One in every two Indian employees are considering leaving their job, according to a survey done by Mercer, the human resource consultancy.
Its ‘What's working’ survey of Indian employees says 54 per cent of the respondents (it polled a little over 2,000 private sector staffers) are seriously considering leaving their present organisation. The figure was just 26 per cent in 2004.
The proportion was 58 per cent among women and 53 per cent for men. The survey dopes not give a sectoral break-up. The figure for the 16-24 years group was 66 per cent.
“The business consequences of this erosion in employee sentiment are significant and, clearly, the issue goes far beyond retention. There is a talent flight risk,” said Nishchae Suri, managing director, Mercer Consulting India.
He said with an improving economy and new job opportunities, employers risk losing valued talent and face productivity and morale issues among workers who continue with their organisation.
The interesting thing is that 79 per cent of those polled also said they were proud to work for their organisation. Also, 75 per cent said they were satisfied with their employer.
The survey establishes that career advancement was the top priority for employees, followed by base pay and training opportunities. Career advancement was top in the 16-54 years group and a retirement savings plan came first for the 55 to 64 years group. Among senior management, career advancement, working for a respectable organisation and the type of work took the first, second and third positions, respectively. The type of work, working for a respectable organisation and bonus/incentives grabbed the fourth, fifth and sixth position.
“The employer brand includes not just profitability of the firm, but also the values, CSR (corporate social responsibilities) activity and leadership brand,” informs Suri. Factors like flexible work schedule, medical insurance coverage, a wellness programme, paid time-off and tuition reimbursement are other important factors for an employee.
In sum, despite satisfaction with the work and believing they have a long-term future with their firm, employees are seriously considering a shift elsewhere.
How to retain highly performing employees? Stock option scheme, introduced in the late eighties, is the answer. Consider the following strategy. A residential accommodation was bought for the MD of a company (name withheld) for around 4 lakh rupees in the early seventies with an essential condition that the company shall sell and the MD shall compulsorily buy it, at the time of his retirement, at its written down value. In the nineties, the MD retired and the flat was duly transferred to him. He sold it for Rs.9cr. and migrated to a foreign country.
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