Attrition- The other perspective

In response to my previous post on attrition, several people opined that there was an employee side to attrition too. I am not denying that employee driven attrition is not significant. Millennials and youngsters today have a different view on career building and they look for more holistic contents in their jobs rather than mere promotion and money. I remember the time when I joined State Bank as PO and had dreamt of making it big there itself and retire as a DGM or GM. But today, youngsters don’t look at such longevity but get attracted by more substance in their jobs that includes challenges posed to them, work life balance, rapid career progression and chances of reaching to the top by mid 40s so that they can retire early and pursue other passions of life thereafter. So employees do atttite in search of better opportunities for the above considerations.

But individuals are individuals and organisations are organisations. The comparison between employee and employer driven attrition would be grossly unfair. Don’t we always say – “ An organisation is much bigger than any employee, howsoever critical or important he or she may be and that employees come and go but organisations are perpetual.” And, therefore, when we talk about organisations, we talk about organisations that aim for their existence in perpetuity and not fly by night organisations. We talk about organisations that aim for achieving greatness, immortality and an all round excellence. And we expect them to build a culture that’s inclusive, tolerant, equitable and fun filled! An employee leaving an organisation for better prospects is a matter of great pride for the organisation relieving him or her for that’s a demonstration of its inherent strength in development of its resources as per the market requirement and its culture of investing in its employees’ growth. Some organisations investing heavily in training their staff for some niche skills do pose restrictions such as indemnity or bond to deter their employees to treat them as a training institute or a springboard for further leap. But employees leaving in distress, under pressure or being forced are something that are cause for concerns. And this should not be confused with employees leaving on a happy note for better opportunities.