05. Employee Retention Strategies

According to Cloutier et al. (2015) Organizations can achieve employee retention by developing four strategies: effective communication should be encouraged, hire a diverse workforce, hire appropriately skilled people and offer employees development and training programs.

According to SHRM’s cited in Cloutier et al. (2015) employee survey most employees quit their job due to reasons that include: lack of opportunities for professional development, inadequate compensation, poor work/life balance, job stress and unfair treatment.

John Mason cited in Kamalaveni, M., Ramesh, S. and Vetrivel, T., (2019) conducted a research and concluded that retention strategies now-a-days are recognized as vital one in most of the industries. John Mason (2008) listed out top ten retention strategies, these are as follows:

1.     Treat employees like the way one treats his/her valuable clients.

2.      Make the employee to fall in live with the company/organization where attached with.

3.      Frame strong strategies for retention which ultimately brings recruitment advantages.

4.      Right person for the right job.

5.     Money is a driver but it is not the main reason for employees to stay.

6.     To determine why employee, stay and leave, form employee committees.

7.     Leadership style of the management.

8.     Recognition

9.     Fun in work teams

10. Competitive benefit packages. 

According to Nwokocha, I. and Iheriohanma, E.B.J., (2012), below mentioned traditional employee retention strategies are currently being employed by most organizations in Nigeria.

1.     Job Satisfaction: Riggio cited in  Nwokocha, I. and Iheriohanma, E.B.J.,( 2012), describes job satisfaction as consisting of the feelings and attitudes one has about one’s job. Job satisfaction can be influenced by a variety of factors, such as pay practice, quality of workers’ relationship
with their supervisor, and quality of the physical environment in which they work (Hamdia and Phadett cited in  Nwokocha, I. and Iheriohanma, E.B.J.,( 2012). Al-Hussami cited in  Nwokocha, I. and Iheriohanma, E.B.J.,( 2012) affirmed that if employees are more satisfied with their job, it will enhance their ability of creativity and productivity.

2.     Training: Wan cited in  Nwokocha, I. and Iheriohanma, E.B.J.,( 2012)posits that the only strategy for organizations to radically improve workforce productivity and enhance their retention is to seek to optimize their workforce through comprehensive training and development.

3.     Reward Strategy: According to Agarwal cited in  Nwokocha, I. and Iheriohanma, E.B.J.,( 2012), reward is defined as something that an organization gives to the employees in response to their contributions and performance and also something which is desired by the employees. The purpose of reward strategy is to develop policies and practices which will attract, retain and motivate high quality people (Armstrong cited in  Nwokocha, I. and Iheriohanma, E.B.J.,( 2012).

4.     Supervisory Support: Simth cited in  Nwokocha, I. and Iheriohanma, E.B.J.,( 2012), in his contribution posits that this is also beneficial for supervisor, because the more competent and more supportive the supervisor is, the more likely the employees and supervisors retain their jobs. Further Simth (2005) states that supportive supervision enhances impact on both organizational commitment and job retention. This will in turn impart on productivity in the organization. A study by Karasek and Theorell cited in  Nwokocha, I. and Iheriohanma, E.B.J.,( 2012) reveals that poor supervision not only caused the dissatisfaction of employees with their work, but also instigated turnover.

 

Employee retention is a process in which the employees are encouraged to remain with the organization for the maximum period of time or until the completion of the project (Sandhya, K. and Kumar, D.P., 2011)

Sandhya, K. and Kumar, D.P.,( 2011) defines that there are few retention strategies which are classified into three levels: bottom level, middle level and high level. Details are in below;

Source: Sandhya, K. and Kumar, D.P., (2011)

REFERENCES

1.     Armstrong, M. (2003). A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. London: Kogan Page Limited

2.     Al-Hussami, M. (2008). A Study of Nurses’Job Satisfaction: the Relationship to Organizational Commitment,Perceived Organizational Support, Transactional Leadership, Transformational Leadership, and Level of Education. European Journal of Science Resource, 22(22), 286-295.

3.     Agarwal, N. C. (1998). Reward Systems: Emerging Trends and Issues. Canadian Psychology, 39(1), 60-70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0086795

4.     Cloutier, O., Felusiak, L., Hill, C. and Pemberton-Jones, E.J., 2015. The importance of developing strategies for employee retention. Journal of Leadership, Accountability & Ethics, 12(2).

5.     Hamidia, M., & Phadeff, T. (2011). Conceptual Framework on the Relation Between Human Resource Management Practices, Job Satisfaction, and Turnover. Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, 2(2)41-49.

6.     John Mason, L (2008), Employees Plus: Top 10 Retention Tips.

7.     Karasek, R., & Theorell, T. (1990). Healthy Work: Stress, Productivity, and the Reconstruction of Working Life.New York: Basic Books.

8.     Kamalaveni, M., Ramesh, S. and Vetrivel, T., 2019. A review of literature on employee retention. International Journal of Innovative Research in Management Studies (IJIRMS), 4(4), pp.1-10.

9.     Nwokocha, I. and Iheriohanma, E.B.J., 2012. Emerging trends in employee retention strategies in a globalizing economy: Nigeria in focus. Asian Social Science, 8(10), p.198.

10.                        Riggio, R. E. (2003). Introduction to Industrial Organizational Psychology. New Jersey: Pearson Education.

11.                        Sandhya, K. and Kumar, D.P., 2011. Employee retention by motivation. Indian Journal of science and technology, 4(12), pp.1778-1782.

12.                        Smith, B. D. (2005). Job Retention in Child Welfare: Effects of Perceived Organizational Support, Supervisor Support, and Intrinsic Job Value, Children and Youth Service. Review, 27 , 153-169. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2004.08.013

13.                        SHRM. (2004). New survey finds 75% of employees looking for new jobs 'It's all about the money'. Alexandria: PR Newswire. Retrieved from http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-survey-finds-75-of-employees-looking-for-new-jobs-its-all-about-the-money-75585522.html.

14.                        Wan, H. L. (2007). Human Capital Development Policies: Enhancing Employees’ Satisfaction. Journal of European Industrial Training, 31(4), 297-319. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/03090590710746450