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CHAPTER - I

INTRODUCTION AND DESIGN OF THE STUDY

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Industrial relations are the relationships between employees and

employers within the organizational settings. In the field of Industrial relations

the relationship between management and workers, take place through a union

which is represented by elected representatives among the employees.

In fact, Industrial relations are basically the interactions between

employers, employees and the government on the one hand, and the institutions

and the associations through which such interactions are mediated on the other.

The term “industrial relations have a broad as well as a narrow outlook”

indeed, industrial relations are broadly defined as the relationships and

interactions between employers and employees. From this perspective,

industrial relations cover all aspects of the employment relationship, including

human resource management, employee relations and union-management (or

labour) relations. Now its meaning has become more specific and restricted”.

Accordingly, “industrial relations pertain to the study and practice of collective

bargaining, trade unionism and labor- management relations, while human

resource management is a separate, largely distinct field that deals with non-

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union employment relationships and the personnel practices and policies of

employers”1

In the words of Lester, “Industrial Relations involve attempts at arriving

solutions between the conflicting objectives and values; between the profit

motive and social gain; between discipline and freedom, between authority and

industrial democracy; between bargaining and co-operation; and between

conflicting interests of the individual, the group and the community”2 This

implies that, the term ‘industrial relations’ refers to various aspects of the

organisations in its developmental activity. This interpretation has been

confirmed by Dale Yoder who defines Industrial Relations as follows:

Dale Yoder defines Industrial Relations as, “Relationship between

management and employees, or among employees and their organisations, that

characterize or grow out of employment”. Further he has also defined the term

as “the designation of a whole field of relationship that exist because of the

necessary collaboration of men and women in the employment of process of

industry”.3

1 www.industrialrelations.naukrihub.com

2 www.industrialrelations.naukrihub.com

3 Dale Yoder :“Personnel Management and Industrial Relations”, Prentice – Hall of India,

New Delhi, 1972, P.5

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John Dunlop adds a new dimension of inter-relations in defining

Industrial Relation by associating the society and the productive organisations

– “Industrial societies necessarily create industrial relations defined as the

complex of inter-relations among workers, managers and government”.4

Casselmen’s Labor dictionary defines the term Industrial Relations as,

“the relations between the employers and employees in industry. In the broad

sense, the term also includes the relation between various unions, as well as

those between the employers and the Government.”5

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, it is used to denote, “Relations of

all those associated in productive work including industry, agriculture, mining,

commerce, finance, transport and other services. The main aspects are the

establishment of conditions under which proceeds the work are divided as

dividends, salaries and wages between shareholders, employer and

management and work people of various grades – manual, clerical and

technical.”6

4 Dunlop John, T: “Industrial Relations System”, Henry Holy and Company, New York,

1958 (Preface P.VIII). 5 Casselman’s Labour Dictionary, P.197 6 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol.12, Williams Bentan Publishers, Chicago, 1969, P.297.

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Therefore, Industrial relations, employment relations, labour

management relations, employer-employee relations are some of the terms,

which are used interchangeably. Thus different writers have defined the term

‘Industrial Relations’ differently.

Despite the differences in words, the basic feature of various definitions

remains the same. It has evolved because of people or human factor in

employment. It seeks to study how people get on together at work, what

difficulties arise between them, how their relations including wages and

working conditions are regulated and what organisations are set up for the

protection of different interests.

In the light of the discussions above, “industrial relations” may be

viewed as follows:

The relationship that exists between the employer and employees or their

unions on the one hand and the relationship between the management and

employees at the floor level, on the other.

Employee retention refers to the ability of an organization to retain its

employees. Employee retention can be represented by a simple statistic (for

example, a retention rate of 80% usually indicates that an organisation kept

80% of its employees in a given period). However, many consider employee

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retention as relating to the efforts by which employers attempt to retain

employees in their work.

In a Business setting, the goal of employers is usually to decrease

employee turnover, thereby decreasing training costs, recruitment costs and

loss of talent and organisational knowledge. By implementing lessons learned

from key organizational behavior concepts employers can improve retention

rates and decrease the associated costs of high turnover. However, this isn't

always the case. Employers can seek "positive turnover" whereby they aim to

maintain only those employees who they consider to be high performers.

Retention Strategies

In order to retain employees and reduce turnover managers must meet

the goals of employees without losing sight of the organization's goals, thereby

creating a "win-win" situation. Valance and expectancy theories provided some

of the earlier guidance for retaining employees.

Valence is the degree to which the rewards offered by an organization

align with the needs employees seek to fulfill. High valence indicates that the

needs of employees are aligned well with the rewards system an organization

offers. Conversely, low valence is a poor alignment of needs with rewards and

can lead to low job satisfaction and thereby increase turnover and decrease

retention.

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Expectancy theory details have several factors that can lead to high job

satisfaction and high retention rates for organizations. Increasing expectancy in

an organization can be done by training employees and thereby making them

more confident in their abilities. Increasing instrumentality within an

organization will be part of implementing an effective rewards system for

attainment of specific goals and accomplishments.

However, while these theories may be valid they provide little practical

assistant for business managers or human resource practitioners. More modern

studies relating to employee engagement demonstrate that by developing a

range of strategies that address various drivers of engagement, many positive

outcomes can be achieved. These outcomes include higher profitability,

improved customer satisfaction, lower absenteeism and lower accident rates as

well as higher employee retention.

Retention and Motivation Theory

Retention has a direct and causal relationship with employee needs and

motivation. Applying a motivation theory model, such as Maslow’s Hierarchy

of Needs, is an effective way of identifying effective retention protocol.

Each of the five tiers of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs relates to optimal

retention strategy. Since Maslow’s introduction of his motivation model,

organizations have been employing strategies attempting to stimulate each of

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the five humanitarian needs described above to optimize retention rates. When

applied to the organizational model, meeting the self-actualization and esteem

needs of an employee tend to correlate to better retention. Physiological, safety,

and social needs are important as well, however, and must be addressed to

better the work environment. While implementing a retention strategy is ideal,

successful satisfying all five needs of employees is not only difficult, but also

expensive. That being said, managers who attempt to maximize employee need

coverage tend to be more concerned with employee satisfaction.

Herzberg's Theory

An alternative motivation theory to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is the

Motivator-Hygiene (Herzberg’s) theory. The theories have overlap, but the

fundamental nature of each model differs. While Maslow’s Hierarchy implies

the addition or removal of the same need stimuli will enhance or detract from

the employee’s satisfaction, Herzberg’s findings indicate that factors garnering

job satisfaction are separate from factors leading to poor job satisfaction and

employee turnover. Herzberg’s system of needs is segmented into motivators

and hygiene factors. Like Maslow’s Hierarchy, motivators are often

unexpected bonuses that foster the desire to excel. Hygiene factors include

expected conditions that if missing will create dissatisfaction. Examples of

hygiene factors include bathrooms, lighting, and the appropriate tools for a

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given job. Employers must utilize positive reinforcement methods while

maintaining expected hygiene factors to maximize employee satisfaction and

minimize retention.

