A STUDY OF EMPLOYEE ATTRITION IN PRIVATE SECTOR

TABLE OF CONTENT

INDEX
Sr. No. Title Page No.
1 INTRODUCTION 2
2 CONCEPTS 8
3 CASES AND VARIABLES 11
4 LITERATURE REVIEW 13
5 RESEARCH METHODS 16
6 DATA PROCESSING AND ANALYSIS 24
7 LIMITATION OF STUDY 40
8 MAJOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION 41
9 BIBLIOGRAPHY 42
 INTRODUCTION

A reduction in the number of employees through retirement, resignation or death is called

Attrition. Attrition is also called total turnover or wastage rate. Attrition is the function of
demand and supply. The industry has continuous demand of experienced employees and
globalization has created the need of fresh talent for incorporating new ideas. The demand comes
from the growth of the industry and the policy of the company. These two things decide whether
there is a demand of fresher or experienced employees.
On the other hand, the supply comes from the educational institutions and the market.
The supply from the educational institutions is enough to meet the demands of the various
industries but there is a lack of experienced people in the industry, which in turn has created an
imbalance.
The objective of our research is to explain the transition from retention to termination
states of behaviour and to obtain a better understanding of the process by which the transition
occurs. This study examines one such mechanism called employee attrition.Analyzing the
sample of 277 left out employees who left at different levels in the organizational hierarchy from
various public sector companies. We are trying to infer a pattern in career growth opportunities
within the organization that may have influenced the labour turnover of these various firms. This
may lead to inferences on ways to prevent employee attrition to certain extent by adopting
measures for retention of employees. We can use these findings for other organizations also.

A) Is ATTRITION important in ANY organization ?

Employee attrition costs 12 to 18 months’ salary for each leaving manager or

professional, and 4 to 6 months' pay for each leaving clerical or hourly employee. Although
employee turnover can help organizations evolve and change, an American Management
Association survey showed that four out of five CEOs view employee retention as a serious issue
for organizational success. If managers know the real causes of attrition, managers can control
attrition and retain employees. Each retained employee can save money and lead to better
opportunities.
B) WHY EMPLOYEES LEAVE ?

Most employees leave their work for reasons other than money - and an organization can
correct these reasons. Most leaving employees seek opportunities that allow them to use and
develop their skills. Leaving employees want more meaning in their work ... they often indicate
that they want to use their qualities and skills in challenging teamwork led by capable leaders.

 Hourly employees notice whether they are treated with respect, have capable
management and interesting work
 Clerical employees voice concerns such as "type of work," "use of skills and abilities"
and "opportunities to learn"
 Professional employees cite concerns about "supervisory coaching and counseling,"
"company direction" and interesting work
 Managerial staff cite "career growth" and "leadership" as the major factors that influence
their decisions to stay or leave, together with "opportunities for management" "ability of
top management" "use of skills and abilities" and "work/family balance"

C) IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING ATTRITION :

Attrition rate is increasing day by day and its especially the software industry which is
affected the most. Why an Employee leaves a company is the question asked by most of the
employers. Companies even hire Private HR professionals to study the company's work and find
out why an employee is dissatisfied.

HR department does the recruiting of new employees and then send them for training so that
they can understand work and work culture and become better professionals. Each and every
company faces employee turn over problem whether big or small. An employee leaves his
present job for another job to get better pay package and good working conditions.Every
Company calculates Employee attrition rate and takes measures to reduce it. The facts and
figures are not made public as it may tarnish the image of the company in front of its own
employees and its loyal customers.

A survey conducted by us has found out that there are various reasons for Employee Attrition -

1) Higher Pay Package in another company.

2). Good working Conditions.
3) Opportunities for growth in new company.
4) Change of Place problem.
 5).A better Boss in new company.
6) Brand Image of the new company.

Employee attrition costs a lot to the company. There are various costs which are borne by
the company at the start when the employee is under training period. Costs such as –
1).Conveyance Cost.
2).Cost of lodging of the new employee.
3).Trainers cost.
4).Cost of venue where training will be conducted.
5).Materials to be supplied during training process.

A company has a training period of 3 to 6 months. During this time an employee is not
fruitful for the company. If an employee leaves the company when he starts working, company
suffers a big loss in terms of money as well as workforce. Every company takes measures to hold
the talented workforce by means of perks, Increments, Bonus and extra facilities. No one wants
to lose good brains to their competitors.

