Hi Bhavana,
Coming to your query regarding your new assignment as well as your job profile...
As presently you are working with a BPO.. in current scenario the attrition rate of BPO Industry is very high, and handling HR department is a real challenge.. because in BPO, the work group comprises of mostly 12th pass students or college going students and they are unmatured, who doesn't know where to move.. whats good for them..
So retaining such an employee is in real a great task for HR..
If you have handled the things well at your end and played a good part in increasing the retention in BPO.. then its a good platform to move on.. you can do a wonder there..
To help further, Here are some interesting Retention Tools which I came across-
1. Offer fair and competitive salaries. Fair compensation alone does not guarantee employee loyalty, but offering below-market wages makes it much more likely that employees will look for work elsewhere. In fact, research shows that if incomes lag behind comparable jobs at a company across town by more than 10 percent, workers are likely to bolt. To retain workers, conduct regular reviews of the salaries you offer for all job titles — entry-level, experienced staff and supervisory-level. Compare your department's salaries with statistically reliable averages. If there are significant discrepancies, you probably should consider making adjustments to ensure that you are in line with the marketplace.
2. Remember that benefits are important too. Although benefits are not a key reason why employees stick with a company, the benefits you offer can't be markedly worse than those offered by your competitors
3. Train your front-line supervisors, managers and administrators. It can't be said often enough: People stay or leave because of their bosses, not their companies. A good employee/manager relationship is critical to employee satisfaction and retention. Make sure your managers aren't driving technologists away. Give them the training they need to develop good supervisory and people-management skills.
4. Clearly define roles and responsibilities. Develop a formal job description for each title or position in your department. Make sure your employees know what is expected of them every day, what types of decisions they are allowed to make on their own, and to whom they are supposed to report.
5. Provide adequate advancement opportunities. To foster employee loyalty, implement a career ladder and make sure employees know what they must do to earn a promotion. Conduct regular performance reviews to identify employees' strengths and weaknesses, and help them improve in areas that will lead to job advancement. A clear professional development plan gives employees an incentive to stick around.
6. Offer retention bonuses instead of sign-on bonuses. Worker longevity typically is rewarded with an annual raise and additional vacation time after three, five or 10 years. But why not offer other seniority-based rewards such as a paid membership in the employee's professional association after one year, a paid membership to a local gym after two years, and full reimbursement for the cost of the employee's uniforms after three years? Retention packages also could be designed to raise the salaries of technologists who become credentialed in additional specialty areas, obtain additional education or take on more responsibility. Sign-on bonuses encourage technologists to skip from job to job, while retention packages offer incentives for staying.
7. Make someone accountable for retention. Measure your turnover rate and hold someone (maybe you!) responsible for reducing it. In too many workplaces, no one is held accountable when employees leave, so nothing is done to encourage retention.
8. Conduct employee satisfaction surveys. You won't know what's wrong ... or what's right … unless you ask. To check the pulse of your workplace, conduct anonymous employee satisfaction surveys on a regular basis. One idea: Ask employees what they want more of and what they want less of.
9. Foster an environment of teamwork. It takes effort to build an effective team, but the result is greater productivity, better use of resources, improved customer service and increased morale. Here are a few ideas to foster a team environment in your department:
• Make sure everyone understands the department's purpose, mission or goal.
• Encourage discussion, participation and the sharing of ideas.
• Rotate leadership responsibilities depending on your employees' abilities and the needs of the team.
• Involve employees in decisions; ask them to help make decisions through consensus and collaboration.
• Encourage team members to show appreciation to their colleagues for superior performance or achievement.
10. Reduce the paperwork burden. If your technologists spend nearly as much time filling out paperwork, it's time for a change. Paperwork pressures can add to the stress and burnout that employees feel. Eliminate unnecessary paperwork; convert more paperwork to an electronic format; and hire non-tech administrative staff to take over as much of the paperwork burden as is allowed under legal or regulatory restrictions.
11. Make room for fun. Celebrate successes and recognize when milestones are reached. Potluck lunches, birthday parties, employee picnics and creative contests will help remind people why your company is a great place to work.
12. Write a mission statement for your department. Everyone wants to feel that they are working toward a meaningful, worthwhile goal. Work with your staff to develop a departmental mission statement, and then publicly post it for everyone to see. Make sure employees understand how their contribution is important.
13. Provide a variety of assignments. Identify your employees' talents and then encourage them to stretch their abilities into new areas. Do you have a great "teacher" on staff? Encourage him/ her to lead an in-service or present a poster session on an interesting case. Have someone who likes planning and coordinating events? Ask him to organize a departmental open house. Know a good critical-thinker? Ask him/ her to work with a vendor to customize applications training on a new piece of equipment. A variety of challenging assignments helps keep the workplace stimulating.
