Employee Retention-A Key Tool for Achieving Competitive Advantage

The present fast changing economy, increasing cut throat competition, has forced the organizations to be more competitive and effective in order to grow and survive in the long run. The organizations cannot sustain in such fast changing competitive nature of business without realizing the significance and potential of their employees. Human resource is a life blood of an organization and plays a pivotal role in achieving and sustaining competitive advantage. Due to the increased stiff competition, the opportunities for employees has also increased, thus making skilled employees the major differentiating factor for most organizations. Worldwide, retention of skilled employees has been of serious concern to managers in the face of ever increasing high rate of employee turnover due to green pastures available to them. Employee retention is very critical tool in the hands of organizations and acts as key business driver for organizational success and is by far a significant factor for organizations to be economically competitive. The best way for organizations to remain relevant in their operations is by achieving competitive advantage that is sustainable which is only possible if organizations are able to retain their workforce. In the light of above discussion, the present paper will discuss the various HRM instruments that can help in retaining the human capital as well as the present paper will also highlight the significance of employee retention for achieving sustainable competitive advantage.