Adopt a Broad-Base Appraisal Policy to Control Attrition

Why do employees leave? 

Answers are plenty but they do not provide complete solutions as different individuals have different needs and requirements. Some employees prefer to leave a job because they don’t like the work culture. Some may not be satisfied with the salary or appraisals. Some are not happy with their co-workers while some may have some other problems.

Say for instance, you hire a new employee and his training period runs for six months. During these months, he simply adds to the cost-to-the-company as he is not fully involved in the production. 

If the same employee leaves after 2-3 months of being confirmed then this investment turns into a loss for the company as it fetches the company virtually no returns.

Attrition to some extent is good for the organization as it helps you get rid of non-performing resources. However, it becomes a real problem when it goes beyond the desired limit or draws away your performing workers. 

In this blog, we will discuss the major reason of attrition – the lack of motivation – which in turn, results in employee dissatisfaction. 

Controlling attrition is not just about retaining employees. In fact, it is the act of retaining the resource you actually want to retain or in other words, identifying workers who are actual assets to the company! 

‘How to motivate employees’ is an oft-repeated question. Is appraisal a foolproof method? But then, you can’t appraise every employee equally. Then how do you recognize the deserving person? 

According to an article by Josh Bersin, published in Forbes, “tenure-based rewards systems have virtually no impact on organizational performance”. 

The article further states, “companies that scored in the top 20% for building a “recognition-rich culture” actually had 31% lower voluntary turnover rates (this is when good people leave on their own).”

Make the appraisal system more flexible and broad

Most companies recognize and reward their employees on the basis of productivity numbers, which however, should not be the only criteria for appraisal. You can satisfy and motivate some employees by evaluating and rewarding them under these criteria. 

But going simply by numbers and output to judge performance may make you ignore other deserving employees, who have say expertise in client handling or trouble-shooting during crisis, as such qualities are not exactly quantifiable. When such performances go unnoticed, it suppresses their skill and desire to work in the company. 

Recognize employees who are result-oriented as well as self-motivated and most importantly, well-behaved. You can reward an employee when he deals with customers efficiently at the time of a particular problem.

This way, you can satisfy and motivate a broad set of employees who are specialized in one or other domain.