How Can I Manage Employees Secretly Job Hunting and Leaving Our Small Company?

Handling Employee Job Hunting Situations

I would like to know how to handle situations where employees are exchanging job links with each other, applying for jobs, and going for interviews while giving fake reasons. On one hand, as the only HR person, I am trying to build up the manpower (current company size is 40); on the other hand, people are leaving (a few for genuine reasons), and the management is not doing enough despite knowing it.

What can I do to at least control the situation before the big bosses realize it's too late? It's frustrating and hurtful to see people going for interviews giving fake reasons. Please reply.

Regards

Addressing Employee Attrition: Revisiting Pay Structure

It is a fait accompli in the current context. In order to arrest the attrition, you have to revisit your company's pay structure.

Regards,
R. Ponraj

Conducting Stay Interviews to Retain Employees

Hurry and find out the reason why they are leaving before it's too late. Conduct a stay interview with them so that you can find out if they are enjoying their stay in the company or not. Similarly, you can find out the reasons for their unhappiness with the organization. It could be due to the compensation structure or other valid reasons.

Start by talking to the new joiners first and then subsequently move on to the older ones.

Happy retaining...

Regards,
Archna

Dear Ashlesha Dere,

Please instruct your IT team to block job portals and other websites on company systems. Insist that all employee communication be done only through the company email ID and not any other email ID. Your IT team should monitor emails regularly for easy traceability.

Regularly check the job portals for details of staff members who may be actively job searching. Create an employee-friendly atmosphere in the working environment. Typically, highly motivated employees will not leave the organization without a valid reason.

With warm regards,

S. Bhaskar
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Addressing Employee Attrition: Internet Access Concerns

Do you think blocking access to the internet will solve the problem in this case? As mentioned by Archana, first, find out the reason for the attrition in the company, then take appropriate action.

Regards

As mentioned by you, blocking the portal sites is helpful, but it is a very short-term strategy. People will look for jobs from home or a cyber cafe. Blocking the internet will further create dissatisfaction among employees. Think about it; how many of us have applied for a job from the office? So, the long-term solution in dealing with attrition is to find out the reasons first and then take one step at a time to address those problem areas in the organization.

Thanks, Contactsmith, for your remarks...

Please refer to my comments. In the last paragraph, I have clearly mentioned, "Please create an employee-friendly atmosphere in the working environment." Normally, highly motivated employees will not leave the organization without any valid reason. I don't think more interpretation is necessary on the subject as I feel that the above words clearly spell out the action required to reduce employee attrition.

With warm regards,
S. Bhaskar
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Understanding Employee Turnover

We are also facing the same problem. However, being in HR, we should strive to understand the reasons for this issue from the employees' viewpoint. Why do they want to leave the company? What makes them unhappy? There could be various reasons such as dissatisfaction with policies, an unfriendly working environment, salary concerns, etc. It is crucial to identify the reasons and take appropriate actions to address them.

Blocking job sites, I don't think, will fully solve the problem.

Warm Regards,
Akta

I understand that a few people genuinely have reasons to quit. My current focus is on how I can convey my viewpoint to the management from the employees' perspective. They rely on me to present their difficulties to the management.

Definitely, blocking sites is not something I would recommend as it is not a temporary solution. I am trying to list all the factors that could be contributing to this attrition. While not all can be addressed positively, I can at least make some issues understandable to my bosses. Until a solution is found, what could be done?

Designing a Survey for Employee Feedback

In consideration of Archan's point, you can design a survey form in which employees can jot down their views about the management, HR practices, and their feelings towards the company. Also, leave an option for their suggestions to improve the management and HR practices.

Creating an Employee-Friendly Atmosphere

Regarding Bhaskar's comment: please create an employee-friendly atmosphere in the working environment. Normally, highly motivated employees will not leave the organization without a valid reason.

Please note that the recession is over now, and there are tons of vacancies in the market. Any employer will attract your employee if they are underpaid, dissatisfied, disappointed, being tortured, inconvenienced, in an unfriendly atmosphere, etc.

I would suggest that you start taking an 'Open Forum' kind of meeting where only employees will participate once or twice a month on a particular day. Create an atmosphere where they can open up about their issues. Invite them to discuss one-on-one if they are not comfortable in a group. This approach will enable you to suggest solutions on the spot, which can help them. Similarly, you can discuss with your management team the significant reasons and potential solutions that you believe are best suited for the situation.

Furthermore, you can take a step forward by having a similar session with their functional managers to address the problems their subordinates are facing. While this may seem like a time-consuming process that may be challenging, if the idea is well-received and established, it will yield positive results in the long run.

I hope you find this information useful.

All the best.

Kind regards,
Vaishalee

I understand your dilemma with the people and the management. I used to arrange a "Coffee with Archna" session during such difficult times, where my team members would arrange a coffee meeting with a random employee one at a time, three times a week for half an hour to 45 minutes. It was a pure talk session, and the employee would share most of their problems. You could try doing this with your bosses, or the CEO/MD.

Another solution could be to organize an open house session with the MD/CEO or whoever is there in the management. Additionally, as Kaval has suggested, drill down and conduct an analysis.

All the best.

This is a symptom which shows that something wrong is happening on either side, employer or employees. Discuss with your line manager and employees to assess the satisfaction level and expectations from the company. Prepare for the long run. You have to use your skills as you know what is best for your organization. Regards