THE STUDY ON EMPLOYEE RETENTION AMONG THE YOUNGERGENERATION: 21-30 YEARS

INTRODUCTION:

Organization as a purposeful system with several subsystemswhere individuals and activities are organized to achievecertain predetermined goals through division of labor andcoordination of activities. Division of labor refers to howthe work is divided among the employees and coordinationrefers to how all the various activities performed by theindividuals are integrated or brought together to accomplishthe goals of the organization. The term organizing is usedto denote one aspect of the managerial activities when he orshe is preparing and scheduling the different tasks thatneed to be completed for the job to be done.

People are one of the most important element of organization. People make up the internal social system of theorganization. They consist of individuals and groups, andlarge groups as well as small ones. People are the living,thinking, feelings beings who created the organizations. Itexists to achieve their objectives. Organizations exist toserve people. People do not exist to serve organizations.The work force is one of the critical resources t hat needto be managed. In managing human resources, managers have todeal with:

i) Individual employee who are expected to perform the tasksallotted to them

ii) Dyadic relationships such as superior-subordinateinteractions

iii) Groups who work as teams and have the responsibilityfor getting the job done,

iv) People out side the organization system such ascustomers and government officials

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People have been and always will remain the most vital partof a business.  They determine whether the businessregresses, grows or stays exactly where it is.  People areresponsible for the operation, so the success of a businessday will always be in their hands. 

Today’s competitive business world, it is considered to bean important task to manage employee turnover for anyorganization. Naturally people want diversities in his/hereveryday life; seeks for new and challenging jobs and goodworking environment in job place. To provide these things tothe employees in an economic way is very difficult andcumbersome. But it is also crucial for any organization toretain its talented employees. Every organization wished tohave high productivity, fewer turnovers and to beprofitable. Managing turnover successfully is a must toachieve the above goals.

Turnover basically arises from the unhappiness from jobplace for individual employee. But being unhappy in a job isnot the only reason why people leave one company foranother. If the skills that they possess are in demand, theymay be lured away by higher pay, better benefits or betterjob growth potential. That's why it is important to know andrecognize the difference between employees who leave the jobbecause they are unhappy and those who leave for otherreasons.

There are number of factors that contribute to employeeturnover. The factors in more detail below:

(i) The economy - in exit interviews, one of the most commonreasons given for leaving the job is the availability ofhigher paying jobs. Some minimum wage workers reported forleaving one job to another that pays only 50 Rs an hourmore. Obviously, in a better economy the availability ofalternative jobs plays a role in turnover, but this tends tobe overstated in exit interviews.

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(ii) The characteristics of the job - some jobs areintrinsically more attractive than others. A job'sattractiveness will be affected by many characteristics,including its repetitiveness, challenges, danger, perceivedimportance and capacity to elicit a sense of accomplishment.

(iii) Demographics - empirical studies have demonstratedthat turnover is associated in particular situations withdemographic and biographical characteristics of workers.

(iv)The person - In addition to the factors listed above,there are also factors specific to the individual that caninfluence turnover rates. These include both personal andtrait-based factors. Personal factors include things such aschanges in family situation, a desire to learn a new skillor trade or an unsolicited job offer. In addition to thesepersonal factors, there are also trait-based or personalityfeatures that are associated with turnover.

(v) A bad match between the employee's skills and the job −Employees who are placed in jobs that are too difficultdiscouraged and quit the job.

(vi) Substandard equipment, tools or facilities − If workingconditions are substandard or the workplace lacks importantfacilities such as proper lighting, furniture, restroomsand other health and safety provisions, employees will notbe willing to put up with the inconvenience for long time.

(vii) Lack of opportunity for advancement or growth − If thejob is basically a dead-end proposition, this should beexplained before hiring so as not to mislead the employee.The job should be described precisely, without raising falsehopes for growth and advancement in the position.