14. Communicate openly. Employees are more loyal to a company when they believe managers keep them informed about key issues. Is a corporate merger in the works? Is a major expansion on the horizon? Your employees would rather hear it from you than from the evening newscast. It is nearly impossible for a manager to "over-communicate."
15. Encourage learning. Create opportunities for your technologists to grow and learn. Reimburse them for CE courses, seminars and professional meetings; discuss recent journal articles with them; ask them to research a new scheduling method for the department. Encourage every employee to learn at least one new thing every week, and you'll create a work force that is excited, motivated and committed.
16. Be flexible. Today's employees have many commitments outside their job, often including responsibility for children, aging parents, chronic health conditions and other issues. They will be loyal to workplaces that make their lives more convenient by offering on-site childcare centers, on-site hair styling and dry cleaning, flexible work hours, part-time positions, job-sharing or similar practices. For example, employees of school-age children might appreciate the option to work nine months a year and have the summers off to be with their children.
17. Develop an effective orientation program. Implement a formal orientation program that's at least three weeks long and includes a thorough overview of every area of your department and an introduction to other departments. Assign a senior staff member to act as a mentor to the new employee throughout the orientation period. Develop a checklist of topics that need to be covered and check in with the new employee at the end of the orientation period to ensure that all topics were adequately addressed.
18. Give people the best equipment and supplies possible. No one wants to work with equipment that's old or constantly breaking down. Ensure that your equipment is properly maintained, and regularly upgrade machinery, computers and software. In addition, provide employees with the highest quality supplies you can afford. Cheap, leaky pens may seem like a small thing, but they can add to employees' overall stress level.
19. Show your employees that you value them. Recognize outstanding achievements promptly and publicly, but also take time to comment on the many small contributions your staff makes every day to the organization's mission. Don't forget — these are the people who make you look good!
Wish you all the best..
Regards,
Amit Seth.
From India, Ahmadabad
496Coming to your query regarding your new assignment as well as your job profile...
As presently you are working with a BPO.. in current scenario the attrition rate of BPO Industry is very high, and handling HR department is a real challenge.. because in BPO, the work group comprises of mostly 12th pass students or college going students and they are unmatured, who doesn't know where to move.. whats good for them..
So retaining such an employee is in real a great task for HR..
If you have handled the things well at your end and played a good part in increasing the retention in BPO.. then its a good platform to move on.. you can do a wonder there..
To help further, Here are some interesting Retention Tools which I came across-
1. Offer fair and competitive salaries. Fair compensation alone does not guarantee employee loyalty, but offering below-market wages makes it much more likely that employees will look for work elsewhere. In fact, research shows that if incomes lag behind comparable jobs at a company across town by more than 10 percent, workers are likely to bolt. To retain workers, conduct regular reviews of the salaries you offer for all job titles — entry-level, experienced staff and supervisory-level. Compare your department's salaries with statistically reliable averages. If there are significant discrepancies, you probably should consider making adjustments to ensure that you are in line with the marketplace.
2. Remember that benefits are important too. Although benefits are not a key reason why employees stick with a company, the benefits you offer can't be markedly worse than those offered by your competitors
3. Train your front-line supervisors, managers and administrators. It can't be said often enough: People stay or leave because of their bosses, not their companies. A good employee/manager relationship is critical to employee satisfaction and retention. Make sure your managers aren't driving technologists away. Give them the training they need to develop good supervisory and people-management skills.
4. Clearly define roles and responsibilities. Develop a formal job description for each title or position in your department. Make sure your employees know what is expected of them every day, what types of decisions they are allowed to make on their own, and to whom they are supposed to report.
5. Provide adequate advancement opportunities. To foster employee loyalty, implement a career ladder and make sure employees know what they must do to earn a promotion. Conduct regular performance reviews to identify employees' strengths and weaknesses, and help them improve in areas that will lead to job advancement. A clear professional development plan gives employees an incentive to stick around.
6. Offer retention bonuses instead of sign-on bonuses. Worker longevity typically is rewarded with an annual raise and additional vacation time after three, five or 10 years. But why not offer other seniority-based rewards such as a paid membership in the employee's professional association after one year, a paid membership to a local gym after two years, and full reimbursement for the cost of the employee's uniforms after three years? Retention packages also could be designed to raise the salaries of technologists who become credentialed in additional specialty areas, obtain additional education or take on more responsibility. Sign-on bonuses encourage technologists to skip from job to job, while retention packages offer incentives for staying.
