NFO MBL

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NFO MBL ATT-TRACK 2001 ATTRITION SATISFACTION
OF KNOWLEDGE WORKERS A Study by NFO MBL INDIA
(Human Resources) Details of Findings
June 2001
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Background

• The world is fast moving towards the knowledge
  economy where knowledge / information will be
  valued most.
• Knowledge workers are people with individual
  proficiency where profitability of the employer
  is directly linked with the personal efficiency
  and competency of the employees. Knowledge
  industry is a people driven industry here the
  economy evolves around people. These companies do
  not manufacture products. They innovate, create,
  and extend services.

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Example Software/Projects handled by a team of
programmers/ individuals is a product of the
knowledge industry here the specialized skills
knowledge of the individuals have gone into the
final product, i.e., the software. The success or
failure of the software depends on the efficiency
with which it has been designed. It has become
important for organisation to recruit, train
and retain knowledge workers because they will be
the growth engines in the new economy.
Organisations have already started facing
problems in balancing the demand/ supply of
knowledge workers. Under these circumstances it
becomes very important to retain the talent.
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• The critical problem we have in hand today is
• How to deal with the problem of high
  attrition in people
• driven organizations?
• To find the solution for the above problem we
  need to get
• insights on the following
• Why are knowledge professionals the most
  frequent
• job hoppers?
• What are the major reasons for a high rate
  of attrition in
• the knowledge industry?
• This study is an attempt to find answers to the
  above issues.

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Methodology Over 150 executives were identified
who were looking for a change in job. The target
respondents were those knowledge workers who were
in professions like Software, Project
Management, Research, Consultancy etc. A
specially designed semi-structured questionnaire
containing various closed and open-ended
questions was sent to them using
e-mail. Information Areas in the questionnaire
covered Issues relating to their employment in
general Reasons for looking for a change
Various parameters considered while looking for
a change and their relative importance.
Satisfaction on the above parameters from
existing employment Qualitative inputs were also
taken from experts dealing with knowledge workers
including a few leading HR consultants.
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Sample Size
Age Group 20-25 Years 49 26-30 Years 79 31
Years 22 Education Graduates
59 MBAs/ Pg.'s 91 Location Metro
114 Non Metro 36
Region North/East 70 West/South
80 Experience 2-5 Years 105 6-8 Years
30 9 Years 15 Gender Male
110 Female 40
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All India Respondents From

• Knowledge Industry
• Hughes Software
• NIIT
• Aptech
• Newgen Software
• CMC
• Zenith Computers
• SIS Infotech
• ITM Infotech
• India Infoline
• Dishnet DSL
• Princeton Software
• Thomson Financial Research
• Unisearch
• SSI
• Vedic Infosys
• Datamatics
• Boston Education
• APEX

• People From Other Industries Doing
  Knowledge/Strategic Work
• Britannia
• Tatafone
• Vintage Cards
• Duncans
• Daewoo Motors
• TCI
• Dallal Street
• Suman Motels
• KBC Bank
• Koshika Telecom
• IMS Health
• GE Capital
• CRB
• Maitri Media
• Real Value
• Leading Edge Technologies
• Matrix Information
• Indian Shaving Products

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OVERALL SATISFACTION AGE
Top two bottom two box scores
38
28
24
22
21
0
Dissatisfaction with the current job is higher
among older employees
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OVERALL SATISFACTION EXPERIENCE
31
Top two bottom two box scores
21
20
17
13
0
Dissatisfaction with present job increases with
tenure of experience.
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Satisfaction - Education
Top two bottom two boxes scores
62
56
44
38
Comparatively Post Graduates are more
dissatisfied than Graduates in their present
employment.
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Satisfaction - Gender
Top two bottom two boxes scores
27 27
27
17
Satisfaction with their present job is lower
among males
13
Satisfaction - By METRO / NON METRO
Top two bottom two boxes scores
62
59
41
38
There is no significant difference in
satisfaction levels among Knowledge workers
living in metros or non-metros
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Satisfaction By Region
Top two bottom two boxes scores
35
24
23
22
18
14
13
0
Dissatisfaction is higher in North. In East
knowledge workers are more content since the is
no dissatisfaction at all . West and South are
very similar as far as job satisfaction is
concerned
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Would you recommend your present company as an
employer to your friends?
About 1/5 of the knowledge workers would not even
recommend their present company as an employer
to their friends.
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Would you apply for a job with your present
company again?
About 3/4 of the respondents WOULD NOT like to
re-apply in their present company .
17
How strongly you identify your present employer
as a company?
Over 1/2 the respondents strongly identify
their present employer as a company.
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How do you rate your colleagues motivation levels
at your present location?
Companies do lot of initiatives to motivate
knowledge workers. However 32 of respondents
still believe that their colleagues are not
motivated .
19
How would you assess the overall achievements of
your present company?
Knowledge industry is performing well except
software companies because of recent US slowdown.
Employees are seem to be quite satisfied with the
performance of their companies.
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Eight Important Reasons For Leaving

