#attrition control

Companies, during and after Covid-19, have had to deal with countless predicaments. Sadly, things will not get better any time soon, as the reports of an oncoming recession have already clouded the various sectors.

Taking notes from the Great Depression (1920) and Great Recession (2008), necessary measures are being adopted by organisations across the world.

Terms like layoffs, furloughs, mass firings, et. al headlined every 3 in 5 news articles published in the last year. The most recent example could be Unacademy layoffs, where the company let go ~600 employees. What could be the reason behind this? Do companies really not need human capital anymore?

There could be many reasons behind this but organisations at this point should be focused on only one thing i.e. Making every penny count, and making every bet a winner. In other words, deploying a unique combination of attrition and retention.

Familiarising with Attrition and Retention

Attrition:

Attrition, in simple terms, refers to a deliberate but gradual reduction of human capital. This normally happens due to resignations or retirements without replacements. The ‘Attrition Rate’ or ‘Churn Rate’ defines the number of employees leaving or being let go by organisations during a given period.

While dealing with major issues, organisations have tried every spell in the book to maintain a healthy Churn Rate. This is to prevent the impact an unhealthy churn rate can have on future hiring and growth of the organisation.

Retention:

Companies are not bothered about the churn rate as much as they are about the organisation’s future. But, there’s one important thing, they need to consider viz. Retaining the right people.

A large chunk of the Indian working population has exited the workforce. In the last quarter of FY2022, IT service companies reported 20% attrition, whereas, an organisation like Wipro reported an attrition rate of 23.8%.

Even when firms are offering high salaries, it’s becoming difficult to retain employees. Let’s take a look at why employees are quitting their jobs.