Equity Theory

Equity Theory realizes the humanitarian concern with fairness and

equality. While one party may be given motivational rewards and

opportunities, the individual will assess the work-reward ratio based on similar,

external positions. If the individual feels the rewards and motivators do not

meet the standard, the employee will lose motivation, request more

compensation, or leave their current position in search of more favorable

benefits. Because of this, firms must not only recognize internal obligations,

but also attempt to equalize or outperform competition in meeting employee

needs.

The following concepts and framework are related to the employee

retention strategies, myths, significance and the methods by which the

employee retention can be had in the organization.

Organization

A set up where individuals come together and work in union to achieve a

common goal is called as organization. Individuals working together in an

organization to earn their bread and butter as well as make profits are called

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employees. Employees are the lifeline of an organization and contribute

effectively to its successful running and profit making.

Reasons to Leave the organisation

Research says that most of the employees leave an organization out of

frustration and constant friction with their superiors or other team members. In

some cases low salary, lack of growth prospects and motivation compel an

employee to look for a change. The management must try its level best to

retain those employees who are really important for the system and are known

to be effective contributors.

It is the responsibility of the line managers as well as the management to

ensure that the employees are satisfied with their roles and responsibilities and

the job is offering them a new challenge and learning every day.

Employee retention techniques go a long way in motivating the employees for

them to enjoy their work and avoid changing jobs frequently.

Qualities in an Organization for a Better Employee Retention

Employee Retention refers to the various steps involved to retain the

outgoing employees. Hiring is a cumbersome process and it is really not easy

to find an employee who is loyal towards the organization and looks forward

towards achieving its targets. An organization must encourage the employees

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to stick to it for a good amount of time and contribute effectively in their

respective areas.

Every individual strives hard to give his hundred percent to the

organization and expects the same in return. An individual must feel attached

to his workplace to enjoy his work and learn something new each day. The

organization must promise opportunities for further growth to all the

employees and each one should foresee a bright future there.

Every individual expects peace and healthy working conditions to

deliver his level best. A shady background and poor financial condition of the

organization are the major factors leading to unrest amongst the employees. No

individual likes to work with an organization running into losses. A sick unit is

unable to pay salaries on time, making it difficult for the employees to work

with it for a long time. An organization must be financially stable for the

employees to feel safe and secure.

Rules and regulations are formulated for the benefit of the employees

and thus should not be too rigid. An organization must have employee friendly

policies for the individuals to stay motivated. The management must take into

consideration the genuine problems of the employees to make the organization

a better place to work. Leave policies and compensation structure should be

designed in a manner to satisfy the needs of the employees.

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Monetary satisfaction is one of the major reasons as to why an

employee sticks to an organization for a longer duration. Incentive

plans, perks and other benefits should meet the expectations of the

employees and should be directly proportional to the hard work put by

the individuals. The high potential employees should be rewarded

suitably to make them feel indispensable for the organization and to

expect the same from them every time.

An organization must have a simple hierarchy and the functional

areas of each team should be well defined. Complicated hierarchies

lead to confusions and unnecessary disputes amongst team members. It

is essential to maintain transparency at all levels. The team size should

be restricted to 5 or 6 members for smooth flow of information and

better output. Every team ideally should have a single leader willingly

chosen by the team members to act as a strong support system for them.

The superiors must be accessible to the team members in case of queries

and must monitor the team’s performance from time to time. The team

leader should act as a role model for his team.

Freedom of expression is of utmost importance at the workplace to

retain employees. Individuals should have the liberty to express their

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ideas and discuss issues on an open forum. This way employees do not

crib among themselves and come closer to each other.

The organization must encourage employees to celebrate major

festivals at the office premises itself. Ask them to bring their families

as well. Such activities go a long way in strengthening the bond among

the individuals and retaining them.

It is important for the organization to have stringent policies for non

performing employees. Strict action must be taken against those who

come to organization just for fun and are just not bothered about their

own work. The performers must get an extra edge and should be entitled

to exclusive benefits.

An organization must offer a positive ambience to its employees to

expect a consistent performance from them. The workplace should be

free from all sorts of disputes, nasty politics, and controversies and

blame games which go a long way in de-motivating an employee and

prompting him to look for a change. Healthy competition is essential at

the workplace to encourage the employees to perform up to the mark

every time.

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How to Retain the Best Employee

The management must understand the difference between a dedicated

employee and an employee who comes to office just for the sake of fun. The

employees who really are concerned about the organization must be retained

for better output and a healthy environment at the workplace.

Let us go through few steps to avoid talent drain:

Work should never become monotonous and must offer a new

learning each day. An employee should be able to upgrade his skills

and enhance his knowledge at the workplace. Employees leave the

organization whenever there are no chances of further growth. An

individual must be made to do something which really excites him and

most importantly matches his background. The employees must be asked

to accomplish the tasks in the most innovative way for them to enjoy

their work. No one should be asked to do anything out of compulsion.

The team leader must not force anyone to work. Let them accept

assignments willingly. The moment work becomes a burden for the

employees, they look for a change.

Every individual should enjoy privacy at the workplace. The

superiors must ensure that no employee interferes in each other’s work.

Team members sitting at adjacent desks should not overhear their

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colleague’s conversation or check any confidential documents. These

things lead to severe de-motivation and prompt an individual to look for

a change. Discussion is important but one should not irritate anyone. The

team manager should also not make his team member’s life hell. Just

give them deadlines and ask them to complete the assignments within

the desired time frame. Motivate them to deliver their best but don’t be

after their life. Remember everyone is mature enough to understand that

work comes first, and everything later.

The seniors must be reachable to their subordinates in case of

queries. The hierarchy should not be too complicated and transparency

in communication is important at all levels. Manipulation of truth should

be strictly avoided as it leads to severe misunderstandings and eventually

conflicts. Employees look for a change when there are unnecessary

disputes at the workplace. The team leader once in a week must make

sure to meet all the team members on an open forum to address their

concern. The meeting should not be made too formal. Everyone should

be allowed to bring their cups of coffee. Such interaction strengthens the

bond among the employees and also avoids friction among individuals.

It is essential to have a positive ambience at the workplace for people to

stick to it for a longer time.

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Every employee should be treated as one irrespective of his

designation. Sexual harassment is against the law and is a strict at the

workplace. The male workers should respect their female counterparts

and make them feel comfortable. Don’t ask any female employee to stay

back late. Leg pulling, back stabbing, lewd remarks must be avoided at

the organization to retain the employees.

The management must formulate employee friendly policies. The

employees must be allowed to take one or two leaves in a month so that

they get time to rejuvenate. Don’t call the employees on weekends. Let

them enjoy. The human resource department must take the initiative to

celebrate birthdays of employees at the workplace. This way people

come closer, make friends, develop trust and are thus reluctant to go for

a change. Major festivals should also be celebrated at the organization

for employees to get attached to the organization.

