RETENTION of talent is the single biggest challenge facing corporates world over. Things are especially bad in most of the happening sectors in India. This includes the various facets of Information Technology — whether it is software development or BPOs and call centres. The turnover rate of personnel is getting to be as bad in aviation, media, telecom and financial services sectors too.
The result: The HR department at most large companies working overtime to evolve strategies to combat poaching. And at a meeting in Mumbai less than a fortnight back of the HR brass of some of the IT majors, the key question asked was: "Should IT majors form a `Retention Club' to counter the high rate of attrition?"
Clearly, unmitigated manpower flow arises from the basic problem of there being not enough hands to meet the requirements in various industries. With requirement of additional hands in areas such as BPOs and organised retail running into millions over the next couple of years, the high attrition levels will surely continue.
The key does lie in numbers, as borne out by the predatory poaching in the aviation sector. While it may never run into millions as in the other sectors, the churn in Indian aviation has had a telling impact, so much so that wannabe `Retention Club' promoters were fazed by the sheer aggression seen in this sector.
A November meeting of top HR professionals concluded that some way had to be found to counter the increasing attrition rate in various industries. However, a proposal to set up a `Retention Club' of top industries — particularly IT majors such as Infosys, TCS, Wipro, and so on — was thought to be impractical. The rationale for such a decision was that companies in desperate need of skilled manpower would not join such a club.
The case cited was that of a new an airlines that poached pilots by offering them exorbitant salaries. It was concluded that given the desperate need of the airlines for pilots no way would the company have played by the `Retention Club' rules, if it had become a member, that is.
What one would have liked to see was a bit more of `out-of-the-box thinking' by the HR think tank, much as it relishes trying out unconventional methods to tackle personnel related issues. Such solutions would become doubly acceptable, once some of the HR gurus from the West bring out books and text material on what should be done in given contexts.
Post the announcement of the Economics Nobel, we are all agreed that there is no better way of looking at conflicts and cooperation than through the lens of Game Theory. No denying that it would be a totally tangential take, but would the Indian HR think-tank, under siege as it were from the growing attrition and poaching, ever look at how certain games such as professional soccer are managed to find answers their vexing problems?
Consider professional club soccer in Europe: The rules that govern those working/playing in clubs whether in the English Premier League, the Spanish Primera Liga, the Italian Serie A or the German Bundesliga, are same. There are many examples but it would suffice to look at Michael Owen cutting short his brief stay at Real Madrid to head for Newcastle United, and Patrick Vierra, the Arsenal captain who fell out with his workstation for nine years before heading out to Juventus. Juventus agreed to pay Arsenal a fee of £13.75 million for Vieira, with the personal salary of the player not so important as he signed on for a five-year term with the Italian club.
Similarly, Newcastle managed a £17-million transfer for Owen from Real that will allow him to leave after a year for £12 million. The other transfers in the making include that of Michael Ballack from Bayern Munich possibly to Manchester United, and that of Thierry Henry from Arsenal to Barcelona.
If the Indian IT sectors were to play by the same rules for their top echelons, then a sudden move from, say, Infosys to TCS or Wipro would involve payment to be made by the hiring company to the one they are poaching from. Sure, the rules that govern club soccer world over would need to be tweaked a bit before being applied in the Indian corporate context. The catch being that only the real high net worth employees can get featured in such a compensation club as, otherwise, payments will have to be made to those who knowingly hire non-performers from some of the big clubs, or companies, as the case may be.
The result: The HR department at most large companies working overtime to evolve strategies to combat poaching. And at a meeting in Mumbai less than a fortnight back of the HR brass of some of the IT majors, the key question asked was: "Should IT majors form a `Retention Club' to counter the high rate of attrition?"
Clearly, unmitigated manpower flow arises from the basic problem of there being not enough hands to meet the requirements in various industries. With requirement of additional hands in areas such as BPOs and organised retail running into millions over the next couple of years, the high attrition levels will surely continue.
The key does lie in numbers, as borne out by the predatory poaching in the aviation sector. While it may never run into millions as in the other sectors, the churn in Indian aviation has had a telling impact, so much so that wannabe `Retention Club' promoters were fazed by the sheer aggression seen in this sector.
A November meeting of top HR professionals concluded that some way had to be found to counter the increasing attrition rate in various industries. However, a proposal to set up a `Retention Club' of top industries — particularly IT majors such as Infosys, TCS, Wipro, and so on — was thought to be impractical. The rationale for such a decision was that companies in desperate need of skilled manpower would not join such a club.
The case cited was that of a new an airlines that poached pilots by offering them exorbitant salaries. It was concluded that given the desperate need of the airlines for pilots no way would the company have played by the `Retention Club' rules, if it had become a member, that is.
What one would have liked to see was a bit more of `out-of-the-box thinking' by the HR think tank, much as it relishes trying out unconventional methods to tackle personnel related issues. Such solutions would become doubly acceptable, once some of the HR gurus from the West bring out books and text material on what should be done in given contexts.
Post the announcement of the Economics Nobel, we are all agreed that there is no better way of looking at conflicts and cooperation than through the lens of Game Theory. No denying that it would be a totally tangential take, but would the Indian HR think-tank, under siege as it were from the growing attrition and poaching, ever look at how certain games such as professional soccer are managed to find answers their vexing problems?
Consider professional club soccer in Europe: The rules that govern those working/playing in clubs whether in the English Premier League, the Spanish Primera Liga, the Italian Serie A or the German Bundesliga, are same. There are many examples but it would suffice to look at Michael Owen cutting short his brief stay at Real Madrid to head for Newcastle United, and Patrick Vierra, the Arsenal captain who fell out with his workstation for nine years before heading out to Juventus. Juventus agreed to pay Arsenal a fee of £13.75 million for Vieira, with the personal salary of the player not so important as he signed on for a five-year term with the Italian club.
Similarly, Newcastle managed a £17-million transfer for Owen from Real that will allow him to leave after a year for £12 million. The other transfers in the making include that of Michael Ballack from Bayern Munich possibly to Manchester United, and that of Thierry Henry from Arsenal to Barcelona.
If the Indian IT sectors were to play by the same rules for their top echelons, then a sudden move from, say, Infosys to TCS or Wipro would involve payment to be made by the hiring company to the one they are poaching from. Sure, the rules that govern club soccer world over would need to be tweaked a bit before being applied in the Indian corporate context. The catch being that only the real high net worth employees can get featured in such a compensation club as, otherwise, payments will have to be made to those who knowingly hire non-performers from some of the big clubs, or companies, as the case may be.