(viii) Feelings of not being appreciated − since employeesgenerally want to do a good job, it follows that they alsowant to be appreciated and recognized for their works. Eventhe most seasoned employee needs to be told what he or sheis doing right once in a while.

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(ix) Inadequate or lackluster supervision and training −Employees need guidance and direction. New employees mayneed extra help in learning an unfamiliar job. Similarly,the absence of a training program may cause workers to fallbehind in their level of performance and feel that theirabilities are lacking.

(x) Unequal or substandard wage structures − Inequity in paystructures or low pay is great causes of dissatisfaction andcan drive some employees to quit. Again, a new worker maywonder why the person next to him is receiving a higher wagefor what is perceived to be the same work.

High employee turnover costs business owners in time and productivity. Ignoring or accepting high employee turnover rates is bad for business and costly. Because employee turnover has a negative impact on employee morale and the bottom line, it is important that you address causes of employee discontent. Retaining a positive and motivated staff is vital to an organization's success. Implementing an employee retention program is an effective way of makingsure key workers remain employed while maintaining job performance and productivity.

Employee Retention refers to the techniques employed by the management to help the employees stay with the organization for a longer period of time. Employee retention strategies go a long way in motivating the employees so that they stickto the organization for the maximum time and contribute effectively. Sincere efforts must be taken to ensure growth and learning for the employees in their current assignments and for them to enjoy their work.

Employee retention has become a major concern for corporatesin the current scenario. Individuals once being trained havea tendency to move to other organizations for better prospects. Lucrative salary, comfortable timings, better ambience, growth prospects are some of the factors which prompt an employee to look for a change. Whenever a talentedemployee expresses his willingness to move on, it is the

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responsibility of the management and the human resource teamto intervene immediately and find out the exact reasons leading to the decision.

Need & Importance of Employee Retention

Hiring is not an easy process: The HR Professional shortlists few individuals from a large pool of talent, conducts preliminary interviews and eventually forwards it to the respective line managers who further grill them to judge whether they are fit for the organization or not. Recruitingthe right candidate is a time consuming process.

An organization invests time and money in grooming anindividual and make him ready to work and understandthe corporate culture: A new joinee is completely raw and the management really has to work hard to train him for his overall development. It is a complete wastage of time and money when an individual leaves an organization all of a sudden. The HR has to start the recruitment process all overagain for the same vacancy; a mere duplication of work. Finding a right employee for an organization is a tedious job and all efforts simply go waste when the employee leaves.

When an individual resigns from his present organization, it is more likely that he would join the competitors: In such cases, employees tend to take all the strategies, policies from the current organization to the new one. Individuals take all the important data, information and statistics to their new organization and in some cases even leak the secrets of the previous organization. To avoid such cases, it is essential that the new joinee is made to sign a document which stops him from passingon any information even if he leaves the

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organization. Strict policy should be made which prevents the employees to join the competitors. Thisis an effective way to retain the employees.

The employees working for a longer period of time aremore familiar with the company’s policies, guidelines and thus they adjust better: They performbetter than individuals who change jobs frequently. Employees who spend a considerable time in an organization know the organization in and out and thus are in a position to contribute effectively.

Every individual needs time to adjust with others: One needs time to know his team members well, be friendly with them and eventually trust them. Organizations are always benefited when the employees are compatible with each other and discussthings among themselves to come out with something beneficial for all. When a new individual replaces an existing employee, adjustment problems crop up. Individuals find it really difficult to establish a comfort level with the other person. After striking a rapport with an existing employee, it is a challenge for the employees to adjust with someone new and most importantly trust him. It is a human tendency to compare a new joinee with the previous employees and always find faults in him.

It has been observed that individuals sticking to an organization for a longer span are more loyal towards the management and the organization: They enjoy all kinds of benefits from the organization and as a result are more attached to it. They hardlybadmouth their organization and always think in favour of the management. For them the organization comes first and all other things later.

