Dear HR Fraternity,
Greetings!
I need your help and guidance in creating an 'Early Warning System' as one of the measures to control attrition, which has been a problem area for IT industries in the recent past. Would you please share any practices followed by organizations currently in a similar context? Please let me know if you need any more information or clarification on this. :)
P.S. I heard that one of the leading telecom service providers has such a practice in place.
Thanks in anticipation.
Regards,
Anil
From India, Pune
Acknowledge(0)
Amend(0)
Greetings!
I need your help and guidance in creating an 'Early Warning System' as one of the measures to control attrition, which has been a problem area for IT industries in the recent past. Would you please share any practices followed by organizations currently in a similar context? Please let me know if you need any more information or clarification on this. :)
P.S. I heard that one of the leading telecom service providers has such a practice in place.
Thanks in anticipation.
Regards,
Anil
From India, Pune
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Dear Anil,
You can start with the Employee Satisfaction Survey (ESS). If your management has the stomach to digest the beans that ESS will throw then nothing greater than it. Start taking corrective action on it.
One of the HR managers of an IT company once told me that their company conducted ESS. One respondent wrote that "please audit whether you live as per your mission and vision statement". The statement created a big impact on management.
The second thing is to start 360-degree feedback to your project managers. My observation is that project managers and management of small and medium type IT companies just assumes that they have learnt soft skills by themselves i.e. without formal training. I found many project managers very poor in people management. They were one of the prominent causes of attrition.
The third thing I observed is that HR in IT is completely disconnected from techies. In other industries, the role of HR is from recruitment to exit. In the IT industry (at least in Bangalore), HR is with techies at recruitment and at exit.
My next-door neighbour many times worked well past midnight or till early morning hours. No HR for the last 4-5 years has ever bothered him to ask why he was required to work eight hours extra. In other industries, no HR worth of his/her salt would do that.
In the IT industry, not many activities start in time. Many techies have told me that activities never start at the scheduled time in their company. The so-called highly qualified person has never understood one simple funda of life that if you want to complete some activity in time then you have to start it in time too. Deadlines are there to complete the job but deadlines are not there to start the job. This in turn causes a lot of hustle and bustle, tension and stress.
These are some of my observations. Few may be true, few may not be true in your cases. I have written a few negative things that do not mean that I am a baiter of IT. I have complete respect for IT professionals as much as I have for others.
Ok...
Dinesh Divekar
+91-9900155394
From India, Bangalore
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
8032You can start with the Employee Satisfaction Survey (ESS). If your management has the stomach to digest the beans that ESS will throw then nothing greater than it. Start taking corrective action on it.
One of the HR managers of an IT company once told me that their company conducted ESS. One respondent wrote that "please audit whether you live as per your mission and vision statement". The statement created a big impact on management.
The second thing is to start 360-degree feedback to your project managers. My observation is that project managers and management of small and medium type IT companies just assumes that they have learnt soft skills by themselves i.e. without formal training. I found many project managers very poor in people management. They were one of the prominent causes of attrition.
The third thing I observed is that HR in IT is completely disconnected from techies. In other industries, the role of HR is from recruitment to exit. In the IT industry (at least in Bangalore), HR is with techies at recruitment and at exit.
My next-door neighbour many times worked well past midnight or till early morning hours. No HR for the last 4-5 years has ever bothered him to ask why he was required to work eight hours extra. In other industries, no HR worth of his/her salt would do that.
In the IT industry, not many activities start in time. Many techies have told me that activities never start at the scheduled time in their company. The so-called highly qualified person has never understood one simple funda of life that if you want to complete some activity in time then you have to start it in time too. Deadlines are there to complete the job but deadlines are not there to start the job. This in turn causes a lot of hustle and bustle, tension and stress.
These are some of my observations. Few may be true, few may not be true in your cases. I have written a few negative things that do not mean that I am a baiter of IT. I have complete respect for IT professionals as much as I have for others.
Ok...
Dinesh Divekar
+91-9900155394
From India, Bangalore
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Hello Anil,
Dinesh V Divekar is right. When you ask for feedback—especially when you mention 'free & frank' or terms like that, you also need to be open to adverse comments. Though I haven't come across his mention of 'never starting on time', I do agree with other observations—I have seen them galore.