Incentives, cash prizes, trophies, perks should be given to deserving

employees to motivate them to perform up to the mark every time.

The salaries of the high potential employees must be appraised from

time to time as monetary dissatisfaction is one of the major reasons for

employees quitting their jobs. The hard work of the workers must be

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appreciated. The slow learners must not be criticized but should be

inspired to gear up for the next time.

The performers must be made to participate in the decision making

process. They should have a say in the major strategies of the

organization for them to feel important and trust the management.

Discipline is a must at the workplace. If the office timing is 9.30 am,

every employee regardless of designation must punch his card at 9.30

am sharp or before that. No relaxation should be given to anyone.

Partiality is something which does not work in the corporate world. It is

important to maintain the decorum of the office to make the organization

a better place to work.

Role of HR in Employee Retention

An organization can’t survive if the top performers quit. It needs

employees who are loyal and work hard with full dedication to achieve the

organization’s objective. It is essential for the management to retain its

valuable employees who think in favour of the organization and contribute

their level best. An employee who spends a longer duration at any particular

organization is familiar with the rules, guidelines and policies of the

organization and thus can adjust better.

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The Human Resource team plays an important role in employee retention. Let

us find out their role in the same:

Whenever an employee resigns from his current assignments, it is

the responsibility of the HR to intervene immediately to find out the

reasons which prompted the employee to resign. No one leaves an

organization without a reason. There has to be one and the human

resource team must probe into it. There can be innumerable reasons for

an employee to leave his current job. The major ones being conflict with

the superiors, lesser salary, lack of growth, negative ambience and so on.

It is the duty of the HR to sit with the employee and discuss the

various issues face to face. Understand his problems and listen to his

side of the story as well. Remember the HR should not focus on

conducting exit interviews, rather more emphasis should be laid on

retaining the employees.

To provide a solution to his problem. Hiring is a tedious process and it

is really very difficult to recruit the right candidate and train him once

again. Do check the track record of the employee who wishes to move

on. It is really essential for the management to retain those employees

who have the potential and are really indispensable for the organization.

If they leave and join the competitors; the organization would be at loss.

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If one feels that the employee is not very happy with his team leader, try

to shift him to a new team. If the employee feels his salary is not

justified, try to give him a hike but make sure he is worth it and you

don’t end up upsetting others.

The HR person must ensure that he is recruiting the right employee

who actually fits into the role. A right person doing the wrong job

would never find his job interesting and certainly look for a change.

Make sure every individual has been assigned responsibilities according

to his specialization and interest. The employees must be clear with their

KRAs from the very beginning. Every individual works for money and

the HR must quote a justified salary acceptable to the other person.

Don’t compel anyone to join at a lesser salary. He might join at that

moment but would most likely quit after sometime. The hike should be

on the present salary and must match the market trends and the

expectations of the individual.

The human resource department must conduct motivational

activities at the workplace. Organize various internal as well as

external trainings which help the employees to learn something extra

apart from their routine work. Make them participate in extracurricular

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activities important for their overall development. Encourage them to

interact with each other so that the comfort level increases.

The HR must launch various incentive schemes for the top

performers to motivate them. This way the employees feel important

for the organization and strive hard to perform even better the next time.

The employees who show promise should be awarded with cash prizes,

lucrative perks and certificates to make the individual stand apart from

the crowd. Send a mail wishing the employees on their birthdays or

congratulating them when they perform exceptionally well or come out

with something innovative. Arrange a small bouquet for them as a gift

from the organization’s side. This way the employees feel attached to the

organization and are reluctant to look for a change. A friendly

atmosphere is essential for the employees to feel safe and secure. Make

them participate in various management decisions making.

Performance reviews are a must. The HR along with the respective

team leaders must monitor their team member’s performance to ensure

whether they are enjoying the work or not. The employees look for a

change only when their job becomes monotonous and does not offer any

growth or learning. Job rotation can be one of the effective ways to

retain employees.

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The HR professional must try his level best to motivate the employees,

make them feel special in the organization so that they do not look for a

change.

Employee Retention

Employee retention refers to the various policies and practices which let

the employees stick to an organization for a longer period of time. Every

organization invests time and money to groom a new joiner, make him a

corporate ready material and bring him at par with the existing employees. The

organization is completely at loss when the employees leave their job once they

are fully trained. Employee retention takes into account the various measures

taken so that an individual stays in an organization for the maximum period of

time.

It is the process in which the employees are encouraged to remain with

the organization for the maximum period of time or until the completion of the

project. Employee retention is beneficial for the organization as well as the

employee.

Employees today are different. They are not the ones who don’t have

good opportunities in hand. As soon as they feel dissatisfied with the current

employer or the job, they switch over to the next job. It is the responsibility of

the employer to retain their best employees. If they don’t, they would be left

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with no good employees. A good employer should know how to attract and

retain its employees.

Retention involves five major things:

1. Compensation

2. Environment

3. Growth

4. Relationship

5. Support

Employee retention would require a lot of efforts, energy, and resources

but the results are worth it.

Compensation

Compensation constitutes the largest part of the employee retention

process. The employees always have high expectations regarding their

compensation packages. Compensation packages vary from industry to

industry. So an attractive compensation package plays a critical role in

retaining the employees.

Compensation includes salary and wages, bonuses, benefits, perquisites,

stock options, bonuses, vacations, etc. While setting up the packages, the

following components should be kept in mind:

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Salary and monthly wage: It is the biggest component of the compensation

package. It is also the most common factor of comparison among employees. It

includes

o Basic wage

o House rent allowance

o Dearness allowance

o City compensatory allowance

Salary and wages represent the level of skill and experience an

individual has. Time to time increase in the salaries and wages of employees

should be done. And this increase should be based on the employee’s

performance and his contribution to the organization.

Bonus: Bonuses are usually given to the employees at the end of the year or on

a festival.

Economic benefits: It includes paid holidays, leave travel concession, etc.

Long-term incentives: Long term incentives include stock options or stock

grants. These incentives help retain employees in the organization's startup

stage.

Health insurance: Health insurance is a great benefit to the employees. It

saves employees money as well as gives them a peace of mind that they have

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somebody to take care of them in bad times. It also shows the employee that

the organization cares about the employee and its family.

After retirement: It includes payments that an employee gets after he retires

like EPF (Employee Provident Fund) etc.

Miscellaneous compensation: It may include employee assistance programs

(like psychological counseling, legal assistance etc), discounts on company

products, use of a company cars, etc.

Growth and Career

Growth and development are the integral part of every individual’s

career. If an employee can not foresee his path of career development in his

current organization, there are chances that he’ll leave the organization as soon

as he gets an opportunity.

The important factors in employee growth that an employee looks for

himself are:

Work profile: The work profile on which the employee is working should be

with his capabilities. The profile should not be too low or too high.

