The Hindu Business Line : Pull of sunrise industries keeps senior management on the move

The pull of sunrise industries such as banking and finance, retail, healthcare and entertainment, combined by a growing trend to retire at an early age is resulting in higher attrition rates among the senior management.

In fact, the musical chairs syndrome seems like it is here to stay. With it increasingly becoming an employees market, top management is on switching mode more than ever now. An Executive Access survey suggests that people have short tenures in companies primarily because they are looking out for better job opportunities. Unsatisfactory job profile and lack of award and recognition are also reasons for high attrition.

For better opportunities

Of the 321 candidates wanting a job change surveyed, head-hunter Executive Access found that executives today aspire to reach the peak of the career earlier than before with 46 per cent looking for a change for better opportunities. While 21 per cent stated unsatisfactory job profile as the reason, 14 per cent attributed the shift to lack of reward and recognition.

"It's not necessarily because they are unhappy in their present jobs, but executives are on the lookout for more challenges and a steeper learning curve. People do not leave jobs because of the push factor, but the pull factor is inducing them to. The maximum pull comes from the sunrise industry where the potential is huge. Earlier, it was the telecom sector that was attracting people; today, it is infrastructure, retail, pharma, healthcare and entertainment," said Mr Ronesh Puri, Managing Director, Executive Access (India) Pvt. Ltd.

Across the cities surveyed, while Delhi, Bangalore and Pune gave second preference to unsatisfactory job profile, Chennai and Mumbai gave second preference to discord with the boss as the reason for seeking a change.

This survey, which examined reasons for short tenures in companies across verticals, found that in banking and finance, IT and ITES, services, media, manufacturing and FMCG, the key factor for employees on the lookout for job shift was better opportunity. However, in the pharma and hospitality sectors, job seekers gave the highest preference to unsatisfactory job profile for wanting a shift.

"There is a tendency today to move across sectors because it brings more professional and intellectual challenges. The top management entrant looks at everything from a fresh perspective. It is new ideas and initiatives that matter in today's workplace," Mr Puri said.

In fact, research suggests a noticeable trend of employees starting to apply for a new job within 12 to 18 months of taking on an assignment. This puts pressure on the employers who have to go the extra mile in order to retain their prized staff.

Sums up Mr Puneet Pratap Singh, Associate Director, Executive Access, "Executives today want to retire at an earlier age and the only way to achieve this is by moving up the ladder faster through shorter tenures at companies. Frequent jumps ensure fatter pay packets, which helps executives ready themselves for an early exit from the corporate world".