HR Prasana Wipro PDF

A Study of Employee Retention in Wipro

A SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROJECT REPORT SUBMITTED TO OSMANIA UNIVERSITY, HYDERABAD.

Aathira Jayaraj


A PROJECT REPORT ON

A STUDY OF EMPLOYEE RETENTION

IN WIPRO

A SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROJECT REPORT SUBMITTED TO

OSMANIA UNIVERSITY, HYDERABAD.

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME OF

B.COM HONOURS IIIrd YEAR

BY AATHIRA JAYARAJ

128-08-01811

AURORA’S DEGREE & PG COLLEGE (AFFILIATED TO OSMANIA UNIVERSITY) CHIKKADPALLY, HYDERABAD – 500 020.


Certificate This is to certify that the project work entitled

A STUDY OF EMPLOYEE RETENTION

IN WIPRO

is the bonafide work done by

Aathira Jayaraj

128-08-01811

as a part of their curriculum in the Department of Commerce

Aurora’s Degree & PG College,

Chikkadpally, Hyderabad-20.

This work has been carried out under my guidance

Dr. Ravi Paturi Course Coordinator Head of Dept. Principal

External Examiner

Aurora’s Degree & PG College, Chikkadpally, Hyderabad-20.


DECLARATION

This is to inform that I, Aathira Jayaraj of B.Com (Hons) III have completed

my project work titled A Study of Employee Retention in Wipro in the year

2009-2010. I have completed my project under the guidance of Ms.

Prasannakumari B., Faculty of Department of Commerce, Aurora’s Degree

College, Chikkadpally, Hyderabad.

I hereby declare that this project report submitted by me to Osmania

University, Hyderabad, is an original work done as part of our academic

course and has not been submitted to any other University or Institution for

the award of any degree or diploma.

Aathira Jayaraj

128-08-01811


TO WHOMSOEVER IT MAY CONCERN

I certify that Aathira Jayaraj of B.Com Honours IIIrd Year bearing Roll No.

128-08-01811 has done the project titled “A Study of Employee Retention

in Wipro” under my guidance.

PRASANNAKUMARI B.

Commerce Faculty

(Internal Guide)


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express my sincere gratitude to the staff and management of Aurora’s

Degree College for giving me an opportunity to undertake this project work.

It is my pleasant duty to express my profound gratitude and extreme regards

to my mentor Ms. Prasanakumari B. without who’s learned and able guidance

and encouragement, this work would not have been completed.

It is also my duty to thank in this regard Ms. Brinda Satish and Ms. Babita

Naik who instilled the curiosity in me which helped me perform better.

I would also like to thank my project External Mentor Ms. Juri Wagh and her

staff for their cooperation in completion of my project in the required time.

It‘s an honor to thank Principal Dr. Ravi Paturi and Vice Principal & Head of

Department Mr. Viswanadham Bulusu who has given me this opportunity.

I’m also thankful to all my family members, classmates and friends who

helped me in carrying out this project.

Name : Aathira Jayaraj

Roll No : 128-08-01811


Chapter Contents CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION : 1

Introduction : 1

Changing Role of HR : 2

Retention Management : 4

Need for the Study : 7

Wipro Technologies – A Company Profile : 8

Reasons for Choosing Wipro : 10

Review of Literature : 10

Objectives of the Study : 15

Hypothesis : 15

Methodology : 16

Sample : 16

Techniques of Analysis : 16

Sources of Data : 16

Period of the Study : 17

Scope of the Study : 17

Chapterisation : 17

Limitations of the Study : 18

CHAPTER II – TALENT MANAGEMENT IN IT SECTOR : 19

IT Sector in India : 19

Talent Management: A pressing problem : 21

Employee Attrition : 22

Attrition rates in IT Sector : 24

Talent Management Strategies in IT Sector : 27

Workforce Retention and Motivation : 27

Compensation and Reward : 28

Career Growth : 31

Good Environment : 32

Being the best place to work with : 33

Upgradation of skills through retraining : 34


Conclusion : 35

CHAPTER III – FACTORS AFFTECTING EMPLOYEE

RETENTION IN WIPRO : 37

Introduction : 37

Talent Management Strategies in Wipro : 38

Pay and Benefits : 40

Career Growth : 43

Learning and Development : 44

Good Environment : 47

Job Satisfaction : 52

CHAPTER IV – DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Introduction : 53

Methodology : 54

Respondent Profile : 56

Factors affecting Retention in IT Sector : 57

Preference given to different factors by two groups : 58

Factors affecting Retention in Wipro : 60

Pay and Benefits : 62

Career Growth : 64

Training and Development : 65

Work Environment : 66

Job Satisfaction : 68

CHAPTER V – SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND

SUGGESTIONS : 70

Introduction : 70

Significance of the study : 71

Role of HR in Retention : 72

Need for the current Study : 73

Objectives of the study : 73

Hypothesis : 73

Methodology : 73

Sample : 74


Techniques of analysis : 74

Sources of data : 74

Period of Study : 75

Scope of the Study : 75

Chapterisation : 75

Findings from the study : 76

Conclusions : 79

Suggestions : 80

Limitations of the Study : 81

Areas for further research : 81

ANNEXURES : 82

Questionnaire : 82

BIBLIOGRAPHY : 84


Chapter 1 Introduction


Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION This chapter being introductory presents the aspects planned for the study

and the research efforts put in thereof. It covers the importance and need for

human resource management in IT industry. The literature reviewed, the need

for the study, the objectives, scope of the study, period of the study,

methodology adopted, limitations of the study and chapterization are also

included in this chapter.

INTRODUCTION

The most valued assets of an organization are the people who directly or

indirectly contribute to achieving the various business objectives laid down by

the organization. Human Resource Management is a very strategic approach

to managing these most valued assets. No organization can function without

the human resources as they form the basis of any organization. In the wide

sense Human Resource Management means selecting and employing the

right people for the right jobs, developing their resources by training and

development to match the needs of the organization, utilizing their skills and

maintaining them to benefit the organizational needs and also providing them

compensation that matches their services and also the organizational

requirement.

The goal of Human Resource Management is to help the organization to

attract and maintain the right talent, and manage them effectively and

efficiently to meet the strategic organizational goals. In the words of Miller, a

Human Resource Management approach seeks to ensure a fit between the

management of an organization’s employees, and the overall strategic

direction of the company.

The basic theory of Human Resource Management is that humans are not

machines and therefore one needs a more critical examination at a

workplace. In Human Resource Management, a number of fields come into


play namely, psychology, organizational psychology, sociology, legal studies,

industrial relations etc. Today, Human Resource functions are much beyond

the basic administrative functions. They are now seen as reactive rather than

proactive partners for the top level management. The Human Resource

functions have now become revenue generating rather than just support

functions.

Human Resource Management includes several processes. These processes

are generally undertaken by the Human Resource Department of the

organization. These include:

• Planning the workforce

• Recruitment

• Skills Management

• Training and Development

• Payrolls

• Employee Benefits

• Performance Appraisals

• Time and Travel Management

• Personnel Cost Management

CHANGING ROLE OF HR

HR has become a huge investment for medium and large companies across

industries, with people-related costs averaging over 60 percent of total

corporate expenditures. The leading firms have been taking steps to ensure

that they extract maximum value from their HR investments, introducing

models that go beyond basic HR functionality to embrace new ways of

improving the quality, efficiency and productivity of their workforces. These

businesses recognize that, to be fully effective, HR programs require new

processes, supported by leading technologies.


For these companies, the HR department, focusing predominantly on basic

administrative, record-keeping and transactional duties, is a thing of the past.

Businesses now realize that a strong foundation of information about

individuals is a highly valuable organizational resource that can be used to

drive efficiencies throughout the business.

Of course, "People are our greatest asset" is a mantra that companies have

been chanting for years. Yet it is only relatively recently that businesses have

started putting HR systems in place that support this philosophy. As a result,

the information that sits inside the HR department is being made available for

effective use throughout the wider organization, helping companies align their

workforces with long-term business objectives.

The backdrop to the introduction of these new systems is the uncertain

business conditions that followed the economic downturn. This situation has

resulted in a relentless drive for cost control, which affects the HR department

as much as any other. HR now has to demonstrate that it can develop and

deliver programs as efficiently as possible, providing greater value at a lower

cost.

Yet with increased access to information on their employees, organizations

can incorporate processes for leveraging worker skills across the enterprise,

which in turn allows them to be more flexible. Firms with an in-depth view of

employee competencies across regions or markets can immediately locate

"best-fit" candidates, identify and resolve skill shortages, and re-allocate

resources in response to changing conditions. In doing so, they often avoid

expensive layoff/rehire cycles that sap morale, productivity, and profits.

Better decision-making, significant employee benefits, increased efficiencies

and reduced costs all create a compelling argument for implementing HRMS

systems. For the HR department, these technologies provide the potential to

break away from its administrative quagmire to become a front-line function

embracing more strategic responsibilities that positively impact the success of

the enterprise. Once time-intensive processes are streamlined, HR

professionals are freed up to focus on achieving full workforce optimization, a

key source of competitive advantage and, ultimately, profitability, as it means


resources can be aligned with the company's business goals and used

strategically

RETENTION MANGEMENT

Retention management is the latest and most pressing problem of the new

Millennium. Each and every business in this economy has now become

knowledge based. It has therefore become essential for the top management

to preserve the dynamic repositories of learning, which are their employees.

Today, businesses across all sectors, sizes and statures now use a variety of

techniques and policies to retain their people. There is little that a company

will not do to keep its people. Be it career counseling, conflict resolution

programmes or even welfare management, companies are ready to go to any

extent possible to retain their employees. In today’s market, a manager who

has innovative retention strategies to offer to the organization is the one who

would be winning the war.

People are the backbone of an organization, hence the need to put more

effort in retaining performing employees. Staff retention in the current

economic environment is a major challenge. The major focus for employees in

a hyperinflation environment is survival. If the organization cannot provide

enough to enable the employee to survive, the employee is likely to look

elsewhere for survival.

However if organizations manage to identify causes of staff turnover that they

can control, they should target those areas for change or making

improvements.

Unless IT companies treat retention of good employees as a business priority,

they will find themselves incurring huge costs in replacing these employees.

However we need to acknowledge that retention is difficult to focus on

because so many factors affect it, and organizations cannot easily change all

of them. In addition the other demands of running a business can supercede

most efforts to promote retention.


Employee Retention involves taking measures to encourage employees to

remain in the organization for the maximum period of time. Corporate is facing

a lot of problems in employee retention these days. Hiring knowledgeable

people for the job is essential for an employer. But retention is even more

important than hiring. There is no dearth of opportunities for a talented

person. There are many organizations which are looking for such employees.

If a person is not satisfied by the job he’s doing, he may switch over to some

other more suitable job. In today’s environment it becomes very important for

organizations to retain their employees.

Employees stay and leave organizations for some reasons. The reason may

be personal or professional. These reasons should be understood by the

employer and should be taken care of. The organizations are becoming aware

of these reasons and adopting many strategies for employee retention.

Pay and Benefits: Compensation constitutes the largest part of the employee

retention process. The employees always have high expectations regarding

their compensation packages. Compensation packages vary from industry to

industry. So an attractive compensation package plays a critical role in

retaining the employees. Compensation includes salary and wages, bonuses,

benefits, prerequisites, stock options, bonuses, vacations, etc.

Career Growth and Development: Growth and development are the integral

part of every individual’s career. If an employee can not foresee his path of

career development in his current organization, there are chances that he’ll

leave the organization as soon as he gets an opportunity.

Work profile: The work profile on which the employee is working should be in

sync with his capabilities. The profile should not be too low or too high.

Personal growth and dreams: Employees responsibilities in the organization

should help him achieve his personal goals also. Organizations can not keep

aside the individual goals of employees and foster organizations goals.

Employees’ priority is to work for themselves and later on comes the

organization. If he’s not satisfied with his growth, he’ll not be able to contribute

in organization growth.


Training and development: Employees should be trained and given chance

to improve and enhance their skills. Many employers fear that if the

employees are well rained, they’ll leave the organization for better jobs.

Organization should not limit the resources on which organization’s success

depends.

Work Environment: Sometimes the relationship with the management and

the peers becomes the reason for an employee to leave the organization. The

management is sometimes not able to provide an employee a supportive work

culture and environment in terms of personal or professional relationships.

There are times when an employee starts feeling bitterness towards the

management or peers. This bitterness could be due to many reasons. This

decreases employee’s interest and he becomes de-motivated. It leads to less

satisfaction and eventually attrition.

The many challenges that managers and human resource practitioners face

today need a concerted effort by all those concerned with the management of

human resources in the organization.

To highlight this, the statistics got from the first ever survey national survey

conducted by All India Management Association (AIMA) can be analyzed. The

companies were divided into 4 sectors, namely, manufacturing, services,

marketing and hi-tech in order to allow intra industry comparisons. Also, two

criteria were placed to decide on whether the company was eligible for the

survey or not, the company should have a minimum turnover of 25 crore

rupees and an employee strength of above 50. 135 companies participated

and their responses were analyzed to understand the most prevalent policies

and practices in retention management. Statistics show that 3 out of every 5

software companies and almost 1 out of every 2 manufacturing companies

have serious issues relating to retention. Facts also reveal that, 90 per cent of

the companies have some or the other problem with respect to retentions.