Personal growth and dreams: Employees responsibilities in the organization

should help him achieve his personal goals also. Organizations can not keep

aside the individual goals of employees and foster organizations goals.

Employees’ priority is to work for them and later on comes the organization. If

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he’s not satisfied with his growth, he’ll not be able to contribute in organization

growth.

Training and development: Employees should be trained and given chance to

improve and enhance their skills. Many employers fear that if the employees

are well trained, they’ll leave the organization for better jobs. Organization

should not limit the resources on which organization’s success depends. These

trainings can be given to improve many skills like:

Communications skills

Technical skills

In-house processes and procedures improvement related skills

Customer satisfaction related skills

Special project related skills

Need for such training can be recognized from individual performance

reviews, individual meetings, employee satisfaction surveys and by being in

constant touch with the employees.

Support

Lack of support from management can sometimes serve as a reason for

the employee to go for another organisation. Supervisor should support his

subordinates in a way so that each one of them will be in success. Management

should try to focus on its employees and support them not only in their difficult

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times at work but also through the times of personal crisis. Management can

support employees by providing them recognition and appreciation.

Employers can also provide valuable feedback to employees and make

them feel valued to the organization.

The feedback from supervisor helps the employee to feel more

responsible, confident and empowered. Top management can also support its

employees in their personal crisis by providing personal loans during

emergencies, childcare services, employee assistance programs, counseling

services etc.

Employers can also support their employees by creating an environment

of trust and inculcating the organizational values into employees. Thus

employers can support their employees in a number of ways:

Importance of Relationship in Employee Retention Program

Sometimes the relationship with the management and the peers becomes

the reason for an employee to leave the organization. The management is

sometimes not able to provide an employee a supportive work culture and

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environment in terms of personal or professional relationships. There are times

when an employee starts feeling bitterness towards the management or peers.

This bitterness could be due to many reasons. This decreases employee’s

interest and he becomes de-motivated. It leads to less satisfaction and

eventually attrition.

A supportive work culture helps grow employee professionally and

boosts employee satisfaction. To enhance good professional relationships at

work, the management should keep the following points in mind.

Respect for the individual: Respect for the individual is the must in the

organization.

Relationship with the immediate manager: A manger plays the role of a

mentor and a coach. He designs ands plans work for each employee. It is his

duty to involve the employee in the processes of the organization. So an

organization should hire managers who can make and maintain good relations

with their subordinates.

Relationship with colleagues: Promote team work, not only among teams but

in different departments as well. This will induce competition as well as

improve the relationships among colleagues.

Recruit whole heartedly: An employee should be recruited if there is a proper

place and duties for him to perform. Otherwise he’ll feel useless and will be

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dissatisfied. Employees should know what the organization expects from them

and what their expectation from the organization is promised.

Promote an employee based culture: The employee should know that the

organization is there to support him at the time of need. Show them that the

organization cares and he’ll show the same for the organization. An employee

based culture may include decision making authority, availability of resources,

open door policy, etc.

Individual development: Taking proper care of employees includes

acknowledgement to the employee’s dreams and personal goals. Create

opportunities for their career growth by providing mentorship programs,

certifications, educational courses, etc.

Induce loyalty: Organizations should be loyal as well as they should promote

loyalty in the employees too. Try to make the current employees stay instead of

recruiting new ones.

Organization Environment

It is not about managing retention. It is about managing people. If an

organization manages people well, employee retention will take care of itself.

Organizations should focus on managing the work environment to make better

use of the available human assets.

People want to work for an organization which provides

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Appreciation for the work done

A feeling that the organization is second home to the employee

Organization environment includes

Culture

Values

Company reputation

Quality of people in the organization

Employee development and career growth

Risk taking

Leading technologies

Trust

Types of environment the employee needs in an organization

Learning environment: It includes continuous learning and

improvement of the individual, certifications and provision for higher

studies, etc.

Support environment: Organization can provide support in the form of

work-life balance. Work life balance includes:

o Flexible hours

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o Telecommunication

o Dependent care

o Alternate work schedules

o Vacations

o Wellness

Work environment: It includes efficient managers, supportive co-

workers, challenging work, involvement in decision-making, clarity of

work and responsibilities, and recognition.

Lack or absence of such environment pushes employees to look for new

opportunities. The environment should be such that the employee feels

connected to the organization in every respect.

Importance of Employee Retention

Now that so much is being done by organizations to retain its employees,

why is retention so important? Is it just to reduce the turnover costs? Well, the

answer is a definite. It’s not only the cost incurred by a company that

emphasizes the need of retaining employees but also the need to retain talented

employees from getting poached.

The process of employee retention will benefit an organization in the

following ways:

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1. The Cost of Turnover: The cost of employee turnover adds hundreds

of thousands of money to a company's expenses. While it is difficult to

fully calculate the cost of turnover (including hiring costs, training costs

and productivity loss), industry experts often quote 25% of the average

employee salary as a conservative estimate.

2. Loss of Company Knowledge: When an employee leaves, he takes with

him valuable knowledge about the company, customers, current projects

and past history (sometimes to competitors). Often much time and

money has been spent on the employee in expectation of a future return.

When the employee leaves, the investment is not realized.

3. Interruption of Customer Service: Customers and clients do business

with a company in part because of the people. Relationships are

developed that encourage continued sponsorship of the business. When

an employee leaves, the relationships that employee built for the

company are severed, which could lead to potential customer loss.

4. Turnover leads to more turnovers: When an employee terminates, the

effect is felt throughout the organization. Co-workers are often required

to pick up the slack. The unspoken negativity often intensifies for the

remaining staff.

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5. Goodwill of the company: The goodwill of a company is maintained

when the attrition rates are low. Higher retention rates motivate potential

employees to join the organization.

Regaining efficiency: If an employee resigns, then good amount of time is lost

in hiring a new employee and then training him/her and this goes to the loss of

the company directly which many a times goes unnoticed. And even after this,

expectation of the same efficiency can not assured from the new employee.

Retention Myths

The process of retention is not as easy as it seems. There are so many tactics

and strategies used in retention of employees by the organizations. The basic

purpose of these strategies should be to increase employee satisfaction, boost

employee morale hence achieve retention. But some times these strategies are

not used properly or even worse, wrong strategies are used. Because of which

these strategies fail to achieve the desired results. There are many myths

related to the employee retention process. These myths exist because the

strategies being used are either wrong or are being used from a long time.

These myths prevent the employer from successfully implementing the

retention strategies. Let us learn about some of these myths.

1. Employees leave an organization for more pay: Money may be the

motivating factor for some, but for many people it is not the most

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important factor. Money matters more to the low-income-employees for

whom it’s a survival issue. Money can make an employee stay in an

organization but not for long. The factors more important than money

are job satisfaction, job responsibilities, and individual’s skill

development. The employers should understand this and work out some

other ways to make employees feel satisfied. When employees leave,

management tries to retain them by offering more money. But instead

they should try to figure out the main reason behind it. Issues that are

mainly the cause of dissatisfaction are organization’s policies and

procedures, working conditions, relationship with the supervisor and

salary, etc. For such employees, achievement, growth, respect,

recognition, is the main concern.