7. Make someone accountable for retention. Measure your turnover rate and hold someone (maybe you!) responsible for reducing it. In too many workplaces, no one is held accountable when employees leave, so nothing is done to encourage retention.
8. Conduct employee satisfaction surveys. You won't know what's wrong ... or what's right … unless you ask. To check the pulse of your workplace, conduct anonymous employee satisfaction surveys on a regular basis. One idea: Ask employees what they want more of and what they want less of.
9. Foster an environment of teamwork. It takes effort to build an effective team, but the result is greater productivity, better use of resources, improved customer service and increased morale. Here are a few ideas to foster a team environment in your department:
• Make sure everyone understands the department's purpose, mission or goal.
• Encourage discussion, participation and the sharing of ideas.
• Rotate leadership responsibilities depending on your employees' abilities and the needs of the team.
• Involve employees in decisions; ask them to help make decisions through consensus and collaboration.
• Encourage team members to show appreciation to their colleagues for superior performance or achievement.
10. Reduce the paperwork burden. If your technologists spend nearly as much time filling out paperwork, it's time for a change. Paperwork pressures can add to the stress and burnout that employees feel. Eliminate unnecessary paperwork; convert more paperwork to an electronic format; and hire non-tech administrative staff to take over as much of the paperwork burden as is allowed under legal or regulatory restrictions.
11. Make room for fun. Celebrate successes and recognize when milestones are reached. Potluck lunches, birthday parties, employee picnics and creative contests will help remind people why your company is a great place to work.
12. Write a mission statement for your department. Everyone wants to feel that they are working toward a meaningful, worthwhile goal. Work with your staff to develop a departmental mission statement, and then publicly post it for everyone to see. Make sure employees understand how their contribution is important.
13. Provide a variety of assignments. Identify your employees' talents and then encourage them to stretch their abilities into new areas. Do you have a great "teacher" on staff? Encourage him/ her to lead an in-service or present a poster session on an interesting case. Have someone who likes planning and coordinating events? Ask him to organize a departmental open house. Know a good critical-thinker? Ask him/ her to work with a vendor to customize applications training on a new piece of equipment. A variety of challenging assignments helps keep the workplace stimulating.
14. Communicate openly. Employees are more loyal to a company when they believe managers keep them informed about key issues. Is a corporate merger in the works? Is a major expansion on the horizon? Your employees would rather hear it from you than from the evening newscast. It is nearly impossible for a manager to "over-communicate."
15. Encourage learning. Create opportunities for your technologists to grow and learn. Reimburse them for CE courses, seminars and professional meetings; discuss recent journal articles with them; ask them to research a new scheduling method for the department. Encourage every employee to learn at least one new thing every week, and you'll create a work force that is excited, motivated and committed.
16. Be flexible. Today's employees have many commitments outside their job, often including responsibility for children, aging parents, chronic health conditions and other issues. They will be loyal to workplaces that make their lives more convenient by offering on-site childcare centers, on-site hair styling and dry cleaning, flexible work hours, part-time positions, job-sharing or similar practices. For example, employees of school-age children might appreciate the option to work nine months a year and have the summers off to be with their children.
17. Develop an effective orientation program. Implement a formal orientation program that's at least three weeks long and includes a thorough overview of every area of your department and an introduction to other departments. Assign a senior staff member to act as a mentor to the new employee throughout the orientation period. Develop a checklist of topics that need to be covered and check in with the new employee at the end of the orientation period to ensure that all topics were adequately addressed.
18. Give people the best equipment and supplies possible. No one wants to work with equipment that's old or constantly breaking down. Ensure that your equipment is properly maintained, and regularly upgrade machinery, computers and software. In addition, provide employees with the highest quality supplies you can afford. Cheap, leaky pens may seem like a small thing, but they can add to employees' overall stress level.
19. Show your employees that you value them. Recognize outstanding achievements promptly and publicly, but also take time to comment on the many small contributions your staff makes every day to the organization's mission. Don't forget — these are the people who make you look good!
Wish you all the best..
Regards,
Amit Seth.
From India, Ahmadabad
Its really excellent.. keep posting we are waiting for the next levels..... Thx AparnaSuresh
From India, Mumbai
From India, Mumbai
Hi Rajat,
That was an interesting read, but, have you also tried to find out about the other sectors i.e., IT / Banking, e.t.c. There is a flight of talent crisscrossing barriers & borders.