Retention problems are more acute in SAMEs (Small And Medium

Enterprises) with turnover of less than 100 crores and headcount less than

100. There are two reasons that can be attributed to this. Firstly, due to lower

number of employees on the rolls, the departure of one makes a significant


difference. Also, larger companies can provide higher monetary and non

monetary compensation which cannot be afforded by the SAMEs.

NEED FOR THE STUDY

Employers have a need to keep employees from leaving and going to work for

other companies. This is true because of the great costs associated with

hiring and retraining new employees. The best way to retain employees is by

providing them with job satisfaction and opportunities for advancement in their

careers. The saying, good help is hard to find, is even truer these days than

ever before because the job market is becoming increasingly tight.

It’s not only the cost incurred by a company that emphasizes the need of

retaining employees but also the need to retain talented employees from

getting poached.

The process of employee retention will benefit an organization in the following

ways:

The Cost of Turnover: The cost of employee turnover adds hundreds of

thousands of money to a company's expenses. While it is difficult to fully

calculate the cost of turnover (including hiring costs, training costs and

productivity loss), industry experts often quote 25% of the average employee

salary as a conservative estimate.

Loss of Company Knowledge: When an employee leaves, he takes with

him valuable knowledge about the company, customers, current projects and

past history (sometimes to competitors). Often much time and money has

been spent on the employee in expectation of a future return. When the

employee leaves, the investment is not realized.

Interruption of Customer Service: Customers and clients do business with

a company in part because of the people. Relationships are developed that

encourage continued sponsorship of the business. When an employee

leaves, the relationships that employee built for the company are severed,

which could lead to potential customer loss.


Turnover leads to more turnovers: When an employee terminates, the

effect is felt throughout the organization. Co-workers are often required to pick

up the slack. The unspoken negativity often intensifies for the remaining staff.

Goodwill of the company: The goodwill of a company is maintained when

the attrition rates are low. Higher retention rates motivate potential employees

to join the organization

Regaining efficiency: If an employee resigns, then good amount of time is

lost in hiring a new employee and then training him/her and this goes to the

loss of the company directly which many a times goes unnoticed. And even

after this you cannot assure us of the same efficiency from the new employee.

WIPRO TECHNOLOGIES – A COMPANY PROFILE

Wipro Technologies is a global services provider delivering technology-driven

business solutions. Wipro is the No.1 provider of integrated business,

technology and process solutions on a global delivery platform. Azim Premji is

the Chairman of Wipro Technologies. He took over the mantle of leadership of

Wipro at the age of 21 in 1966. Under his leadership, the fledgling US$ 2

million hydrogenated cooking fat company has grown to a US$1.76 billion IT

Services organization serving customers across the globe. Wipro is presently

ranked among the top 100 Technology companies in the world. It has 66,000+

employees, serves 592 clients, and has 46 development centers across

globe.

Wipro Technologies deals in following businesses:

• IT Services: Wipro provides complete range of IT Services to the

organization. The range of services extends from Enterprise

Application Services (CRM, ERP, e-Procurement and SCM) to e-

Business solutions. Wipro's enterprise solutions serve a host of

industries such as Energy and Utilities, Finance, Telecom, and Media

and Entertainment.

• Product Engineering Solutions: Wipro is the largest independent

provider of R&D services in the world. Using "Extended Engineering"

model for leveraging R&D investment and accessing new knowledge


and experience across the globe, people and technical infrastructure,

Wipro enables firms to introduce new products rapidly.

• Technology Infrastructure Service: Wipro's Technology

Infrastructure Services (TIS) is the largest Indian IT infrastructure

service provider in terms of revenue, people and customers with more

than 200 customers in US, Europe, Japan and over 650 customers in

India.

• Business Process Outsourcing: Wipro provides business process

outsourcing services in areas Finance & Accounting, Procurement, HR

Services, Loyalty Services and Knowledge Services. In 2002, Wipro

acquiring Spectramind and became one of the largest BPO service

players.

• Consulting Services: Wipro offers services in Business Consulting,

Process Consulting, Quality Consulting, and Technology Consulting.

Group Companies of Wipro:

• Wipro Infrastructure Engineering: It has emerged as the leader in

the hydraulic cylinders and truck tipping systems market in India.

• Wipro Infotech: It is one of the leading manufacturers of computer

hardware and a provider of systems integration services in India.

• Wipro Lighting: It manufactures and markets the Wipro brand of

luminaries. Wipro Lighting offers lighting solutions across various

application areas such as commercial lighting for modern work spaces,

manufacturing and pharmaceutical companies, designer petrol pumps

and outdoor architecture.

Achievements of Wipro

• First Indian IT Service Provider to be awarded Gold-Level Status in

Microsoft's Windows Embedded Partner Program.

• World's largest independent R&D Services Provider.

• World's 1st PCMM Level 5 software company.

• World's 1st IT Services Company to use Six Sigma.


• The first to get the BS15000 certification for its Global Command

Centre.

• Among the top 3 offshore BPO service providers in the world.

• Only Indian company to be ranked among the 'Top 10 Global

Outsourcing Providers' in the IAOP-Fortune Global 100 listings.

• First company in the world to be certified in BS 7799 (2002) security

standards.

REASONS FOR CHOOSING WIPRO FOR THE STUDY

Wipro was selected the study due to its high rate of attrition. Wipro’s rate of

attrition at 20.3% is highest in the industry. Attrition is a costly affair. Wipro

needs to concentrate all its efforts on retaining its best talent.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

1. Eisenberger (2002) suggests that employers are fighting to get talented

employees in order to maintain a prosperous business. Ray Hammer

(2000) as well as many other researchers/authors agree.

2. Wood (1999) believes that, there is a straight line between employee

satisfaction and customer satisfaction. He believes that today’s

employees pose a complete new set of challenges, especially when

businesses are forced to confront one of the tightest labour markets in

decades. Therefore, it is getting more difficult to retain employees, as the

pool of talent is becoming more-and-more tapped-out. The research

below, which focuses primarily on employee retention through job

satisfaction, supports this contention.

3. Brown and Leigh (1996) opine that employees that are satisfied and

happy in with their jobs are more dedicated to doing a good job and taking

care of customers that sustain the operation. Job satisfaction is

something that working people seek and a key element of employee

retention.

4. Gelade and Ivery (2003) states that every person will have his or her own

definition of what it means to be satisfied with a job. And also, those


employees who are satisfied with their jobs are more productive, creative

and be more likely to be retained by the company.

5. Rigby (2003) feels that when there is high retention this introduces new

problems for the organization. High retention levels, rather than being a

company-wide problem, will often occur in pockets within businesses. For

instance, an employee or a team may have become so good at their

job(s), that their boss cannot bear too lose them or even promote them,

which results in stagnation and de-motivation.

6. Sigler (1999) explains that if retention levels are in line with the norm for

the type of organization, then the productive employees should be

encouraged to stay and the poor performers encouraged to leave. If this

were measurable the then organizations would retain employees whose

contribution produces a positive risk adjusted profit for the firm. These

employees would have a positive influence on the firm. This is not the

case, through various factors that will be discussed in this paper they

leave, which forces cost onto the organisation. These employees leave an

organisation because they become dissatisfied, underpaid or

unmotivated.

7. Hacker (1996) discussed the process of recruitment and advises that

employers should consider three areas when they are preparing to

employee, these are the cost per hire of an employee; turnover rate; and

productivity. The recruiting of an employee contains hidden costs; these

include advertising and the time that is employed on screening and

interviewing the prospective employee. Therefore, if the recruitment of

people is not cost effective option, then high turnover of employees must

be avoided. Retention of the current workforce is the most economic

solution to an organization.

8. Kinnie and Hutchinson (2005) states that the cost of replacing workers

who have left can amount to two and half times a worker’s annual salary.

These costs are rarely specifically identified in any accounting records.

Therefore turnover cost data should be used to demonstrate the success

of retention strategies over time.


9. Ramlall (2004) observed that the Human capital theory suggests that

some labour is more productive than other labour simply because more

resources have been invested into the training of that labour, in the same

manner that a machine that has had more resources invested into it is apt

to be more productive.

10. Sturman (2003) opines that Employers need to review all the costs

involved with employee turnover, not all cost are financial, hidden costs

include the reduction in knowledge. These are not tangible, and will not

show on the companies accounts, but through a lack of skills can in the

long term reduce profit.

11. Armstrong (2001) discussed that organizations are under increasing

pressure to recruit the right people for the right job. The economic cost of

getting this wrong can be vast, with the resources that have been

ploughed into the process. Numerous factors are to be considered during

this process including the culture of the organization, legal implications,

attracting and employing the correct candidate and the cost in time and

resources. Therefore it is paramount that the process is fair, reliable and

valid.

12. Alcorso (2003) discussed that recruitment of the right candidate is

problematic, the skill of the recruiter is vital to appointing a successful

candidate. Insufficient information about employees’ performance can

result in adverse selection by Managers. This arises from where the

manager does not know the information h to ask from the candidate and

the candidate does not know what to provide. Therefore, productive

workers cannot distinguish themselves from non productive candidates.

13. Breadwell and Holden (1994) explained that reviewing and monitoring

recruitment practices can lead to a reduction in key employees leaving. If

the first stage of retention is recruitment, then best practice will lead to the

correct candidate being selected. In the long term this will increase the

retention levels of key employees within the organization.


14. Terpstra (1994) states that voluntary employee turnover can be either

dysfunctional or functional for the organization; this is dependant on who

leaves. Both low and high performers are generally more likely to leave

an organization than are average performers. Therefore, organizations

will often shed poor employees (functional turnover), but will also fail to

retain star employees (dysfunctional turnover). Therefore organizations

need to monitor their turnover of employees.

15. Berry (1997) discussed that key to retaining the right employees is

recruiting them in the first place. This process must given consideration to

their long term value to the organization. The attraction and retention of

key talent, is increasingly pivotal to organizational success. The ability to

achieve competitive advantage through people depends in large part on

the composition of the work force. This, is the function of who is hired,

and how they are developed, these factors will lead to who is retained.

16. Clarke (1994) stated that the problem of attempting to keep talented

members of the work force is further complicated because of bounded

rationality. This leaves colleagues who cannot improve their positions

within the hierarchy more likely to remain with the organization. This is

often due to inadequate information on outstanding performance,

therefore it is not recognizes financially. Non-productive and productive

workers end up receiving the same or nearly the same compensation and

package of perks because of management’s inability to distinguish

talented employees from the rest of the labour force in the organization.

17. Sommers (1995) suggested that incentive pay can be used for

employees, setting targets and when they are met rewarding with cash

bonuses. Share ownership by the employee is another type of pay

incentive. It in essence makes the employee a shareholder of the

organization aligning the interests of the employee with the owners.

Employee share ownership can come through restricted share plans

where ownership of the share is not transferred to the employee until after

a specific period of time has passed or a specific goal has been achieved.

This not only provides the employee with the incentive to drive the share


price higher through their work effort, but also remain with the

organization until maturity of the plan.

18. Pfeffer and Viega (1999) explained that management can ensure talented

employees are given autonomy in their job functions and are given

meaningful assignments, allowing them to be involved in the decision

making for their area of expertise. Pleasant working conditions can entice

productive workers to stay in their organization and not look elsewhere. In

addition, offering these employees training to keep them current on their

job functions and allowing them to learn new skills can also be utilized to

improve employee satisfaction with the organization.

19. Ulrich (1995) stated that organizations no longer offer a job for life there is

no longer guaranteed employment, with a pension as a reward for loyalty

and compliance. Employees are increasingly mobile, changing

employment for promotion, reward and job satisfaction; top employees

have more choice as to where to work. To retain these key employees the

organizations culture needs to allow an environment of personal growth.

With less job security, the best reward an organization can give an

employee is transferable skills.

20. Williams and Anderson (1991) observed that workers have been forced to

take more responsibility for their own careers, going where the work is

rewarding and where they can develop skills that will guarantee their

employability in whatever organisation. This mobility and “free agency”

has created greater competition for skilled workers between

organisations. Good workers have more choices than before, and are

more likely to use them.

21. Browning and Edgar (2004) suggested that when Maslow’s hierarchy

theory is applied to organisations, the implications for managerial actions

become obvious. “Managers have the responsibility to create a proper

climate in which employees can develop to their fullest potential. Failure

to provide such a climate, would increase employee frustration and result

in poorer performance, lower job satisfaction, and increased withdrawal

from the organisation”.


22. Huselid (1995) differentiated overload in terms of quantitative and

qualitative. Quantitative refers to having “too much to do”, whilst

Qualitative means work that is “too difficult”. Employees at all levels

occasionally find themselves faced with excessive work demands, and

will leave it if is the only course of action.

23. Patterson, West et al. (2005) explained that recent research validates

factors such as stimulating and challenging work, career growth, learning,

and development are keys to retention. This research challenges

conventional HR perception in several aspects. The most notable

disparity of views emerges when comparing the importance of “boss

reputation,” the perceived quality of the immediate manager. The CLC

research concluded that high-value employees rate this as the single

most important consideration in staying with an organisation, that 80

percent of turnover is related to unsatisfactory relationships with their

boss.