Now the question is how to reduce employee attrition. What should a company do to hold
on the talent. There are various companies like TATA's and Reliance who do a lot to reduce
attrition rate. Flexible working conditions have been given to employees who have problem
working 10 – 5. Private hospitals for employees where they can get their regular health check up
done without spending much money. Free overseas tour once in a year when a target is achieved.
Few Companies are getting more and more work savvy and just want to get their work done by
hook or by crook. The mentality needs to be changed. Target for completion of a work should be
there but that should not hamper an employees personal life. Companies should conduct various
seminars on how to balance personal and professional life. A employee can be productive if and
only if his personal life is balanced. Make employees a part of your work culture family and see
the difference.

Attrition rate cannot become completely obsolete but it can surely be minimized.
D) STUDY OF AN EXAMPLE OF BPO SECTOR AS AN INDICATOR OF
BASIC PROBLEM OF ATTRITION:

Staff attrition (or turnover) represents significant costs to technology and business
process outsourcing (BPO) companies. High attrition rates drive up training costs, and increase
human resources, recruiting, and productivity costs. They also increase the prospect of customer
service complaints or quality problems, and create substantial continuity problems for longer-
lived projects.

There are many causes for attrition including, retirement and death. However, most
attrition is due to employee turnover. Employees leave their jobs for a number of reasons
including: wanting more money, poor working conditions, irregular working hours, lack of
advancement opportunities, lack of job security, difficulties with coworkers, desire for change,
better opportunities, and family reasons (e.g. their spouse gets a job in a new location, females
leave the workforce after marriage or childbirth). High wage inflation is another major factor in
job hopping.

# Attrition Rates and Costs in India

In India, the average annual attrition rate in the business process outsourcing (BPO)
sector hit a high of close to 50% a few years ago.  Better attrition management and the 2008-
2009 global economic slow down have helped reduce the figure to 24-30%, but this still has a
significant impact on costs and quality.  Furthermore, attrition rates in India’s business process
outsourcing (BPO) industry are about 8 percent higher than the national average, according to a
report by global consulting firm the Hay Group.

In India there is an increasing demand and supply gap for professionals. It is sometimes
difficult for HR managers to maintain consistency in performance and keep the motivation levels
high especially when the work is monotonous.

Some companies believe that the attrition rates in India—and the costs associated with
them are so high that they can override the benefits of lower wage costs. For example; while
wages in call centers in Indian are less than one-eighth of those in Northern Europe, it has been
reported that Hewlett-Packard have found the cost per ‘ticket’ (the cost of processing a query)
was double in India “due to the inability of the staff to resolve customer queries efficiently
because of language barriers and inexperience”. The issue is not with the quality or education of
the staff and still less with the investment in technology. It is simply attrition—people do not
stay long enough to be taught or to learn the job.
 India’s government is acutely aware of the attrition issue and has introduced several
initiatives to create BPO jobs in rural areas of the country.

Managing Attrition in India :

To ensure that attrition rates are kept to a minimum, businesses need to redesign their
reward and recognition packages to help the industry hold onto staff and to find the right kind of
people who can keep pace with the unique work patterns.

According to Oscar De Mello, country head of Hay Group’s Reward Information

Services in India, adjusting pay might not automatically lead to higher operating costs for BPO
companies. By creatively designing their total reward package towards more short-term
incentives and benefits, and linking the package to performance, companies can ensure that they
get higher productivity without hefty increases in salary costs and minimize attrition costs and
issues at the same time. Hay’s Group recommends providing a better balance of short- and long-
term benefits such as performance bonuses, employee stock option plans and retention bonuses;
effectively communicating details of compensation plans to encourage employee buy-in; and
promoting non-financial benefits such as career development, job rotation and transparent
performance management systems.

If you are offshoring to a third party, most of the required activities will be managed by
your vendor, but you need to be engaged. First, if you are working on a longer-term project,
understand your partner’s attrition rates and their management practices. Some firms manage
attrition well, while others simply try to hide it. Second, review your team structure and ensure
that there is sufficient information sharing and collaboration so that the loss of any one person
does not set you back. Finally, get to know your key team members. Not only will this help
reduce attrition, but help you minimize the down side if you do lose a key team member.
E) CONCEPTS:

1) RESEARCH AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY :

Research in common parlance refers to a search for knowledge. Research is an endeavour

to discover answers to problems (intellectual and practical) through the application of scientific
method to the knowable universe.
Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It may be
understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically. In it we study the various
steps that are generally adopted by a researcher in studying his research problem along with the
logic behind them.

2) RESEARCH DESIGN:

Research design is a catalogue of the various phases and the facts related to the
formulation of a research effort. It is an arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of
data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with the economy in
procedure. Descriptive research design means research design in a case of descriptive studies
which is concerned with describing the characteristics of a particular individual or of a group.

3) DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH:-

Descriptive study is a fact finding investigation with adequate interpretation. It is the

simplest type of the research. It is more specific than an exploratory study, as it focuses
particular aspect or dimension of the problem being studied. It is designed to gather descriptive
information and provides information for the formulating more sophisticated studies. Data are
collected by using one or more appropriate methods like: observations, interviewing and mail
questionaries. Census surveys are examples of such research. This type of the research is also
called expost facto research.

4) POPULATION AND SAMPLE:-

A sample as the name implies, is a smaller representation of a larger whole. A sample is a

composed of some fraction or a part of the total number of elements or units is a defined
population. Sampling, therefore is a method of selecting some fraction of a population.
Sampling is an essential part of all scientific procedures. It is well developed in the field
of biology, physics, chemistry and social science research. The research undertaken comprised of
total population of all the employees working in public sector in pune region with total sample
size of 277.
5) METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION:-

The two main sources of data collection in a social science research come from the inner
world of the library and outside world of living people. We may label these two sources simply
under the general rubric of documentary or paper sources. We may consider historical records,
diaries, biographies and statistical records. When we turn to consider “people” as a source social
science data, we identify various forms of observation, but more particularly and primarily the
interview and questionnaire are the techniques for the collection of the data from the source.

A) Primary Data:- Primary data is the information collected during the course of an
experiment during experimental research. It can also be obtained through observation or through
direct communication, with the person associated with the selected subjects, by performing
surveys or descriptive research. There are several methods of collecting primary data. These are
as follows:
1) Observation Method.
2) Interview Method.
3) Questionnaires and schedules.
4) Other Methods are warranty cards, distributor’s audit, pantry audits,
consumer panels, using mechanical devices, through projective
techniques, depth interviews, content analysis, their surveys e-mail-
internet survey.

B) Secondary Data:- Secondary Data means data that is already available in various
reports, diaries, letters, books, periodicals, etc. Secondary data is that, which has been used
previously for any research and is now in use for the second time. In short, data presented in
research reports when used again in further research, is called “secondary data.”
6) THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK :

A theoretical framework is a collection of interrelated concepts, like a theory but not

necessarily so well worked-out. A theoretical framework guides any research, determining what
things are supposed to be measured and what statistical relationships should be looked for.

Theoretical frameworks are obviously critical in deductive, theory-testing sorts of studies.

In those kinds of studies, the theoretical framework must be very specific and well-thought out.

Surprisingly, theoretical frameworks are also important in exploratory studies, where one
really don't know much about what is going on, and are trying to learn more. There are two
reasons why theoretical frameworks are important here. First, no matter how little you think you
know about a topic, and how unbiased you think you are, it is impossible for a human being not
to have preconceived notions, even if they are of a very general nature. For example, some
people fundamentally believe that people are basically lazy and untrustworthy, and you have
keep your wits about you to avoid being conned. These fundamental beliefs about human nature
affect how you look things when doing personnel research. In this sense, one is always being
guided by a theoretical framework, but you don't know it. Not knowing what your real
framework is can be a problem. The framework tends to guide what you notice in an
organization, and what you don't notice. In other words, you don't even notice things that don't fit
your framework! We can never completely get around this problem, but we can reduce the
problem considerably by simply making our implicit framework explicit. Once it is explicit, we
can deliberately consider other frameworks, and try to see the organizational situation through
different lenses.
7 ) CASES AND VARIABLES :

Cases are objects whose behavior or characteristics we study. Usually, the cases are
persons. But they can also be groups, departments, organizations, etc. They can also be more
esoteric things like events (e.g., meetings), utterances, pairs of people, etc.

Variables are characteristics of cases. They are attributes. Qualities of the cases that we
measure or record. For example, if the cases are persons, the variables could be sex, age, height,
weight, feeling of empowerment, math ability, etc. Variables are called what they are because it
is assumed that the cases will vary in their scores on these attributes. For example, if the variable
is age, we obviously recognize that people can be different ages. Of course, sometimes, for a
given sample of people, there might not be any variation on some attribute. For example, the
variable 'number of children' might be zero for all members of this class. It's still a variable,
though, because in principle it could have variation.

In any particular study, variables can play different roles. Two key roles are independent
variables and dependent variables. Usually there is only one dependent variable, and it is the
outcome variable, the one you are trying to predict. Variation in the dependent variable is what
you are trying to explain. For example, if we do a study to determine why some people are more
satisfied in their jobs than others, job satisfaction is the dependent variable.