Another trait I observed in IT companies is that HR professionals most often take sides—either employee or management—when interacting with employees (a few of the postings in this forum itself relate to that aspect), instead of remaining neutral/unbiased. They fail to appreciate that the best results of any grievance mechanism can be achieved when the interlocutor/mediator is unbiased. So, when employees notice this factor, the natural consequence is attrition—even if not immediate.
Rgds,
TS
From India, Hyderabad
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Dinesh V Divekar is right. When you ask for feedback—especially when you mention 'free & frank' or terms like that, you also need to be open to adverse comments. Though I haven't come across his mention of 'never starting on time', I do agree with other observations—I have seen them galore.
Another trait I observed in IT companies is that HR professionals most often take sides—either employee or management—when interacting with employees (a few of the postings in this forum itself relate to that aspect), instead of remaining neutral/unbiased. They fail to appreciate that the best results of any grievance mechanism can be achieved when the interlocutor/mediator is unbiased. So, when employees notice this factor, the natural consequence is attrition—even if not immediate.
Rgds,
TS
From India, Hyderabad
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Dear All,
The problem with ESS is that if it is not taken seriously by the management, it creates more dissatisfaction among employees. They will lose faith in the system as they are risking their reputation by coming out and pointing a finger at the organization. As I am in HR in the development sector (United Nations), I have experienced that many people with genuine problems and brilliant ideas are unable to pass them along because of the fear of the unknown. So, first of all, you need to have somebody in the HR team who proves to be a friendly and confident person. You can't stop attrition that occurs due to a salary hike, but you can only address the problem of employee satisfaction. A satisfied employee is the last person to look for a change. Try to create an environment where employees can create their comfort zones; if needed, pamper them a bit. It is a known truth that a comfortable person is less likely to move.
If you have any other problems, please feel free to contact me at babla.vatsh.chauhan@gmail.com.
Regards,
Kumar Sivesh
From India, New Delhi
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
The problem with ESS is that if it is not taken seriously by the management, it creates more dissatisfaction among employees. They will lose faith in the system as they are risking their reputation by coming out and pointing a finger at the organization. As I am in HR in the development sector (United Nations), I have experienced that many people with genuine problems and brilliant ideas are unable to pass them along because of the fear of the unknown. So, first of all, you need to have somebody in the HR team who proves to be a friendly and confident person. You can't stop attrition that occurs due to a salary hike, but you can only address the problem of employee satisfaction. A satisfied employee is the last person to look for a change. Try to create an environment where employees can create their comfort zones; if needed, pamper them a bit. It is a known truth that a comfortable person is less likely to move.
If you have any other problems, please feel free to contact me at babla.vatsh.chauhan@gmail.com.
Regards,
Kumar Sivesh
From India, New Delhi
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Dear Mr. Divekar,
The bitter but real truth about tech companies is that they talk, walk, think, love, and hate in tech terms. However, this approach fails them when dealing with the subjective and behavioral aspects of life-sustaining essentials.
It's a good thing, Mr. Divekar, that you have included the caveat at the end; otherwise, you might risk losing your IT clients. They seem to value their tech-savviness above all else.
To all tech readers,
I also do not wish to take any risks, so please spare me your fury. I emphasize the importance of the caveat provided by Mr. Divekar.
Thank you.
From India, Pune
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
The bitter but real truth about tech companies is that they talk, walk, think, love, and hate in tech terms. However, this approach fails them when dealing with the subjective and behavioral aspects of life-sustaining essentials.
It's a good thing, Mr. Divekar, that you have included the caveat at the end; otherwise, you might risk losing your IT clients. They seem to value their tech-savviness above all else.
To all tech readers,
I also do not wish to take any risks, so please spare me your fury. I emphasize the importance of the caveat provided by Mr. Divekar.
Thank you.
From India, Pune
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)Looking for something specific? - Join & Be Part Of Our Community and get connected with the right people who can help. Our AI-powered platform provides real-time fact-checking, peer-reviewed insights, and a vast historical knowledge base to support your search.