24. Edgar and Geare (2005) argued that employees are more likely to remain

with an organisation if they believe that their managers show interest and

concern for them. Buckingham added that They are know what is

expected of them, if they are given a role that fits their capabilities and

they receive regular positive feedback and recognition.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To study the factors that affect employee retention in IT sector

2. To study the attributes that can be adjusted to retain employees in

Wipro Technologies.

HYPOTHESIS

H0 – Pay and benefits, Career Growth, Training and Development, Work

Environment and Job Satisfaction are not significant for employee retention.


METHODOLOGY

The primary data was collected through questionnaires. These questionnaires

were distributed to 60 employees of Wipro Technologies. Due care was taken

to make sure that the employees filled this with interest and not as a routine.

The data was collected only from those employees who has completed

at least one year in the organization. The selection of employees is a

random sampling for the study.

Questions 1 to 6, are related to the employees tenure in the organization and

the ratings that he or she would assign to each of the factors considered for

this study in view of their longer tenure with the organization

Questions 7 and 8 are related to Pay and Benefits, 9 and 10 are related to

Career Development & Growth, 11 and 12 are related to Training and

Development, 13 and 14 are related to Work Environment and 15 and 16

are related to Job Satisfaction.

SAMPLE

The study is of employee retention in IT sector. Since all the companies,

irrespective of their ownership and projects undertaken, compete in the same

global market, it is deemed appropriate to analyse one of the leading

companies. The sample comprises employees from Wipro Technologies,

Gachibowli. The basic motive behind choosing this organization is increasing

global presence of Wipro in varying aspects of technology solutions.

TECHNIQUES OF ANALYSIS

The comparative study is done with the help of χ2. Mean and coefficient of

correlation have also been used for the analysis of the link between the two

groups of employees of the organization.

SOURCES OF DATA

The data required for the study is collected both from primary and secondary

sources. Primary data is collected by conducting personal interviews,


discussions with the employees and managers considered for the study. In

addition, data was collected through questionnaires, feedback, observations

etc.

Secondary data includes reports and records of the organizations for the past

two years and the data collected from the NASSCOM website on the rates of

attrition. Research studies conducted by individuals, institutions and agencies,

and various other journals were considered.

PERIOD OF THE STUDY

The study aims to understand the attributes affecting employee retention in

Wipro. The study spread over a period of two years i.e., from 2007 to 2009.

However, data pertaining to the period before that considered for the study

was also looked into depending upon the requirement for the study.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The data required for the present study was collected using questionnaires.

The data was collected from the employees of Wipro Technologies,

Gachibowli across the age group of 20 to 40 years.

Wipro’s global IT services business has 97,552 employees, including 16,500

in the BPO division. There are 2645 employees in Wipro, Hyderabad and

1453 employees in Wipro Technologies, Gachibowli. The sample represents a

4.1293% of the total headcount.

CHAPTERISATION

Chapter – I INTRODUCTION

The first chapter being introductory helps in understanding the importance of

HRM and Employee Retention in the IT industry. This chapter provides

information regarding the objectives, methodology, scope, statistical tools

appointed, chapterisation and also limitations. A major part of this chapter

consists of the literature review.


Chapter – II TALENT MANAGEMENT IN IT SECTOR

This chapter was taken up keeping the pressing problem of talent

management in mind. The chapter covers aspects and limitations of retention

in the IT sector and the factors affecting the same.

Chapter – III FACTORS EFFECTING EMPLOYEE RETENTION IN

WIPRO

Employee retention is a process in which the employees are encouraged to

remain with the organization for the maximum period of time or until the

completion of the project. Employee retention is beneficial for the organization

as well as the employee. This chapter examines the factors affecting retention

and the steps taken by Wipro to tackle these factors.

Chapter – IV DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

In current global market, companies are composed by competitors, regardless

of industry. To develop a competitive advantage, it is important that firms truly

leverage on the workforce as a competitive weapon. This chapter analyzes

the various factors affecting employee retention and the attributes that can be

adjusted to improve employee retention. It also presents a comparative study

between employees of two different age groups and the different

requirements of the two groups.

Chapter – V SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

This chapter being the last chapter gives conclusions and suggestions and

briefly explains the objectives, methodology, findings and limitations of the

study. This chapter also gives the scope for further study.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

1. The study is confined only to Wipro Technologies, Gachibowli

2. The study is confined only to Wipro and does not cover other IT

companies in its cadre.

3. Pay and benefits, career growth and development, training, work

environment and job satisfaction are only some of the few factors that

effect employee retention; future studies in this area could possibly


include other variables that potentially have an impact on retention on

the basis of existing literature.

4. No attempt has been made in this study to do a longitudinal analysis,

that is, to explore the influence of these factors on retention over a

period of time.


Chapter 2 Talent Management in

IT Sector


Chapter 2 TALENT MANAGEMENT IN IT SECTOR This chapter talks about importance of retention management strategies in the

IT sector and the various strategies generally adopted in the sector. It also

explains about the IT sector in India and the various attrition rates in the

different sectors in India. This chapter also studies each of the retention

management strategies in detail giving the various reasons for each of the

factors. This chapter enables us to form a general opinion about the various

strategies adopted so that further study can be conducted on the specific

organization under consideration, viz. Wipro Technologies.

IT SECTOR IN INDIA

Information Technology (IT) industry in India is one of the fastest growing

industries. Indian IT industry has built up valuable brand equity for itself in the

global markets. IT industry in India comprises of software industry and

information technology enabled services (ITES), which also includes the

business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. India is considered as a

pioneer in software development and a favorite destination for IT-enabled

services.

The origin of IT industry in India can be traced to 1974, when the mainframe

manufacturer, Burroughs, asked its India sales agent, Tata Consultancy

Services (TCS), to export programmers for installing system software for a

U.S. client. The IT industry originated under unfavorable conditions. Local

markets were absent and government policy toward private enterprise was

hostile. The industry was begun by Bombay-based conglomerates which

entered the business by supplying programmers to global IT firms located

overseas.


During that time Indian economy was state-controlled and the state remained

hostile to the software industry through the 1970s. Import tariffs were high

(135% on hardware and 100% on software) and software was not considered

an "industry", so that exporters were ineligible for bank finance. Government

policy towards IT sector changed when Rajiv Gandhi became the Prime

Minister in 1984. His New Computer Policy (NCP-1984) consisted of a

package of reduced import tariffs on hardware and software (reduced to

60%), recognition of software exports as a "delicensed industry", i.e.,

henceforth eligible for bank finance and freed from license-permit raj,

permission for foreign firms to set up wholly-owned, export-dedicated units

and a project to set up a chain of software parks that would offer infrastructure

at below-market costs. These policies laid the foundation for the development

of a world-class IT industry in India.

Today, Indian IT companies such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS),

Wipro, Infosys, HCL et al are renowned in the global market for their IT

prowess. Some of the major factors which played a key role in India's

emergence as key global IT player are:

Indian Education System

The Indian education system places strong emphasis on mathematics and

science, resulting in a large number of science and engineering graduates.

Mastery over quantitative concepts coupled with English proficiency has

resulted in a skill set that has enabled India to reap the benefits of the current

international demand for IT.

High Quality Human Resource

Indian programmers are known for their strong technical and analytical skills

and their willingness to accommodate clients. India also has one of the largest

pools of English-speaking professionals.


Competitive Costs

The cost of software development and other services in India is very

competitive as compared to the West.

Infrastructure Scenario

Indian IT industry has also gained immensely from the availability of a robust

infrastructure (telecom, power and roads) in the country

TALENT RETENTION: A PRESSING PROBLEM

In a recent survey of 57 CEOs and HR professionals “Talent retention” is

identified as the second most HR challenge to critically meet the business

demands beyond tomorrow next only to “Creating a high performing culture”.

The results of the survey are shown in Table 2.1

The results clearly demonstrates that 28% of the respondents gave first rank

to Talent Retention as the most significant HR challenge to critically meet

business demands and none of them gave the bottom rank.

Talent retention is becoming the most pressing problem for all top HR

professionals and this is the main topic under discussion even during the time

of recession. The All India HR Summit conducted in Delhi in April 2009,

discussed the topic of talent retention and conducted workshops to improve

talent retention in organizations.


Table 2.1 HR Challenges Survey

HR Challenge Rank in order

of importance

Percentage of top

response (# 1

rank)

Percentage of

bottom response

(#10 rank)

Creating a high

performing culture 1 47 3

Talent Retention 2 28 0

Recruiting in

today’s context 3 22 0

Managing mindsets 4 6 8

Training for Growth 5 6 0

Compensating

Knowledge

Workers

6 3 8

Building

interpersonal

relationships

7 6 14

Going Global 8 6 22

HR systems

implementation 9 6 28

Human Capital

Practices 10 0 17

Source: Madhok, Anneta (2008) Managing talent tomorrow, Indian

Management

EMPLOYEE ATTRITION

Employee attrition is a very big problem not only in India but outside India too.

Attrition rate is increasing day by day and the software industry is the one that

is affected the most. Why an Employee leaves a company is the question

asked by most of the employers. Companies even hire Private HR

professionals to study the company's work and find out why an employee is

dissatisfied.


HR department does the recruiting of new employees and then send them for

training so that they can understand work and work culture and become better

professionals. Each and every company faces employee turn over problem

whether big or small. An employee leaves his present job for another job to

get better pay package and good working conditions.

Every Company calculates Employee attrition rate and takes measures to

reduce it. The facts and figures are not made public as it may tarnish the

image of the company in front of its own employees and its loyal customers

Employee attrition costs a lot to the company. There are various costs which

are borne by the company at the start when the employee is under training

period. Costs such as

Ø Conveyance Cost

Ø Cost of lodging of the new employee

Ø Trainers cost

Ø Cost of venue where training will be conducted

Ø Materials to be supplied during training process

A company has a training period of 2 to 6 months. During this time an

employee is not fruitful for the company. If an employee leaves the company

when he starts working, company suffers a big loss in terms of money as well

as workforce. Every company takes measures to hold the talented workforce

by means of perks, increments, bonus and extra facilities. No one wants to

lose good brains to their competitors.

Flexible working conditions have been given to employees who have problem

working 10 – 5. Private hospitals for employees where they can get their

regular health check up done without spending much money. Free overseas

tour once in a year when a target is achieved. Few Companies are getting

more and more work savvy and just want to get their work done by hook or by

crook. The mentality needs to be changed. Target for completion of a work

should be there but that should not hamper an employee’s personal life.

Companies should conduct various seminars on how to balance personal and


professional life. A employee can be productive if and only if his personal life

is balanced. Make employees a part of your work culture family and see the

difference.

Attrition rate cannot become completely obsolete but it can surely be

minimized.

ATTRITION RATES IN IT SECTOR

Employee Attrition is one of the most critical problems which Indian IT

industry faces today.

Time to time, employee surveys are done to figure out what makes

employees to love or hate their employer. Based on these surveys, IT

companies take appropriate steps with hope of reducing the attrition. This is

an interesting fact that some companies are inherently immune to attrition,

whereas some companies fail to control attrition despite desperate efforts.

Almost every sector in India is facing high rates of attrition these days. A

recent study revealed that employees leave either because of compensation

reasons or due to better growth opportunities. According to NASSCOM,

Indian IT-ITES industry recorded US$ 49.6 billion in revenues in 2007-08. The

revenue of US$ 55-60 billion has been projected in 2008-09 at a growth rate

of 28-30 per cent. The IT industry's contribution to GDP was 8.6 per cent in

2008-09.

The Following graph describes the Attrition Rates in Different Sectors In India.


Chart 2.1: Attrition Rates

Source: NASSCOM Report (www.nasscom.org)

Though the IT/ITES sector is booming, it is constantly facing high attrition

rates of 25% - 30%. Even the big brands are also facing the same problem.

Below are the details of attrition rates of various players in the IT sector.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

FMCG

Man

ufac

turin

g

Capi

tal G

oods

Cons

truc

tion

Non

Voi

ce B

PO

IT/I

TES

Tele

com

Phar

mac

eutic

als

Biot

echn

olog

y

Serv

ices

Fina

ncia

l

Avia

tion

Reta

il

Voic

e Ba

sed

BPO

Perc

enta

geAttrition Rates in 2008


Chart 2.2: Attrition Rates in IT Companies

Source: NASSCOM Report (www.nasscom.org)

Inspite of being IT giants, the 4 companies, namely Wipro, Satyam, Infosys

and TCS are facing high attrition rates. They are facing problems in retaining

their employees irrespective of the fact that they are providing an attractive

compensation packages to their employees. TCS, Infosys and Wipro faced

high attrition rate as compared to Satyam.

Wipro: The attrition rate of Wipro is 16.2% during the last quarter of 2006-07.

On annual basis, the attrition rate of Wipro BPO was 48 %. The main reasons

being told are the odd working hours and the higher studies. The attrition

rates of Wipro’s IT Division rose up to a 20.3% during the year 2008-09.

Wipro’s attrition rate is the highest in the industry.

Infosys: Attrition rate for Infosys for the period April-June 2009 was 11.9%.

But now it has increased to 13.7%, same as in the last quarter.

TCS: The attrition rate for TCS is 11.5 %, up from 10.6% last year.