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It is essential for the organization to retain the valuable employees showing potential: Every organization needs hardworking and talented employees who can really come out with something creative and different. No organization can survive if all the top performers quit. It is essential for the organization to retain those employees who really work hard and are indispensable for the system.

The management must understand the difference between a valuable employee and an employee who doesn’t contribute much to the organization. Sincere efforts must be made to encourage the employees so that they stay happy in the current organization and do not look for a change.

So it is the responsibility of the management to ensure thatthe employees are satisfied with their roles andresponsibilities and the job that offers them a newchallenge and learning every day.

Our paper titled “THE STUDY ON EMPLOYEERETENTION AMONG THE YOUNGER GENERATION” FOCUSSES ON THE AGE

GROUP 21-30, aims at understanding the psychologicalattitude of young aged employees towards their organizationswith respect to Bangalore. Through this study we are tryingto analyze the various factors that affect the employees in

order to retain back in the organization.

Literature review:

Lali Rajan’s (2012) study on Employee Retention and The Roleof Managers in Retaining Talented Employees aims atunderstanding the role of manager in employee retention andwhat is the role in a company's retention rates. Based onpast review of various literatures the study suggests thatthe managers need to be trained, rewarded and recognized forachieving retention rates.

Ruchi Sinha &Chandranshu Sinha’s (2012) objective of thepaper titled ” Factors Affecting Employee Retention: A

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Comparative Analysis of two Organizations from HeavyEngineering Industry” is to identify the main factors ofretention management strategies in organizations.. Theorganizations taken into consideration are two heavyengineering manufacturers based in India. The data wascollected from 100 employees holding middle managerialpositions in the two organizations. The Cronbach’s alpha ofthe questionnaire was found to be 0.823& Pearson correlationwas 0.951 (p<0.001). The factor analysis of the component‘retention management strategies’ led to the extraction of 3factors each from both the organizations. The factors forEEPL* were “competence & relationship oriented”, “scholastic& futuristic oriented” and “developmental & rewardoriented”; while for MBPL*, the factor were “relationshiporiented”, “competence & scholastic oriented” and “rewardoriented”. The results indicate that these factors havesubstantial roles to play in making employees stay and howat middle managerial level different aspects are valuedwhile deciding upon the retention strategies in similarcontexts (i.e. sector).

Another study done by DR.SUNIL KUMAR PRADHAN & DR. SUMANKALYAN CHAUDHURY, titled “a survey on employee performancemanagement and its implication to their retention in oclindia ltd” aimed at examining the employee performancemanagement and its implication to their retention in OCLIndia ltd1. As the required data is not available from thesecondary sources, we made a small sample survey in theconcerned industry to elicit the requisite information. Thedata collected from 170 employees of OCL India withquestionnaires approach having 50 close ended semanticquestions. As a part of the study, it is known that in OCLIndia Balance Scorecard2 is implemented as a performanceevaluation3 tool. Using summary measures, percentage tablesand various graphs we have assessed the importance ofvarious independents factors that drive away the dependentfactor (employee satisfaction). Conclusions and constructivepolicy recommendations have been put up for improvements in

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different aspects of HR policy of the concernedorganization.

Terence R Mitchell, Brooks C Holtom, Thomas W Lee, Ted Graske’s (2001) How to keep your best employees: Developing an effective retention policy, aims to figure out as to how to retain their employees. It describes the implications of managing retention. The authors suggest various techniques like Financial incentives attached to Longetivity,pay attention to the off the job sacrifices made by the employees, Facilitate fit off the job, to retain the employees.

Muhammad Irshad, Fahad Afridi .FACTORS AFFECTING EMPLOYEES RETENTION: EVIDENCE FROM LITERATURE deals with the relationship between the HR practice and Retention of the employees of the organization .It aims at identifying the elements of HR practices that influences the retention of the employees. According to the author compensation, rewardsand recognition are the most important and valuable means for retention, while training and Career Development act as a motivational factors that lead to retention. The organizational and environment play a prominent role in retention.

