[blackstallion76]

Friends,

I know this is a sensitive topic given the current job market.
Currently, there is a spurt of resignations in most of the companies.

Just want to know, what makes employees look for change and what measures a company should focus on retaining valuable employees.

Particularly in IT, developers are leaving the company even after giving them promotion and good hike.

Food for thought.

[amitoj]

This is the burning topic in most organizations.

At the 3 to 5 years experience level, most common reason is the money. A good hike may still not be enough for really good developers.

Few things that can help curb attrition:
1. More pay.
2. Clear career paths
3. Company reputation with respect to employee friendliness.
4. This is probably very important. Managers with good people skills. All the points above will be null and void if the employee is not happy with his/her manager.

Even after all this, there will be some attrition though because there will always be some other company that will pay more and show better career paths

[ghodlur]

90% of times the employees leave because of bad bosses and lack of growth oppurtunites. As the popular cliche goes "People leave managers not companies". Other major reasons attributed are

1. The job or workplace was not as expected.
2. The mismatch between job and person
3. Too little coaching and feedback
4. Too few growth and advancement opportunities.
5. Feeling devalued and unrecognized
6. Stress from overwork and work-life imbalance
7. Loss of trust and confidence in senior leaders

[aargee]

My 2 cents...
1. I'm of the same opinion as ghodlur - People follow good managers where ever they go
2. Feeling devalued & unrecognized
3. Same monotonous job

[sudhi_des]

In house politics+1 to 'Ghodlur', main reason is 'Bad Boss'.

Some of my friends who are very good in their work complain about bad HR policies and politics in their company. They get a hike of says 10% and others get more than 20%(without any reason).

You will get a good rating in you appraisal but at the time of hike there will be a very thin margin between you and the average performer.


Don't know why you get just a little hike when you work extremely well

At last people knew that they will always get a better hike in new company.

[DCEite]

1. Favoritism by managers
2. Feeling of nonrecognition and thanklessness.
3. Lower salary then industry standards.

[amohit]

Well,

I left my first company(after working there for 2 years) because of Politics+below avg salary+no recognition for my contributions. Even though my manager there was (and still is) excellent.

I left my second company (after working there for 10 months) because of Politics+ bad manager+not so great work. Salary here was much above industry avg.

And, now in my 3rd company (after completing 5 years), I am having a strong urge to look else where. Reasons Lack of growth opp+not so great manager+avg salary.
I stuck here for 5 years because of ok work+great work environment+Much lower level of politics even though my sal was avg.


So, I guess it depends upon the amt of experience that you have. Initially (0-2 yrs exp) I think Money is the only criteria
2-5 yrs exp Quality of work becomes the primary criteria.
5-8 years Work culture becomes the primary criteria.

Regards,

[Figopian]

Needless to say, bad manager is the most common cause of employees leaving. If you take a closer look, you will find that mostly the mid-management level managers (Just above Sr. Engineers or so) are the trouble makers. They have just been gotten into the new role and wither they try to do too much or too less but then they get into some trouble with their management style.
It's obvious because this manager is seen as someone from "them" by the other aspiring managers.

[amtak]

0-2 years - Money
2-4 years - Position
4-6 years - Job satisfaction
6-8 years - Same old routine
8-10 years - What have I achieved in life?
10-12 years - Money
12-24 years - History repeats itself

Correct me if I am wrong.

[anonymous]

As most of the guys have pointed out already, people leave managers and not company. I know few of friends have been following their managers wherever they go.
For me, I decide to leave the company at a point when I do not see any career growth path, I do not feel like enjoying my work and I now have some personal responsibilities because I am married and have two childern to look after, salary also starts playing important factor in this game.

[DCEite]

Is it only me or anyone else who experienced more politics in a Services/ Outsourced product dev. company, compared to a Product company ?

[H_Zoom]

Companies who have done employee feedback surveys have found the following points as top of the mind of employees among the many that leaves employees dissatisfied:

Work-life Balance - Enable employees to be able to have the flexibility to manage both thier work as well as personal life.

Clarity in Career path - Apart from just the annual objectives settings, Set short term and long term objectives and guide the employees on these paths

Manager-Employee Engagement and Empowerment - Constant Feedback and engage the employees in the decision making processes. Empower employees to make decisions on tactical/operational fronts and back them irrespective of the results by guiding/assisting them.

Work-Environment - Create a healthy work environment and remove obstacles that create hindarances

Obvious if the above points are looked into and the remunerations are at par with the industry, then it may go a long way in employee retention.
Also long term employee retention policies which are attractive go a long way in supporting this cause

[aargee]

Originally Posted by DCEite

Is it only me or anyone else who experienced more politics in a Services/ Outsourced product dev. company, compared to a Product company ?

As long as there's a group of human, politics & favourism can never be separated. Having worked in a MIS, Tech BPO, product company & consulting firms, I'm getting matured to over come these stuffs.

Point - No matter which company you go, you can see your present manager, that lousy girl, secret friends, gossip gang, parasite lead, fussing colleagues & true friends, the only difference being, their names & faces are different.

Lesson learnt - No point running away due to these silly things as you'll keep finding these everywhere. Stand up & face it & you can find better things in the same place.

[amtak]

Sometimes its the case of all show but no go! I may not be overreacting when I say that most Indian companies turned global (eg. IT companies, Retail giants, Product, MFG) are this way. They may hire a person stating they have the best employee benefit schemes and on, but the ground reality is bitter.

I was once told by a friend of mine that a prominent bank would give more work to an employee who is trying to use the office recreation equipments (gym, swimming pool) even if its post work hours, thinking that he doesn't have enough work.

[Gandhi]

These are the points for which I will NOT leave a company:

1. Management that under commits and over delivers
2. Open work culture where everyone's opinion is counted
3. Managers take care of management related things ONLY and technical things are handled by technical people
4. A performance measurement system where people are rewarded accordingly (i.e. you get extraordinary rewards if you perform extraordinary and vice versa)
5. A 360 degree feedback system till director level
6. Complete flexibility to balance my work and personal life
7. Of course industry par salary

P.S: All these things are considered IFF the work is satisfactory to me.