The Hindu Business Line : Stepping up the wooing

In case you are shaking your head incredulously, we are talking of teams comprising employees of Perot Systems Business Process Solutions India at a recent match. Such matches, including cricket, volleyball and KhoKho, have been a routine activity in the company for the last three years.

Attrition is a problem tech companies are constantly grappling with. IT companies face between 15 and 20 per cent attrition a year while BPO companies face up to 60 per cent. Companies today offer a host of measures to curb attrition — transportation, flexible work timings, regular appraisals, rewards and recognition for good work, cafeteria and gym facilities, even paid holidays.

But these measures are fast becoming more the norm than exception, hence going that extra mile, such as the Perot Systems initiative, has become a necessity.

Fun meter

The Fun-O Meter

Medical transcription company Spheris India Ltd organises activities through the year ranging from sports to cultural and literary events. So popular are these events that the company measures their monthly fun quotient.

There is a documented procedure to measure fun. Parameters such as number of active/passive participants, type of event (sports, literary, cultural), nature of the event (in house or inter-corporate) and prizes/awards won are rated by employees. A total of these ratings is the fun for that month and recorded in a `Fun-O-Meter' that is displayed in the office.

Employees set the benchmark for fun. To maintain or improve fun, new events may be introduced depending on the cost, event production time and employee preference. A combination of low participation and high participation events is devised to ensure that the fun quotient is high. "By now we know what kind of activities employees like and accordingly plan a fun calendar for the year," says Manoj Kumar G, Senior Executive - Human Resources, Spheris India. The company invests about Rs 30 lakh a year in fun events and Kumar says such events have kept employees happy and reduced attrition.

Though most companies may not organise such fun activities, they are doing their bit to make a difference to the employee.

Money matters

Six months ago, Ajuba International, a receivables management outsourcing company, introduced workshops to help its 1,100 employees, mostly youngsters, manage their finances. Called `Money Matters', these workshops cover concepts such as systematic saving, tax planning, insurance and investment options such as mutual funds. There is also a dedicated financial counsellor for one-to-one counselling.

According to Shankar Narasimhan, Director, Human Resources, Ajuba International, the challenges faced by young employees in managing their personal finances led to this initiative.

"We noticed that employees would spend their entire salary mid way through the month and end up using credit cards. They were not aware of the risks of using credit cards indiscriminately," he says.

The company invested about Rs 2,000 per employee on these workshops and found that employees benefited from the one-to-one counselling. "Employees have rated this programme at 4.75 on a scale of 5. After the introduction of this programme, attrition has been reduced by 4 per cent," says Narasimhan. He believes these small gestures go a long way in retaining an employee.

Intangibles count

NaviSite, an information technology hosting and outsourcing services provider, has guest trainers on its pay rolls offering free consultancy to employees on financial, physical and psychological health. A fortnightly programme, this has been running for a year now and over 75 per cent of NaviSite's 150 employees have sought advice, especially on finances, from these trainers.

"Today all organisations offer common tangible benefits. But to employees, intangibles matter more," says Vivek Vahie, Director, Global Delivery Services, NaviSite. He says such initiatives help maintain and eventually lower attrition levels. "We have seen middle and senior level management employees benefiting from these activities and expect it to soon trickle down to lower-level employees," he says. NaviSite has contained attrition at 15 per cent among senior management personnel, a figure way below industry average, Vahie says.

Your birthday is special

Global software consulting firm TechSpan India Ltd has some incentives for employees on their birthday. A paid half-day leave along with a sponsored birthday dinner for two is a perk available to all employees. The company also recognises the need for a work break. Up to 10 days of paid leave a year (apart from casual leave, sick leave and other earned leave) is permitted to each employee. "These initiatives create a motivated, quality workforce and help retain people," says Rohit Varma, Vice-President, People Development, TechSpan India.

family support

Ilantus Technologies that works in the Identity Management space supports employees' families while they are away on projects. This includes assisting elder family members with chores, medical support and miscellaneous support such as paying bills.

Latha, General Manager, Employee Relations, Ilantus Technologies, says about 48 per cent of employees have benefited from this scheme and attrition rates have remained stable after introduction of this facility two years ago.

Perot Systems also hosts a `Classifieds' section on its intranet. This is like a billboard where employees put up relevant information on issues such as buying/selling of two wheelers, renting houses and sharing accommodation. This helps employees find their footing in a new city besides helping other employees find buyers for their products. Vardhman Jain, Managing Director, Perot Systems Business Process Solutions India, says there are 200-300 such ads at any point of time and these indicate active employee participation.

Perot Systems realised that initiatives such as sports and Classifieds made a big difference to youngsters. "We had employees who put in their papers and later took them back saying they had friends in office and would not be happy at any other company," says Jain.

These team activities not only make employees happy, but also help the organisation discover talent. Sports break barriers between seniors and juniors and help identify leaders who might otherwise be invisible in a formal office set-up. "We have had juniors captain teams inculcate a sense of discipline in seniors during practice sessions. At work there is limited scope to discover natural talent," says Jain.

Independent testing company Maveric Systems too believes that employers must value events valued by employees.

This is what made Maveric sponsor employees on a ten-day trip to a village near Ladakh. "Employees wanted to study a rare Aryan race and we believed this would expose them to different situations," says N.N. Subramanian, Director and Co-Founder, Maveric Systems. The trip helped employees identify leaders, adapt to hostile weather and develop survival skills. Maveric believes these skills will help employees progress within the company and has planned two more such trips to Rajasthan and South India.

While some companies believe these practices reduce attrition, there are others who disagree. "Our intention is to care for employees. If they feel comfortable, secure and looked after, do you think they would want to leave us?," asks Deanne Rodrigues, Manager, Branding & Marketing Communications, 3 Global Services. She insists the company's new initiative — a computer-based gaming zone — is only to de-stress and rejuvenate employees.

She did not disclose the investment in the gaming zone. "The focus right now is on whether employees like this initiative, not return on investment," she says.

3 Global is a customer relationship management solutions provider to mobile telephony companies. Its gaming zone has about 13 games, including car racing and dance games besides pool, air hockey and other board games. Employees pay Rs 10 for each game and can spend any amount of time in the gaming zone.

Rapidigm (India) Ltd, a Fujitsu consulting company, contained attrition at 10 per cent with initiatives such as payment of electricity and phone bills through office. Rajiv Gupta, Director, Human Resources & SAP Practice, says this initiative does not affect attrition but helps employees work better as personal tensions are taken care of.

Torry Harris Business Solutions is in talks with a dance studio to introduce Salsa workshops for employees. Ravishankar S. Aiyar, Senior Manager - Human Resources Development, Torry Harris Business Solutions, feels such measures create a `feel good factor'.

"Work stress is one of the reasons for employee attrition and such fun activities at workplace help employees become sociable," he says.

Though such activities are not pitched as part of mainstream human resources (HR) initiatives, HR consultants say addressing individual employees would become increasingly important in future.

A `one-size-fits-all' approach to HR is becoming outdated. "An organisation that does not recognise and satisfy individual needs repels talent," says Gangapriya Chakraverti, India Business Leader, Mercer Human Resource Consulting. She says companies must segment workforce by looking at employee demographics for individual HR initiatives.

"This may lead to inconsistencies with the larger HR policy. But it is better to be flexible and sort these out than have one policy for all," she says.

Technology employees today have to be nurtured - and not just monetarily — so they value their work and their organisation. And that is possible only through innovative HR practices.

archana@thehindu.co.in

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