query being asked from them

Page 62 of 85

7. At work, do your opinions seem to count?

30
25
20
15

Column1

26

10

14

0
Most of the time

Some times

Rarely or never

Most of the time

26

Some times

14

Rarely or never
The

following

interpretation

mentioned

above

in

the

form

of

tabular

representation as well as graphically shown has been provided from the survey
of 40 respondents and their duly responses have been obtained from the
respective query being asked from them

Page 63 of 85

8. Does the mission/purpose of your company make you feel your job is
important?
35
30
25
20

Column1

30

15
10

10

0
Indeed yes

Extensively

Little bit

Indeed yes

30

Extensively

10

Little bit
The

following

interpretation

mentioned

above

in

the

form

of

tabular

representation as well as graphically shown has been provided from the survey
of 40 respondents and their duly responses have been obtained from the
respective query being asked from them

Page 64 of 85

9. Are your associates (fellow employees) committed to doing quality

work?
35
30
25
20

Column1

30

15
10

10

0
Yes

Some how

No

Yes

30

Some how

10

No
The

following

interpretation

mentioned

above

in

the

form

of

tabular

representation as well as graphically shown has been provided from the survey
of 40 respondents and their duly responses have been obtained from the
respective query being asked from them

10. Do you have a best friend at work?

Page 65 of 85

40
35
30
25
20

38

Column1

15
10
5

0
Yes

No

Not interested

Yes

The

38

No

Not interested

following

interpretation

mentioned

above

in

the

form

of

tabular

representation as well as graphically shown has been provided from the survey
of 40 respondents and their duly responses have been obtained from the
respective query being asked from them

Page 66 of 85

11. In the last six months, has someone at work talked to you about your
progress?
25

20

15

Column1

22

10

15
5

0
Every one

Majority

Rarely

None

Every one

15

Majority

22

Rarely

0
None
The following interpretation mentioned above in the form of tabular
representation as well as graphically shown has been provided from the survey
of 40 respondents and their duly responses have been obtained from the
respective query being asked from them

Page 67 of 85

12. In the last year, have you had opportunities at work to learn and grow?
35
30
25
20
15

Column1

30

10

10

5
0
Yes always

Yes some how

Finds difficult

Yes always

30

Yes some how

10

Finds difficult

The following interpretation mentioned above in the form of tabular

representation as well as graphically shown has been provided from the
survey of 40 respondents and their duly responses have been obtained
from the respective query being asked from them

Page 68 of 85

SWOT ANALYSIS

Page 69 of 85

SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS
1. Leading BPO organizations INFOSYS is having a strong reputation
base.
2. There are a great number of employees working in such concern and
growing since in the event of recession.
3. Most of the time employees are satisfied since the organizations often
bring many welfare activities and programmes as well as incentives
measures just for the purposed of increasing the morale of the
employees to perform better.
4. Greater turnover in India as well as abroad.

WEAKNESSES
1. Executives and employees are made to work in night shifts at frequent
intervals since to meet the international requirements.
2. Sometimes female candidates failed to come or agree for night shifts
leading to either loss of valuable manpower and a loss of organization
as a whole.
3. Executives are employed at frequent intervals making a sense of job
insecurity for existing potential candidates.
4. There is a possibility of physical as well as mental harassment by
seniors as well as assisting colleagues.
5. Significance of grievance handling cell or department is very low.
6. Adequate arbitrary authorities are not enough to manage and handle
the grievances as found most of the times.

OPPORTUNITIES
Page 70 of 85

1. There is a great potential in such sector as there is no prescribed or

professional qualification to get into the industry; just required is the
basic qualifications, good knowledge of computer basics with internet
as well as fluency in English.
2. BPO Organizations like Infosys and Genpact have initialized their
efforts to start thinking the welfare of their employees in more
constructive methods.
3. There is a more secure system of work performance have been
implemented especially in night shifts where females are highly risky
to their work.

THREATS
1. There is a risk and a great threat to females who are working in night
shifts.
2. There is a high risk of insecurity of job or being terminated any time due to
inefficient performance.

Page 71 of 85

LIMITATIONS

Page 72 of 85

LIMITATIONS
Following are the limitations found during the course of the project: 1. Executives and Employees were not ready for their free and
unbiased views for questions which were asked during
project.
2. Time and schedule was a big obstacle for the project
completion.
3. Also, management was least interested due to busy
schedule and pressures of recessionary factors.
4. Since project was made to handle with the human resource
so therefore interest factor was also a major limitation.

