How to control job hopping and retain employees?

By Apeksha Kaushik

According to a TimesJobs.com poll, over 70 per cent of the workforce is planning for a job change in the next three months. Let's find out why this has become a trend. 

Why the change? 

With burgeoning competition and limited talent pool, organisations are employing varied innovative ways to attract talent. This subsequently leads to workforce getting attracted to a new job offer. 

Prahlad Rao, director, Thomas Assessments stated that while the basic reason for change remains 'better opportunity', what deserves understanding is what constitutes better opportunities in today's time. "Work-life balance, adequate challenges, learning opportunities and a collaborative working environment are the key reasons that seem to encourage people to stay longer or leave," he adds. 

While some reasons are concrete, others are vague, such as a job/brand which enhances social status. Preetesh, HR Manager, BCIL Zed Homes explains, "The environment for a sales professional is such that he avails social and peer recognition by the incentives he makes and for a successful top level associate it could be a matter of social status." So, many times it's nothing vital, but an individual's aspirations that determine the change. 

Holding them back 

Holding back talent is always a challenge for companies as the outside world is lucrative. Organisations should offer an appropriate blend of learning and career development to retain talent in the long run. Experts suggests following ways to hold back talent basis the job position: 

At junior level: Be aware of their cultural demands; empowers them appropriately by giving them time for trial and error and most importantly recognise their effort in public as today's youth are very sensitive about their social image at the workplace. 

At mid-level: Holding back talent at the mid-level could be through regular initiatives such as prompt salary payments, company image, level of organisational benefits offered, working conditions, empowerment and recognition, career opportunities and diversity at the workplace. 

At top level: Senior positions would stick on when two things go right - firstly, the business plan of the company should look productive to them and they are confident to convert it into the mission of the company with required support. Secondly, the company should be in a position to offer them the required bandwidth in terms of opportunity to perform and deliver in future. 

Losing human resource is a big setback for any company. If the resource has been trained and then leaves before that training translates into performance, then undoubtedly the company which invested in the training loses out. "Typically investments in training pay off if any employee has contributed at least 3-4 years in the organisation," clarifies Rao. 

And, it's not always a win-win situation for job hoppers, also. They also end-up in a bad workplace/profile, many times. Preetesh advises that patience is the key to adaptability. Pre-conceived notions or comparison of a former workplace culture usually deters a new joinee to stick on for long in a new company.