Employee Turnover or attrition is the reduction in the number of employees which is caused because of retirement, resignation or death of the employee. Depending on the nature of business, Rate of turnover may vary. There are varied reasons for an employees to leave an organization like he may be getting higher job position in some other company or he may want to change his profession or he may leave an organization for higher studies, etc.

Employee Turnover or attrition is the reduction in the number of employees which is caused because of retirement, resignation or death of the employee. Depending on the nature of business, Rate of turnover may vary. There are varied reasons for an employees to leave an organization like he may be getting higher job position in some other company or he may want to change his profession or he may leave an organization for higher studies, etc.

One in four employees in the organized sector in India is set to switch jobs, the highest attrition rate globally, according to a Hay Group study. Organizations in India need to seriously give a thought what drives employees to stay with company for as long as possible. A recent mercer survey tells us that no fewer than 54% of Indian workers are seriously considering leaving their jobs. It is no wonder workplaces everywhere are obsessed with employee engagement.

Employee engagement program in a company somewhere plays important role, Hence engaged workers are more productive, Perform better, Motivate others and more importantly they “STAY” with the company. Therefore company should come up with progressively good ideas to improve employee engagement program.

What Causes Attrition?

A) Employee not satisfied with current employer because of various reasons mentioned below.

• Working conditions not meeting expectations of employees.
• False growth opportunities stated by employer to employee.
• No proper training has been given to him as needed by his job.
• Victim of unfair remuneration as per his experience and educational qualification. He may feel that he‘s not getting fair share for his contribution to the organization.
• He has got transferred to an undesirable location.

B) Inefficient employment & selection decisions: At times we see that an employee leaves the organization after a few months of joining the organization or sometimes he may be dismissed within few months of his joining. This can be because poor employment or selection decision made either by the employee or the employer. There can be poor induction program or the employee doesn‘t suit the job.

C) Personal development: Employees get feeling sometimes that he‘s wasting his talent in his current organization. He feels that he‘s not getting the right opportunity for the growth of his career and for his personal development. As a result, he would start exploring other available options in the market.

D) Work strategy is not in sync with goals:  At times the work strategies and goals may not go in sync, as a result the performance graph of employer may go haywire and then employee may fell unhappy with the way the growth of the company is shaping up, thus he may decide to leave.


How to control attrition rate?

A) Giving job description at the recruitment stage: If the employee is given the complete description about the kind of work he‘s expected to perform then there‘s no question of any kind of confusion later on. He can decide before joining whether the work is as per his capabilities and expertise or not. If the work is not that he‘s something familiar with then he himself will refuse to join the organization.

B) Employees should feel supported by their managers.

C) Fair Remuneration: Organizations should exercise giving fair remuneration to the employees. The remuneration should be in accordance with the prevailing market rate in the industry. If the employees are underpaid then they are likely to quit job. Also, Organizations should not compromise on Discrimination and Maintaining Equality ethics within.

D) Comfortable work Environment.

E) Employee engagement should be the top priority.

F) Span of workload: The employee should be given only that much amount of work to do that he can handle. Employees often leave companies because they feel overworked. So, they shouldn‘t be over burdened with work.

G) Reward Program: Company should organize monthly, quarterly or yearly employee reward event to value their hard and smart work.

H) Loyalty Program: A loyal employee deserves loyal reward (can be in the form of gift of money) as he is setting example or encouraging others to stay with company.

I) Hold “Exit” interview and “STAY” interviews: Most of the companies have exit interview but they should also hold Stay interview to know what makes them to stay with company and work out plan to strengthen retention strategy.