attrition

1. Attrition: A reduction in the number of employees through retirement, resignation or death.
Attrition rate: The rate of shrinkage in size or number
Why people are moving?
When there are so many benefits associated with the company, when there are so many privileges for the
employees, then what makes them to change the company/industry?? Is it only MONEY that matters or
anything else as well?
 Salary hike
 Promotion
 Less onsite opportunities
 Brand
 Job satisfaction
 Facilities
 Working Environment
Work Pressure
 Work culture and management-IT industry is known for its high pressure work atmosphere and
long working hrs, which create high levels of stress, employee and high attritions rates.
 Transformation in lifestyles, identity and family
 Lack of good leaders who can motivate and guide their team well-IT managers lack both the
time and tools needed for assessing their team members and taking corrective action to
improve their performance which is directly related to job satisfaction.
Increasing percentage of women employees-Most women leave their job either after marriage or
because of long working hours, work stress and other social pressures
Attrition is higher because salary is dynamic…
 There is more demand and less supply so people are getting what they want. One sure way to
prevent this is to provide excellent working condition and make the organization a people
centric place.
 PDC-Product Development Companies(Most of the IT people in IT services would like to move
PDC as the kind of work would be challenging & exciting)
 Some companies & their domain are exciting.

2.  Quality of the work Some companies are offering its employees the high end quality work.
 Most employees don’t leave but quit because they did not like their job, they quit because they
did not like their boss.
Retention - A Big Challenge
Fundamental changes are taking place in the work force and the workplace that promise to radically alter
the way companies relate to their employees. Hiring and retaining good employees have become the chief
concerns of nearly every company in every industry. Companies that understand what their employees
want and need in the workplace and make a strategic decision to proactively fulfill those needs will
become the dominant players in their respective markets.
The fierce competition for qualified workers results from a number of workplace trends, including:
• A robust economy
• Shift in how people view their careers
• Changes in the unspoken "contract" between employer and employee
• Corporate cocooning
• A new generation of workers
• Changes in social mores
• Life balance
•
Concurrent with these trends, the emerging work force is developing very different attitudes about their
role the workplace. Today's employees place a high priority on the following:
• Family orientation
• Quality of life issues
• Autonomy
To hold onto our people, you have to work counter to prevailing trends causing the job churning. Smart
employers make it a strategic initiative to understand what their people want and need -- then give it to
them.
FACTORS THAN MOST INFLUENCE THE ATTRITION RATE
1. Scheduling off-duty employees to work
Struggling with seasonal demands and employee turnover, managers often make unreasonable requests
of employees to work hours in addition to their scheduled shifts.
2. Limited training time.
Limited allowances of time and resources for training can lead to poor service performance and to
employees having unrealistic expectations of day-to-day tasks and responsibilities.
3. Non-competitive pay rate.
Though not as influential as the first two factors, non-competitive pay rates are often responsible for
employees resigning.

3. 4. Poor employee communication.
A lack of employee recognition for a job well done, lack of clarity around work procedures, the absence
of mechanisms for employees to identify problems, and slow repair windows for job-critical equipment
are all factors that can influence an employee’s decision to resign.
Management practices that differentiate performance
Resist calling employees into work during scheduled time off
The following are a few best practices with respect to employee scheduling:
a. Rather than randomly calling employees in for nonscheduled shifts, create a more formal
stand-by relief list of employees who are willing to cover extra shifts when your team ends up
short-handed
b. Use store history to plan for peak hours and high season
c. Plan for vacation, time-off, holidays well in advance
d. Take your employees’ preferences into account when scheduling
e. Employees’ skill set, seniority and experience play an important role in selecting appropriate
coverage
f. Always send your employees a copy of their schedules& have an established time/date when
schedules will be made available
g. Schedule days off for training in advance
h. Address chronic absenteeism proactively – this impacts everyone on the team
i. If an employee chooses not to cover a shift, be sure not to penalize or lay guilt
Another tool to consider to enhance your employee scheduling system is to look at investing in
automated scheduling software. A quick search on the Internet will identify a number of free
trials that are available for some very affordable scheduling applications
Maintain an employee training program
Another best retention practice is creating and managing an ongoing staff orientation, training
and development program. Employee training and development should be looked upon as an
investment, rather than a cost, with planning and budgeting requirements similar to those
dedicated to capital improvements. An organization’s human capital is one of its key sources of
differentiation, and employees are more likely to remain satisfied if they receive an effective
orientation and regular access to technical and non-technical training. Ongoing competency-
based training and development increases employee productivity, reduces turnover, improves job
satisfaction, aids in the recruiting process, rewards long-time employees, and reduces the need
for employee supervision
1. Develop a prioritized list of training topics that address key skill needs within the company
and develop training lessons to teach those skills e.g. keys of good customer service, how to
stock shelves and rotate products, effective sales techniques, or advanced lessons in marketing,
business and human resources.
2.. Determine training delivery mechanism e.g. on-thejob, computer-based, video, outside
training company, classroom group, etc.
3.. Develop benchmarks for skill requirements to measure the success of your employee training
and development program i.e. what changes in behavior/performance are the desired outcome of
the training.
4. Pilot your program to help refine it before its official launch.