Michael O. Samuel and Crispen Chipunza’s (2009) Employee retention and turnover: Using motivational variables as a panacea, identifies the intrinsic and the extrinsic motivational variables that influences the retention and thereduction of the employee turnover in the private and the public sectors. The motivational factors like compensation Reward are the main factors that will lead to the retention of the employees.

John E. Sheridan’sOrganizational Culture and EmployeeRetention, focused on investigating the retention rate amongthe college students hired in the public sector. It wasfound that the organization culture plays a vital role inthe retention process. The relationship between the

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employees' job performance and their retention also variedsignificantly with organizational culture values.

Miranda, Rodrigo’s (2011)The problem of Staff Retention. –aims at finding out and analyzing the factors that mightinfluence the decision of officers tostick to theorganization. The Salvation Army in Finland Salvation Armyhad made few positive changes such as allowing marriagebetween officers and non-officers; private health care andflexibility in training. They also introduced thepossibility for applying for jobs inside the Company(internal recruiting).

Conclusion: the above literatures based on employmentretention… the gap found in above literatures is the studydoes not focus on the factors affecting retention & does notdiscuss the age criteria in employee retention.

TITLE OF STUDY:

“THE STUDY ON EMPLOYEE RETENTION AMONG THE YOUNGERGENERATION: 21-30 YEARS”

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM:

In today’s competitive world where every organizationis trying to gain maximum results & employees especially theyouth looking for opportunities to fulfill their demands theretention of an individual in an organization is not forlong & without the employees, an organization cannotfunction well. It’s important to understand the variousproblems an organizations faces in order to maintain the

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employees & use methods to overcome these problems & retainemployees in the organization.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

Primary Objectives:

1. To analyze various challenges faced by the organizationin retaining its employees who are young.

Other Objectives:

1. To understand the employees perspective about theorganizations.

2. To study the reasons for young employee turnover.3. Building up of strategies for retaining employees &

creating better organizations.

Need of the study:

We live in a dynamic environment due to which constant studyof various aspects in the working environment is important.Unlike the past, loyalty of an employee towards anorganization is a very big challenge today. Monetary aspectis not only the criteria to retain the employee they expectmuch more than monetary benefits too. Due to increase incompetition it becomes very difficult for the organizationsto retain their employees.

It’s like 2 sides of coin without the support of one of theparty the goals of the organization can be non achievable.The need to study the employee retention challenges willallow the organization to understand the reasons & ways ofretaining the employees back & achieving organizationalgoals.

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Research methodology

The source of the data being Primary data was collectedthrough a questionnaire given to the respondents, fromBangalore city. The sample size was 100 & was based onconvenience sampling. The questionnaire method was employedto know their satisfaction level & reasons for low employeeretention.The collected data was first ordered, classified andtabulated to analyze. Cross tabulation method using SPSSsoftware was used to interpret & draw conclusions keeping inmind, the objectives of the study.

Limitations:

I. The study was conducted only in Bangalore city.II. The study was done for a specific age slab.III. The study is limited to 100 respondents.IV. The study was based on convenience sampling which may

not capture the whole populationV. The study had time constraint.

Analysis & Interpretation

Statement 1: Understanding the factors (Money) thatinfluence the employee to stay back in the organization.

Table 1:

Money * age Cross tabulation

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MoneyAge

Total20-25 (1) 26-30 (2)

1 4 2 62 6 2 83 6 2 84 10 2 125 22 20 426 12 12 24

Total 60 40 100

Graph 1:

Interpretation 1: 42% of employees give money as the 2nd

highest importance in terms of factor which influences themto stay back in an organization. Among which employees agedbetween 20-25 years (52%) give money the 2nd highestimportance.

Statement 2: Understanding the factors (Environment) thatinfluence the employee to stay back in the organization.