0

5

10

15

20

25

Sask

en

Nuc

leus

Geo

met

ric

Flex

tron

ics

HCL

Info

sys

NIIT

Tec

hono

logi

es

Wip

ro

TCS

Info

sys

Perc

enta

ge

Attrition Rates in IT Companies


TALENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES IN IT SECTOR

Software is a wealth and job creating industry, which has in just a few years,

grown to US $ 1 trillion, employing millions of professionals worldwide. The

Indian software industry has burgeoned, showing a nearly 50% compounded

annual growth rate over the recent years. Being a knowledge-based industry,

a high intellectual capital lends competitive advantage to a firm. Intellectual

capital comprises human capital and intellectual assets, the latter being any

created bit of knowledge or expertise. With a global explosion in market-

opportunities in the IT sector, the shortage of manpower both in numbers and

skills is a prime challenge for HR professionals. The related issues are varied

indeed: recruitment of world-class workforce and their retention,

compensation and career planning, technological obsolescence and

employee turnover.

WORKFORCE RETENTION AND MOTIVATION

Retention and motivation of personnel are major HR concerns today. People,

a Gartner group company specializing in management of human capital in IT

organizations has observed that the average tenure for an IT professional is

less than three years. Further, the use of new technologies, the support of

learning and training, and a challenging environment ranked higher than

competitive pay structures as effective retention practices. A recent survey of

1028 software professionals from 14 Indian software companies, showed that

while the professional gave importance to personal and cultural job-fit, HR

managers believed that the key to retention was salary and career

satisfaction. Money was a prime motivator for 'starters', but for those into their

third or fourth jobs, their value-addition to the organization was more

important. Monetarily, offering 'the best salaries in industry' is the minimum

every company is doing, apart from performance-based bonuses, long-service

awards, and stock options. Many organizations frequently conduct employee

satisfaction and organization climate surveys, and are setting up Manpower

Allocation Cells (MAC) to assign 'the right project to the right person'. In fact,


some are even helping employees with their personal and domestic

responsibilities to satisfy & motivate their workforce.

COMPENSATION AND REWARD

Increasing demands of technology coupled with a short supply of

professionals (with the requisite expertise) has increased the costs of

delivering the technology. This makes incentive compensation a significant

feature, with the result that software companies have moved from

conventional pay-for-time methods to a combination of pay-for-knowledge and

pay-for-performance plans. With the determinants of pay being profit,

performance and value-addition, emphasis is now on profit sharing (employee

stock option plans) or performance-based pay, keeping in view the long-term

organizational objectives rather than short-term production-based bonuses.

Skills, competencies, and commitment supercede loyalty, hard work and

length of service. This pressurizes HR teams to devise optimized

compensation packages, although compensation is not the motivator in this

industry.

In a volatile economy, businesses need to optimize the value created by their

executives through effective reward and compensation programs that reduce

costs, maximize financial efficiency and, at the same time, motivate key staff

members.

As more and more organizations face continuing talent shortages and reward

plans that fail to ultimately payout, an integrated approach to tax, finance and

human resources matters is required.

Clearly, first-class employee compensation packages are a prerequisite for

companies that want to attract and retain high-caliber, skilled employees. The

problem is, the costs of such programs can be overwhelming. Insurance

packages alone have become a contentious point as the cost of healthcare

continues to sky rocket. Plus, companies are already feeling the affects of

declining population growth and the dramatic increase in older workers, which

again will push up compensation and benefit costs over the next few decades.


Even outside of healthcare issues, compensation strategies—both during the

time an employee’s working life and after retirement—can be complex to

devise and difficult to maintain. However, as per any savvy business

professional, by aligning your compensation and performance management

programmes (base pay, perquisites, short-term and long-term incentives) with

the business objectives, can gain a competitive advantage over the market

rivals. The situation, market context, and challenges are unique and require a

tailor-made solution; in other words every organization needs a customized

remuneration structure based on internal job classifications, appropriate

career paths, and a performance management system that is also responsive

to the shareholders’ objectives.

In short, the value created by the organization’s workforce needs to outweigh

payroll and accounting expenses. And, while executive compensation often

garners the most scrutiny, costs associated with wider employee reward plans

also need to be addressed.

A comprehensive compensation and benefits package should be designed to

attract, retain, and reward the people necessary to create longer-term growth

and profitability. Wherever possible, the organization should provide the ability

for employees to participate in a range of compensation programs, which

allow employees to share in the organization’s financial success through

profit-sharing and stock programs; and innovative benefits that help

employees and their families achieve improved quality of life and financial

security.

A comprehensive package should include the following:

• Provides financial rewards based on individual performance;

• Shares the company's financial success with employees; and,

• Provides employees with a range of health care, insurance coverage,

paid leave and employee development opportunities.

The graph below illustrates the percentage of companies offering different

types of common benefits


Chart 2.3 Common Benefits offered by Companies

Source: Shruti Ambegaoker (2008) Watson Wyatt Research Report

An examination of the percentage of companies from different sectors

providing various benefits clearly states that the number of companies

providing various benefits in the IT sector is very low compared to the other

sectors.

Table 2.2 shows a comparative study between different sectors in terms of the

types of benefits given to the employees.

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Gratuity

Provident Fund

Hospitalisation Cover

Personal Accident Insurance

Car Program

Company Accomodation

Personal Loan

Percentage

Common Benefits Offered by Companies


Table 2.2 : Comparative Study of Sectors in terms of Benefits

Benefits Offered Percentage Of Companies Providing

General Industry

Auto Ancillary Pharmaceutical IT ITES FMCG

Gratuity 100 100 100 100 100 100 Provident Fund 92 89 93 100 100 95 Housing Loan 36 22 46 20 6 8

Hospitalisation Cover 84 67 80 91 95 73 Personal Accident

Insurance 78 67 79 95 85 61

Company Accommodation 64 56 53 21 25 47

Car Program 68 56 87 53 78 61 Superannuation 44 33 80 30 9 42 Personal Loan 61 33 23 29 11 44 Vehicle Loan 32 22 27 40 6 8

Club Membership 27 22 33 25 18 44 Group Term Life

Insurance 40 22 36 57 41 37

Regular Medical Check Up 48 56 53 46 39 50

Hard Furnishing 20 27 13 17 Employee Education

Scheme 27 22 7 47 53 11

House Rent Deposit Scheme 8 18 30 4

Source: Shruti Ambegaoker (2008), Watson Wyatt Research Report

CAREER GROWTH

One of the key retention challenges is meeting people's career expectations.

Inevitably, many people want to move upwards quickly; sometimes this just

isn't possible.

What you need to do is discuss expectations from the very beginning. Some

seemingly ideal candidates don't seem quite so attractive once you realise

that they expect to be promoted almost straight away, otherwise they'll be off,

causing more disruption, more trouble than it's worth. Other candidates,

perhaps slightly less driven, less ambitious, may be a better fit for your


situation, their aspirations in line with your company's typical career

progression timeframes.

Current employees may also have unrealistic expectations. In this case, their

manager or supervisor needs to use a bit of imagination, creativity, flexibility,

to see if a compromise can be reached. Perhaps providing some

developmental coaching so the employee can gain the skills they need to gain

a promotion.

It is no use simply telling employees that their expectations are unrealistic,

that almost inevitably sends them towards the exit door. There needs to be a

sense of progress, a clear pathway towards their medium term and longer

term career goals. There needs to be a reason to stay around.

GOOD WORK ENVIRONMENT

Sometimes the relationship with the management and the peers becomes the

reason for an employee to leave the organization. The management is

sometimes not able to provide an employee a supportive work culture and

environment in terms of personal or professional relationships. There are

times when an employee starts feeling bitterness towards the management or

peers. This bitterness could be due to many reasons. This decreases

employee’s interest and he becomes de-motivated. It leads to less satisfaction

and eventually attrition.

A supportive work culture helps grow employee professionally and boosts

employee satisfaction. To enhance good professional relationships at work,

the management should keep the following points in mind.

• Respect for the individual: Respect for the individual is the must in the

organization.

• Relationship with the immediate manager: A manger plays the role of a

mentor and a coach. He designs ands plans work for each employee. It

is his duty to involve the employee in the processes of the organization.


So an organization should hire managers who can make and maintain

good relations with their subordinates.

• Relationship with colleagues: Promote team work, not only among

teams but in different departments as well. This will induce competition

as well as improve the relationships among colleagues.

• Recruit whole heartedly: An employee should be recruited if there is a

proper place and duties for him to perform. Otherwise he’ll feel useless

and will be dissatisfied. Employees should know what the organization

expects from them and what their expectation from the organization is.

• Promote an employee based culture: The employee should know that

the organization is there to support him at the time of need. Show them

that the organization cares and he’ll show the same for the

organization. An employee based culture may include decision making

authority, availability of resources, open door policy, etc.

• Individual development: Taking proper care of employees includes

acknowledgement to the employee’s dreams and personal goals.

Create opportunities for their career growth by providing mentorship

programs, certifications, educational courses, etc.

• Induce loyalty: Organizations should be loyal as well as they should

promote loyalty in the employees too. Try to make the current

employees stay instead of recruiting new ones.

BEING THE BEST PALCE TO WORK WITH

Just as with any other profession, what really matters to software

professionals is selecting 'the best place to work with' which is what every

company is striving to be. The global nature of this industry and the 'project-

environment' (as opposed to product environment) has added new cultural

dimensions to these firms. In a value-driven culture, values are determined

and shared throughout the organization. Typically, areas in which values are

expressed are: performance, competence, competitiveness, innovation,

teamwork, quality, customer service, and care and consideration for people.

Flat structure, open and informal culture, authority based on expertise and


ability rather than position, and flexi-timings are some of the norms software

firms follow. The idea is to make the work place a 'fun place' with the hope of

increasing loyalty and commitment.

Hiring and retaining great employees is a key factor in the success of your

business. Without the right people with the right skills, your business can’t

consistently fulfill your customer’s needs. Great employees support your

business success and also allow you, the business owner, to fulfill your role

as the entrepreneurial leader. Without effective managers to lead and

organize the work of the business, and technicians to do the work, you

wouldn’t have the time to focus on the critical strategy that drives your

business.

UPGRADATION OF SKILLS THROUGH RETRAINING

Rapid and unpredictable technological changes, and the increased emphasis

on quality of services are compelling software businesses to recruit adaptable

and competent employees. Software professionals themselves expect their

employers provide them with all the training they may need in order to perform

not only in their current projects, but also in related ones that they may

subsequently hold within the organization. As observed by Watts Humphrey,

Fellow of the Carnegie Mellon University, "as software professionals gain

competence, they do not necessarily gain motivation. This is because a

creative engineer or scientist who has learned how to accomplish something

has little interest in doing it again. Once they have satisfied their curiosity,

they may abruptly lose interest and seek an immediate change". And when

the rate of technological change is high may be higher than the time required

to acquire competence in one area professionals could undergo psychological

turbulence owing to the need to work in a new technology throughout their

career. They want to gain new knowledge, which will be utilized by their

organization. On the basis of the new learning they want to work in higher

segments of software value chain. Therefore, constant up-gradation of

employee skills poses yet another challenge for HR personnel.

New employee orientation, or new employee onboarding, is a significant

factor in helping new employees hit the ground running. Training that helps


each employee grow their skills and knowledge to better perform their current

job is appreciated as a benefit. Training also increases employee loyalty, and

thus retention, and helps you attract the best possible employees.

The American Society for Training and Development has traditionally

recommended a minimum of 40 hours of training a year for every employee.

This is consistent with the emphasis employees place on the opportunity to

grow and develop both their skills and career while in your employ. The

chance for ongoing development, is one of the top five factors employees

want to experience at work. In fact, the inability of an employee to see

progress is an often cited reason for leaving an employer.

CONCLUSION

With the advent of a work situation where more and more companies are

having to concede that their valued employees are leaving them, a new

concept of career and human resource management is bound to emerge. The

focus of this new paradigm should not only be to attract, motivate and retain

key 'knowledge workers', but also on how to reinvent careers when the loyalty

of the employees is to their 'brain ware' rather than to the organization.

With lifetime employment in one company not on the agenda of most

employees, jobs will become short term. Today's high-tech employees desire

a continuous up-gradation of skills, and want work to be exciting and

entertaining a trend that requires designing work systems that fulfill such

expectations. As employees gain greater expertise and control over their

careers, they would reinvest their gain back into their work.

HR practitioners must also play a proactive role in software industry. As

business partners, they need to be aware of business strategies, and the

opportunities and threats facing the organization. As strategists, HR

professionals require to achieve integration and fit to an organization's

business strategy. As interventionists, they need to adopt an all-embracing

approach to understanding organizational issues, and their effect on people.

Finally, as innovators, they should introduce new processes and procedures,

which they believe will increase organizational effectiveness.


Chapter 3 Factors affecting

Employee Retention in Wipro


Chapter 3 FACTORS AFFECTING EMPLOYEE RETENTION IN WIPRO This chapter helps to understand the major talent management strategies

adopted by Wipro Technologies to retain its best talent. Retention is a major

issue for any major player and an even bigger concern for Wipro for its

highest rate of attrition in the industry. This chapter studies all the talent

management strategies in comparison to other major players in the IT sector

so as to understand where Wipro can make minor modifications in its

strategies to be rated the best in the industry.