• Knowledge workers indicated the extent to which
  these
• reasons were responsible for their desire of
  leaving
• Job Content
• Work Practices
• Career Development
• Organization Culture
• Compensation Benefits
• Interpersonal Reasons
• Personal Reasons
• Situational Mishappenings

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Attrition Reasons for Knowledge Workers
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Prime Reasons for Attrition of Knowledge Workers
Sno Factors Respondents 1 Career
Development 17 2 Job Content 16 3 Compensati
on Benefits 15 4 Work Practices 15 5 Organi
zation Culture 13 6 Interpersonal
Reasons 11 7 Personal Reasons 8 8 Situational
Mishappenings 5
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IMPORTANCE OF VARIOUS FACTORS TO EMPLOYEES FOR
EMPLOYMENT IN A COMPANY
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IMPORTANCE OF VARIOUS FACTORS FOR EMPLOYMENT
Knowledge Workers were asked to rate the
importance of various factors for employment in
any company and their Satisfaction on those
factors.
1 Interpersonal Relationship 2 Work
Climate 3 Hygiene - Facilities/Support/Resources 4
Compensation Benefits 5 Quality Work
Practices 6 Training Development 7 Rules
Regulations 8 Job Content 9 Communication 10 Compa
nys Image
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Interpersonal Relationship
26
Work Climate
27
Hygiene - Support / Tools / Resources
28
Compensation Benefits
29
Quality Work Practices
30
Training Development
31
Rules Regulations
32
Job Content
33
Communication
34
Companys Image
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IMPORTANCE OF FACTORS SATISFACTION WITH PRESENT
EMPLOYER
In AGE
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Dissatisfaction Factors
Top Five 1 Job Content 2 Interpersonal
Relationships 3 Work Climate 4 Training
Development 5 Communication

• Bottom Five
• Work Practices
• Hygiene Tools
• Resources Facilities
• Company's Image
• Compensation Benefits
• Rules Regulations

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Knowledge workers are fairly paid, hence
compensation is not a major dissatisfaction
factor. Companies provide them ample facilities,
tools resources to execute their work. Quality
work practices are also at place to motivate and
retain knowledge workers. Rules Regulations
are not among the concern factors Knowledge
workers want clearly defined role with a
challenging job consisting of new learning's to
upgrade their existing knowledge. They also want
peace of mind, a conducive work environment
with good interpersonal relationships with their
superiors, peers and other colleagues.
Communication is observed as one among top five
dissatisfaction factors. A free flow of
communication, sharing information, achievements
of individuals across the company are a few
areas of concern
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• Among female respondents factors like
  Compensation Personal Reasons carried more
  importance in relation to other factors.
• Job content ranks highest as a reason for
  attrition in case of respondents in age group of
  31,while in age group of 26-30,it is the least
  important cause for attrition.
• Career development is the most important reason
  for respondents in age group of 20-25 26-30
  while it stands at the 2nd place in case of
  respondents from age group of 31.
• Both in metros as well as non metros ,Career
  Development is the most important aspect.Though
  Work Practices stand second in case of
  attrition reasons for non metros,but in metros
  ,it happens to be least important.
• Though the knowledge workers ranked Compensation
  Benefits at No- 7 in terms of importance their
  satisfaction on this factor is quite low at 27.
  If a higher compensation offered by a competitor
  makes them leave their current job. This is also
  evident because there happens to be a huge gap
  between demand and supply of knowledge workers
  , their prices keep escalating.

