Employee Retention Struggles: How Can I Help My Company Keep Talent Amidst Bigger Offers and Project Shortages?

Hi seniors, I am Akheel, working as an HR intern in a Gulf-based MNC in Hyderabad. Ours is a software branch in Madhapur with around 200 employees, managed by only one senior HR executive, under whom I am the only intern. Currently, our company is facing a retention problem as most employees are leaving, leading to an increasing shortage of competitive staff.

Reasons for Employee Turnover

I have identified two main reasons for employees leaving: firstly, many are pursuing opportunities with bigger companies like TCS, Satyam, and Wipro, despite our company offering competitive salaries (I have reviewed offer letters given to most employees). Secondly, there is currently a lack of work or projects available.

Seeking Solutions for Retention

The management is actively seeking ways to retain talent but hasn't found effective solutions yet. I am seeking your suggestions to assist my management and demonstrate my value. This is the opportune time for me to prove how I can contribute to their organization, as this was a question posed to me during my interview with them.

Thank you for your guidance.

To be frank, one cannot bind an employee, and with the market being open, it's quite difficult for growing organizations to retain their employees. It doesn't matter if unproductive employees leave the organization. However, the serious concern arises if productive employees are leaving. There can be many reasons for resigning, but as an organization, we need to take a stand on what our business is all about and what it demands.

Akheel, I suggest if you can call me, I can explain more to you.

Best Regards,
A. Abhijeet
Associate HR
Husys HR Consulting Pvt Ltd
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]
Hyderabad

Addressing Employee Retention Challenges

People have a sense of fear when they are under-utilized. Before a sudden meltdown, they want to settle in reputed firms. Money is not the only criterion to retain a talent pool; other factors like recognition, a challenging work culture, best HR policies, and facilities address all these shortages.

Thank you.

Conduct stay interviews. This is a new practice not very common but has its own benefits. It is different from exit interviews. Stay interviews can be conducted to find out the reasons why people would leave the organization. As Pon mentioned, there are various reasons apart from salary. With this technique, you can find out why. Once you have identified the reasons, work on them and ask your management to take some initiatives to address such issues before all your key resources leave.

All the best.

Yes, I know that we cannot force an employee not to resign, but we can create situations where they are motivated to work even if they have tempting offers elsewhere.

The Golden Rule of Employee Retention

As a golden rule, what I created may not be true. An employee resigning is an HR failure.

Dear Mr. Akheel,

Always remember that "An employee who wants to progress (climb the success ladder) in his life by demonstrating his skills while gaining knowledge/skills simultaneously will never love or like to remain idle or earn by doing nothing." On the other hand, you will succeed in retaining those who are in the process of developing their skills and knowledge. This is the fact.

I am very sorry to say that nowadays, you can find very few employees who are loyal (there are instances where those who were loyal were not treated properly). Once an employee gains relevant experience, he will definitely look for better pay. If the current employer fails to meet his requirements, he will look for alternatives. It is obvious that there is a great demand for talented/skilled professionals irrespective of their domain.

Everyone in this world wants to earn big bucks, especially in the IT industry.

Solution to Your Query

The solution to your query lies in the hands of the top management. Either they should grow by securing projects, or they need to lose what they had established - "sink or swim strategy."

Other members have also given you the best suggestions.

With profound regards,

The answer to your question is there in your statement. Nowadays, job hopping is quite common. People leave jobs for various reasons; pay commensurate with work is one of them, and the other is having work that is fulfilling.

I had a job in which I was fruitfully employed for only about 10% of my time. It was a frustrating situation, and I quit to pursue a more fulfilling job (not monetarily) that gave me a sense of satisfaction. Hence, if your staff are "sitting on the bench," they may seek opportunities elsewhere out of fear of losing their jobs in case the situation worsens. For example, I read a post on CiteHr about a leading company transferring its staff to where the work was, and the employees were expressing dissatisfaction.

Therefore, my suggestion for retaining them is to conduct both exit surveys and, as Archan has suggested, survey those who have remained loyal to assess the differences.

Since you have not provided enough detail about how long they have been "sitting on the bench" and getting paid, it is not easy to offer concrete assistance.

Have a nice day.

Regards,
Simhan
A retired academic in the UK