INTRODUCTION

Talent retention is identified as the second top HR challenge to critically meet

the business demands beyond tomorrow. Organizations can use a

combination of five strategies viz., pay and benefits, career growth, learning

and development, work environment and job satisfaction to create and retain

a pool of talented employees for the organization. Successful companies

assign the same importance to employer branding as they give to product

branding which help them in becoming an employer of choice. They are

continuously innovating and inventing new ways to keep talented employees

stick to the organization which is changing the face of talent management in

India.

Now more than ever in the history of business, it is imperative for the

organizations to manage people well. The shift from industrial age to the

knowledge worker’s age is sweeping the country, in fact the whole world. In

today’s information economy, people’s knowledge, skills, and relationships

are an organization’s biggest asset and main source of competitive

advantage. People related costs have risen to more than two thirds of


organizational spending. Increasingly, talent attraction and retention is viewed

as a significant driver of shareholder value and bottom line results.

Hewitt Best Employers in Asia 2005 study clearly shows that best employers

record over 60 percent higher revenue growth, 30 percent higher growth in

revenue per employee and half the recruitment costs of the rest.

A K Balyan, HR Executive Director of ONGC Ltd, describes one of his most

important tasks as a “fight to end, the flight of talented professionals” from his

organization.

The fight so far has been immensely successful, Balyan says, as ONGC has

been able to hang on to its talent pool despite the entry of so many

multinationals and private sector competitors after liberalization.

According to a survey done by the All India Management Association (AIMA),

90 per cent of Indian companies have talent retention problems.

The last decade has seen acute problems in sourcing right talent, rising

attrition rates, decreasing retention rates, and poaching of star employees by

competitors. To deal with the problems companies resorted to extensive

organizational change programmes and OD interventions from outside

consultants. These large scale programmes without any proper diagnose of

the prevailing problems resulted in more troubles rather than any fruitful

changes for the organizations.

TALENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES IN WIPRO

Talent Management basically requires proper diagnose of the current

employee attitudes and organizational culture and than targeting the problem

through a suitable strategy. Wipro does not have a Human Resource

Department; instead its entire Human Resource Wing is divided into different

departments that handle specialized issues. Wipro has a Talent Management

Department with highly qualified HR professionals targeting the problem of

employee attitudes and culture and providing good solutions for retention. The


strategies adopted by the department to manage talent can be best depicted

by the Talent Management Matrix as shown in Chart 3.1

Chart 3.1 Talent Management Matrix

Source: Lily Berry (1997), Psychology at Work

As shown in figure the strategies to attract and retain talent viz. pay &

benefits, learning and development, work environment and job satisfaction

can range from highly individual to communal and highly tangible to

intangible. Wipro uses a combination of these to succeed in their talent

management efforts.

The various talent management strategies and the success achieved by

Wipro and its competitors by using these strategies are discussed below:

Talent Retention

Pay and Benefits

Career Growth

Learning and Development

Work Environment

Job Satisfaction


PAY AND BENEFITS

Pay is the most important factor responsible for keeping the employees in the

organizations. It should be kept competitive to ensure that the employees do

not defect to competitors. Wipro adopts various vehicles to validate and

benchmark its salary and employee emoluments. It participated in a market to

market exercise done by agencies that surveys compensation trends. It also

carries out continuous quick market exercises to validate trends in the market

place and findings of Benchmarking exercises.

Apart from offering competitive salaries, introducing variable pay component

in the total compensation package acts as a major morale booster for superior

performers.

IT & ITES players are using variable pay as a strategic tool not only to retain

but also for taking the best out of their employees. At Wipro, variable

component in pay at higher levels is between 30-50 percent whereas at lower

levels, it varies between 7-15 percent. At Infosys, Variable pay varies from 10-

30 percent, whereas at Polaris Software, it varies from 5 percent at lower

levels to 25 percent at senior-most level.

Only 85 percent of IT companies had variable pay plans in 2005, compared to

89 percent in 2008. Significantly, variable pay as a percentage of total

compensation has increased from an average of 11.5 percent to nearly 19

percent across all sectors.

Many organizations today actively differentiate high performers, and in the

2007-08 study high performers received double the salary increase of an

average performer.

Sectors also display differentiation in their appetite for variable pay. The

increase in the variable pay among various industry sectors is shown in Table

3.1


Table 3.1 Growing Variable Pay among various Industry Sectors

Industry Variable Pay in 2005 Variable Pay in 2008

Manufacturing 11% 16.2%

Banking 13.5% 23.2%

IT 10.9% 13.7%

ITES 12.9% 16.4%

Telecommunications 14% 17.8%

FMCG 19.2% 23.5%

Source: Vaishvanath, Sharad (2006), The evolving rewards landscape in

India

Hewitt’s research also shows that the services sectors offer variable pay more

than capital intensive sectors. The success of a services company lies in its

people, and therefore service-oriented organizations are more willing to

include a higher variable pay component in their compensation structures.

Wipro runs offices both in India and abroad. The salary brackets of the

employees classified according to the ranks are given in Table 3.2

Table 3.2: Payscale of Employee at Wipro

Employee Class No of Employees Salary (Rs/Month)

A+ Class 128 120000 U.S $

A Class 1240 150000

B+ Class 33000 60000

B Class 22000 40000

Technician 4000 35000

Zero level 3440 10000

Source: Steve Hamm (2007), Bangalore Tiger

Offering flexible benefits is another way to raise employee satisfaction. In

India, some 10-15 percent of companies allow executives to make their own

mix of salary packages. Wipro has adopted a flexible pay system in which all


managerial employees can design their own compensation package based on

their individual needs like car, furnishings, etc. Wipro (HR) Head believes that

this flexibility in compensation structuring helps satisfy individual needs better

at different stages in his career or life. Some other companies, such as Marico

and Accenture have similar approach.

Another area in which employers need to look while framing the retention

strategy, is Employee Benefits, such as, free medical & transport facilities,

company accommodation, life insurance, savings and investment plans,

employee stock option plans (ESOP), paid holidays, tax assistance, credit

cards and the list is endless.

Wipro has a group insurance scheme for its 9000 employees in Hyderabad

where each employee is covered to the tune of Rs. 5 Lakhs. The provider of

this policy is ICICI Prudential. The insured employees did not have to undergo

any prior medical examination. It is also has an Employee Stock Offer Plan

(ESOP). Under the plan, about 110 top performers have been offered 152,000

warrants, which can be exercised to buy the company’s shares within the lock

in period of five years. Wipro also provides Cab Service from the city to the

respective campus to protect employees from a 60-minute harrowing drive

through the crowded roads. Wipro offices also have bank extension counters.

TCS on the other hand offers a number of benefits to employees such as

loans for housing, personal computers, durable consumer goods, and

automobiles; medical insurance for employees and family; Air fares for

spouse and two children; medical insurance coverage; bank extension

counters; welfare trust facilitation for higher education and retirement benefits.


CAREER GROWTH

A promotion is the advancement of an employee's rank or position in an

organizational hierarchy system. In Wipro, promotion may be an employee's

reward for good performance i.e. positive appraisal. Before the company

promotes an employee to a particular position it ensures that the person is

able to handle the added responsibilities by screening the employee with

interviews and tests and giving them training or on-the-job experience.

As per Guidelines for supervisory employees’ promotion/up gradation,

applicable to the present year, Manager (HR) prepares the list of eligible

employees. Simultaneously, V P (HR) also asks for recommendations from

HODs. A comprehensive list is then prepared by Manager (HR) and submitted

to the EPPP which is announced by the Site President, for Executive and

Manager Family, and by the Group President (MSD), for Leader Family.

Bases of Promotion:-

1. Seniority:-

Seniority simply depends upon how long the employees is doing job with the

company. The length of service and talent are both interrelated with each

other. It is based on the tradition of respect for older people. It creates a

sense of security among employees and avoids conflict arising from

promotion decision.

2. Merit:-

Merit implies the knowledge, skill and performance records of an employee.

It helps to motivate competent employee to work hard and acquire new skills.

It helps to attract and retain young and promising employees in the

organization.

On the above basis, promotion of employees is done in Wipro. Wipro also

prompts employee by conducting different case studies on different aspects of

Information Technology. Working at Wipro is very competitive and smart work

and projection is required for growth.


LEARNING AND DELVELOPMENT

The importance of Learning & Growth in order to retain ambitious employees

cannot be undermined especially when the competitors have a well

established training system. It not only acts as a way to attract and retain

employees but also provides competitive advantage by strengthening the

intellectual base of the company. According to Prashant Sachdeva, Business

Analyst, IT & Research, Elixir Web Solutions, “With the face of business

changing & knowledge worker increasing in almost all organizations, the

factor that currently retain people are opportunities to learn and grow.”

Training & Development of individuals is a key focus area at Wipro. Wipro

invests about 4 percent of its annual revenues in Learning and Development,

to build competency capital within the company in cutting edge technologies,

domain and functional areas. Special emphasis is placed on providing

necessary learning interventions to associates with potential of being leaders

in the company. Wipro has state of the art training facilities in all its delivery

centers. The centers are equipped with world-class infrastructure.

The Talent Transformation Division handles this in Wipro. For those with

less than one year of experience a well-structured induction training program

is conducted. This will cover all aspects of software development skills that

are required.

As a PCMM Level 5 organization, there is also high focus on Competency

Development. Talent Transformation Department has a mandate to provide

technical & business skill training based on the departmental and divisional

need. All employees are eligible to take training based on the competency

gap identified or Project need.

In addition to class room training the employees can take e-Learning with out

waiting for class room training. However the training calendar for each quarter

is rolled out at the beginning of the quarter so that employees can make

themselves free for the desired training.


Compliance and Regulatory training is an important aspect in today’s

regulated environment and is often implemented as part of one of Wipro’s

corporate initiatives.

Wipro Leaders’ Qualities Survey, which started in 1992, is one of the oldest

leadership development initiatives. It has successfully contributed nurturing

top class business leaders in Wipro. There are 8 Wipro Leadership Qualities,

which are based on Wipro vision, values and business strategy. In order to

identify and help leaders develop these competencies Wipro adopts a 360-

degree survey process. This is an end-to-end program, which starts with the

obtaining of feedback from relevant respondents and ends with each leader

drawing up a Personal Development Plan (PDP) based on the feedback

received. The PDP is developed through “Winds of Change” which is a

seven-step program that helps in identifying strengths and

improvement areas, and determining the action steps.

Chart 3.2: The Leadership Development framework at Wipro

Source: The learning and development section, www.wipro.com

Wipro Leader

Objective Setting

Competency Based

Performance Appraisal

WLQ 360 degree

CSS customer

inputsMeet your

people program

HR Review and

Planning

Early opportuniti

es

Lifecycle Leadership Programme


Wipro has developed an approach for Life Cycle Stage Development Plan.

Training and development programs at various stages have been designed by

mapping the competencies to specific roles. Competencies specify the

specific success behaviors at every role.

• Entry-level program (ELP) - The program covers the junior

management employees with the objective of developing managerial

qualities in the employee. The target group is campus hires and lateral

hires at junior level.

• New Leaders’ Program (NLP) - It is popularly known as NLP and aims

at developing potential people managers, who have taken such roles or

are likely to get into those roles in the near future.

• Wipro Leaders’ Program (WLP) - This program is for middle level

leader with people, process, and business development and project

management responsibilities. These leaders are like the flag bearers of

Wipro values and Wipro way of doing business.

• Business Leaders’ Program (BLP) - This is for senior leaders with

business responsibility. At this level, people are trained up for revenue

generation; and Profit & Loss responsibilities. The program covers

commercial orientation, client relationship development, and team

building and performance management responsibilities among other

things.

• Strategic Leaders’ Program (SLP) - This program covers top

management employees. The focus is on Vision, Values, Strategy,

Global Thinking and Acting, Customer Focus and Building Star

Performers. Wipro ties up with leading business schools of

international repute to conduct this program for Wipro leaders.

Most IT corporations are becoming familiar with the use of virtual meeting

rooms and on-demand information gathering tools. Patni Computers employs

a software called ‘Centra’ which enables them to create a virtual classroom to

conduct training for people across multiple locations. According to Sunil

Kuwalekar, Senior Vice President – Learning & Leadership Development,


Patni Computer Systems Limited, the effectiveness of Centra is almost 90

percent of classroom training.

GOOD ENVIRONMENT

Factors such as organizational climate & culture, communication system,

participation & recognition, recreation, etc form the working environment

which is the major factor responsible for establishing a long-term bond

between the individual and the organization. A healthy corporate culture of

caring for the workers, community and environment will strengthen the social-

spiritual capital, leading to a positive work climate of empowered and

supported workers.

The communication system prevailing in the organization determines the

manner in which employees receive information from the management.

TCS has an open door policy in which any employee can approach the CEO

or the top management with work related problems. Open-house sessions

and engagement programmes allow the employees at all levels meet and

discuss various work issues. Employees can also take part in one-on-one

sessions where they can interact privately with senior management. These

sessions are helpful in providing mentorship, as well as understanding real-life

issues that colleagues face at work. The queries and discussions are formally

recorded and followed up.

At Infosys, InSync is the internal communication program focused on keeping

the Infoscion abreast of latest corporate and business developments, and

equipping him or her to be a "brand ambassador" for the company. This

program combines a communication portal with workshops, monthly

newsletters, articles, daily cartoons and brainteasers to synchronize each

Infoscion with the organization.

