Employees don't always quit for a few rupees more
Money may be a reason why people leave a company, but it's often not the strongest reason
Many companies cannot quite explain or fathom why employees leave. While some do try to get to the bottom of this `mystery', others go one step further by attempting to find out why people stay.
When the employee feels that his marriage with the company is not working out well, he or she calls for a divorce. Generally, the reasons for such a divorce are not made explicit. Emotional reasons are often cited for people quitting their companies: "I can't take it any longer"; "I have had enough". Not all have a new job in hand when they send in their resignations.
`Strong' force
Employees usually stay with a company until a strong force pushes them to the brink. Very often, this `force' is embodied in the person of the immediate supervisor. Curiously, it is often not the employee who cannot get along with his or her supervisor, but vice versa.
"My supervisor makes it difficult for me to function in my work environment" is a common enough complaint.
Of course, not all supervisors are organisational ogres. Many have been credited with helping to retain employees by treating them well and making their work life more rewarding. In this way, the supervisors can figuratively make or break employees, that is, make them stay or go.
Supervisors aside, employees are often accused of uprooting for a few bucks more offered by another company.
Though `better pay' is often given as a reason for leaving, a deeper analysis could indicate the real cause. Do the resignations occur among the more effective one's? What functional areas
— marketing, production or human resource — do these departing employees represent? What is their background? What do they want from their jobs?
Job-hopping, a hobby
For example, at the managerial or executive level, marketing and sales people quit their jobs more often than people from other functional areas such as, production, human resource, finance and research and development. In recent years, there is a high turnover among information technology people. Job-hopping has become a hobby for some of them.
A high rate of people leaving a company could also be attributed to flawed recruitment policies and practices which result in square pegs being signed on to fit round holes. The problem snowballs when these square pegs move on to other companies where they appear `misfits'.
Therefore, careful vetting will sift out such workers before they are taken on. At the time of recruitment, some personnel officers tend to oversell the job and the company. Very soon, expectations come down with a bump, the frustrations fester and the reasons to move on grow stronger by the day.
If the individual employee's skills and capabilities are under-used in a particular job or when they are ignored during promotional exercises or when no career path seems discernible, the employee will again feel restless.
Employee morale
Social values point to education as the best route to increased status, power and income. But educated young people are awakening to the reality that organisational pyramids narrow at the top. The urge to seek greener pastures thus surfaces.
But the fear that one may not have a chance to move up the organisational hierarchy may not be real. Are there any mechanisms to neutralise this fear and restore the hope that achievement will be rewarded?
In coming to grips with employee turnover, senior management should pay constant attention to employee morale. It is like keeping the body temperature normal. Be on the look out for any symptoms that disturb this temperature. Keep your ears tuned for gossip, rumours and hearsay that may provide clues to morale problems. This responsibility should not be delegated to lower-level employees.
Exit interviews
Similarly, exit interviews will not provide all the answers. At times, they can throw subjective views and information. Also, at the employee selection stage, it is worth using some psychological assessment which may throw light on the personality of the individual, especially an individual with job-hopping tendencies.
While you are looking for an answer to why employees leave, also attempt to find out why they stay. Match the responses to these two questions to see whether you get a meaningful picture. Bear in mind that quite often people do not quit just to earn a few bucks more elsewhere. Money may be a reason for quitting, but it may not be the strongest reason. When assessing the causes of employee turnover, tackling the symptoms without understanding the real problem is a futile effort.
If there is an individual who values himself or herself only in monetary terms, it is not worth retaining such a person anyway.
Monday, December 4, 2006
Attrition-Different View
Employees don't always quit for a few rupees more
Money may be a reason why people leave a company, but it's often not the strongest reason
Many companies cannot quite explain or fathom why employees leave. While some do try to get to the bottom of this `mystery', others go one step further by attempting to find out why people stay.
When the employee feels that his marriage with the company is not working out well, he or she calls for a divorce. Generally, the reasons for such a divorce are not made explicit. Emotional reasons are often cited for people quitting their companies: "I can't take it any longer"; "I have had enough". Not all have a new job in hand when they send in their resignations.
`Strong' force
Employees usually stay with a company until a strong force pushes them to the brink. Very often, this `force' is embodied in the person of the immediate supervisor. Curiously, it is often not the employee who cannot get along with his or her supervisor, but vice versa.
"My supervisor makes it difficult for me to function in my work environment" is a common enough complaint.
Of course, not all supervisors are organisational ogres. Many have been credited with helping to retain employees by treating them well and making their work life more rewarding. In this way, the supervisors can figuratively make or break employees, that is, make them stay or go.
Supervisors aside, employees are often accused of uprooting for a few bucks more offered by another company.
Though `better pay' is often given as a reason for leaving, a deeper analysis could indicate the real cause. Do the resignations occur among the more effective one's? What functional areas
— marketing, production or human resource — do these departing employees represent? What is their background? What do they want from their jobs?
Job-hopping, a hobby
For example, at the managerial or executive level, marketing and sales people quit their jobs more often than people from other functional areas such as, production, human resource, finance and research and development. In recent years, there is a high turnover among information technology people. Job-hopping has become a hobby for some of them.
A high rate of people leaving a company could also be attributed to flawed recruitment policies and practices which result in square pegs being signed on to fit round holes. The problem snowballs when these square pegs move on to other companies where they appear `misfits'.