4. 5. Create personal employee development plans i.e. ideally, an annual training and development
plan should be established for each employee, as part of their annual performance review.
Offer competitive pay rates
While it certainly takes more than money alone to attract and retain skilled professionals, it’s
helpful to offer competitive compensation packages. Employees who feel they’re underpaid will
also feel they’re undervalued and are more open to even small increases from other
organizations.
The following are five elements found in many
compensation packages.
• Base pay i.e. the negotiated hourly or salaried wage
• Performance-based pay i.e. formal bonus structures
• Equity-based compensation i.e. stock offerings,
RRSP contributions, etc
• Benefits packages i.e. financial planning, sick time,
health coverage, paid training, counselling resources, etc
• Reward and recognition programs i.e. bonuses, extra
time off, professional development opportunities, etc
Engage with staff
The following are methods to engage employees:
• Create an employee newsletter to communicate company
news and articulate what makes your organization unique
e.g. its values, goals & workplace culture
• Celebrate events that are important to your employees,
including birthdays, milestones, cultural holidays and
service excellence
• Develop work/life balance programs e.g. flexible
work arrangements, fitness/counselling/child
services, team sports
• Focus on development e.g. mentoring programs, peer
advisors, succession planning
• Make rewards and recognition systems transparent
Create a way for candidates to “sample” internal
promotion opportunities
• Train managers in performance coaching
• Allow team members to interview and/or participate in
job interviews
• Delegate tasks or special projects to challenge
employees and enrich their jobs; encourage their
initiative
• Ask for regular employee input, then listen and respond
• Provide readily accessible information on the company,
its career paths and competency requirements
• Help them connect in the workplace – introduce
employees to key suppliers, customers or someone in
senior management

5. • Make work fun and exciting – create regular events to
boost employee morale and their sense of team
e.g. host a store BBQ, an employee pizza lunch or a
staff baseball game
Reward & recognize good performance
Giving employees recognition for a job well done and specific feedback about their performance
has a direct influence on employee confidence and job satisfaction. Here are a number of ways in
which you can reward and motivate your employees without spending a dime:
a. Provide flexible work schedules
b. Send a handwritten note to employees who deserve
recognition
c. Praise publicly, and be specific about the action that
was worthy of praise (reinforce desired behaviour)
d. Reward effort as well as success – even if their ideas
fail, you want them to keep producing them
e. Give them a “free” day pass – give out a pass that enables
the recognized employee to take a free day off work
f. Often employees only hear from their manager when
they do something wrong – focus on catching them
doing something right!
g. Ask suppliers to participate in providing prizes, then
involve all employees in selecting a peer who deserves
the reward
Steps to Reduce Attrition:
1) Focus on Exit-interviews
Employers should not ask why are you leaving? rather they should ask when you start
searching for a job?
Getting an insight and inside scoop can really help. It gives information about internal
problems, employee’s perceptions of the organization, underlying workplace issues and
colleagues.
2) Let employees know that their opinions are valuable. Ask them to open up. Listen to
employees ideas; never ridicule them.
3) Compliment and Thank your employees for their valuable contribution. Recognize and
celebrate their success.
4) Setting up a feedback mechanism to maintain consistency in performance and high
motivation levels. Offer performance feedback and praise good efforts and results. Criticize but
Praise publicly.

6. 5) Give them job security
6) Providing opportunities of learning by constantly upgrading the skills of employees
7) Paying attention to employees personal needs and participation
8) Gauging the needs of the employees through open communication and polls.
9) Communicate goals, roles and responsibilities so that people know what is expected from
them and feel a part of crowd.
10)Keep employees informed about the happening in the company so that they will be
confident about the future or not to look for better option.
11) Encourage humor & laughter in workplace to deal with stress which will ensure that the
employees are happy which gets reflected in their services especially critical in voice based
transaction.
12)Feeling valued by their managers or superior in the workplace is a key to high employee
motivation and morale.
13)Not hiring employees who have a history of jumping from one job to other. Recognizing the
contributions of achievers would also inspire others to try hard and put in their best.
14)Group cohesiveness also helps in copping with the attrition. Built teams and generate
competition between them
15)The attrition battle could be won by focusing on retention, making work a fun place, ongoing learning
and treating applicants and employees in the same way as subordinate.
16)Infusing creativity in the ‘routine’ job and communicate the firm’s larger objectives and goals to each
employee to achieve that objective.
17)It has been observed that attrition rate was lower when employees perceived their workplace as a
‘fun environment’ and viewed their jobs as enjoyable
18) Monotony and stress have contributed to increased attrition rate. So keep changing the duties or
position of employees after fixes period.
19) Induction program and Exit interview are very important.
20) Identify the key employees of the firm or categorize the employee according to need of the firm. It
will help you to customize your retention program.

