Attrition in the Software industry
I work for a mid-sized software firm. The past few quarters have seen a very high attrition rate, something greatly feared but very common in IT firms in India.
People tend to stay with IT firms on an average for about 1.5 years. With my employer the average is pretty good. People stay on with this firm for a lot longer. People who quit tend to want to come back and the number of employees who have joined back after getting a taste of some other workplace is reasonably high (your truly being a part of this gang). Almost everyone here loves talking about the good-old days 4-5 years back when the firm was still a small company with less than 800 employees. The perks were many, the culture vibrant, the people friendly, the work exciting, the managers inspiring, (and most importantly) the salary high. But, something went wrong somewhere down the line. From one of the best paymasters and best employers we are down to one of good companies in the region. In my opinion its the worst thing that could happen to us.
The economy is doing well. There are plenty of jobs in the IT sector and an average hike for a person is around 40%. I know people who've received hikes of over 60%. But, this isn't a new trend in the IT sector. I think its like a cycle that repeats itself every 3-4 years. Then why is it that we have people who have stayed on for over 3-5 years, some people even more than that? It definitely cannot be salary cause it is well known that staying on with a firm (in the IT sector at least) usually means that after about 2 years your salary is less than the market average. And I say usually because I know people who have been able to negotiate good salary while staying on with the same firm.
So why do we now have so many people leaving this firm? If it is not salary what is it? I feel very strongly that the answer lies in the phrase - 'People never leave companies they leave managers'. I know that we have great managers here too. Managers who have been able to run projects in shoe-string budgets, have been able to motivate people to work long hours, grow small teams to over 50 people teams. But, maybe just maybe, we are missing out on some element. That one motivational factor that we aren't giving the employees. What is that one factor that would make me stay on with this firm? I think its because people don't feel wanted and valued anymore. I think thats the trigger. I think managers (including myself) would need to reassure people that they are needed. That all their hard work is appreciated. That I sympathize with my team members when they have had to cancel leaves.
I think we will need to assess this lacuna in our management tactics before we can really compete with other software firms. But, is this is a problem in other software firms too? I guess it is. That is why the influx of people from one company to the other. So, what is the solution? Or rather is there one?
People tend to stay with IT firms on an average for about 1.5 years. With my employer the average is pretty good. People stay on with this firm for a lot longer. People who quit tend to want to come back and the number of employees who have joined back after getting a taste of some other workplace is reasonably high (your truly being a part of this gang). Almost everyone here loves talking about the good-old days 4-5 years back when the firm was still a small company with less than 800 employees. The perks were many, the culture vibrant, the people friendly, the work exciting, the managers inspiring, (and most importantly) the salary high. But, something went wrong somewhere down the line. From one of the best paymasters and best employers we are down to one of good companies in the region. In my opinion its the worst thing that could happen to us.
The economy is doing well. There are plenty of jobs in the IT sector and an average hike for a person is around 40%. I know people who've received hikes of over 60%. But, this isn't a new trend in the IT sector. I think its like a cycle that repeats itself every 3-4 years. Then why is it that we have people who have stayed on for over 3-5 years, some people even more than that? It definitely cannot be salary cause it is well known that staying on with a firm (in the IT sector at least) usually means that after about 2 years your salary is less than the market average. And I say usually because I know people who have been able to negotiate good salary while staying on with the same firm.
So why do we now have so many people leaving this firm? If it is not salary what is it? I feel very strongly that the answer lies in the phrase - 'People never leave companies they leave managers'. I know that we have great managers here too. Managers who have been able to run projects in shoe-string budgets, have been able to motivate people to work long hours, grow small teams to over 50 people teams. But, maybe just maybe, we are missing out on some element. That one motivational factor that we aren't giving the employees. What is that one factor that would make me stay on with this firm? I think its because people don't feel wanted and valued anymore. I think thats the trigger. I think managers (including myself) would need to reassure people that they are needed. That all their hard work is appreciated. That I sympathize with my team members when they have had to cancel leaves.
I think we will need to assess this lacuna in our management tactics before we can really compete with other software firms. But, is this is a problem in other software firms too? I guess it is. That is why the influx of people from one company to the other. So, what is the solution? Or rather is there one?
Comments
thank you so very much for your touching comment on my blog--it was too kind! hope your weekend was lovely and things at work look up.