Hyderabad stands third in national attrition rates

Online recruitment portal, Wisdomjobs.com released the outcome of its survey on “how companies are fighting attrition with monetary and non-monetary benefits”recently and Hyderabad stood at number three at the national level with 10.2 per cent, just after Delhi (11.8 per cent) and Chennai (10.8 per cent).

The survey was conducted across 150 companies from 10 different industries that are Retail, Healthcare, IT, Manufacturing, Infrastructure, Automotive, FMCG, Logistics, ITES and BFSI; mainly to understand how companies are coping with the challenge of retaining their valued employees. It also took a look at the average pay hikes offered by these companies with a view of increasing employee retention.

Upon releasing the results of this survey, Ajay Kolla, Founder & CEO, Wisdomjobs.com said, “Organisations have to take cognizance of the fact that factors that attract employees to the company are not necessarily the ones that will keep them there in the long run, and build their retention strategies accordingly.

“Whatever be the retention strategy followed by companies, eventually they need to build a workforce of satisfied employees who can continue contributing to achievement of the long-term goals of the company.

While companies will have an upper hand in a recession, at other times, more often than not, they are left fighting the retention battle,” he said.
Often, the most well-laid business plans of companies are thrown astray by attrition. The reasons for attrition are many – stagnation, lack of learning opportunities or bad management.

How to retain employees
While there are several reasons why employees leave their organizations, a majority of these reasons can be classified under three heads – for better monetary benefits, for better career prospects, and for personal reasons.

Almost 50 per cent of recruiters felt that career growth opportunities are essential to retain employees. Thirty-eight per cent of recruiters said training and mentoring of employees is important in retaining them. About 45 per cent said a positive work culture and a happy work environment plays a key role in long-term retention.

While 30 per cent felt that regular communication and engagement of employees can help in retaining them longer, a whopping majority of 73 per cent recruiters opined that attractive compensation and benefits are key to reducing attrition.

“Most sales and manufacturing organisations have long used variable pay and performance bonuses to incentivize better-performing employees, and to increase retention levels.

This approach also makes business sense to companies as they incentivize employees only after guaranteeing performance, and in direct proportion to it.

However, with employees demanding more non-monetary benefits, companies have been forced to look at other means of rewarding performance and loyalty, such as stock options, health and welfare benefits, flexible work arrangements etc.,” said Kolla.

With employees, especially at the middle and senior levels, demanding more than just monetary incentives. This includes stock options, trainings for personal and professional development, flexible working arrangements, and health-related benefits for families and dependents.