Table 2:

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Environment * age Cross tabulation

Environmentage

Total20-25 (1) 26-30 (2)1 6 0 62 2 2 43 14 10 244 16 12 285 14 14 286 8 2 10

Total 60 40 100

Graph 2:

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Intrepretation2: 28% of employees feel that workingenvironment is important for them in order to stay back inthe organization out of which 57% of the younger employeesprefer working environment factor.

Statement 3: Understanding the factors (employer- employeerelationship) that influence the employee to stay back inthe organization.

Table 3:

Relationship * age Cross tabulation

Relationshipage

Total20-25 (1) 26-30 (2)1 6 0 62 18 10 283 6 0 64 10 14 245 14 14 286 6 2 8

Total 60 40 100

Graph 3:

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Interpretation 3: 28% respondents think that employer-employee relationship is not an important factor whichinfluences the retention of an employee. 64% of the youngeremployees out of 28 people do not favour the employer-employee relationship.

Statement 4: Understanding the factors (office politics)that influence the employee to stay back in theorganization.

Table 4:

Politics * age Cross tabulation

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Politicsage

Total20-25 (1) 26-30 (2)1 16 22 382 4 6 103 14 6 205 4 2 66 22 4 26

Total 60 40 100

Graph 4:

Interpretation 4: out of 100 respondents 38% give officepolitics as the lowest priority factor which can make anemployee stay back in the organization. Among which 57% ofemployees aged between 26- 30 years give the leastpreference.

Statement 5: Understanding the factors (recognition &rewards) that influence the employee to stay back in theorganization.

Table 5:

Recognition * age Cross tabulation

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Recognitionage

Total20-25 (1) 26-30 (2)1 4 4 82 6 4 103 6 8 144 8 8 165 16 12 286 20 4 24

Total 60 40 100

Graph 5:

Interpretation 5: 28% employees think recognition & rewardsplay a very important role in influencing an employee to beretained in the organization. Whereas 24 % give this factorthe highest priority. Out of the highest priority category83% of the younger employees prefer rewards & recognitionsas a factor to retain them back in the organizations

Statement 6: Understanding the factors (growth & workquality) that influence the employee to stay back in theorganization.

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Table 6:

Growth * age Cross tabulation

Growthage

Total20-25 (1) 26-30 (2)1 6 4 102 2 0 23 9 2 114 11 6 175 9 7 166 23 21 44

Total 60 40 100

Graph 6:

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Interpretation 6: 44% of the total employees give thehighest priority to growth & work quality as the factorwhich can influence the employees to stay back at theorganization. Out of which 52% of the younger employeeprefer growth & work quality.

Statement 7: Understanding the level of satisfaction amongthe employee at their present job.

Table 7:

Satisfaction * age Cross tabulation

Satisfactionage

Total20-25 (1) 26-30 (2)2 4 4 83 24 18 424 20 10 305 12 8 20

Total 60 40 100

Graph 7:

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Interpretation 7: Out of 100 employees 42% employees areaveragely satisfied with their present jobs. Among which 57%employees belonging to the younger age group are satisfiedwith their present job.

Statement 8: Analyzing the percentage of employees who canbalance work & personal lives.

Table 8:

Balance * age Cross tabulation

Balance- personal professional

ageTotal20-25 (1) 26-30 (2)

No 8 4 12Yes 52 36 88

Total 60 40 100

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Graph 8:

Interpretation 8: 88% employees are able to balance theirwork & personal life. Among which 59% employees who belongto age group of 20-25 years are the employees who are ableto manage their work & personal life.

Statement 9: Analyzing the percentage of employees who wantto change their present job.

Table 9:

Change * age Cross tabulation

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Change Jobage

Total20-25 (1) 26-30 (2)No 32 18 50Yes 28 22 50

Total 60 40 100

Graph 9:

Interpretation 9: Though 50% want to change their presentjob & 50% does not want to. Among the 50% who don’t want tochange job, 64% of the employee’s age group of 20-25 preferto stay back in the present organization.

