How to motivate employees

You've got to live with it. Period. That's what some companies representing the IT and ITeS sectors are averring with regard to the issue of attrition.

Organisations have tried various methods ranging from offering new titles to doling out employee stock options to retain their employees. But since nobody has been able to zero in on a perfect solution for attrition, motivating employees to contribute significantly even during the short term, seems to have become a better option.

And what's the best way to do that? Helping the employee identify and connect with the organisation seems to be the best way say industry representatives.

According to Dishan Kamdar, assistant professor of management, postgraduate programme, Indian School of Business, while short-term employees (those who intend to work with a company for less than a year), may fulfil the expectations spelt out in their job description, they may not contribute above and beyond their call of duty.

Kamdar has done a collaborative study on organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) with Jeff Joireman, assistant professor, department of psychology, Washington State University. OCB typically refers to contribution made above and beyond the call of duty. This paper has been accepted by the Journal of Applied Psychology.

According to Joireman, OCB is reflected in altruism, courtesy, conscientiousness, civic virtue, knowledge sharing and voice.

"So if an employee with a short-term horizon is willing to work overtime, help her co-worker, attend non-mandatory meetings or even make suggestions to change the status quo in an organisation, she is displaying OCB. Our research shows that employees do not show a reduction in OCB if they strongly identify with the organisation. So companies should take time to help employees identify with the organisation," he adds.

Some companies have already started taking this aspect

seriously. Hari T, senior vice-president, human resources, Satyam Computer Services Limited, says, "In the knowledge industry, the definition of long-term tends to be 1-2 years because of the age-group, aspiration levels and impulsiveness of the employees. So while there may be no perfect solution for the attrition problem, we do make attempts to give the employees a sense of pride and belonging with the organisation."

"We, therefore, organise project meetings on a quarterly basis, line up group/vertical specific events, give diaries, coffee mugs, T-shirts etc bearing the name of the company and arrange family get-togethers to infuse a sense of togetherness and belonging," Hari adds.

Satyam has an employee strength of around 24,000 with an attrition rate of around 17 per cent (including four per cent of forced attrition).

Arjun Rao, chief executive officer of ValueLabs believes that connection with the organisation has to be at a deeper level.

"This can be enabled through professional fulfillment and personal satisfaction. While the right profile match ensures that an employee enjoys his work, personal satisfaction can be guaranteed by creating an extended family environment within the organisation," he adds.

In the next few months, ValueLabs will start a housing scheme for its employees, similar to an employee stock option plan. This will initially be for 10-20 per cent of its employees, wherein they will be able to own houses at one-third the market price.

The houses will be officially transferred to them after four-five years. This apart, it will also be starting a summer camp for the kids of its employees for greater personal bonding. ValueLabs, which employs over 1,000 employees, recorded an attrition rate of 5.5 per cent in 2005.

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