Therefore, careful vetting will sift out such workers before they are taken on. At the time of recruitment, some personnel officers tend to oversell the job and the company. Very soon, expectations come down with a bump, the frustrations fester and the reasons to move on grow stronger by the day.
If the individual employee's skills and capabilities are under-used in a particular job or when they are ignored during promotional exercises or when no career path seems discernible, the employee will again feel restless.
Employee morale
Social values point to education as the best route to increased status, power and income. But educated young people are awakening to the reality that organisational pyramids narrow at the top. The urge to seek greener pastures thus surfaces.
But the fear that one may not have a chance to move up the organisational hierarchy may not be real. Are there any mechanisms to neutralise this fear and restore the hope that achievement will be rewarded?
In coming to grips with employee turnover, senior management should pay constant attention to employee morale. It is like keeping the body temperature normal. Be on the look out for any symptoms that disturb this temperature. Keep your ears tuned for gossip, rumours and hearsay that may provide clues to morale problems. This responsibility should not be delegated to lower-level employees.
Exit interviews
Similarly, exit interviews will not provide all the answers. At times, they can throw subjective views and information. Also, at the employee selection stage, it is worth using some psychological assessment which may throw light on the personality of the individual, especially an individual with job-hopping tendencies.
While you are looking for an answer to why employees leave, also attempt to find out why they stay. Match the responses to these two questions to see whether you get a meaningful picture. Bear in mind that quite often people do not quit just to earn a few bucks more elsewhere. Money may be a reason for quitting, but it may not be the strongest reason. When assessing the causes of employee turnover, tackling the symptoms without understanding the real problem is a futile effort.
If there is an individual who values himself or herself only in monetary terms, it is not worth retaining such a person anyway.
Money may be a reason why people leave a company, but it's often not the strongest reason
Many companies cannot quite explain or fathom why employees leave. While some do try to get to the bottom of this `mystery', others go one step further by attempting to find out why people stay.
When the employee feels that his marriage with the company is not working out well, he or she calls for a divorce. Generally, the reasons for such a divorce are not made explicit. Emotional reasons are often cited for people quitting their companies: "I can't take it any longer"; "I have had enough". Not all have a new job in hand when they send in their resignations.
`Strong' force
Employees usually stay with a company until a strong force pushes them to the brink. Very often, this `force' is embodied in the person of the immediate supervisor. Curiously, it is often not the employee who cannot get along with his or her supervisor, but vice versa.
"My supervisor makes it difficult for me to function in my work environment" is a common enough complaint.
Of course, not all supervisors are organisational ogres. Many have been credited with helping to retain employees by treating them well and making their work life more rewarding. In this way, the supervisors can figuratively make or break employees, that is, make them stay or go.
Supervisors aside, employees are often accused of uprooting for a few bucks more offered by another company.
Though `better pay' is often given as a reason for leaving, a deeper analysis could indicate the real cause. Do the resignations occur among the more effective one's? What functional areas
— marketing, production or human resource — do these departing employees represent? What is their background? What do they want from their jobs?
Job-hopping, a hobby
For example, at the managerial or executive level, marketing and sales people quit their jobs more often than people from other functional areas such as, production, human resource, finance and research and development. In recent years, there is a high turnover among information technology people. Job-hopping has become a hobby for some of them.
A high rate of people leaving a company could also be attributed to flawed recruitment policies and practices which result in square pegs being signed on to fit round holes. The problem snowballs when these square pegs move on to other companies where they appear `misfits'.
Therefore, careful vetting will sift out such workers before they are taken on. At the time of recruitment, some personnel officers tend to oversell the job and the company. Very soon, expectations come down with a bump, the frustrations fester and the reasons to move on grow stronger by the day.
If the individual employee's skills and capabilities are under-used in a particular job or when they are ignored during promotional exercises or when no career path seems discernible, the employee will again feel restless.
Employee morale
Social values point to education as the best route to increased status, power and income. But educated young people are awakening to the reality that organisational pyramids narrow at the top. The urge to seek greener pastures thus surfaces.
But the fear that one may not have a chance to move up the organisational hierarchy may not be real. Are there any mechanisms to neutralise this fear and restore the hope that achievement will be rewarded?
In coming to grips with employee turnover, senior management should pay constant attention to employee morale. It is like keeping the body temperature normal. Be on the look out for any symptoms that disturb this temperature. Keep your ears tuned for gossip, rumours and hearsay that may provide clues to morale problems. This responsibility should not be delegated to lower-level employees.
Exit interviews
Similarly, exit interviews will not provide all the answers. At times, they can throw subjective views and information. Also, at the employee selection stage, it is worth using some psychological assessment which may throw light on the personality of the individual, especially an individual with job-hopping tendencies.
While you are looking for an answer to why employees leave, also attempt to find out why they stay. Match the responses to these two questions to see whether you get a meaningful picture. Bear in mind that quite often people do not quit just to earn a few bucks more elsewhere. Money may be a reason for quitting, but it may not be the strongest reason. When assessing the causes of employee turnover, tackling the symptoms without understanding the real problem is a futile effort.
If there is an individual who values himself or herself only in monetary terms, it is not worth retaining such a person anyway.
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