Employee-bonding fuels retention Date:   Friday , December 29, 2006 Even as I walk down the precincts of the ubiquitous tech-park after a long work day, I see around me hundreds of youngsters, most as young as my children, buzzing with energy. I know that each one of them probably have around three offers on their platter promising close to a 40 percent increment over their current salary. It’s nothing uncommon in such a scenario that they often change jobs—the question that we need to answer is how and why a company should retain them. Addressing the second issue first, every time an employee leaves, it’s a dent in the knowledge base of the organization. More so in case a hi-performer decides to migrate. Add to that the cost involved in training a new recruit to reach his/her level of productivity, and the expense incurred by the company is huge. Having said that, it’s not good either to aim for a zero percent attrition; fresh blood brings in new ideas. The first step to retaining hi-performers is understanding their unfulfilled needs. Different things motivate different people, and it’s important to decipher during the recruitment process itself what each one’s key motivator is, and offer a job only if it’s in keeping with the company’s deliverables. At Lucent for example, we don’t sell a job for money but for interesting and challenging work and open environment. The management must realize that not delivering on promises made during the recruitment phase leads to low morale, and therein comes the thought of leaving the organization. Not only must the management address their problems, and resolve them fast, but also rate itself on this. Giving employees a caring working environment is one of the solutions to addressing attrition. Removed as it may seem, focus group meetings help in that direction; the same group of employees meets the CEO, line manager and direct report separately and shares their thoughts. The heads then collaborate and tally their notes. This helps identify walls within the organization; employees are intimidated by certain managers and open up in front of the others. It helps take a re-look at the organization’s open-door policy, and plug possible loopholes. In that light, it’s important for managers to be accessible all the time, and provide a caring environment. For example, I’m a caring person to my engineers. It may not be possible to keep abreast with their day-to-day lives, but the big happenings in their lives need to be celebrated. Whenever I go abroad, I return with a suitcase full of chocolates and baby clothes. While the chocolates go out to my people, the clothes are for their children. This little act brings forth a smile on the faces, and ignites a sense of loyalty towards the organization. Food is another major turn-on. Appreciation of accomplishments through small parties often helps; not only do the employees feel cared for, but also enjoy the notion of snacks, and that goes a long way in creating a sense of belongingness. Based on the talk by Chitra Kasthuri, IPRC-Vice President, Lucent Technologies in the ‘Symposium on Accountable Retentions’ organized in Bangalore. She can be reached at crkasthuri@lucent.com