A Study on HR Practices for Employee Retention in Select Indian IT Organizations

One of the most critical issues facing the IT organizations today is how to retain the knowledge workers. Human assets are the only true differentiator for an organization to build its competitive advantage. When an employee leaves the organization it causes a loss of intellectual property, investments both in terms of time and money, business and social connections, goodwill and sometimes an employee or two in the form of referrals. The IT companies’ tacit knowledge gained from experience and personal inquisitiveness may not be passed from outgoing employee through knowledge transfer. Therefore it becomes imperative for the employer to understand the range of factors that influences employees decision making to leave the org and employees’ intention to stay in the organization. By implementing HR best practices the management can prevent the competitors from attracting and poaching the talent already nutured in the company over a period of time. This research paper explores and documents HR best practices in employee retention in select Indian IT organizations and an extensive review of literature is undertaken to develop a thorough understanding of the principles behind these HR best practices.