The ABCs of attracting and retaining talent

Ashneer Grover, the founder of BharatPe, a digital payments company in India, made headlines in 2021 when he offered a BMW bike as a joining bonus to a new employee. According to Grover, the decision to offer a BMW bike as a joining bonus was a way to attract top talent and make a statement. He believed that offering something unconventional would set his company apart from others and signal that BharatPe was a place where people could expect the unexpected.

Offering a BMW bike as a joining bonus is not common practice, and it may not be feasible for all companies. However, it does illustrate the importance of creating a unique and exciting workplace culture that values its employees and their contributions.

Hardworking employees are an asset to any company and their contribution keeps the company going, and growing. Bearing that in mind, managers more often than not make an additional effort to keep them satisfied so that they deliver their best.

Employee retention is an essential aspect of any successful business. It is no secret that losing a valued employee can be costly, both in terms of time and money. Retaining your employees not only saves you money, but also improves morale, boosts productivity, and creates a positive work environment. 

Over the years, uniquely smart practices have been adopted by different companies based on the demands of the contemporary labour market. Some popular practices include providing competitive compensation, fostering a positive work environment, validating them through awards and recognition etc.

Allowances and Bonuses

PHP Family, one of the largest industrial conglomerates in Bangladesh, provided 11 bonuses equal to the basic salary, to each of its 10,000 employees, on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr this year. The company provided six bonuses in 2020, 10 in 2019 and 8 in 2018.

Bonuses and special allowances (additional payments on top of salaries made by an employer to cover specific expenses), instead of a raise, are always a good idea to motivate important employees, as it does not affect the gross salary. 

"If two or more employees are working in the same designation, it would be unfair to others if one of them draws a higher salary. Hence, special allowances serve the purpose without creating any discrepancy," said Sohel Tanvir (pseudonym), an HR professional at a leading healthcare service provider in the country, adding that special allowances go a long way in retaining valuable employees.

A flexible and healthy work culture

When they started, a key challenge of Brain Station 23 - a leading IT company in the country - was to convince the top talent in the country to join them, as a majority of web designers and developers preferred moving abroad. 

Hence, the company opted for different lucrative offers like flexible working hours, work-from-home opportunities etc. Brain Station 23 even branched out to different countries, including Germany and Netherlands, so that these individuals can work remotely from their comfort zones.

Apart from pay rises and other financial incentives, employees now look forward to other benefits like work-from-home opportunities, flexible (some also prefer stable and fixed) working hours and a healthy working environment. 

Employees are more conscious about spending quality time with their families and have become aware of the benefit it has on their mental health. Sohel believes if organisations offer such benefits to employees, some of them might even settle for a pay cut. 

"The thought processes (of employees) have changed. They are much more conscious of what truly matters to them: mental health, stable working hours and a healthy working environment. That is why, even a significant raise will not convince everyone to switch jobs. Because, along with a raise, you may also be inviting extra workload and workplace problems. You also have a new environment to settle into," said Sohel.

Positive feedback and recognition

Feedback helps an employee learn and grow. While negative feedback is part and parcel of any job, positive feedback, or positive reinforcement, is a great way to encourage employees to keep up with their good work. 

In positive reinforcement, you don't constantly scan for what someone is doing wrong and instead, you keep your eyes peeled for opportunities to acknowledge and praise specific behaviours. And recognition should follow those employees who consistently display such behaviour: being a good team player, bringing most to the table, always ready to run the extra mile.

"As much as I loved my job as a Territory Manager in Rajshahi,  being away from my family and comfort zone took a toll on my life. I used to feel frustrated at times. During one of those bad phases, I received the "Spotlight" award from the management, which worked like a mirror of my hard work. That award might be very negligible in the greater scheme of things, but it gave me a powerful boost in my career," said Shafkat Arefin, a Territory Manager at a leading MNC.

Opportunities for professional & personal growth

bKash, one of the leading mobile financial services in the country, trains human resources in a way that equips them to cope with advanced and sophisticated technology. If a recruit shows more potential in a field than in which the person has joined, bKash keeps its platform open for the recruit to shift to a new role and flourish his or her full capabilities.  

bKash also allows its employees to innovate: think out of the box, come up with new ideas and implement those. "Whenever we have a powerful idea, bKash allows us to go ahead and try it," said Intekhab Sadekin, Head of Solution Architecture and Planning of bKash. 

Sohel mentions it is important to keep both high performing and average-performing employees motivated by training them, and providing them with the right opportunities to grow.

Ownership share

When Raisul Kabir co-founded Brain Station 23, he was just a university student. The other founders could have just hired him as the CEO with a handsome salary, but instead, they offered him a 50% partnership. In his words, that very ownership has always pushed him to deliver his best, and that is why, under his leadership, Brain Station 23 has gradually made it to the top three IT companies in the country.

Raisul personally believes that expanding ownership is a great way to motivate and retain employees in the long run. Hence, the company has partnered with Ernst and Young Global Limited to establish an international model, where the best 80 employees receive a small share of the company. 

"We are not just another company where employees work for the sake of money. We have designed our company to create fulfilling jobs. By fulfilling jobs, I mean interesting work that ensures good money and builds solid employee-employer relations," said Raisul.