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• With HR getting a lot of focus in the current
  times , companies are trying to follow the best
  HR practices to bring in efficiency. So, The
  Quality of Work Practices existing in a company
  is raked at No 3 in terms of importance and also
  is among the top reasons for knowledge workers
  leaving their current job.
• The attrition reasons such as Career Development
  ,Job Content Work practices are same for both
  male and female respondents. However, it is
  observed that factors like Interpersonal
  reasons Personal Reasons carry more
  weightage as attrition reasons for females as
  compared to males.
• Though Career development tops as an attrition
  reason for people from all age groups , work
  practices and career development show as
  important attrition factors for respondents with
  work experience of 9

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Mr. Gautam Nath, Director Corporate Services
Human Resources, NFO MBL India insinuates the
following factors to retain knowledge workers -
Clearly defined roles where every employee knows
what his function is, what is expected of him,
what are his goals and what is the level of
authority that he has been given to fulfill his
responsibility. - Suggestions and ideas from
employees (Kaizen) where employees are
encouraged to give innovative and good ideas and
they are rewarded for giving a good idea even if
it is not implemented. Emphasis is laid to allow
employees experiment new ideas new ways of
doing the routine tasks. - Effective downward
upward communication Employees are made to feel
importance of communication. They are encouraged
and helped to develop a good and efficient
communication and feedback system in the
organization. Regular feedback about happenings
in various departments is also needed.
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- Value-driven organization Surprisingly, many
respondents feel that Value system plays a
vital role in developing the companys culture
and it enhances the commitment and association
of knowledge workers in the organization.
Value-driven organizations witness lower
attrition in comparison to other
organizations. - Bonding Cohesion Knowledge
workers do not want to see their company as
just an employer but they want themselves to be
identified with the organization. As sense of
identity develops, belongingness, better
public image, cohesion and bonding with the
organization grow. They enjoy working with
their peers and also make best their friends at
their work place. - Productivity linked
rewards Productivity linked reward system for
employees always works better among knowledge
workers. - Training Development Knowledge
workers always look for personal development
and growth through continuos learning and
regular training and development programmes
for employees. Other than these practices,
other important areas are efficient process
management, establishment of a knowledge
management system and proper performance
appraisal systems.
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Mr. Alok Mittal, Chief Operating Officer,
JobsAhead.com says - High Attrition in
IT/Knowledge based industry is because of two
main reasons A big gap in demand and supply
Here people are less and the opportunities are
more. Therefore people can switch jobs quite
frequently and it becomes very difficult for
companies to retain people for a longer
period Value System - Value system of the
companies contributes in a major way in
controlling attrition but very few companies are
actually concerned about it. There are certain
other issues like Companys Image, new
technologies and of course the compensation
package that are also key factors for high
attrition. His message to job hoppers is - If
you are maximizing opportunities, Job-hopping is
not a bad idea. You definitely need to have
certain objectives and your movements should be
in line with those set objectives.
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Mr. Prakash Kewalramani, Head, Impact Management
Services, Mumbai Founder of management
development and career planning portal
www.successfulmanagers.com says - 1.Knowledge
workers are highly educated and ambitious. They
wish to learn and work on the latest/emerging
technologies projects. Hence, they continuously
look for organizations that can offer them such
opportunities 2.Being highly ambitious, they
constantly look for assignments that offer
them a) vertical growth b) higher
motivational/hygiene factors c) opportunities
to work for prestigious/world-class     
organizations. d) overseas (preferably
US-based) assignments/projects
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Till recently (i.e. before the IT meltdown in
USA), knowledge workers were in a happy situation
since there was a massive global shortage and a
demand-supply gap for high-quality/experienced
skilled professionals. Hence, they were able to
get "fancy" assignments, salaries, ESOPs quite
easily. Today, the situation is greatly changed.
