Why do we not want to retain employees?

These thoughts of mine might hold little weight in today’s times of recession when employers are demanding what they want unlike how it used to be the other way round till a few months back. However, this feeling struck me more since now is the time for employers to deal with their best talent in the best possible way and get their house in order.

How many times have we heard an employee say this?

“Why was all this not thought of when I had not resigned? Why did I have to resign to make myself heard? Why am I being offered all this now?”

We have all heard of ‘Exit’ interviews. The set of questions sometimes asked by your HR partner or your HR rep or sometimes even your line manager when you are leaving the organization. These questions are centered on the basic theme of what is wrong with the organization, the environment, the manager, and how things can be changed to set things right so that we do not end up losing any more capable individuals. But I do not understand the point of asking all those questions when a person is leaving.

Shouldn’t these questions be asked when a person is performing well in the organization? We tend to assume that an employee would be feeling good about himself if he/she is performing well. Can it not be the case that he/she is doing well INSPITE of what he is being subjected to? Should he/she not be asked that what are the things that the organization should/could start doing, stop doing or continue doing? Why employees are rarely asked what needs to be done so that they stick to the organization.

The fact of the matter is that very rarely do we see managers and senior management lending an ear to an employee when he/she comes up with issues that he/she is facing in our work environment. And when the inevitable step (of a resignation) has been taken, the management has a last trick up its sleeve. This may be a salary hike, a promotion, relocation or whatever best the high performing employee wants. While 1 in 10 employees might fall for this, most times the organization loses a high potential employee.

I have seen that the focus of most HR teams is only towards attracting the best talent possible. They do brand building exercises that get external people to feel that this is the ‘best place to work’ under the sun. However, once they have the so-called ‘right’ employees on board, why do they conveniently forget the same employee? And everything is attributed to the ‘culture’ of the place.

The point here is to understand that every time an employee resigns, the cost is not just of replacement. The employee is a brand ambassador of your firm. Everytime he speaks ill of the firm, he is dissuading everyone listening to him from joining you. So unless the reasons of leaving are purely personal, there is a huge cost you are paying when you are losing an employee. And I am not even getting into the opportunity cost of the time spent to find the replacement, cost of training the replacement, and the time taken by the replacement to come ‘up the curve’.

So let us start asking employees ‘Why would you stay?’. And this needs to be asked when employees are doing well in the organization. And NOT when they have put in their papers!!

Times of Recession – What does an employee do?

Well well well…we are stuck with the deepest recession since 1929. It’s the worst time for people to be working for different organizations and different managers. Gone are the days when you used to keep your resignation in your pocket, had multiple offer letters and used these to get increments, promotions, and the best of allowances. Even I had resigned without a job a few years back when I had a “fight” with my manager and had multiple offers within a matter of days. But I would not dare do that now!

Companies and the leadership have realized that these are not the best of times for employees. And you find employees clocking 80-100 hr weeks on a regular basis sitting at their office desks. Working for impossible deadlines seems to have become a norm these days with employees lugging their laptops with them even on vacation.

And we find not all employees working at all points of time, a lot of it being done for the so called “Impression Management” or “Boss Management”.

So if you are one of those who are stuck in office having nothing to do, what do you do with your spare time. Should you not make use of this time and try to do something productive.

A lot of us have aspirations of having our own business at some point in our lives. But we rarely do anything about this for one of the following factors or some others:
- We are earning too much in our jobs and need at least that much to survive
- Lack of an idea
- Laziness
- Lack of capital

Many of these factors have been nullified by the recession hitting us. No one can now say that they expect to get a hefty raise. No one can say that they do not have to spend more time in office. A lot of new ventures have closed down giving new opportunities for entrepreneurs who can make a difference. So, for budding entrepreneurs who have an idea and have the will to work for themselves rather than wasting time in their offices, NOW is the right time to become an entrepreneur.

The next question that comes to mind is why would you want to become an entrepreneur at this point of time when it is so tough to get business, all corporates are in cost-cutting mode, and individuals are not willing to step out and spend money. The counter-point here is that this is the worst it can get. All these challenges will drive a budding entrepreneur to set up the right processes, work towards having the best customer relations, and learn the art of selling and negotiation. As times improve, the going will only get easier. Having seen the worst of the times, it will only be easier when the world economy comes out of the recessionary phase.

I know this is easier said than done but if you want to try and not feel 10 years down the line that you missed the bus, now is the time to start working. And this time FOR YOURSELF!!