Just looking at the BPO industry wont suffice, attrition is so sensitive a topic these days that it must be understood at a socio economic level.
A survey completed by an analysis spanning all the sectors taking into account--- profession, academics, age, gender, income levels, aspiration levels, needs, e.t.c must be considered.
After all we are talking about the productivity levels that contribute to the GDP.
Your article is good and i quite appreciate the hardwork that went into it.
Looking forward to read all your articles.
Thanks.
Best regards
Mohan
From India, Bangalore
That was an interesting read, but, have you also tried to find out about the other sectors i.e., IT / Banking, e.t.c. There is a flight of talent crisscrossing barriers & borders.
Just looking at the BPO industry wont suffice, attrition is so sensitive a topic these days that it must be understood at a socio economic level.
A survey completed by an analysis spanning all the sectors taking into account--- profession, academics, age, gender, income levels, aspiration levels, needs, e.t.c must be considered.
After all we are talking about the productivity levels that contribute to the GDP.
Your article is good and i quite appreciate the hardwork that went into it.
Looking forward to read all your articles.
Thanks.
Best regards
Mohan
From India, Bangalore
Hi Rajat,
Information shared by you is quite informative, I would really apreciate if you can share a sample format for Retention Policy considering an IT organization with strength of 1000 employees. Though attration rate is very low in our company, but I am formulating a new policy on the same, so need a sample format and key areas what all I need to cover. Your help in this regards would really be apreciated.
Regards
Bhawna Kumar
Information shared by you is quite informative, I would really apreciate if you can share a sample format for Retention Policy considering an IT organization with strength of 1000 employees. Though attration rate is very low in our company, but I am formulating a new policy on the same, so need a sample format and key areas what all I need to cover. Your help in this regards would really be apreciated.
Regards
Bhawna Kumar
Hi Mohan,
Thanks for your appreciation !
Yes, i agree with you that attrition rate in BPO industry is sensitive and quite high. Must reiterate the fact that most of the retention strategies as followed by the companies in other industries have been used or benchmarked by other non BPO industries.
Has anyone wondered that retention strategies has gained importance in recent times and why no one talks about the same as prevalent in 1980's or 1990's.
Regards,
Rajat
************************************************** ****
Hi Amit,
Thanks..for your valuable inputs..
Regards,
Rajat
************************************************** ******
Hi Bhawana,
Hmm. there is no such sample format as it needs to be prepared at the ground realities level and tempered with oganizational needs.
This is somewhat akin to what i advocate - to have a black book at the time of war as what action needs to be taken in the time of crisis! rather than a knee jerk reaction at the last minute without a gameplan.
Also, this has be supported by the top Management otherwise it would just become a paper exercise. For instance from your discussions with the employees and their supervisors would reveal to you as what needs to be done to retain the employee and come out with the template on a micro and macro level!.
Best wishes,
Rajat
From India, Pune
Thanks for your appreciation !
Yes, i agree with you that attrition rate in BPO industry is sensitive and quite high. Must reiterate the fact that most of the retention strategies as followed by the companies in other industries have been used or benchmarked by other non BPO industries.
Has anyone wondered that retention strategies has gained importance in recent times and why no one talks about the same as prevalent in 1980's or 1990's.
Regards,
Rajat
************************************************** ****
Hi Amit,
Thanks..for your valuable inputs..
Regards,
Rajat
************************************************** ******
Hi Bhawana,
Hmm. there is no such sample format as it needs to be prepared at the ground realities level and tempered with oganizational needs.
This is somewhat akin to what i advocate - to have a black book at the time of war as what action needs to be taken in the time of crisis! rather than a knee jerk reaction at the last minute without a gameplan.
Also, this has be supported by the top Management otherwise it would just become a paper exercise. For instance from your discussions with the employees and their supervisors would reveal to you as what needs to be done to retain the employee and come out with the template on a micro and macro level!.
Best wishes,
Rajat
From India, Pune
Cos have to chart HR retention strategies'
Our Bureau
Hyderabad
WITH technology companies scaling up operations and expanding the scope of work out of India, they are faced with the challenge of low supply of employable talent, calling for a paradigm shift in their approach to manage and retain the exiting talent pool.
At an IT industry meeting organised by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) on "Human Capital management — Key success factors for knowledge-based industry," the President and CEO of Pinexe, Mr J.A. Choudary, said, "As MNCs and Indian companies take to intellectual property creation here presently from relatively lower-end services work a few years ago, we are faced with human resources crunch, particularly in high-end technology work. In fact, some reports suggest that attrition levels are as high as 40 per cent. The only way out is to develop appropriate retention strategies.