Although, the overall global demand for software
professionals has reduced substantially, there
still is demand for professionals in specific
skill-sets (e.g./SAP CRM TELECOM NETWORKING
BANKING SOFTWARE CALL-CENTRE MANAGEMENT etc.).
His advice to Job Seekers Upgrade (reorient)
your skills to those currently in demand. Be open
to assignments in other countries (besides USA)
like Germany, France, Ireland, UK, Singapore,
Korea, Japan, Middle East, Australia and not the
least in India itself!
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Mr. Mustafa, Principal Consultant, Mafoi
Management Consultants Ltd, Chennai adds -
Attrition in different sectors happens because
of different reasons. In IT, change has become a
buzzword. Hence, everything is expected to change
in short periods. IT companies expecting high
attrition design many of their policies to suit
the situation. One of the reasons for attrition,
thus, is paradoxically, the company themselves
who hold short-term visions and expectations.
  In IT, compensation has moved from being one
of the prime movers to being a hygiene factor -
but it is not the vital component. Increasingly,
continuous learning (often through a bigger span
of control) has become a key determinant for a
person to stay or move on. Earlier loyalty was in
the context of individuals dedication towards
the organization. Today the context has changed.
Loyalty is expected towards the function and
ones own expertise. Organizations want to keep
their people on the cutting edge in terms of
technology and markets. Hence there is a strong
need for new learning inherent in the work and
perhaps is the strongest determinant of
attrition.
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Views of Mr. Ronesh Puri, Head, Executive Access
(One of the largest Executive Search firms in
South Asia) High attrition in the knowledge
industry is a worldwide phenomenon. There are
certain factors that affect it, like Job content,
Job relevancy, Regional economy, and Compensation
that is fueled by the demand and supply factor.
Companies need to take proactive step to control
the attrition rate. Few years ago, lot of people
were coming to us for overseas jobs and their
objective was to earn Rs. 4-5 Crore in a few
years and to take an early retirement. They were
seeing only the silver side of the screen. From
this year onwards, there is a phenomenal decline
in this aspiration and the same people are
returning back to India at a lower designation
and with a lower salary. We do not consider the
resumes of frequent job hoppers seriously as it
shows their poor decision-making capability,
stability and seriousness. Also people should not
limit themselves to just one kind of experience.
At one stage, to learn new technologies and
experience, movement is a healthy step.
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Mr Sandeep Kataria, Chief Executive, Advanced
Corporate Services, New Delhi says -High
attrition in knowledge industry is due
toSupply and Demand Gap Companies are always
in a haste to complete projects/ commitments in
hand, and are willing to pay a higher price to
tempt qualified and trained professionals.High
Profit Margins Low Manpower cost Especially in
the IT industry, manpower cost is a small
component of the price they are charging from
their clients. Therefore, the recruiters can
afford to offer very attractive packages.Lack
of commitment to Long Term Employment
Unfortunately most of the S/W development
companies dont want to keep high overheads once
the project is complete. Therefore, both the
employer and employee do not mind short
stays.ØHe would like to address Job Hoppers
saying - Rolling stones do not gather moss. For
the medium and senior level positions-the
employers are very careful in short listing and
ultimately hiring only those professionals who
have shown stability in their career path. One
should stay for atleast 2-4 years with an
organization (if it is good company and one has a
good job profile) before making a change
irrespective of current trends and temptation.
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Conclusion With factors like Job Content
Career Development having a lot of importance
among knowledge workers, it is just not
compensation that holds them to their jobs. They
look for avenues that would assure a vertical
growth in their career. Clearly defined roles,
Values, Communication, Cohesion Bonding with
the organization, Reward/Recognition of course
new learning opportunities take the front seat in
comparison to compensation which has been reduced
to the status of a hygiene factor. Due of the
huge demand and supply gap in case of knowledge
professionals, price does not remain an issue.
Knowledge professionals look for jobs which are
challenging and which ensure learning of new
skills.
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• NFO MBL India
• G-4, Delhi Blue Apartments
• Safdarjung Ring Road
• New Delhi 110 029
• email sunil.s_at_nfoindia.com
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