2. Incentives can increase productivity: Incentives can surely increase

productivity but not for long term. Cash incentives, volume work targets

and speed awards are old management beliefs. They can generate work

speedily and in volumes but can’t boost employee commitment. Rather

speed can hamper the quality of work produced. What really the

employees expect to their work and organization is quality work,

meaningful responsibilities, recognition, respect, growth opportunities

and friendly supervisors.

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3. Employees run away from responsibilities: It is a myth that employees

run from responsibilities. In-fact employees feel more responsible if they

are given extra responsibilities apart from their regular job. Employees

look for variety, greater control on the processes and authority to take

decisions in their present job. They want opportunities to learn and grow.

Management can assign extra responsibilities to their employees and

appreciate them on the completion of these tasks. This will induce a

sense of pride in the employee and will improve the relationship between

the management and the employee.

4. Loyalty is a thing of the past: Employees can be loyal but what they

need is an employer for whom they can be loyal.

Taking measures to increase employee satisfaction will be

expensive for the organizations: The things actually required to improve

employee satisfaction like respect, career growth and development,

appreciation, etc. can’t be bought. They are free of cost. An employer or

management that reacts well to the employee’s ideas and suggestions is

enough for the employees to be retained.

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Managing Employee Retention

The task of managing employees can be understood from three stage

process:

1. Identify the cost of employee turnover

2. Understand why employee leave

3. Implement retention strategies

Identify the cost of employee turnover:

The organizations should start with identifying the employee turnover

rates within a particular time period and benchmark it with the competitor

organizations. This will help in assessing whether the employee retention rates

are healthy or not in the company. Secondly, the cost of employee turnover can

be calculated.

According to a survey on an average attrition costs is a company’s 18

months’ salary for each manager or professional who leaves and 6 months’ pay

for each hourly employee who leaves. This amounts to major organizational

and financial stress, considering that one out of every three employees plans to

leave his or her job in the next two years.

Understand why employees leave:

Why employees leave often puzzles top management. Exit interviews

are an ideal way of recording and analyzing the factors that have led employees

35

to leave the organization. They allow an organization to understand the reasons

for leaving and underlying issues. However employees never provide

appropriate response to the asked questions. So an impartial person should be

appointed with whom the employees feel comfortable in expressing their

opinions.

Implement retention strategy:

Once the causes of attrition are found, a strategy is to be implemented so

as to reduce employee turnover. The most effective strategy is to adopt a

holistic approach to dealing with attrition. An effective retention strategy will

seek to ensure:

Attraction and recruitment strategies enable selection of the ‘right’

candidate for each role/organization.

New employees’ initial experiences of the organization are positive.

Appropriate development opportunities are available to employees, and

that they are kept aware of their likely career path with the organization

The organization’s reward strategy reflects the employee drivers.

How to Increase Employee Retention

Companies have now realized the importance of retaining their quality

workforce. Retaining quality performers contributes to productivity of the

organization and increases morale among employees

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Four basic factors that play an important role in increasing employee

retention include salary and remuneration, providing recognition, benefits and

opportunities for individual growth. But are they really positively contributing

to the retention rates of a company? Basic salary, these days, hardly reduces

turnover. Today, employees look beyond the money factor. Employee

Retention can be increased by inculcating the following practices:

1. Open Communication: A culture of open communication enforces

loyalty among employees. Open communication tends to keep

employees informed on key issues. Most importantly, they need to know

that their opinions and that management is 100% interested in their

input.

2. Employee Reward Program: A positive recognition for work boosts

the motivational levels of employees. Recognition can be made explicit

by providing awards like best employee of the month or punctuality

award. Project based recognition also has great significance. The award

can be in terms of gifts or money.

3. Career Development Program: Every individual is worried about

his/her career. He is always keen to know his career path in the

company. Organizations can offer various technical certification courses

which will help employee in enhancing his knowledge.

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4. Performance Based Bonus: A provision of performance linked bonus

can be made wherein an employee is able to relate his performance with

the company profits and hence will work hard. This bonus should strictly

be productivity based.

5. Recreation facilities: Recreational facilities help in keeping employees

away from stress factors. Various recreational programs should be

arranged. They may include taking employees to trips annually or bi-

annually, celebrating anniversaries, sports activities, et al.

6. Gifts at Some Occasions: Giving out some gifts at the time of one or

two festivals to the employees making them feel good and understand

that the management is concerned about them.

Manager Role in Retention

When asked about why employees leave, low salary comes out to be a

common excuse. However, research has shown that people join companies, but

leave because of what their managers’ do or don’t do. It is seen that managers

who respect and value employees’ competency, pay attention to their

aspirations, assure challenging work, value the quality of work life and

provided chances for learning have loyal and engaged employees. Therefore,

managers and team leaders play an active and vital role in employee retention.

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Managers and team leaders can reduce the attrition levels considerably

by creating a motivating team culture and improving the relationships with

team members. This can be done in the following ways:

Creating a Motivating Environment: Team leaders who create

motivating environments are likely to keep their team members together

for a longer period of time. Motivation does not necessarily come

through fun events such as parties, celebrations, team outings etc. They

can also come through serious events e.g. arranging a talk by the VP of

Quality on career opportunities in the field of quality. Employees who

look forward to these events and are likely to remain more engaged.

Standing up for the Team: Team leaders are closest to their team

members. While they need to ensure smooth functioning of their teams

by implementing management decisions, they also need to educate their

managers about the realities on the ground. When agents see the team

leader standing up for them, they will have one more reason to stay in

the team.

Providing coaching: Everyone wants to be successful in his or her

current job. However, not everyone knows how. Therefore, one of the

key responsibilities will be providing coaching that is intended to

improve the performance of employees. Managers often tend to escape

39

this role by just coaching their employees. However, coaching is

followed by monitoring performance and providing feedback on the

same.

Delegation: Many team leaders and managers feel that they are the only

people who can do a particular task or job. Therefore, they do not

delegate their jobs as much as they should. Delegation is a great way to

develop competencies.

Extra Responsibility: Giving extra responsibility to employees is

another way to get them engaged with the company. However, just

giving the extra responsibility does not help. The manager must spend

good time teaching the employees of how to manage responsibilities

given to them so that they don’t feel over burdened.

Focus on future career: Employees are always concerned about their

future career. A manager should focus on showing employees his career

ladder. If an employee sees that his current job offers a path towards

their future career aspirations, then they are likely to stay longer in the

company. Therefore, managers should play the role of career counselors

as well.

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Transparent Work Culture

In today’s fast paced business environments where employees are

constantly striving to achieve business goals under time restrictions; open

minded and transparent work culture plays a vital role in employee retention.