Feedback system also plays a major role in building positive work culture in

organizations as it provides a channel by which the problems and grievances

can be heard by the top management and also a medium by which top


management can be updated by the market conditions by the employees

which are in direct contact with the market.

Wipro as an organization believes in connecting and listening people. The

various communication and feedback programmes at Wipro are depicted in

Table 3.3.

Table 3.3 Communication and Feedback Programmes in Wipro

Channel W Channel W is the employee portal at

Wipro which creates a de facto ‘Wipro

community’ by allowing Wiproites to

interact and disseminate information

on things they most cherish. The

intranet ensures that the entire

organization is wired and there is

meaningful exchange of information /

views across domains and

geographies. Key sections encourage

employee participation and

communication through bulletin

boards and chat rooms.

W10 W10 is a dipstick survey with 10

questions which checks the

satisfaction level on issues, which

affect the health of the workplace and

supervisory effectiveness. The

feedback given by employees is

shared with management through

scorecards.

Employee Perception Survey Wipro conduct employee satisfaction

surveys every two years. Employees

are encouraged to give comments

and rank the organization on certain


areas satisfaction drivers. Top

management then prepares a timely

action plan to address the areas of

concern and task forces are created

to focus on improvement areas and

implement action.

Action plan (Meet your people

program)

The W10 scores provide the trigger to

managers /supervisors to meet their

teams and resolve issues which

create dissatisfaction in the

workplace.

Skip Level Wipro believe that team feedback is

an important parameter of leadership

development as well as team

cohesiveness. A Skip level meeting is

a formal team feedback session

facilitated by HR as well as the

supervisor’s supervisor. This is an

institutionalized process in Wipro and

managers see great merit in it as they

get feedback from the team that

affects team performance and can

make mid-course corrections to

improve effectiveness at work.

Source: Employee Feedback, Career Section, Wipro Website,

www.wipro.com

Next comes the Recognition & Rewards (R & R) programs which are the most

cost effective medium to ensure that talented employees stick to the

organization.


According to Anuradha Purbey, Associate Director (HR), Aviva Life insurance,

“Since ‘pure’ monetary means were losing their steam, Corporates came up

with innovative alternatives which were high on ‘emotional’ quotient and low

on ‘monetary cost’.”

Explaining how R & R works as a motivating tool, Harish Govind, GM (HR)

Blue Star Infotech says, “It is a motivator both for the person who is receiving

the reward and the others who are witnessing this event. The message goes

home is, today it’s this person, tomorrow it could be you, if you keep up a

good performance.”

Recognition & Rewards comes in many shades: acknowledgement from a

senior cash incentives, gift certificates, stock plans, certificates of

appreciation, opportunities to attend management workshops and training

sessions, membership associations to exclusive clubs, scholarships and paid

sabbaticals, holiday packages, etc.

Table 3.4: Recognition and Rewards Programmes at Wipro

Encore Wipro has a unique package called

‘Encore’ which is essentially a basket

of non-monetary rewards given to

motivate employees and recognize

excellent work performance. The

basket of rewards comes at two

levels- individual level and the

organization level:

Feather-In-My-Cap

Dear Boss

At individual level one award is

‘Feather-In-My-Cap’ which is¬ on-the-

spot recognition of an effort that is

important to a project team. Another

award is ‘Dear Boss’ which

recognizes the positives of a good


boss.

Mastermind

Hall of Fame

At organizational level one award is

‘Mastermind’ which notes the¬ most

innovative solution or idea in Wipro.

Another award is ‘Hall of Fame’ which

recognizes the superlative performers

in different roles as well as superlative

team performance.

Source: Rao, K Raghavendra (2004) Are you rewarding right; Indian

Management

Further, developing social ties among key employees through recreational

activities such as clubs, sports, etc., companies can significantly reduce

turnover among workers who are high on affection need.

Work-life programmes for employees such as health clubs, yoga & aerobic

classes, sports facilities, stress management programmes, cultural initiatives,

etc not only directly help organizations in increasing the satisfaction level of

employees, but also indirectly contribute to its financial performance by

improving the employee capability to perform.

To motivate the employees of the company, Wipro organizes different sports

tournaments i.e. Cricket, Volleyball, Table Tennis, Badminton etc. For the

recreation of the employee, there are company organized gets to gather once

in a year with their family. The purpose of the club membership is to meet

the other members of the industrial community and interact with them for

relation personnel leisure. This facility is provided only to the SMC and above.


JOB SATISFACTION

Benefits and high profits are key essentials when it comes to having a high

job satisfaction among the company’s employees and a low turnover rate.

Google Inc., the number one company at which to work for two straight years

according to Fortune Magazine, seems to have job satisfaction down to a “T.”

This company goes above and beyond the typical benefits, providing free

gourmet meals, onsite oil changes, onsite car washes, a $500 voucher for

takeout food after the birth of a child, a free annual ski trip, unlimited sick

days, and more. An individual arriving on a Google campus feels like they

are on a high-scale college campus. The joke going around on the Google

campus says one could gain the campus-15 due to the free food. All of

Google’s benefits cause their turnover numbers to stay low while there

remains a long list of employee hopefuls.

Wipro focuses on job satisfaction in order to keep employees with their

company and receive a better output from their employees. Wipro realizes

that providing flexible timings to employees is not the only way of increasing

job satisfaction. Wipro endows responsibilities to its employees and lets the

employee utilize his responsibility. Another measure taken is to respect and

nurture every employee’s work life balance. Sessions are conducted on the

importance of work life balance. In Wipro, every employee career path is

marked out, helping the employee work correctly and therefore giving the

company very satisfied employees.


Chapter 4 Data Analysis and

Interpretation


Chapter 4 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION This chapter represents an empirical analysis of the data pertaining to study

collected through the questionnaires and personal interviews. It presents the

study through the use of statistical tools so as to provide validity to the

hypothesis and assumptions made. The chapters also presents the

interpretations made from the data.

INTRODUCTION

Hiring is the core activity for any company with more than one employee.

Retention, on the other hand, can be viewed as a non-core activity or

something that occurs organically. Leadership comments such as “people

should be happy to just have a job,” or “we are so busy working with our

customers,” or “we need to reach profitability” are focus-stealing excuses

diverting leaders from the activities to retain wonderful team members

recruited so diligently by the company.

Simply put, retention is securing your talent for the long term and

advancement of the company. The depth and quality of your retention

practices today will distinguish you as a talent winner from the talent losers

when the economic recovery begins.

It is not unusual to have a talent and recruitment shuffle during recovery as

team members seek a more fulfilling opportunity. When you consider the high

cost of finding the right team member, it is surprising to see companies not

spend more time and effort on retention.

If you want to understand what it is really costing your company to lose

employees, examine your turnover rates for the last five years. Put a number

on the cost of lost intellectual company knowledge, talent and reduced


productivity and then you might reconsider what it really costs to retain great

team members. The numbers can be staggering.

Creating and maintaining high employee morale is mission critical to retention

and more often than not a measure of the ultimate health of an organization.

Retaining your best employees ensures customer satisfaction, product sales,

satisfied co-workers, effective succession planning and deeply imbedded

organizational knowledge and learning.

The same goes for attracting great employees. Applicants often ask about a

company’s culture and professional development opportunities as well as

inquire about the support of management. Speaking directly about the

company retention program and sharing retention successes reassures the

applicant that the company is a fit for them.

Jonna Greene, vice president of human resources with La Tortilla Factory in

Santa Rosa stated: “First and foremost, you have to be the organization that

you present to the applicant. If ongoing training and professional development

are selling points offered by your company, you better deliver on your

promises. A key factor in employee motivation and retention is the

opportunity to grow and develop career-enhancing skills. In fact, this is one of

the most important factors stated in an applicant’s decision-making process.”

METHODOLOGY

Data Collection

Primary data was collected using questionnaires and personal interview. The

respondents were approached personally in order to seek fair and frank

responses on the factors affecting retention in the organization. Secondary

data has been collected from the internet, published reports and the fact

sheets Wipro Technologies and the NASSCOM website. For analysis of the

data, rank correlation and chi – square techniques have been applied.















Sample



global market, it is deemed appropriate to analyse one of the leading





RESPONDENT PROFILE

The data was collected from 30 respondents from the age group of 20 to 30

years and 30 respondents from the age group of 30 to 40 years.

Overall experience in the industry:

Generally, people stick to the same profession once they start. However, in

today’s world, a complete shift is career is nothing new. It is important to

understand the overall experience of the employee in the industry to

understand his needs and what his requirements are. This enables the

organization to understand whether the employee is looking for a change or

whether he is dedicated to the profession he is in.

Chart 4.1: Experience Profile – Years in Industry

Source: Primary Data (Complied from tabulated responses)

Experience in Wipro Technologies:

Tabulating the number of years completed by an employee in the organization

under consideration, i.e. Wipro Technologies helps to understand how strong

the retention management strategies are. Wipro, with its high rate of attrition,

is known to have employees leaving the organization within the first 2 years of

joining. Moreover, the current trend the market would also state the same.

65%

28%

5% 2%

Experience Profile - Years in Industry

1 to 2 years

2 to 4 years

4 to 6 years

More than 6 years


Rarely, do employees remain in an organization for more than 2 or 3 years.

The main reasons that can be attributed to this are better pay and better

opportunities available outside. Hence it becomes the requirement of every

organization to retain its best talent to ensure that their competitor does not

take over the intellectual capital of the organization.

Chart 4.2: Number of years of the employee in Wipro

Source: Primary Data (complied from tabulated responses)

FACTORS AFFECTING RETENTION IN IT SECTOR

The problems affecting retention in the IT sector in general was studied from

the point of view of each of the employees. The 5 factors taken for this study,

viz. Pay and Benefits, Career Growth, Training and Development, Work

Environment and Job Satisfaction were introduced to the employees taken for

this study to understand their views on the same. The study finds that majority

of the employees feel that Career Growth and Training and Development of

their skills would be the reason why there generally is attrition in the IT sector.

People move from one company to another usually because of the jump in the

growth ladder. Sometimes, it is also found that employees leaving due to the

lack of training in the organization. Retraining of the skills of the employee is

very important. Technology is developing fast, and everyone needs to be

updated and trained in the upcoming technological advancements to make

65%

28%

5%

2%

Number of Years in Wipro

1 to 2 years

2 to 4 years

4 to 6 years

More than 6 years


sure that they are at par with others and to ensure fast advancement in the

career ladder.

Out of the 60 people considered for the study, the chart 4.3 depicts the

responses got for the factors affecting retention in IT sector.

Chart 4.3 Factors affecting retention in IT sector

Source: Primary Data (Compiled from tabulated responses)

PREFERNCE GIVEN TO DIFFERENT FACTORS BY THE TWO GROUPS

When the sample from age group from 20 to 30 years is considered, then

study is dealing with individuals who are either fresh into the industry or with

experience ranging from 2 to 4 years. The average ranking given by this

group was as follows:

Table 4.1: Rankings assigned by sample of 20-30 years

Factors Pay

Package Job

Satisfaction

Lack of Career Growth

Problems with

Supervisors

Lack of Training and Development

Rankings 1 2 3 4 5 Source: Primary Data (Compiled from tabulated responses)

Pay and Benefits

Career Growth

Training and Development

Work Environment

Job Satisfaction

Number 17 16 19 6 2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Factors affecting Retention in IT sector


This sample is relatively young in the industry. Hence, for them their pay

package and career growth plays a vital role. They are up to date with the

technological aspects and therefore would not feel the need for immediate

training and development.

When the study deals with an age group of 30 – 40 years, the following is the

mean of the rankings given by the individuals.

Table 4.2: Rankings assigned by sample of 30-40 years

Factors Lack of Career Growth

Pay Package

Lack of training and development

Job Satisfaction

Problems with

supervisors Rankings 1 2 3 4 5 Source: Primary Data (Compiled from tabulated responses)

This sample deals with a group of individuals who have more experience in

the industry. For them, career growth plays an important role. They rate

training and development after that because for a quick career growth they

need to updated with the current case technologies. Hence, higher end

training and development should be provided by the company.

Basically for retention of employees, the organizations must concentrate on

pay package, career growth that is charting out a career plan for the

employees, and training and development of skills of the higher talent. This

can be shown by the following rank correlation between the two groups.

Table: 4.3 Rank Correlation Between the two age groups

Factors Age Group 20-30 years

Age Group 30–40 years

D=R1 – R2 D2

Pay Package 1 2 -1 1 Lack of career growth 3 1 2 4 Lack of training 5 3 2 4 Problem with supervisor

4 5 -1 1

Job satisfaction 2 4 -2 4 Source: Primary Data (Compiled from tabulated responses)


The correlation coefficient for the above table would be +0.3 showing that,

though there is a low degree of correlation different retention strategies should

be adopted for different groups.

FACTORS AFFECTING RETENTION IN WIPRO

Retention is a costly affair for any company. Wipro, with the highest rates of

attrition, needs to work really hard on its retention management strategies.