7. 21)Your staff members must feel rewarded, recognizes and appreciated. Monetary rewards, bonuses
and gifts make the thank you even more appreciated.Undersstanble raises tied to accomplishments and
achievements help to retain staff. Offer an attractive, competitive, benefits package.
22)Select the right people in the first place through behaviour-based testing and competency screening
23) Demonstrate respect for employees at all times. Treat the employees well & provide a dignity of job.
24)If a key employee resigns, it should be taken up on a priority basis and kept confidential as far as
possible and the senior management should meet the employee to discuss his reason for leaving and
evaluate if his issues bear merit and whether they can be resolved.
25)People want to enjoy their work. Make work fun.Engage,employ the special talents of each individual
Retention tools for Changing times:
Offer Compensation – Attractive And Competitive.
Fair compensation alone does not guarantee employee loyalty, but offering below-market salaries
makes it much more likely that employees will look for greener pastures. Go for Employee Engagement
Surveys / ESS, to find out what perks, benefits and forms of compensation other than money will help
keep them motivated
2. Benefits Need To Be Quantified And Qualitative.
Although benefits are not a key reason why employees stick with a company, the benefits you offer
can't be markedly worse than those offered by your competitors and like minded industries. Eg Medical
insurances, Corporate Credit cards and Discount Coupons
3. Train your front-line, managers and administrators.
It can't be said repeatedly that people stay or leave because of their bosses and not the companies.
Improve managers' leadership, communication and interpersonal skills through coaching, training and
feedback . Harp upon the competencies and substantially invest in human capital irrespective of ROI
4. Roles and responsibilities needs to be dovetailed.
Make sure your employees know what is expected of them every day, every month and every year,
what types of decisions they are allowed to make on their own, and to whom they are supposed to
report. Provide clear vision, and consistent communication, teamwork and respect for human capital'
efforts.
5. Enhancement, Advancement And Progression Opportunities.
To foster employee loyalty, implement a career ladder and make sure employees know what they must
do to earn and go in for progression. A clear professional development plan gives employees an

8. incentive to stick around. Do away with you Performance Management System if it has turned to NOVA
(Non Value Added Activity) and go in for instant performance rewards. Think out of the box!
6. Offer retention bonus.
Employee longevity typically is rewarded with an annual raise and mandatory vacation time after three,
five or ten years. But why not offer other seniority-based rewards such as a paid membership in the
employee's professional association after one year, a paid membership to a local etc.
7. Retention strategies implementation needs to have a process owner.
Measure your turnover rate and identify a process owner responsible for containing it. If customer
returns, in-house rejections and non-confirming products can have a process owner as a
countermeasure why not a process owner for implementation of retention strategies?
8. Go in for Employee Engagement Practices.
You won't know what's wrong... or what's right … unless you practice. To check the pulse of your
organization, conduct employee satisfaction surveys on a regular basis. Go in for its analysis and
implementation. One idea: Ask employees what they want more of and what they want less of –
Capture Voice of Employees
9. Teamwork And Cross Functional Teams.
It takes effort to build an effective team, but the result is greater productivity, better use of resources,
improved customer service and increased morale. Give great emphasis on cross functional approach as
it endorses acceptance and accountability
10. Fun Is Must.
Celebrate successes and recognize when milestones are reached. Buffet lunches, birthday parties,
employee picnics and creative contests will help remind people why an organization is a great place to
work. Include fun elements at work like Parties, bashes, outings, picnics etc
11.Transparency in communication.
Employees are more loyal to a company when they believe management or those at the helm of affairs
keep them informed about key issues. That means that you regularly keep our people up to date with
important events affecting the company. If November was good, let them know, and while you're at it,
tell them what you expect to happen in December.
12. Encourage higher learning.
Create opportunities for your key performers and technologists to grow and learn. Encourage every
employee to learn at least one new thing every week, and you'll create a work force that is excited,
motivated and committed

9. 13. Develop an effective induction program.
Implement a formal orientation program that's at least a week long and includes a thorough overview of
every area of your department and an introduction to other departments
Recognize outstanding achievements promptly and publicly, but also take time to commend on the
many small contributions your staff makes every day to the organization's vision, mission and growth.
DO NOT FORGET — THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE YOU LOOK GOOD