Companies invest very many hours and monies in training and educating

employees. These companies are severely affected when employees check out,

especially in the middle of some big company project or venture. Although

employees most often prefer to stay with the same company and use their time

and experience for personal growth and development, they leave mainly

because of work related stress and dissatisfactions.

More and more companies have now realized the importance of a

healthy work culture and have a gamut of people management good practices

for employees to have that ideal fresh work-life. Closed doors work culture can

serve as a deterrent to communication and trust within employees which are

potential causes for work-related apathy and frenzy.

A transparent work environment can serve as one of the primary triggers

to facilitate accountability, trust, communication, responsibility, pride and so

on. It is believed that in a transparent work culture, employees rigorously

communicate with their peers and exchange ideas and thoughts before they are

finally matured in to full-blown concepts. It induces responsibility among

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employees and accountability towards other peers, which gradually builds up

trust and pride. More importantly, transparency in work environment

discourages work-politics which often hinders company goals as employees

start to advance their personal objectives at the expense of development of the

company as a single entity.

Employees comprise the most vital assets of the company. In a work

place where employees are not able to use their full potential and not heard and

valued, they are likely to leave because of stress and frustration. In a

transparent environment while employees get a sense of achievement and

belongingness from a healthy work environment, the company is benefited

with a stronger, reliable work-force harboring bright new ideas for its growth.

Quality of Work

The success of any organization depends on how it attracts, recruits,

motivates, and retains its workforce. Organizations need to be more flexible so

that they develop their talented workforce and gain their commitment. Thus,

organizations are required to retain employees by addressing their work life

issues.

The elements that are relevant to an individual’s quality of work life

include the task, the physical work environment, social environment within the

42

organization, administrative system and relationship between life on and off

the job.

The basic objectives of a QWL program are improved working

conditions for the employee and increase organizational effectiveness.

Providing quality work life involves taking care of the following aspects:

Occupational health care: The safe work environment provides the basis for

the person to enjoy working. The work should not pose a health hazard for the

person. The employer and employee, aware of their risks and rights, could

achieve a lot in their mutually beneficial dialogue.

Suitable working time: Organizations are offering flexible work options to

their employees wherein employees enjoy flexi-timings for dedicating their

efforts at work.

Appropriate salary: The appropriate as well as attractive salary has always

been an important factor in retaining employees. Providing employees salary at

par with the other counterparts of above that what competitors are paying

motivates them to stick with the company for long.

QWL consists of opportunities for active involvement in group working

arrangements or problem solving that are of mutual benefit to employees or

employers, based on labor management cooperation. People also conceive of

QWL as a set of methods, such as autonomous work groups, job enrichment,

43

and high-involvement aimed at boosting the satisfaction and productivity of

workers. It requires employee commitment to the organization and an

environment in which this commitment can flourish.

Providing quality at work not only reduces attrition but also helps in

reduced absenteeism and improved job satisfaction. Not only does QWL

contribute to a company's ability to recruit quality people, but also it enhances

a company's competitiveness. Common beliefs support the contention that

QWL will positively nurture amore flexible, loyal, and motivated workforce,

which are essential in determining the company's competitiveness.

Supporting Employees

Organizations these days want to protect their biggest and most valuable

asset and they want to do this in a way that best suits their organizational

culture. Retaining employees is a difficult task. Providing support to the

employees acts as a mantra for retraining them. Employers can also support

their employees by creating an environment of trust and inculcating the

organizational values into employees.

The management can support employees directly or indirectly. Directly,

they provide support in terms of personal crises, managing stress and personal

development. Management can support employees, indirectly, in a number of

the following ways.

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Manage employee turnover: Employee turnover affects the whole

organization in terms of productivity. Managing the turnover, hence, becomes

an important task. A proactive approach can be adopted to reduce attrition.

Strategies should be framed in advance and implemented when the times

arrives. Turnover costs should also be taken into consideration while framing

these strategies.

Become employer of choice: What makes a company an employer of

choice? Is the benefit it offers or the compensation packages it gives

away to its employees? Or is it measured in terms of how they value

their employees or in terms of customer satisfaction? Becoming an

employer of choice involves following a road map which tells where to

go as a brand.

Engage the new recruits: The newly hired employees are said to be

least engaged in the organization. Keeping them engaged is an important

task. The fresh talent should be utilized to maximum before they start

feeling bored in the organization.

Optimize employee engagement: An organization’s productivity is

measured not in terms of employee satisfaction but by employee

engagement. Employees are said to be engaged when they show a

positive attitude toward the organization and express a commitment to

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remain with the organization. Employee satisfaction also comes with

high engagement levels. So, organizations should aim to maximize the

engagement among employees.

Coaching and mentoring: Employees whose work performance suffers due to

poor interpersonal relationships or because of lack of interpersonal skills

should be provided proper coaching by their superiors. Planned coaching

sessions help an individual to work through issues, maximize his potential and

return to peak performance.

Feedback

Feedback acts as a channel of communication between the employee and

his manager. The amount of information employees receive about how well or

how poorly they have performed is what we call feedback. It is a dialog

between a manager and an employee which acts as a way of sharing

information about the performance.

Managers can provide either positive feedback or negative feedback to

employees. This feedback helps the employee assess his performance and

identify the improvement areas.

Positive feedback communicates managerial satisfaction. Positive recognition

for good performance boosts up morale of employees and results in

performance improvement to a higher productivity level. It is believed that

46

positive feedback is the only type of feedback that generates performance

above the minimum acceptable level.

Negative feedback obviously communicates manager’s dissatisfaction.

However, negative feedback sometimes make employee to put more efforts to

improve his performance. But such times are very rare. Moreover this

improvement is short term.

Some managers do not provide any kind of feedback to their employees.

Due to no feedback, employees may assume that they are performing

productively or they may feel that the manager is satisfied with their

performance. Studies reveal the performance tends to be same or even

decreases if no feedback is provided.

Thus, feedback is necessary because:

It builds trust and enhances communication between manager and

employee.

It gives managers and employees a way to identify and discuss skills and

strengths.

Positive feedback leads to employee retention and motivation.

It helps in identifying performance areas that need improvement and

specific ways to improve them.

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It acts as an opportunity to enhance performance by identifying

resources for skill development.

It is an opportunity for managers and employees to assess and identify

career and advancement opportunities.

It helps employees to understand the effectiveness of their performance

and contributes to their overall knowledge about the work.

Managers have tendency to ignore good performances of their

employees. Providing no feedback may de-motivate employees and may lead

to employee absenteeism. Input from manager’s side is necessary as it help

employees to improve their performance and increase productivity.

Communication between Employee and Employer

Communication is a process in which a message is conveyed to the

receiver by the sender. The message may be or may not be in a common format

or language that both the sender and receiver understand. So there is a need to

encode and decode the message in the process. Encoding and decoding also

helps in the security of the message. The process of communication is

incomplete without the feedback.

Communication is the solution to almost everything in this world. Same

applies to employee retention also.