The Chief Operating Officer of Nipuna Services, Mr Sandeep Madan, described HR as a soft funky area, where it was always difficult to establish a right equation between demand and supply.
The Founder of Kenexa, Mr Rudy Karsan, said that the overall costs of human resources had rapidly increased; from about 26 per cent of the overall revenues, this has moved up to 62 per cent. The HR challenges could partly be tackled with better training and in-house retention moves.
The Director of Human Resources, Convergys, Mr Anthony Jose, said that there was a paradigm shift in the way human capital, the main resource in the software services industry, is managed. While corporations focus on external issues to sort out some of the day-to-day HR challenges, often the problem is within the organisation.
From India, Pune
Our Bureau
Hyderabad
WITH technology companies scaling up operations and expanding the scope of work out of India, they are faced with the challenge of low supply of employable talent, calling for a paradigm shift in their approach to manage and retain the exiting talent pool.
At an IT industry meeting organised by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) on "Human Capital management — Key success factors for knowledge-based industry," the President and CEO of Pinexe, Mr J.A. Choudary, said, "As MNCs and Indian companies take to intellectual property creation here presently from relatively lower-end services work a few years ago, we are faced with human resources crunch, particularly in high-end technology work. In fact, some reports suggest that attrition levels are as high as 40 per cent. The only way out is to develop appropriate retention strategies.
The Chief Operating Officer of Nipuna Services, Mr Sandeep Madan, described HR as a soft funky area, where it was always difficult to establish a right equation between demand and supply.
The Founder of Kenexa, Mr Rudy Karsan, said that the overall costs of human resources had rapidly increased; from about 26 per cent of the overall revenues, this has moved up to 62 per cent. The HR challenges could partly be tackled with better training and in-house retention moves.
The Director of Human Resources, Convergys, Mr Anthony Jose, said that there was a paradigm shift in the way human capital, the main resource in the software services industry, is managed. While corporations focus on external issues to sort out some of the day-to-day HR challenges, often the problem is within the organisation.
From India, Pune
Hi Rajat,
You are awesome with the knowledge of retention and also the widesprad knowledge you have, I was engrossed into the details of the topic and all the valuable replies the members have shared on over here.
But my humble request would be "Please do not refer to the "BIBLE"
I hope I did not hurt your sentiment. Cheers Senior and awaiting for the next issue of brainspread.
Regards,
Lionel.
From India, Madras
You are awesome with the knowledge of retention and also the widesprad knowledge you have, I was engrossed into the details of the topic and all the valuable replies the members have shared on over here.
But my humble request would be "Please do not refer to the "BIBLE"
I hope I did not hurt your sentiment. Cheers Senior and awaiting for the next issue of brainspread.
Regards,
Lionel.
From India, Madras
Hi Lionel,
Thank you for your warm compliments and am glad that you enjoyed reading the posts.
I sincerely apologize for hurting your sentiments which was absolutely unintentional on my part.
Am working on the next series which is getting delayed on account of huge pile up of work!.:(
Regards,
Rajat
From India, Pune
Thank you for your warm compliments and am glad that you enjoyed reading the posts.
I sincerely apologize for hurting your sentiments which was absolutely unintentional on my part.
Am working on the next series which is getting delayed on account of huge pile up of work!.:(
Regards,
Rajat
From India, Pune
Dear Mr Joshi,
Please advise me as how to deal with the situation.
A senior leader of the organization who is very aggressive in his behaviour is driving away the good people and yet the Management is keen on him as he is a Star sales person.
Look forward to hearing from you on this issue please.:icon1:
Regards,
Bhawana
From India, Mumbai
Please advise me as how to deal with the situation.
A senior leader of the organization who is very aggressive in his behaviour is driving away the good people and yet the Management is keen on him as he is a Star sales person.
Look forward to hearing from you on this issue please.:icon1:
Regards,
Bhawana
From India, Mumbai
Dear Rajat;
Just got to know through my seniors that you had conducted a session on Best and innovative HR Practices on Retention strategies last year at the HR meet which I had missed out.
Would appreciate if you can take up the same again and shall co-ordinate with others for the session.
Regards,
Bhawana
From India, Mumbai
Just got to know through my seniors that you had conducted a session on Best and innovative HR Practices on Retention strategies last year at the HR meet which I had missed out.
Would appreciate if you can take up the same again and shall co-ordinate with others for the session.
Regards,
Bhawana
From India, Mumbai
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Effective employee retention strategies-BPO. doc
Attrition Control and Retention Strategies for Changing times.ppt