Is It A Retention Strategy? - Jpg Download

Dear Seniors,

I work for a company that has engineering work as one of its verticals. Recruitment is difficult as we are very specific when it comes to a few things.

I wanted to know what all possible retention policies are suitable for this kind of workforce.

The majority in our team are boys from Kerala. One of the retention strategies we have is taking a cheque from them upon joining for the first three months' salary and returning it to them upon completion of one year.

Management is now considering changing the clause and extending it to two years.

I need to know from seniors if this would work in retaining people or if it would further tighten recruitment.

Please reply.

Well, you are following a bad practice. By the way, it's a good idea to take cheques for security, but it is not encouraged. Therefore, please return the cheques of all employees. Please, please, please return the cheques of all employees. Thank you.

Hi Shewta,

Fully agree with K Ravi as this is not a good practice and certainly not the retention strategy at all!..

Just ponder if the Management did the same thing with you ..would you still stay in the organization and be happy?..

Please refer the link on retention strategies which I had written in 2005 on this forum and it may assist you to formulate some sound strategies.

https://www.citehr.com/787-innovativ...-part-one.html

You mentioned that most of them are from Kerela..God’s own Country..have you celebrated the Onam festival in your office by way of organizing the flower rangolis or giving them gifts like silver coins..make them feel home as they are away from home!

Most importantly remember, Retention strategy is no rocket science…

Best wishes,

Rajat

Dear Mr. Rajat,

Thank you for your prompt reply and the informative link as well.

We celebrated Onam with full spirits and fun. We had arranged traditional food for that day known as "Onasadya" and were all dressed in traditional outfits.

Now going back to my concern... The group head of that team is not willing to reduce the limit to two years. How do you convince her?

She says that training team members in that team takes approximately eight months, and almost at the end of one year, people quit their jobs.

I know myself that this would result in forceful retention, and the productivity of such an employee would be nil.

Dear Shweta,

The practice of keeping a cheque is as good as a bond. Even if you are getting people with a one-year clause, you will find it very difficult to recruit people with a two-year clause.

Explain to your HOD that it will affect the overall morale of the people, and if someone gets a good offer outside, they may opt to let go of three months' salary. There are big engineering and construction companies that do reimburse such amounts in lieu of notice periods or bonds to attract good people and expedite their joining process.

Retention is about making people stay in your company out of their own desire, not by pressuring them. You can introduce steps where you offer non-monetary rewards like a family tour for four days in India or a household appliance, or a monetary benefit ranging from 50,000 to 1.5 lakh for serving the company long-term.

These things should be from the company's side, not by confiscating employees' money even before they receive their first salary from your company.

It's a shame that senior people in your company practice such low-level retention systems.

Regards,
Priyanka
Sr. Executive HRD

Dear Ms. Priyanka,

Thank you for your opinion…You have actually got it right I am really finding it difficult to recruit people infact I made an offer to four candidates none of them materialized due to the same reason..

I think you are right …Some kind of monetary benefit or some kind of recognition needs to be introduced as when the employees get older in the organization.


On human ground and on professional ground I would still fight against two years bond…. Rest all is for the management to decide…

Thank you all you seniors who have contributed their opinions… Every single feedback does matters …

Hi Shweta,

Numbers would help - the only way to convince your managers that your policy is bad is to show them the numbers (in this case, exit interview data, and offer rejects with the reasons). Second, look for alternatives to this practice. A service bond is practiced by many companies, but it is hard to recover. If your training costs are high, you could consider a tie-up with an external training institute: the candidate pays for (all or part of) his own training, but on completion, you will make him an offer provided he meets other criteria. Here the money the candidate spent on training is the stick, and the work experience is the carrot. You could also scout local colleges for similar tie-ups.

Sreedevi V

One thing to convince your group head is to ask her to view this thread seriously. Do it ;-)

No, you do not get much productivity from people whom you force to stay on. The point is that you should endeavor to become an attractive brand, and that is surely not the way to make yourselves appealing to prospective employees. Rather, address why people can't wait to leave you rather than forcing them to stay with you.

To solve any problem, look at the causes. Is there enough data to prove the fear of people leaving after taking the training? If yes, what were the causes? Until you have facts, you would be shooting in the dark. Every industry has attrition. What is your industry benchmark, and what are your counterparts doing? It will give you some pointers to work on.

Hi Shweta,

Whatever you think or people think, but I feel it's against human morality. We are in the 21st century now, but our Indian mentality is still traditional. In fact, we must think for ourselves, who we are, and why we take people for granted. How would you feel if that activity was done to you? I am sorry to say this, but the truth is we are not entitled to anyone else. We must understand human values, keep people happy by providing them with a good salary, perks, etc., so they can be happy working with the organization.