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Straight-from-the-shoulder communication is what the employees need

from their employers. Employees look for organizations where communication

and process are transparent. Nothing is hidden and shared with the employees.

There are 3 categories of employees:

A: Who will leave their current employer in 3 years of their employment

B: Who have a probability of leaving their current employer in next 3

years

C: Who will stay with their current employer in the next 3 years

Category A: These are the employees who lack communication with their

employers.

Category B : These are employees who have no proper communication with

their employers.

Category C: These are the employees who have proper, well structured

communication with their employers.

Communication is also the way to win the employees trust in the

organization. Employees trust the employers who are friendly and open to

them. This trust leads to employee loyalty and finally retention. Employers also

feel that the immediate supervisors are the most authenticated and trusted

source of information for them. So the organizations should hire managers who

are active communicators.

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Communication mediums

Open door policy: Organizations should support open door policies so

that the employees feel comfortable and are able to express their doubts

and feeling to their employers.

Frequent meetings and Social gatherings

Emails, Newsletters, Intranet and many more

So there should be effective communication across the organization and

this communication should be two-way. Communication alone can lead to

unimaginable heights of employee retention.

Employee Retention Strategies

The basic practices which should be kept in mind in the employee retention

strategies are:

1. Hire the right people in the first place.

2. Empower the employees: Give the employees the authority to get things

done.

3. Make employees realize that they are the most valuable asset of the

organization.

4. Have faith in them, trust them and respect them.

5. Provide them information and knowledge.

6.Keep providing them feedback on their performance.

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7. Recognize and appreciate their achievements.

8. Keep their morale high.

9. Create an environment where the employees want to work and have fun.

These practices can be categorized in 3 levels: Low, medium and high

level.

Low Level Employee Retention Strategies

-you cards from supervisors

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-cards or cards sent to spouses/families

personal significant events

Wedding gifts

Anniversary gifts

New born baby gifts

Scholarships for employee’s children

Get well cards/flowers

Birthday cards, celebrations and gifts

o Home insurance plans

o Legal insurance

o Travel insurance

o Disability programs

o Discounts in cinema halls, museums, restaurants, etc.

o Retail store discounts

o Computer peripherals purchase discounts

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o On-site ATM

o On-site facilities for which cost is paid by employees

laundry facility for bachelors

Shipping services

o Assistance with tax calculations and submission of forms

o Financial planning assistance

o Casual dress policies

o Facilities for expectant mothers

Parking

Parenting guide

Lactation rooms

Flexi timings

o Celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, retirements, promotions, etc

o Holiday parties and holiday gift certificates

o Occasional parties like diwali, holi, dushera, etc

o Organize get together for watching football, hockey, cricket matches

o Organize picnics and trips for movies etc

o Sports outings like cricket match etc

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o Indoor games

o “Casual dress” day

o “Green is the color” day

o Handwriting analysis

o Tatoo, mehandi, hair braiding stalls on weekends

o Mini cricket in office

o Ice cream Fridays

o Holi-Day breakfast

o Personal loans for emergencies

o Childcare and eldercare services

o Employee Assistance Programs ( Counseling sessions etc)

o Emergency childcare services

Medium Level Strategies for Employee Retention

Appreciating and recognizing a well done job

Special bonus for successfully completing firm-sponsored certifications

Benefit programs for family support

Child adoption benefits

Flexible benefits

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Dependents care assistance

Medical care reimbursement

o Sabbatical programs

o Professional skills development

o Individualized career guidance

High Level Strategies

Promoting Work/Life Effectiveness

-time schedules

-site day care facility etc.

style and culture

Appreciate new ideas and reward risk-taking

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Show support for individual initiative

Encourage creativity

opportunities: It can be done through:

o Mentoring programs

o Performance feedback programs

o Provide necessary tools to the employees to achieve their professional

and personal goals

o Getting the most out of employee interests and talents

o Higher study opportunities for employees

o Vocational counseling

o Offer personalized career guidance to employees

nt and

effective way to develop trust.

o Suggestion committees can be created

o Open door communication policy can be followed

o Regular feedbacks on organization’s goals and activities should be taken

from the employees by:

Management communications

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Intranet and internet can be used as they provide 24X7 access to

the information

Newsletters, notice boards, etc.

employee retention is not a

process that begins at the end. The process of retention begins right from the

start of the recruitment process.

o The new joinees should fit with the organization’s culture. The

personality, leadership characteristics of the candidate should be in sync

with the culture of the hiring organization.

o Referral bonus should be given to the employees for successful hires.

They are the best source of networking.

o Proper training should be given to the managers on interview and

management techniques.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Industrial relations are a delegate problem in nature and industrial

relations in public sector undertakings are still more complex. Its complexity is

largely attributed to the human beings at work in the private sector

undertakings like Tube Investments of India Limited, Chennai. It is a tough job

to deal with the employees of public sector undertaking, when compared to the

private sector employees. The employees of public sector undertaking are well

57

protected by the rules and regulations and job security. Further industrial

relations are destined by the existence of strong trade unionism. Both workmen

and staff have strong unions representing the interest of such groups. The

employees’ unions and the management arrive at bipartite settlements on all

issues concerning employees and the management through the process of

collective bargaining.

The issues of common concern to all the Tube investments of India

Limited employees include pay, allowances, welfare, grievances, promotion

and workers participation among other things, smooth sailing industrial

relations are attributable not only to the amicable settlement of issues having

common concern but also to the satisfactory level of management practices in

the day to day management of Tube investments of India Limited.

In the light of these issues, several questions arise: what are the

determinants of employment relations between the management and employees

in Tube investments of India Limited? What are the factors that influence the

employment relations among officers, staff and workmen in Tube investments

of India Limited? To what extent do the personal characteristics of the Tube

investments of India Limited employees’ affect employment relations in

industries? How do the Tube investments of India Limited management and

58

the employees unions arrive at bipartite settlements through the collective

bargaining process?

Thus the above mentioned factors provided necessary impetus to

undertake research in Tube investments of India Limited. The major focus of

study is identifying the aspects which facilitate the industrial relations as well

as the employee retention and to suggest measures to overcome the problems.

1.3 OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS

The different terms that are used in this study have been

conceptualized and given in the form of definitions below:

Employees:

The term “employees” in this study refers to Executives, Staff and

Workmen of the Tube Investments of India Limited.

Executives:

The term “executives” means officers, include Chief General

Manager, General Manager, Deputy General Manager, Assistant General

Manager, Senior Manager, Manager, Deputy Manager, Assistant Manager,

Officer and Assistant Officer and other supervisory staff in the designation of

officers working in Tube Investments of India Limited.

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Staff:

The term “Staff” means Foreman, Chargemen, Senior Executives

Assistant, Executives Assistant, Senior Staff, Junior Staff and Sub-staffs.

Workmen:

The term “Workmen” means Highly Skilled, Skilled, Semi-skilled

and Unskilled regular workers working in Tube Investments of India Limited.

