Pre-employment 6-8 months 24-36 months 48-60 months

Mutual exploration Employee joins the Employee examines Employee pursues

and assessment by organisation, initial internal and external new job, assignments,

the employer and assimilation of new options and changes mentors, or training to

employee employee for ongoing career meet long-trem career

growth and satisfaction and financial needs

Firm reputation – Reputation of the firm within its industry for innovation and progressive human capital practices.

Employee benefits – The appropriate range of benefits by employee life cycle.

This hierarchy shows that in order to reduce employee turnover and ensure high productivity of those still employed, organizations need a holistic approach to promote retention, beginning at recruitment and continuing through the entire tenure of employment, focused on all elements of he employment experience.

One such approach is to recognize that there are different stages in “the employment life cycle ” and that reasons for turnover are different at different stages.

Research shows that employees leave their jobs voluntarily for different reasons depending on the length of time in the job (Figure 2).

One important practical conclusion from the above discussion is that there are certain patterns in voluntary turnover which can be dealt with proactively and by means which are adapted to different life cycle stages. We will now discuss some of the tools available.

Realistic job preview is aimed at reducing turnover due to the applicant misunderstanding the job environment and requirements. It helps applicants experience the desirable and less desirable aspects of the job before accepting the offer, to increase commitment and tenure. This tool involves identifying key messages and job requirements, identifying media (video, brochure, tour, work sample), and integrating the job preview with recruitment and selection.

Employee orientation is aimed at speeding up new employees’ ability to be productive and feel integrated into the organization, help them to socialize and to develop a feeling of belonging with the organization.

Orientation processes vary significantly in focus and method. Some emphasize communicating information, while others emphasize social and emotional connection:

§Basic workshop on first day(s)

§Self-paced learning/reference material (video, software, written)

§ Group socialization

§Supervisory guidance and modeling

§Leadership interaction (directly with senior organizational leaders)

Mentoring is aimed at transferring knowledge between more and less experienced employees, building employee commitment through strong personal relationships and respect for colleagues in the organization. Informal approaches encourage employees to seek out mentors to fit their needs, while leaders are encouraged to mentor employees when the opportunity arises. Formal programs can include: identifying potential mentors and mentees of greatest organizational benefit; identifying candidates and their goals and matching them to a partner; providing training; recommending scheduling of individual mentoring meetings, as well as periodic larger group meetings.

Figure 2