Retention Struggles: How Can We Keep New Hires from Leaving So Soon?

Retention Challenges with New Employees

As one of our employees accepted the offer and worked for a month, we encountered an issue. Although we have a probation period of 6 months, she mentioned she was not well and took leave for 2-3 days. After receiving her salary, she informed us that she received another offer and decided to leave.

Seeking Advice on Retention Strategies

Could you kindly suggest how we can improve our retention of new candidates? Are there any legal policies that should be included in the offer letter? Please suggest or share any offer letter templates that address this kind of issue to ensure the smooth operation of the organization.

From your post, I infer that you are new to HR/Organization. First of all, kindly note that there is no "prohibition period" in employment, but you might have mistakenly referred to the "probation period" as "prohibition period."

In a normal employment job offer letter, no notice period is required to be given to the employer/company by an employee/probationer. However, it is unfortunate to say that in this new generation era, no ethics can be expected from new entrants—this is common in almost all companies. Hence, the recruiter (HR) should be cautious while recruiting individuals. This practice of leaving a job without permission/intimation also compels an employer to demand original certificates from a new entrant (though it is not morally or legally correct).

You can introduce a clause of a notice period during probation in the offer letter.

Understanding Employment Decisions and Risks

These are only part of the game, and we should accept one fact: every decision involves an element of risk. When we choose to offer a position to a candidate, we do not know whether he or she will remain in service for a long period, but we still make the decision to extend the offer, knowing that it may not work out. You cannot force any employee to stay with you forever; even after the confirmation of service, they may choose to leave.

Notice Period Considerations

The most we can do is include a notice period clause in the appointment order, separately for the probation and post-probation periods. Ultimately, for employees without functional responsibilities as supervisors or managers, the notice period may not be relevant.

Employee Departure and Legal Implications

One of a company's employees left without complying with the notice period clause. The company withheld the relieving order. The employee approached the industrial court, which rejected the employee's plea. Thereafter, the employee approached the High Court for a relieving letter as her new employer was asking for it. The High Court directed the employee to pay 2 months' salary to the company in lieu of the notice period.

Judgment is attached.

The judgment highlights the importance of the offer/appointment letter and the separation clause in it.

I am also experiencing this kind of problem every now and then. I train the people, and once they are trained, they suddenly leave. Whatever benefits you provide them, there seems to be no value. Mine is a small company. As one member said, don't expect any ethics; this is the only conclusion. Nowadays, employees are continuously trying new jobs.

Kindly review the corrected text.

To avoid such situations, our company follows the method outlined below:

- They collect original documents of employees during the joining formalities.
- The company retains the documents for one month, after which they are returned.
- If an employee wishes to leave within that same month, he/she must speak to HR about "what is bothering him/her at work."
- If HR and management deem the reasons genuine, the employee is relieved with immediate effect.

By implementing this method, we can identify loopholes in company management that require improvement.

There is also a possibility that employees may leave even after their documents are returned. In such cases, the company should focus on hiring individuals who are genuinely interested in working and not just looking for a temporary engagement.

Please let me know if you have any questions or need further clarification.

Collecting Employee Certificates: A Bad HR Practice

Collecting the original certificates of employees is a bad HR practice and cannot be advised at all. It is also illegal to keep the certificates of employees. Moreover, if by any chance you lose them from your records, the headache that you may have will be much more severe.