Which Issues Should We Address to Combat High Attrition?

Which Issues Should We Address to Combat High Attrition?
	What are the top IT organizations doing to control attrition? We are experiencing problems of high turnover and are looking for best practices of emerging trends being used by other companies who have mastered retention. Which special issues might we need to take into consideration pertaining to IT/technical employees? Or should we embrace this attrition as a way to bring in new blood?—Watching Them Leave, staffing specialist, information technology, India
	Most IT organizations are doing what they have always done: assuming more money and leading-edge equipment will keep their good workers. Our IT clients, though, are taking a different approach by asking their valued workers why they stay. Suggest to your managers that they meet one-on-one with those they wish to keep and follow this meeting outline. Tell employees: I appreciate your contributions and want to work with you for a long time. Distractions will naturally happen, as you will become frustrated by some things at work or someone will tell you about another place where the grass is supposedly greener. Please tell me some reasons why you stay. What things do you look forward to on your way to work? What can we do more of, or less of, that would make your staying here a long time more likely? I've written down what you've said, and promise to make every reasonable effort to make these things happen. In exchange for meeting these needs, I ask you to commit that you will immediately tell me if you ever consider looking for another job, so I can take any possible additional steps to keep you. While some IT employees might ask for more money, they are just as likely to ask for career guidance, more flexible work schedules, or more open communication--and these are things employers usually can provide. And good leaders will listen between the lines, with our research indicating that what quality employees want most are leaders they can trust. Think of this as a "stay" interview, as opposed to an exit interview. Whereas exit interviews only result in autopsies, stay interviews can lead to new energies by both participants to produce better work, and for longer periods of time.     [SOURCE: Dick Finnegan, chief client services officer, TalentKeepers, Maitland, Florida, June 13, 2006.]