Page 73 of 85

CONCLUSION

Page 74 of 85

CONCLUSION
The project was a great source of learning regarding the concept of
Employee retention by leading organization like INFOSYS, GENPACT as
well as to gain the insight of the title to the project in respect to the
employees as what they think of the grievances and how well they are
satisfied with the grievances.
Are they satisfied with the problems which are being met out by the
senior management of the organization as well as to the extent such
problem or grieved has led to the stress and tension caused to them.
It is very important for any organization to handle its human resources
with ease and comfort and therefore they offer various monetary as well
as non-monetary measures to them for their welfare so that they may be
happy all the time during their work.
In the BPO industry, there is wide perception of people outside and
inside the organization that working as a call centre executive or
customer care executive is regarded mere as a part time game for
fresher graduates or secondary pass outs to earn their pocket money.
There are also certain issues which until now hidden for years such as
physical harassment since people are working round the clock therefore
it is imperative to become unsocial many times and pose a greater threat
for young youth to move on wrong direction.
Therefore, it is the utmost responsibility of the organization to handle
human resources and must keep an eye suitably so that organization
may earn its good name internally as well as externally to the world at
large.
Page 75 of 85

Employee Retention is the buzz word term for employee communication.

It is a positive attitude held by the employees towards the organization
and its values. It is rapidly gaining popularity, use and importance in the
workplace and impacts organizations in many ways.
Employee

Retention

emphasizes

the

importance

of

employee

communication on the success of a business. An organization should

thus recognize employees, more than any other variable, as powerful
contributors to a company's competitive position. Therefore Employee
Retention should be a continuous process of learning, improvement,
measurement and action.
We would hence conclude that raising and maintaining Employee
Retention lies in the hands of an organization and requires a perfect
blend of time, effort, commitment and investment to craft a successful
endeavor.

Page 76 of 85

RECOMMENDATIONS

Page 77 of 85

RECOMMENDATIONS
The recommendations hereby been suggested for the benefit of the company: Recommendations are made as follows: 1. It is recommended that there should be a proper grievance system
which leads to the provision of settling various human resource
problems and their disputes amicably.
2. Further it is advisable that executives and employees are made to
know in advance the schedule of working in shifts so that they make
up their mind for it.
3. Also the work procedure should be flexible enough to provide the ease
and not to be burden on important resource of the organization.
4. It is recommended that the recruitment, selection and placement of
such executives should not be such frequent as to cause a level of
insecurity in mind of existing valuable employees.
5. Furthermore, proper induction to be given to existing employees and
care must be taken to handle the harassment cases strictly with
disciplinary actions.
6. Proper training and development and renovation of the skills and
knowledge of existing employees for better and prosper results is
highly recommendable.
Every single employee is valuable therefore every small complaint filed
and problem that led to grief to the employee or executive must be
handle promptly.

Page 78 of 85

REFERENCES

Page 79 of 85

REFERENCES
BOOKS:
1. Aswathappa, K, Human Resource & Personnel Management,
2. Tripathi, Personnel Management & Industrial Relations,
3. Archie Thomas, CMA, and Ann MacDi anmid Encouraging
Employee Retention
4. Charles Woodruffe Employee Retention The Real Secret of
Winning a Crucial Edge over your rivals Dec. / Jan. 2006.
5. Christoffer Ellehuus,Piers Hudson-Driving Performance and Retention
Through Employee Retention Corporate leadership Council 2004,
Employee Retention Survey
6. Jteresko Driving Employee Retention
7. Michael Treacy Employee Retention 2005
8. Journal of work and organizational psychology, 2004, 13 (3), 367
389.
9. Shamir, B. self and motivation in organization. Organisation studies.
10. Steve Batts, Getting engaged: HR Magazine society for Human
Resource Management, Feb. 2004.
WEBSITES: www.idesacellular.com
www.covergance.in
www.trai.gov.in

Page 80 of 85

ANNEXURE

Page 81 of 85

ANNEXURE QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME OF THE EMPLOYEE: ________________________________________
DESIGNATION: __________________________________________________
JOB ASSIGNMENT: ____________________________________________
AREA/ DEPARTMENT OF WORKING: ____________________________
1. Do you know what is expected of you at work?
Higher Efficiency

Target Achievement

Professional skills and knowledge application

Good communication skills

2. Do you feel that you possess the desired skills and mentally
prepared which you need to do your work right?
Yes

Extensively

Some how

Improving

3. At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best

every day?
Yes

Seldom

Page 82 of 85

No

4. In the last seven days, have you received recognition or praise

for doing good work?
Yes

Often

Seldom

Never

5. Does your supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about

you as a person?
Yes

Often

Seldom

Never

6. Is there someone at work who encourages your development?

Superior

Higher Management

Colleague

7. At work, do your opinions seem to count?

Most of the time

Some times

Rarely or never

Page 83 of 85

8. Does the mission/purpose of your company make you feel your

job is important?
Indeed yes

Extensively

Little bit

9. Are your associates (fellow employees) committed to doing

quality work?
Yes

Some how

No

10. Do you have a best friend at work?

Yes

No

Not interested

11. In the last six months, has someone at work talked to you about your
progress?
Every one

Majority

Rarely

None

Page 84 of 85

12. In the last year, have you had opportunities at work to learn and
grow?
Yes, always

Yes, some how

Finds difficult

Suggestions: 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

Page 85 of 85