Statement 10: Analyzing the percentage of employee whoprefers employer/ colleague appreciation in the workenvironment.

Table 10:

Appreciation * age Cross tabulation

Appreciationrequired

ageTotal20-25 (1) 26-30 (2)

No 8 4 12Yes 52 36 88

Total 60 40 100

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Graph 10:

Interpretation 10: 88% of the total employee prefersappreciation from their superiors & colleagues. Among which59% of employees belonging to the younger age group wantappreciation from superiors & colleagues.

FINDINGS: Growth & work quality is given the highest priority in

terms of factor that influences the employee to stayback in the organization. Monetary aspect is given thesecond priority & then comes recognition & rewards.

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Good Working environment & good employer-employeerelationship is required in the organizations formaintaining harmony in the organizations but, theirexistence might not create such an impact on theemployees as growth & work quality factor does.

Office politics in an organization has been given theleast priority by the younger generation but still thecompany has to make sure that office politics is incontrol as it can create chaos in the environment & canbring distrust in the organization.

Out of 100 employees 42% employees are averagelysatisfied with their present jobs. Among which 57%employees belonging to the age group 20-25 aresatisfied with job. Thus the challenge for theorganizations is to retain the employees of age group-26-30i.e 72 % of the total employees aged in this agegroup.

According to our study 88% employees are able tobalance their work & personal life. Among which 59%employees who belong to age group of 20-25 years arethe employees who are able to manage their work &personal life. This is the age group where familyresponsibilities are comparatively less & work can begiven more focus.

Out of 100 respondents, 50% want to change theirpresent job & 50% do not want to. Among the 50% whodon’t want to change job, 64% of the employee’s are ofthe group of 20-25 prefer to stay back in the presentorganization.

The younger employees prefer appreciation from theirseniors & colleagues, which help them to get motivated& give better results ahead.

SUGGESTIONS:

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According to our study, respondents have given the followingsuggestions to help in employee retention:

Reducing Office Politics Pay Employees better. More Team Lunches- Communication among the team

members.. Work life balance- providing flexi hours. Better training opportunities. Inculcate creative activities in the organization to

remove boredom/monotony Adequate & timely appreciation & encouragement for job

well finished on time & executed well. Better facilities should be provided in terms of

infrastructure, work life balance should be promotedmore at all levels

Help workers live healthier lifestyles. Provide Transportation Exposure to new and challenging opportunities to

prevent monotony in a job role Give employees the opportunity for job rotation which

helps them to learn new thing. Understand the employee needs.

All the factors that influence the employee’s play animportant role but their influencing priority differs fromeach.Thus the above suggestions can be taken into considerationby the organizations in order to overcome the challenges ofemployee retention.

CONCLUSION:

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An organization faces many challenges in their day to dayactivities, one of which really impacts is difficulty inretaining the employees. A number of studies haveconsistently shown that money play an important role inretaining them back.

However, a number of companies fail to understand that thereare many other factors which can help them in order tosatisfy their employees. If recognized & implemented themcorrectly, they can retain their employees back.

Our study shows that employee retention in the age group 26-30 is a bigger challenge than the age group 20-25, as thepriorities change in the age group 26-30. Our study suggeststhe various ways of influencing the employees & helping themto achieve professional satisfaction.

Overall, it is an honest endeavor to understand the variousfactors that influence the employees of the organization,their priorities in terms of the influence & how theemployees can be retained back in the organization. Hopethis study satisfies the reader and effectively achieves itsobjectives.

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Human Resource Management, 2010, Aswathappa, TataMcGraw Hill Education Pvt. Ltd.

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Perspective, 2006, Sharma Anuradha and KhandekarAradhane, EasternBook Corporation.

McGregor, Douglas M.(1957). The human side ofenterprise. Management Review.

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