Abstract
Sourcing for human labor is one of the key issues in the success of a business entity. It is therefore necessary that the HR department is well equipped with the right skills and abilities to hire the best hands for the job at hand. The biggest nightmare for any organization is loosing its employees, especially to a rival company. It is therefore necessary for an organization to realize how best to retain its employees. This is discussed in the essay below, using the case study of Sambian Company.
Why Are We Loosing All Our Good People?
Loss of the best employees in an organization is probably the greatest nightmare for an human resource manager. Loosing one employee can be bad enough, but it is quite inconceivable to loose several top rating employees in what seems like a trend of leaving. It is under such circumstances that the HR and other management organs are put to task to curb the losses. Sambian Company, established in 1975, had the vision of being the hub for young talent. However, as reported in the Harvard Business Review (Lawler, 2008), the company seemed to be in an employee loss stage. This put the CEO as well as the HR manager in quite a hard position. Through their reactions to this issue, the tactics described in this essay were picked.
One major lesson is on how a company can prevent its employees from leaving. As seen in the cases study, the employees at Sambian did not seem satisfied by the level of communication in the firm. Though they did not complain openly, it was revealed by the employee survey that there were some issues that made them dissatisfied. To fill up this gap of miscommunication, Shenkel and Gardner (2004) suggest that the top managers should be in close communication with the employees. They should show concern for the employees’ work and to some extent, they should get close and personal with the employees. This would create some kind of family that would bind the employees together, hence prevent loss of staff.
Human compensation plan can play a role in ensuring employee retention. Lawler 92008) indicates that while one of the employees at Sambian was about to leave, a promise of a pay rise seemed to ease things up and the employee reconsidered. From the employee survey, it was also discovered that some employees, especially those at the junior level, felt quite left out. A proper remuneration assists in such a situation, but it should be not be used as the sole inspiration. There are other factors to consider as well.
An employee keen on leaving can reverse his mind and remain quite valuable to the company. This can be communicated through an open channel of communication, where the employee shares willingly with the managers as well as staff. From then on, the employee can remain competitive by participating in more challenging projects at the firm. This makes the employee fell valuable, and, therefore, tends to work extra hard so as to meet the expectations.
(Shenkel and Gardner, 2004).
The HR manager has quite a vital role to play in the case of an employee who is keen on moving out. One of the key things is to establish the reason as to why the employee wants to leave. Once the motive has been established, the manager can then try to convince the employee to reconsider the decision, especially if the employee is considered an asset to the organization. The HR manager has got to do whatever it takes to retain the labor force. Lastly, through an interview with the employee, the HR manager can learn on what needs to be improved in the firm so as to ensure employee satisfaction (Lawler, 2008).
Serrat (2008) indicates that an exit interview is good for informative purposes. Besides helping to retain the vital knowledge in an organization within, it also helps the top guns in the organization to learn. It helps to inform the management on succession planning besides helping them to hone their skills in handling people. Another aspect of exit interviews is that they help in improving the management at the organization through learning the mistakes that had been committed earlier on. The interview can be a fact gathering affair. In the exit interview, Helen should have asked Tom the challenges he experienced in his work and the inspirations he got from it. Similarly, she should have asked how Tom thought the company could improve its relations with future employees. Through such questions, it would have been easier for Tom to open up. But as the case was, Tom was silent because the exit interview was quite interrogative rather than informative. He felt as if he was under pressure to say something, and he played tough, as he later relays to his wife (Lawler, 2008). Helen does not ask about the job, but about Tom himself, and this could have been the problem.
Sambia company definitely did some things wrong. For instance, it had a poor marketing team that failed to acknowledge the efforts of some people like Tom, but was more concerned of the profits that could be realized from the projects initiated by such great minds. The company could however retain characters like Tom through a proper acknowledgement plan. This is where the employees receive recognition for their efforts in improving the face of the company (Shenkel and Gardner, 2004).
The company was at the verge of losing Adrienne due to the same error of employee neglect. Lawler (2008) observes that since the departure of Tom, Adrienne did not have any form of mentorship. She felt uninspired and therefore desired to move out even though she was at the height of her career at the Sambian Company. As seen in the example, Helen identified the problem and provided the mentorship for Adrienne. This did it and the company managed to keep a grip on Adrienne. This shows that employees need appreciation and recognition.
As seen in the case of Adrienne, the role of the H.R manager is to ensure that the employee is at the right job ranking and receives the right treatment and package as pertains to that position. The C.E.O has more authority and can make decisions that are way beyond the jurisdiction of the H.R manager. As Lawler (2008) observes, the decision made by Helen to promote Adrienne could not have been taken by Mary. In other words, the H.R and the C.E.O must work together for the good of the company.
After an employee survey, there is a high likelihood that the H.R manager can receive some negative comments from the employees. However, the manager should not take the comments to heart and use them as a weapon to victimize some of the employees. Rather the comments should be taken positively as tips for improvement. The HR manager should use the comments to rectify the mistakes so as to prevent such comments in the future. This is seen in the case of Helen and Mary, who took the comments on a positive note (Lawler, 2008).
Getting straight answers from employees is not an easy task. The managers should therefore develop communication skills that make employees comfortable to share. For instance, the managers can be personal with the employees. Through these friendly interactions, the employees would not find it hard to open up. Similarly, the mangers should initiate some kind of feedback mechanism. This is where they show appreciation to the comments from the employees, but also go a step further to make amendments where needed. Acting on the employees’ feedback can awaken the sharing morale within the labor force (Shenkel and Gardner, 2004).
In conclusion, this essay has looked in depth at the various reasons as to why companies loose their employees. From extensive research and discussion, it has been established that the employees can be dissatisfied by a number of issues, ranging from poor remuneration to non-recognition at work. To solve these issues, the discussion has revealed that the H.R managers as well as the company CEO have crucial roles to play. They should always ensure that the concerns of the employees are addressed and that there is a proper feedback mechanism. Effective communication is also necessary as it helps to facilitate the feedback mechanism. In general, communication is the key thing. Companies should streamline their communication channels to protect their labor forces.
References
Lawler, E.E. (2008). Why Are We Loosing All Our Good People? Harvard Business Review. Retrieved on 3rd Feb 2012 from http://blcdocs.cox.smu.edu/Why%20Are%20We%20Losing%20All%20Our%20Good%20People%20-%20Case%20Only.pdf
Serrat, O. 92008). Conducting Exit Interviews. Retrieved on 3rd Feb 2012 from http://www.adb.org/Documents/Information/Knowledge-Solutions/Conducting-Exit-Interviews.pdf
Shenkel, R. & Gardner, C. (2004). Five Ways To Retain Good Staff. Retrieved on 3rd Feb 2012 from http://www.aafp.org/fpm/2004/1100/p57.html
