Encouraging Retention: A Soft HRM approach
“Human Capital will go where it is wanted, and it will stay where it is well treated. It cannot be driven; it can only be attracted.” Walter Wriston, a former chairman of Citibank (Singh, 2019), used that quote to talk about the worth of an organization's most valuable asset and its plans for retaining them.
Employee retention is defined as various measures taken by organizations to encourage its employees to remain within the organization for a longer duration of time (Singh, 2019). Soft HRM is an ideal approach to employee retention as it is focused on emphasizing the importance of treating employees as valuable assets and focus on their development, well-being, and satisfaction while driving engagement and with-it revenue growth (Hassan, M. M. & Jambulingam, M. 2018).
Here are Soft HRM measures an organization can take in order to retain its employees.
Employee Satisfaction and Well-Being: By creating a positive working environment employees will feel motivated, engaged, and committed to their roles within the organization. Motivated and satisfied employees will give their best toward achieving organization goals. In return the organization can maintain a high employee retention rate. (IRABOR1 & OKOLIE, 2019).
Career Development Opportunities: No employee wants to stagnate in the same position. Stagnation compels the employees to look for other positions outside the organization. Therefore, investing in employees’ career growth by providing training, mentorship, and opportunities for skills development helps employees feel they have a growth within the organization. Further, such investments create a feeling of value, encouraging a longer-term commitment to the organization.
(Singh, 2019).
Positive Company Culture: A shared set of workplace belief, values, positive attitudes, purpose and behavior is considered as Company (Organization) Culture. When employees are shown care by their organization, they’ll feel more valued, committed and loyal towards the organization, and make them stay within the organization for a longer time. After all, engaged employees are less likely to leave. This means lower recruiting and training costs associated with turnover and higher retention rate (Ercanbrack, 2023)
Work-Life Balance: The concept of work-life balance does not imply achieving some impossible definition of the perfect life. Instead, it means perceiving that employees have achieved a realistic, personally satisfying balance among the different main factors in their life, family, work, and leisure. The role of work life balance has a direct relation in an employee's decision to stay or leave the organization. Job attitudes such as job satisfaction and commitment, personal reasons such as positive and negative feelings, the role of work-life balance proved to lessen high turnover rates. (Hashim et al., 2016)
Rewards and Recognition: Reward has been identified as a major tool to maximize employee performance. Rewards refer to all forms of financial returns and tangible services and benefits an employee receives as part of an employment relationship (Edirisooriya, 2018). Proper rewarding will contribute towards motivated and satisfied employees, with longer-term commitment to the organization.
List of References,
Singh, D. (2019) (PDF) a literature review on employee retention with focus on recent ... Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331306592_A_Literature_Review_on_Employee_Retention_with_Focus_on_Recent_Trends (Accessed: 16 March 2024).
Hassan, M. M. & Jambulingam, M. (2018). Trends of Turnover & Adopting Soft HRM Strategies for the Retention of Millennials: Requirement of 21st Century. In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Modern Research in Management, Economics and Accounting (pp. 139-150). Munich, Germany: [Conference Publisher].
IRABOR1, I.E. and OKOLIE, U.C. (2019) (PDF) a review of employees’ job satisfaction and its affect on their retention, ResearchGate. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334103345_A_Review_of_Employees’_Job_Satisfaction_and_its_Affect_on_their_Retention (Accessed: 17 March 2024).
Ercanbrack, M. (2023) What is company culture? (plus 10 expert tips for improvement), BambooHR. Available at: https://www.bamboohr.com/blog/what-is-company-culture (Accessed: 17 March 2024).
Hashim, A. et al. (2016) THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WORK-LIFE BALANCE AND EMPLOYEE RETENTION, www.researchgate.net. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Azharuddin-Hashim/publication/362249880_THE_RELATIONSHIP_BETWEEN_WORK-LIFE_BALANCE_AND_EMPLOYEE_RETENTION/links/62df94bf7782323cf17915c0/THE-RELATIONSHIP-BETWEEN-WORK-LIFE-BALANCE-AND-EMPLOYEE-RETENTION.pdf (Accessed: 17 March 2024).
Edirisooriya, W. (2018) (PDF) the impact of reward on employee performance: With special ..., ResearchGate. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323747331_The_Impact_of_Reward_on_Employee_Performance_with_Special_Reference_to_ElectriCo (Accessed: 17 March 2024).
Clear content. I believe you have correctly mentioned some of the key factors to retain employees in any industry. In this current context employers facing lot of difficulties when it comes to retaining their employee due to various reasons.
ReplyDeleteThank you Nimani, there are some critical but basic factors any organization can follow to engage and retain their top talent. have personally experienced this, a top talent of our team left before our organization because they hardly showed any career development path.
DeleteA good article on employee engagement and retention. When employees feel appreciated, motivated, and connected to their job and employer, they are more likely to give their all, create innovation, and remain dedicated to the organization's goals.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Arundathi. YES indeed, certain organizations sometimes try costly efforts to keep their employee engaged and retained, but I feel, that if the leadership can take small initiatives like a simple "Thank you" or Well Done" will a long way too and it needs to be timely comments.
DeleteNice Article. Encouraging employee retention is a vital aspect of human resource management (HRM) that directly impacts the success and sustainability of organizations.
ReplyDeleteThanks Nilakshi. indeed, as I discussed in another post, Hilton made their employees their brand, The Method is working for them, and the stats confirm it.
DeleteAbsolutely insightful read! As a current employee, I can attest to the importance of these retention strategies. I'd like to suggest incorporating regular feedback sessions where employees can voice concerns and suggestions. Open communication fosters a stronger bond between the organization and its employees, ultimately leading to higher retention rates.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Shan, and thank you for your valuable feedback. Indeed, feedback and open communication are key factors of retention. I have touched on feedback in a different blog post.
DeleteEncourages participative decision-making processes where employees are involved in discussions, problem-solving, and decision-making related to their work. This approach fosters a sense of ownership, engagement, and commitment among employees.
ReplyDeleteThank you Shenthuran for your valuable feedback. Yes I agree participative decision-making can be a key factor can employee retention where it creates a sense of belongingness within the employee.
DeleteNice article.by implementing these strategies, organizations can create an environment where employees feel valued, engaged, and motivated to stay for the long term, ultimately leading to improved employee retention rates and organizational success.
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DeleteThank you Hayni, I personally feel the quote by the former CITI bank CEO simply defines HRM.
DeleteNice Article, It measures the extent to which employees choose to stay with the company rather than seek employment elsewhere. Employee retention is influenced by various factors such as job satisfaction, growth opportunities, work-life balance, compensation, and organizational and company culture.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sagayam. I agree with your points and these factors are crucial for the employee engagement and retention.
DeleteThis article explains how companies can keep their employees happy and loyal. It suggests creating a positive work environment, offering opportunities for growth, fostering a good company culture, supporting work-life balance, and giving rewards and recognition. These strategies help employees feel valued and committed to staying with the organization.
ReplyDeleteGreat job summarizing important ways to retain employees!
As you review from this article, above mentioned factors are inter linked. As view point of mine,if the company having positive work cultural environment, all the above mentioned factors will some of extend will created. If the company having given value to employee by monitory or non monitory aspect, employee will tend to be retain within company. Further Turner,N,L (2023) mentioned company culture and factors of effect employee Retention. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/organizational-culture-plays-crucial-role-employee-turner-mba/
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