Wipro registered an attrition rate of 20.3% in the year 2008-2009. When an

employee leaves an organization, the organization not only looses out on the

cost of training the employees but also the loss of intellect from the talent

pool. Today, every organization is trying to increase its talent pool. The

organizations strive on their intellectual capital and any loss on the same hits

the company really hard. This is so because the projects undertaken by the

company would require talent of special expertise and loosing that level of

expertise would make it difficult for the company to complete the same project

or even take up a new one. It might also become difficult for the organization

to replace that employee as the time taken to further train the employee would

delay the deployment of the assignment the company has taken up. The case

with Wipro is no different. Wipro conducts campus recruitments in all major

engineering colleges in India. The number of recruits per year is large.

However, so is the level of attrition, the number of recruits barely balances the

number of cases of attrition per year. These effects the company’s cost and

the budget for the year concerned.

When asked about the reasons why people would generally leave Wipro, the

answers were varied. However, most employees agreed on some common

parameters. They feel they are not paid at par with industry standards. Some

feel that the training does not develop their skills enough. The following graph

(Chart 4.4) depicts the responses given by the employees.


Chart 4.4 Factors affecting retention in Wipro

Source: Primary Data (compiled from tabulated responses)

It can be basically summarized that the training and development programs

need to be given more importance in Wipro. In the changing market, everyone

is interested in how much more they can advance their skills so that they have

better market value and they can demand higher packages.

Each of the factors considered for the study i.e. Pay and Benefits, Career

Growth, Training and Development, Work Environment and Job Satisfaction,

is further individually studied as follows.

HYPOTHESIS



19

15

17

4

5

0 5 10 15 20

Pay and Benefits

Career Growth


Work Environmnet

Job Satisfaction

Factors affecting Retention in Wipro


Pay and Benefits

Compensation constitutes the largest part of the employee retention process.

The employees always have high expectations regarding their compensation

packages. Compensation packages vary from industry to industry. So an

attractive compensation package plays a critical role in retaining the

employees.

Compensation includes salary and wages, bonuses, benefits, prerequisites,

stock options, bonuses, vacations, etc.

These days, an attractive performance based pay also plays a very important

role. This is because it motivates an employee to perform better.

The study was conducted on two factors, viz. Performance based pay and the

benefits given to the employees. Performance based pay is accepted well by

majority of the employees. The component of performance based pay in the

pay in the pay structure is increasing year by year. However, on one hand

when performance based pay motivates an employee to work to his best, care

should also be taken to make sure that the component of performance based

pay should not be too stressful for the employee. It might so happen that an

employee was unable to perform for a particular period considered due to

some personal issues however he is generally at the top of the performance

rating.

Employee benefits typically refers to retirement plans, health life insurance,

life insurance, disability insurance, vacation, employee stock ownership plans,

etc. Benefits are increasingly expensive for businesses to provide to

employees, so the range and options of benefits are changing rapidly to

include, for example, flexible benefit plans. Benefits are forms of value, other

than payment, that are provided to the employee in return for their contribution

to the organization, that is, for doing their job.

Benefits keep up the employee morale and encourage the employee to stay

back in the organization, as benefits are the perks apart from the actual salary

they receive.

Chart 4.5:


Out of the sample size of 60 employees, 33 answered that performance

based pay is important to a large extent, 21 to some extent and 6 to little

extent. When asked about Benefits given

answered that it is significant to large extent, 24 to some extent and 16 to

large extent.

χ2 value between performance based pay and the benefits given to employees

is 7.9326 (>5.99) at 2 degrees of freedom. Thus the null h

and the alternative hypothesis is accepted. This proves that Pay and benefits

is significant for retention of employees.

Career Growth

Career Growth can be defined as a way of success where at every regular

interval you must have new

responsibilities to handle and most importantly new process to learn. And if

Performance Based Pay

Benefits

A Study of Employee Retention in

Chart 4.5: Responses for Pay and Benefits

Primary Data (compiled from tabulated responses)



extent. When asked about Benefits given to the employees, 20 employees


value between performance based pay and the benefits given to employees

is 7.9326 (>5.99) at 2 degrees of freedom. Thus the null hypothesis is rejected


is significant for retention of employees.

Career Growth


interval you must have new challenges to face, new activity to do, new


Large Extent Some Extent

Performance Based Pay 33 21

20 24

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Pay and Benefits





to the employees, 20 employees


value between performance based pay and the benefits given to employees

ypothesis is rejected



challenges to face, new activity to do, new


Little Extent

6

16

these things gets saturated at any environment then this indicates that it time

to bring about a change.

Drive, or focused concentratio

growth. Although taken for granted by many, concentration is not an easy

thing to achieve routinely. Improving productivity of oneself or ones workforce

is also often cited as an aim of career growth. Teachi

their own career growth and potential is one important part of this.

Chart 4.6:


In Wipro, 27 employees feel their career aspirations have been met

extent, whereas 24 employees their career aspirations have been met to a

little extent. However, when asked about mentoring, 23 said to large extent

and 25 said to some extent.

χ2 value is between these two points is 12.6778 (>

freedom, implying that we have to reject the null hypothesis and accept the

alternative hypothesis. This proves that career growth is significant for

retention of employees.

Career Aspirations

Mentoring

0

5

10

15

20

25

30



to bring about a change.

Drive, or focused concentration is generally identified as important to career



is also often cited as an aim of career growth. Teaching workers to improve


Chart 4.6: Responses for Career Growth


In Wipro, 27 employees feel their career aspirations have been met



and 25 said to some extent.

value is between these two points is 12.6778 (>5.99), at 2 degrees of



retention of employees.


27 9

23 25

Career Growth



n is generally identified as important to career



ng workers to improve



In Wipro, 27 employees feel their career aspirations have been met to large



5.99), at 2 degrees of



Little Extent

24

11



According to the recent review by Harvard Business Review, there is a direct

link between training investment of the companies and the market

capitalization. Those companies with higher training investment had higher

market capitalization. It clearly indicates that the companies which have

successfully implemented training programs have been able to deliver

customer goals with effective results. It shows that good training results in

enhancement of individual performance, which in turn, helps the organization

in achieving its business goals. Training is a tool that can help in gaining

competitive advantage in terms of human resource.

With the growing investment by IT companies in the development of their

employees many companies have now started their own learning centers. As

an example, Sun has its own training department. Accenture has Internet

based tool by the name of “My Learning” that offers access to its vast learning

resources to its employees. Companies are investing in both the technical

training, which has always been an essential part in IT industry, as well as in

managerial skills development. Companies now keep aside 3-5% of revenue

for training programs. As an example, some of the major players like

Accenture and Wipro are allocating 7% and 3% respectively of the company’s

overall revenue.

Chart 4.7:


Out of the 60 employees, 29 feel that the training and development

programmes are at par with industry standards only to

the study reveals that 36 people feel that they are provided equal opportunity

to attend training programmes only to some extent.

χ2 value between these two factors considered is 6.986 (>5.99), at 2 degrees

of freedom, which implies t

This proves that training and development is significant for employee

retention.

Work Environment

Given the backdrop of growing levels of attrition and shortage of employable

skilled talent, it is felt the

would be by building soft and intangible skills, better value systems and work

culture.

The Ex-Chairman of Satyam Computers, Mr. B. Ramalinga Raju, said building

world-class institutions called for better hu

At Par with Industry Standards

Equal Opportunity

10

15

20

25

30

35

40


Chart 4.7: Responses for Training and Development



programmes are at par with industry standards only to some extent. However,


to attend training programmes only to some extent.

value between these two factors considered is 6.986 (>5.99), at 2 degrees

of freedom, which implies that the alternative hypothesis should be accepted.


Work Environment


skilled talent, it is felt the best way to address the demand-


Chairman of Satyam Computers, Mr. B. Ramalinga Raju, said building

class institutions called for better human resource management skills,

Large Extent Some Extent Little Extent

At Par with Industry 15 29

Equal Opportunity 19 36

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40



Responses for Training and Development



some extent. However,


value between these two factors considered is 6.986 (>5.99), at 2 degrees

hat the alternative hypothesis should be accepted.



-supply mismatch


Chairman of Satyam Computers, Mr. B. Ramalinga Raju, said building

man resource management skills,

Little Extent

16

5

particularly in a knowledge

uniquely placed. Its strength lies in its large young talent pool.

"If one were to analyze the work patterns, nothing much separates one

individual from another, and an employee is as good or as bad as the

opportunity and the environment he gets to work. A conducive work

environment, where every individual employee is seen as a leader, actually

helps build better organisation, something we learnt a

Father N. Casimir Raj, XLRI, and Founder Director of LIBA, said, "There has

been a clear shift in the values and this has emerged as one of the key areas

of concern as this is being increasingly neglected. A new breed of self

approach stands out where the focus is on monetary benefits."

Chart 4.8:


Out of the 60 employees of Wipro considered for the study, 37 employees

responded that they are being appreciated for their work to large extent,

whereas 14 employees responded that they are being appreciated to a little

extent. 31employees responded that

Appreciation for Work

Managers friendly and approchable


particularly in a knowledge-driven industry. Unlike other countries, India is



al from another, and an employee is as good or as bad as the



helps build better organisation, something we learnt at Satyam," he said.



of concern as this is being increasingly neglected. A new breed of self

pproach stands out where the focus is on monetary benefits."

Chart 4.8: Responses for Work Environment





extent. 31employees responded that their managers are friendly and


Appreciation for Work 37 9

Managers friendly and approchable 31 22

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Work Environment


driven industry. Unlike other countries, India is



al from another, and an employee is as good or as bad as the



t Satyam," he said.



of concern as this is being increasingly neglected. A new breed of self-centric

pproach stands out where the focus is on monetary benefits."

Responses for Work Environment





their managers are friendly and

Little Extent

14

7


approachable to large extent. A friendly working atmosphere needs to be

maintained to ensure a healthy working atmosphere.

χ2 value between these two factors is 7.0678 (>5.99) at 2 degrees of freedom,

which proves that the null hypothesis should be rejected and the alternative

hypothesis should be accepted. Hence, a good work environment is

significant for retention of employees.

Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction describes how content an individual is with his or her job. The

happier people are within their job, the more satisfied they are said to be. Job

satisfaction is not the same as motivation, although it is clearly linked. Job

design aims to enhance job satisfaction and performance; methods include

job rotation, job enlargement and job enrichment. Other influences on

satisfaction include the management style and culture, employee involvement,

empowerment and autonomous work groups. Job satisfaction is a very

important attribute which is frequently measured by organizations. The most

common way of measurement is the use of rating scales where employees

report their reactions to their jobs. Questions relate to rate of pay, work

responsibilities, variety of tasks, promotional opportunities the work itself and

co-workers.

Job satisfaction is in regard to one's feelings or state-of-mind regarding the

nature of their work. Job satisfaction can be influenced by a variety of factors,

eg, the quality of one's relationship with their supervisor, the quality of the

physical environment in which they work, degree of fulfillment in their work,

etc.

Chart 4.9:


Out of the 60 employee

take pride in their work to large extent. However, when asked about their

knowledge about how their work reflects in the organization growth, 29 and 25

employees answered large extent and some extent respe

χ2 value between these two above factors is 11.4854 (>5.99) at 2 degrees of

freedom, which again implies that the null hypothesis is rejected and

alternative hypothesis is accepted. This means that Job Satisfaction is

significant for employee rete

Pride in Work

Reflection of Work on Org. Growth


Chart 4.9: Responses for Job Satisfaction


Out of the 60 employees considered for the study, 41 responded that they



employees answered large extent and some extent respectively.

value between these two above factors is 11.4854 (>5.99) at 2 degrees of



significant for employee retention.


41 10

Reflection of Work on Org. 29 25

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Job Satisfaction



s considered for the study, 41 responded that they



ctively.

value between these two above factors is 11.4854 (>5.99) at 2 degrees of



Little Extent

9

6


Chapter 5 Summary, Conclusions

and Suggestions


Chapter 5 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS In the present scenario, world is turning into a global village and the whole

globe is reachable from any destination. In this small world even companies

are reachable to the people and vice versa. Hence, the various job profiles

are available across the globe. In this situation, the biggest challenge for a

company is to retain its workforce intact especially the Knowledge Banks.

Every company is trying to increase its turnover to the very possible extent.

While in all this workout of increasing the turnover, they fail to notice the loss

incurred due to the los of employees and the expenses of hiring new

employees (Hiring Cost, Training Cost, Productivity Loss etc.) Hiring of new

employees normally costs around 35% or more of the average employee

salary. Moreover there is risk involved in getting the right employee for the

right position with the right attitude.

If an employee resigns, then a good amount of time is lost in hiring a new

employee and then training him/her. Moreover, recruitment and training

cannot assure the same level of efficiency from the new employee. Moreover,

one resignation brings about more, which can even bring the process to a

standstill.

For retention of employees, the HR manager needs to understand the

requirements of the employees and at the same time, the employees should

be clear about the organizational expectations. The organization should make

every employee accountable for his own job so that each employee feels that

he is important and significant for the organization which would lead to the

smooth functioning of the organization.


SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Employee retention is important for any organization despite the sector or its

specialization in the industry. This is for a multitude of reasons. For starters,

there are hidden costs associated with hiring just one employee. For every

lost employee, a business will have advertising and administrative expenses

to replace that employee such as the following:

• time spent reviewing and/or revising the job description;

• time spent drafting the ad;

• costs for running the ad;

• time and resources required for reviewing the resumes;

• time and resources required for interviewing the applicants;

• expenses related to background checks; and

• on-boarding, orientation and training, etc.