Regards,
Dilip
bk_dilip@rediffmail.com
Bangalore

In my opinion, it's not a healthy practice, and this will have negative impacts on the company. A healthy retention strategy would focus on the career growth of the candidate, both from an individual's and an organizational perspective. Good remuneration, opportunities for growth, a healthy work environment, and personal fulfillment are some areas you could work on to build up a good retention strategy.

Regards,
Shijit.

Hi Swetha,

I do agree with this HR fraternity. This is a very bad practice that your management is adopting. Rather, you can think of a few alternative retention strategies like recognition, rewards, transparent work culture, etc.

I am associated with Suguna Group, which is India's largest producer of poultry broiler (4th in the world) with a current turnover of 2000 Crores and has PAN India presence. We have a unique selection process in place. By adopting such a process, we have observed that the shortlisted aspirants themselves join our organization rather than us following up with them. It all depends on how the Recruiter sells the position and the organization to prospective employees.

Your comments on this will be highly appreciated.

Best Regards,
K. Bhupesh
sonu0301@gmail.com

Hi,

The employees can even give a stop memo for the checks that are given to you, which you will not know until you present it.

Start an education assistance program for the employees, which will lock them in for two years if it's a PG program or three years if it's a degree.

Instead of taking a check, please introduce a scheme where he/she will be paid a joining bonus of X amount. The first installment will be paid upon completion of the first year. The rest can be given in three installments, which will serve your two-year lock-in period (the amount can cover your recruitment and training costs plus the time the person takes to adapt to the environment and perform on the job (number of days to adapt * per day salary = cost to the company); take 60% of the cost as your bonus.

Regards,
Tony

Dear Mr. Bhupesh,

Thank you for your valuable advice...

HR strategies like recognition, rewards, and a transparent work culture already exist. It is not my existing staff members who are complaining...

The area of concern is new recruits...

I totally agree with you that it is the recruiter's job to sell the company well to the candidate, but such rigid clauses play a negative role...

Going further, could you please enlighten us with the selection process your company follows...

As far as following up with candidates about their joining, I think that branded companies don't really have to invest too much time and energy as the brand name is enough to work. Secondly, if the position has been closed by any of the consultants, then the consultant is the push factor, as his commercials are dependent on the candidates joining...

Special mention about Mr. Tony, I am impressed with what you have suggested and will check once. I will definitely work out the cost and discuss with my management.

Could someone shed some light on Ex-Gratia...

Hello Shweta,

I work for a company that has engineering work as one of its verticals. Recruitment is difficult as we are very specific when it comes down to a few things.

But are they the right things?

I wanted to know what all the possible retention policies are for such kind of crowd.

The most effective retention program begins before the job offer is made and it takes an hour of the applicant's time.

One of the retention strategies we have is taking a cheque from them on joining for the first three months' salary and returning it to them upon one year completion.

Oh my, that sends a terrible message to serious applicants. Whenever I read of such a practice, I know that the hiring managers don't know how to determine which qualified job applicants will become long-term successful employees, so they try to shift some of the financial burden onto the new hires.

Management is now deciding to change the clause and extend it to two years.

I guess your managers are determined to make hiring good employees even harder.

I need to know from seniors if that would work out in retaining people or if that would tighten up the recruitment further.

It will ensure that the people you hire will need the job more than those who refuse to agree to such a business practice.

Why would a successful employee elsewhere agree to such a condition?

If managers are serious about increasing retention and new hire productivity, they should start hiring for talent.

Dear Shweta,

I have been going through this thread, but I personally feel that you need something more sustainable and easier to convince your top brass who are looking at slipshod methods for retention. Creating retention strategies is a holistic task and not comprised of sporadic attempts here and there. I would also suggest you visit my blog: People Matter to Me to see the latest on retention.

Yours is not the only organization plagued with this problem, but I think there are organized methods of addressing them rather than resorting to antics where the buy-in is only a bad 'employment brand' idea.

Regards,
Dhruva

All of us in the HR fraternity have been constantly busy with the two "A"s - Attraction and Attrition. Of which the Attrition issue seems to have been handled effectively by Infosys. As reported in the national newspapers on Friday, September 12, 2008, Infosys has made history by taking the Single Largest Group Life Insurance Policy of Rs. 24000 Crores from Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). Others like Wipro, Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), and Singareni Collieries have been using this as an effective tool for talent retention.

The news items about the largest Group Life Insurance Policy as appearing in Times of India and Economic Times are attached for your ready reference.

I am pleased to inform you that I have recently joined LIC as an Agent in Mumbai.

It would be our great pleasure to initiate this process at your organization if you consider implementing Group Life Insurance as an anti-attrition cum talent retention tool.