Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Five HR strategies for mid size firms to retain the right talent

One of the core HR challenge that mid size firms face is good talent leaving the organisation for better opportunities in large enterprises which might promise a brand image, better compensation package or a better career path.
In an exclusive interaction, Keyuri Singh, VP-HR, Blue Star Infotech - a mid size IT company - talked about some basic work culture-centric HR strategies which can go a long way in building a strong motivation within the employees to work within the mid size firm.
1) Have a 'real' open door policy
A lot of organisations talk about the importance of having an open door policy but not many actually follow this at the ground level. Many times this happens because the CXOs are not approachable.
Within a mid size firm, CXOs must not only focus on the business but also be a people's person who believes in a transparent work culture. Only if the top management is transparent, would this work culture percolate down the hierarchies and employees would develop faith in the company.
2) Cut-throat competition is toxic: discourage it
Within a lot of large as well as mid size enterprises there is unhealthy competitiveness between colleagues in the same team. Though, at the individual level employees might be motivated by the sole aim of growing themselves to the next level, this is toxic for the collective success of the business function or the project.
In the spirit of competitiveness, employees tend to ignore collaboration and asking for or providing help, which is essential for the business to grow. Mid size companies should take care to encourage collaborative work culture and reward collaborative efforts. This sends out a positive message among the employees that the organisation respects and encourages collaboration and growing together as a team and not just as individuals.
A good way to encourage such a culture is leading by example. The top management should set examples within the organisation of how they collaborate with each other to collectively reach a single business goal.
3) Build employee trust in HR
For growing mid size companies, people are its strength. Any kind of office politics or employee issues which could lead to attrition cannot be afforded by the company. So, it becomes even more important for the HR heads of mid size companies to actually be there for its employees, listen to their problems objectively and deal with the problems in a way that the employee who had raised the concern doesn't face any threats or intimidation from the person who has been reported about.
Only if the HR team can become efficient and equipped to tackle such people issues, would the employees be willing to talk about their challenges freely, without being scared.
4) Understand what motivates high performers to stay
Every individual is unique. So are the reasons why an employee would like to work in your mid size firm. The reasons could be a combination of factors such as money, learning opportunities or work-life-balance - with each employee allocating different levels of significance to each.
Since there is no one size that fits all, the HR team in mid size firms need to focus on the personal needs of high performers and offer them a combination of what they attach importance to. This will ensure that personal aspirations of high performers are met and they know they have a robust career path within the company.
5) Give employees flexibility and freedom
At the end of the day, every employee - irrespective of the size of the business in which he/she works - appreciates flexibility and some degree of freedom.
Allowing flexi-timing to employees, as long as they finish the fixed shift hours; allowing work-from-home for certain number of days during the month; giving expectant mothers enough maternity leaves and welcoming them back into the system are few simple ways in which a mid size business can improve the happiness quotient for its employees and enhance the experience of working with the company.

When employees realise that the company is genuinely concerned about them and that the business considers them as a person with his/her own individual needs, the employee motivation to work for the company grows exponentially. 

0 comments :