Attrition and Compensation Management

Many studies have found that there is a direct causal linkage between the levels of compensation that a firm pays and the rate of attrition that it has.

Attrition can be voluntary and involuntary, where the former is the employee quitting the company out of his or her own volition and the latter is the company asking the employee to quit for a number of reasons ranging from non-performance to violation of rules and regulations.

In this article, we consider the voluntary attrition and the linkage between inadequate compensation and attrition.

Low compensation and Attrition

The exit interviews conducted by the HR professionals to ascertain the reasons behind an employee’s exit usually reveal that low compensation is a major factor behind the employee’s decision to quit the company.

Research into the phenomenon of attrition has found that many employees (particularly at the entry and the middle management levels) leave companies because they have been offered better compensation at another company.

On the other hand, the senior management personnel quit to take up challenging roles that pay well as well as provide self actualizing drives to them.

Hence, it can be construed that compensation is a major factor behind an employee’s desire to quit a particular company and join another company.

Compensation as a Hygiene Factor

Hertzberg’s theory of motivation lists hygiene factors as those conditions when absent cause an employee to be dissatisfied. The point about this theory is that factors like adequate compensation, a congenial working environment and additional benefits are necessary to motivate the employee and they ought to be present to keep the employee happy. The absence of such factors makes the employee lose focus and drive and hence the lack of “hygiene” makes it difficult for the employee to continue.

How to Manage Compensation Expectations

The appraisal time or the time of the year when employees are graded on their performance is usually the time when employees put forth their aspirations and expectations regarding the compensation and other aspects of their job.

Hence, the line managers and the HR managers must make it a point to “manage” the expectations of the employees during this period.

The attrition is usually the highest when employees are handed their raise letters that specify how much their compensation is increased. This is because the employees might expect more than what they have been awarded which leads to dissatisfaction.

Though compensation in recent years has ceased to be the “be all” of employee satisfaction with the nature of work and the responsibilities that an employee has becoming more important in determining job satisfaction, it still is one of the most important factors behind an employee’s decision to quit a company.

Hence, it is incumbent upon HR professionals and the senior management that they devise compensation plans keeping in mind the various factors that drive an employee’s psyche.

Only when an employee is satisfied with his or her condition in a company can they perform at the desired levels.