The bottom line is that businesses are looking to increase revenues. As

mentioned above, the recruiting and hiring expenses to replace just one

employee are substantial, which end up cutting into revenues. In addition to

that, an organization’s experienced employees are more likely to have higher

productivity levels, which help bring in increased revenues. On the other

hand, an organization’s profit and loss statements can be negatively impacted

by high employee turnover.

In fact, American businesses spend millions of dollars for turnover and

recruiting costs. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) says

that it can cost up to one and half times an employee’s starting annual salary

to replace that employee. So employers need to strategically and tactically

utilize their current talent to compete in this “war for talent.”


ROLE OF HR IN RETENTION

As every person differs from the other, there is no standard recipe to

handle an employee and his requirements. However, the reporting HR

manager of every employee is his connection to the organization. Researches

conducted across several organizations have consistently validated the

reality that the HR manager plays a significant role in influencing the

employee's commitment level and retention. There are a number of

retention practices HR managers can use to increase the probability that

an employee will remain committed to the organization over time. These

retention practices reflect the manager's attitude and actual relationship with

employees reporting to him.

Most organizations ask their managers to place highest priority for client

delight, productivity and timely delivery undermining delight of their employees

who actually run the show. Good retention practices work on a two way give

and take- based on not only what the employee contributes to the

organization, but what the organization gives back to the employee. One

such tool would be for managers to be accessed on the success rate of

retaining employees of their unit as one of the competencies of their Key

Performance Indicator (KPI) over a period of time. Finally such

performances could be linked with their incentives. When managers are held

accountable in this fashion, it ensures that the motivation to examine and

enhance retention practices is ever present.

While some enlightened leaders balance the needs of the organization with

the needs of the employee, the truth is that these leaders are rare. Though

managers play a very crucial role in retention, they do not control all of

the factors that can affect attrition. Therefore, the second component

represents the organization’s responsibility in the retention equation.

An ideal combination of the Organizational Retention Systems and managers’

positive attitude towards employee retention, when working in a

complimentary manner rather than contradictory manner is the best recipe for

achieving organizational objectives.


NEED FOR THE CURRENT STUDY

A study of employee retention is Wipro is essential for the following reasons:

• Wipro is emerging as one of the top global player in the IT sector

• The number of projects in Wipro has been increasing the last two years

• Wipro has the highest attrition rate in the IT industry at 20.3%

• The cost of attrition is very high and eats into the profits of the

company

• The loss from the knowledge pool is very high and can lead to bringing

projects to a standstill

• The cost and time involved in replacing an employee is very high and it

might effect the reputation of the company

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

3. To study the factors that affect employee retention in IT sector

4. To study the attributes that can be adjusted to retain employees in

Wipro Technologies.

HYPOTHESIS



METHODOLOGY















SAMPLE



global market, it is deemed appropriate to analyze one of the leading




TECHNIQUES OF ANALYSIS

The comparative study is done with the help of χ2. Mean and coefficient of

correlation have also been used for the analysis of the link between the two

groups of employees of the organization.

SOURCES OF DATA

The data required for the study is collected both from primary and secondary

sources. Primary data is collected by conducting personal interviews,

discussions with the employees and managers considered for the study. In

addition, data was collected through questionnaires, feedback, observations

etc.

Secondary data includes reports and records of the organizations for the past

two years and the data collected from the NASSCOM website on the rates of

attrition. Research studies conducted by individuals, institutions and agencies,

and various other journals were considered.

PERIOD OF THE STUDY

The study aims to understand the attributes affecting employee retention in

Wipro. The study spread over a period of two years i.e., from 2007 to 2009.


However, data pertaining to the period before that considered for the study

was also looked into depending upon the requirement for the study.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The data required for the present study was collected using questionnaires.

The data was collected from the employees of Wipro Technologies,

Gachibowli across the age group of 20 to 40 years.

Wipro’s global IT services business has 97,552 employees, including 16,500

in the BPO division. There are 2645 employees in Wipro, Hyderabad and

1453 employees in Wipro Technologies, Gachibowli. The sample represents a

4.1293% of the total headcount.

CHAPTERISATION

Chapter – I INTRODUCTION

The first chapter being introductory helps in understanding the importance of

HRM and Employee Retention in the IT industry. This chapter provides

information regarding the objectives, methodology, scope, statistical tools

appointed, chapterisation and also limitations. A major part of this chapter

consists of the literature review.

Chapter – II TALENT MANAGEMENT IN IT SECTOR

This chapter was taken up keeping the pressing problem of talent

management in mind. The chapter covers aspects and limitations of retention

in the IT sector and the factors affecting the same.

Chapter – III FACTORS EFFECTING EMPLOYEE RETENTION IN

WIPRO

Employee retention is a process in which the employees are encouraged to

remain with the organization for the maximum period of time or until the

completion of the project. Employee retention is beneficial for the organization


as well as the employee. This chapter examines the factors affecting retention

and the steps taken by Wipro to tackle these factors.

Chapter – IV DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

In current global market, companies are composed by competitors, regardless

of industry. To develop a competitive advantage, it is important that firms truly

leverage on the workforce as a competitive weapon. This chapter analyzes

the various factors affecting employee retention and the attributes that can be

adjusted to improve employee retention. It also presents a comparative study

between employees of two different age groups and the different

requirements of the two groups.

Chapter – V SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

This chapter being the last chapter gives conclusions and suggestions and

briefly explains the objectives, methodology, findings and limitations of the

study. This chapter also gives the scope for further study.

FINDINGS FROM THE STUDY

65% of the sample consisted of employees who have completed only 1 to 2

years in Wipro, whereas only 5% of the sample was in the 4 to 6 year bracket

and a mere 2% were above 6 years. This clearly indicates that the average

tenure of employee in organization is not very high.

According to the sample considered for the study, the factors affecting

retention in IT sector were quantified as follows:

• Lack of proper training and development (31.66%)

• Pay and benefits not at par with industry standards (28.33%)

• Lack of Career Growth (26.66%)

• Conducive Work Environment (10%)

• Lack of Job Satisfaction (3.33%)

Whereas the factors affecting retention in Wipro were quantified as follows:

• Lack of proper training and development (28.33%)

• Pay and benefits not at par with industry standards (31.66%)


• Lack of Career Growth (25%)

• Conducive Work Environment (6.66%)

• Lack of Job Satisfaction (8.33%)

This shows that the training and development programmes are not at par with

the other players and probably suggests that the pay and benefits are not at

par with industry standards. These factors can lead to a lower employee

morale leading to low level of job satisfaction.

From the study conducted it was found that the expectations and

requirements of employees who are in the age group of 20 to 30 yrs and 30 to

40 yrs are different. This is because; the employees who are in the age group

of 20 to 30 years are relatively new to the organization. The group who are in

the 30 to 40 age bracket are usually people who have a wider range of

experience ranging anywhere between 6 to 10 years.

The finds that though the requirements of the two groups are different a small

level of correlation (r=+0.3) exists between the groups showing that though

different, there are minor similar requirements like that of career growth.

Findings as per hypothesis



The test of chi square applied to the data collected in the study helped to

reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis; proving that

Pay and benefits, Career Growth, Training and Development, Work

Environment and Job Satisfaction are significant for employee retention.

The study shows that performance based pay is a very strong factor for

employee retention with more than 50% of the sample agreeing to the same.

The responses regarding benefits were rather varied.

The study reveals that people who feel their career aspirations have been met

and people who feel they haven’t follows almost a 1:1 ratio, with 27 feeling the

former and 24 feeling the latter. This could be due to the difference in age


groups considered. Whereas, the study clearly shows that mentoring is a

strong factor for career growth and hence for retention.

From the study it was learned that about 50% of the respondents felt training

programmes were at par with industry only to some extent. 60% of the

respondents felt that they were being given equal opportunity to attend the

training programmes of their choice only to some extent. This shows that

majority of the employees are not very satisfied with the training programmes.

More than 60% of the employees considered for the sample feel that they are

being appreciated for their work however only 50% feel that their managers

are friendly and approachable. The managers, create a healthy working

atmosphere for the employees which in turn helps the employees to approach

them for their problems.

Out the sample, about 66.66% of the employees take pride in the work they

do, however only a small fraction of the employee understand how their work

reflects in the overall growth of the organization. Job satisfaction forms an

important component of employee retention as unsatisfied employee tends to

look for different places to work with.

CONCLUSIONS

§ A huge fraction of the people have less experience only one to two years

in Wipro and hence high level of importance should be given to employee

retention

§ All the factors viz. Pay and Benefits, Career Growth, Training and

Development, Work Environment and Job Satisfaction are important for

employee retention.

§ The study of rank correlation between the two groups show that there is a

small level of correlation which implies the needs of the two groups are

different however, the small level of correlation implies the importance of

career growth in both the sections of employees


§ For retaining a talent from an age group of 20 to 30 years, the HR

manager must concentrate more on career growth and charting out a good

career plan

§ When it comes to an employee of an age group of 30 to 40 years, more

emphasis must be paid on training and development as without training,

this cadre of employees may not be at par with the current technology.

§ Performance Based Pay should be given utmost importance. Employees

are happier if they are paid according to their performance and this

encourages them to perform better

§ Benefits are important for retention however with varied opinions.

§ HR managers must give special importance in charting out the career

plans for the employees

§ Career Aspirations of all employees have not been met uniformly.

§ Mentoring in Wipro is pretty successful as most employees feel its being

done in the right direction.

§ Training at Wipro is not at par with industry standards as majority feel its

so only to some extent.

§ The data reveals that equal opportunity is not being given to all employees

to attend the training programs of their choice.

§ More than 60% feel they are being appreciated for their work, which shows

the rewards and recognition programmes are strong.

§ The opinions regarding the friendliness and approachability of managers

seem varied

§ Almost 67% take pride in the work. However, employees do not know how

their work reflects in the growth of the organization.

SUGGESTIONS

ü The younger group of employees should be well appreciated to increase

their morale to enable them to work better.

ü The experienced group of employees should be exposed to the current

case technology to enable them to move forward and not be redundant in

the industry.


ü The HR managers should check on the career paths drawn for all

employees.

ü To retain the good talent who are new to the industry, they must be given

a pay package according to industry standards.

ü Employees should be rated correctly according to their performance and

paid accordingly.

ü Right type of mentoring should be provided to all employees to help them

grow up the career ladder.

ü The career aspirations of all employees should be carefully understood by

the HR managers and career paths should be designed accordingly.

ü Training provided should be at par with industry standards.

ü All employees should be provided the training of their choice, and no

favoritism should be shown amongst the employees

ü The managers should be friendly and approachable so as to realize the

first signs of attrition. If attrition is stopped at the preliminary stage then

steps can be taken to curb the same.

ü Employees should be encouraged to take pride in the work they do

ü Employees should be informed about the relevance of their work in the

organizational development.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

5. The study is confined only to Wipro Technologies, Gachibowli

6. The study is confined only to Wipro and does not cover other IT

companies in its cadre.

7. Pay and benefits, career growth and development, training, work

environment and job satisfaction are only some of the few factors that

effect employee retention; future studies in this area could possibly

include other variables that potentially have an impact on retention on

the basis of existing literature.

8. No attempt has been made in this study to do a longitudinal analysis,

that is, to explore the influence of these factors on retention over a

period of time.


AREAS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

1. The study can be extended to other organizations both in IT sector and

others

2. Comparative study can be undertaken between sectors and within the

IT sector

3. Other variables can be included in the study so as to get a broader

picture.

4. Further study can include a longitudinal analysis to correctly

understand the extent of impact of these factors.


Annexures


WHY DO PEOPLE LEAVE AN ORGANISATION? 1. Age : __________

2. Number of years of experience in current organization : _________

3. Total number of years of experience in your profession : ______________

4. What according to you is the most important in your tenure with an

organization a. Pay and Benefits b. Career Development and Growth c. Development of your skills through training d. Conducive work environment e. Job satisfaction

5. According to you why do people generally leave an organization, please rank the factors from 1 to 5, 1 being the highest.

a. Pay and benefits___________ b. Career development and growth_________ c. Lack of training to enhance their skills.___________ d. Problem with Work Environment __________ e. Job satisfaction _______

6. If you were to leave this current job what reasons would contribute to the same:

a. Pay and Benefits b. Lack of Career Development and Growth c. Lack of Training and development d. Problem with Work Environment e. Job Satisfaction

7. According to you, Performance based pay is important: a. To little extent b. To some extent c. To a large extent

8. According to you, the benefits provided by your organization would extent your stay with the organization

a. To little extent b. To some extent c. To a large extent

9. Have your career aspirations been met or in the process? a. To little extent b. To some extent


c. To a large extent

10. Is the right kind of mentoring given to you for your growth in the organization?


11. Are the training and development programmes in your organization at par with industry standards?


12. Are all employees in your organization given equal opportunity to attend the training programmes of their liking?


13. Do you think you are being appreciated for your work a. To little extent b. To some extent c. To a large extent

14. Do you think your managers are friendly and approachable a. To little extent b. To some extent c. To a larger extent

15. Do you take pride in your work? a. To little extent b. To some extent c. To a large extent

16. Do you know how your work reflects in the overall growth of the organization?



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WEBSITES

1. www.wipro.in

2. www.citehr.com

3. www.talkstats.com

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