The organizations of today shall have to focus on the "new" competitive advantage that promises infinite possibilities - people. The highly educated knowledgeable worker the most in demand - are hard to find and the easiest to loose. The future poses many challenges and to counter them, effective leadership and high level of employee motivation is needed. Training has changed its face and pace in the new century and there is a paradigm shift in the trainer's role to being a "performance consultant". SP Oswal, Chairman of Vardhman Group of Companies was once asked that despite the group's residential training center at Ludhiana, his employee turnover was towards the higher side in the region. His remark was, "my loss may be the nation's gain. Our fallacy about training is that training provides employees with more opportunities to leave, but another way to think about it is "what if you don't train people and they stay?"
It takes more than a generous benefit and competitive salary package to attract and retain the employees, especially "the star performers". It takes addressing the fundamental need people have for pride, appreciation, opportunities to learn, grow, and respect. The need of the hour for HR is to go to basics and address these fundamental human needs. By listening to the voice of their "internal customer" and honestly engaging in self-examination the organizations can see their names in the corporate hall of fame.
The winds of change have greater implications for the HR professionals since there is a paradigm shift in the HR's role from a fire fighter administrator to a strategic business partner. In the present era, the HR professional has to align the HR functions and processes with the organization's mission, objective, and philosophy moving at the speed of Internet. Good economic times means lower unemployment, increased productivity and opportunities everywhere. To attract and attain the potential prospective employees to is the most challenging job and even more challenging is the retention of such employees. The companies apart from having "recruiters" have also started appointing "retention managers". Just as every organization looks for the best, brightest, dynamic and most productive workers; likewise the employees also look for an organization that can offer them a chance to use their skills to the fullest extent; an employer who can tell them what can they do better; an organization that offers them excellent scope to grow intellectually; a job that challenges their wisdom and leadership that can be relied upon. A survey carried out by Watson Wyatt Worldwide identifies the following factors, which make employees loyal to the organizations (Table1). |