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The importance of employees and their contribution to the

accomplishment of organisational goals cannot be underestimated. Each

organisation deals with human being at work in a variety of ways in the course

of achieving its objectives or goals. The way that employees are dealt with by

the management and the result of management practices influence the working

relationship among people. Industrial relations and the employee retention are,

therefore, the result of management practices and working relationships among

people in an organisation.7 In other words, the success of an organisation to a

large extent depends on the nature of industrial relations that exists in it. The

Tube Investments of India Limited is no exception to this phenomenon. Tube

Investments of India Limited is one of the successfully running private sector

7 Mahendra Chaturvedi:“Industrial Relations in Public Sector Undertakings – An

Overview”, Industrial Relations News & Views, Vol.5, No.2, April – June 1993, P.3

60

enterprise and its relations between the employees and the management in

Private Sector are based on the policy of the management of the company.

Therefore, it is significant to know how Tube Investments of India

Limited dealt with the employees and the practices for the retention of the

employees. What are the management practices of the Tube Investments of

India Limited? and how these influence the working relationship among the

people.

1.5 SCOPE OF STUDY

The present study has been undertaken to know the determinants of

Industrial relations in Tube investments of India Limited. The study covered

only Tube investments of India Limited in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

The study was confined to industrial relations between employees and

management. The factors influencing industrial relations were identified. The

relationship between the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents and

industrial relations in Tube investments of India Limited has been studied with

a view to identifying the factors influencing industrial relations. For the

purpose of studying these aspects, primary data were collected for the period

2010 – 2011 from the personnel department of that industry.

1.6 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objectives of the study are enumerated below:

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To study the profile of Tube Investments of India Limited,

Chennai

To identify the determinants of the employee retention from the

view of officers, staff and workmen in Tube Investments of India

Limited, Chennai

To study the effective welfare measures offered for the employee

retention.

To identify the overall determinants of human relations for the

retention in Tube Investments of India Limited, Chennai

To offer suggestions for improving human relations and employee

retention schemes in Tube Investments of India Limited, Chennai

1.7 HYPOTHESIS

The following hypothesis are framed and tested significantly.

There is no significant association between the category of the

respondents and their attitude towards job

There is no significant association between the category of the

respondents and their attitude towards the company.

There is no significant association between the category of respondents

and their service conditions existed in the company.

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There is no significant association between the category of respondents

and their work conditions existed in the company.

There is no significant association between the category of respondents

and welfare measures of the company.

There is no significant association between the category of respondents

and the wage and salary administration of the company.

There is no significant association between the category of respondents

and the trade union functions.

There is no significant association between the category of respondents

and the trade union functions.

1.8 METHODOLOGY

This is an empirical study based on survey method. The basis for the

study is primary data given by the respondents. Secondary data is also

collected from various sources like text books, journals, magazines, and annual

reports of Tube investments of India Limited, Government reports, prime

directory, newspapers and websites of Internet. Primary data were collected

through the questionnaire. It was prepared and circulated to all the hierarchy of

employees of Tube investments of India Limited ranging from workers in the

shop floor to the officers in-charge of administration. The data so collected

63

were supplemented with views obtained in person through personal interviews

and discussions with HR department officials, office bearers of Trade unions.

1.9 SAMPLING DESIGN

The area for the survey is very large i.e. the total manpower strength of

Tube investments of India Limited is 2524 (Executives: 432, Staffs: 868 and

Workers: 1224). The researcher had the constraint of time and resources and

hence he decided to choose 25% of respondents as the sample. To select the

sample respondents the researcher has adopted the Tippet’s Random Sampling

Table. Based on the table respondents are selected.

The instrument used for data collection was questionnaire. It was

designed to cover all aspects of industrial relations in Tube investments of

India Limited based on the objectives of the study.

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Employees strength in Tube Investments of India Limited (as on 31/3/2010)

Sl. No. Designation Factory

A) Executives

1 Chief General Manager 2

2 General Manager 4

3 Deputy General Manager 5

4 Assistant General Manager 22

5 Senior Manager 37

6 Manager 40

7 Deputy Manager 65

8 Assistant Manager 78

9 Officer 84

10 Assistant. Officer 95

Total 432

B) Staff

1 Foremen / Asst. Foremen 50

2 Chargemen / Chargemen (UG) 25

3 Exec. Asst. 25

4 Sr.Steno / Asst. /Clerical 99

5 Jr. Staff (Technical) 79

6 Sr.Sub-staff 170

7 Sub-staff 420

Total 868

C) Workmen Highly skilled, Skilled, Semi-skilled, Unskilled 1224

Grand Total (A+B+C) 2524

Source: Official records of TI Limited

1.10 COLLECTION OF DATA

The initial questionnaire was circulated to sixty employees. In each

category of employees 20 questionnaires were distributed. The categories

comprise of Executives, Staff and Workmen. After soliciting and

incorporating their views the questionnaire was restructured and finalized.

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1.11 DATA ANALYSIS AND STATISTICAL TOOLS

The data collected from the respondents are analyzed using various

statistical techniques like arithmetic mean, standard deviation, Chi-square test,

Multiple Regression Analysis, F-test, t-test and ANOVA, etc.

RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY TEST

The data obtained from the respondents were subjected to reliability and

validity test under Cronbach’s Alpha method. For which the number of cases

taken up for scrutiny were Executives 108, Staff : 217 and Workmen : 306.

The result of reliability and validity test were 0.8082, 0.8202, and 0.8440

respectively and quite satisfactory.

1.12 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

This study has the following limitations:

1. Because of time constraints, only one particular organization viz., Tube

investments of India Limited was selected for the study.

2. Since the study was confined to only one organization in the industry,

majority of findings and conclusion are applicable only to that

organization and generalization may or may not hold good for other

organizations.

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3. The samples may behave or give opinions differently at different times

because of their psychological temperament. This may have an impact

and it will affect the survey.

4. The aspects like production, marketing, finance and accounts are not

taken into consideration for this study.

1.13 SCHEME OF CHAPTERISATION

Chapter I deals with introduction with the statement of the problem,

objectives, hypothesis, statistical tools applied and limitations of the study.

Chapter II presents the overall profile of Tube Investments of India

Limited, Chennai giving a vivid description about the activities and functions

of the concern and the personnel characteristics of employees in Tube

investments of India Limited and the overall factors which are influencing the

industrial relations in Tube investments of India Limited.

Chapter III gives an overview of all the previous studies conducted in

connection with human relations and employee retention.

Chapter IV deals with the analysis of employees in Tube investments of

India Limited in connection with the attitudes toward job, service and working

conditions towards retention.

Chapter V provides with the analysis of the employees in Tube

investments of India Limited regarding welfare measures, wage and salary

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administration, trade union activities and workers participation in management

towards retention.

Chapter VI is the final and concluding chapter which exhibits the

summary of findings, suggestions and conclusion.