The independent variables, also known as the predictor or explanatory variables, are the
factors that you think explain variation in the dependent variable. In other words, these are the
causes. For example, you may think that people are more satisfied with their jobs if they are
given a lot of freedom to do what they want, and if they are well-paid. So 'job freedom' and
'salary' are the independent variables, and 'job satisfaction' is the dependent variable. This is
diagrammed as follows:
 LITERATURE REVIEW

Organizations invest a lot on their employees in terms of induction and training,

developing, maintaining and retaining them in their organization. Therefore, managers at all
costs must minimize employee’s turnover. Although, there is no standard framework for
understanding the employees turnover process as whole, a wide range of factors have been found
useful in interpreting employee turnover Kevin et al. (2004). Therefore, there is need to develop
a fuller understanding of the employee turnover, more especially, the sources- what determines
employee turnover, effects and strategies that managers can put in place minimize turnover. With
globalization which is heightening competition, organizations must continue to develop tangible
products and provide services which are based on strategies created by employees. These
employees are extremely crucial to the organisation since their value to the organization is
essentially intangible and not easily replicated Meaghan et al. (2002). Therefore, managers must
recognize that employees as major contributors to the efficient achievement of the organization’s
success Abbasi et al. (2000). Managers should control employee turnover for the benefit of the
organization success. The literature on employee turnover is divided into three groupings:
sources of employee turnover, effects of turnover and the strategies to minimize turnover.

Employees’ turnover is a much studied phenomenon Shaw et al. (1998).But there is no

standard reason why people leave organisation. Employee turnover is the rotation of workers
around the labour market; between firms, jobs and occupations; and between the states of
employment and unemployment Abassi et al. (2000). The term “turnover” is defined by Price
(1977) as: the ratio of the number of organizational members who have left during the period
being considered divided by the average number of people in that organization during the period.
Frequently, managers refer to turnover as the entire process associated with filling a vacancy:
Each time a position is vacated, either voluntarily or involuntarily, a new employee must be
hired and trained. This replacement cycle is known as turnover Woods, (1995).This term is also
often utilized in efforts to measure relationships of employees in an organization as they
leave, regardless of reason. “Unfolding model” of voluntary turnover represents a divergence
from traditional thinking (Hom and Griffeth,1995) by focusing more on the decisional aspect of
employee turnover, in other words, showing instances ofvoluntary turnover as decisions to quit.
Indeed, the model is based on a theory of decision making, image theory Beach, (1990). The
image theory describes the process of how individuals process information during decision
making. The underlying premise of the model is that people leave organizations after they have
analyzed the reasons for quitting. Beach (1990) argues that individuals seldom have the cognitive
resources to systematically evaluate all incoming information, so individuals instead of simply
and quickly compare incoming information to more heuristic-type decision making alternatives.
# ) EFFECTS OF EMPLOYEE TURNOVER :

Employee turnover is expensive from the view of the organization. Voluntary quits which
represents an exodus of human capital investment from organizations Fair (1992) and the
subsequent replacement process entails manifold costs to the organizations. These replacement
costs include for example, search of the external labour market for a possible substitute, selection
between competing substitutes, induction of the chosen substitute, and formal and informal
training of the substitute until he or she attains performance levels equivalent to the individual
who quit John (2000). Addition to these replacement costs, output would be affected to some
extend or output would be maintained at the cost of overtime payment. The reason so much
attention has been paid to the issue of turnover is because turnover has some significant effects
on organizations (De Micco and Giridharan, 1987; Dyke and Strick, 1990; Cantrell and
Saranakhsh, 1991; Denvir and Mcmahon, 1992).Many researchers argue that high turnover rates
might have negative effects on the profitability of organizations if not managed properly
(Hogan, 1992; Wasmuth and Davis, 1993; Barrows, 1990). Hogan 1992, nearly twenty years ago
the direct and indirect cost of a single line employee quitting was between $ 1400 and $4000.
Turnover has many hidden or invisible costs Philips (1990) and these invisible costs are result of
incoming employees, co-workers closely associated with incoming employees, co-workers
closely associated with departing employees and position being filled while vacant. And all these
affect the profitability of the organization. On the other hand turnover affects on customer
service and satisfaction Kemal et al. (2002). Catherine (2002) argue that turnover include other
costs, such as lost productivity, lost sales, and management’s time, estimate the turnover costs of
an hourly employee to be $3,000 to $10,000 each. This clearly demonstrates that turnover affects
the profitability of the organization and if it’s not managed properly it would have the negative
effect on the profit. Research estimates indicate that hiring and training a replacement worker for
a lost employee costs approximately 50 percent of the worker’s annual salary (Johnsonet al.,
2000) – but the costs do not stop there. Each time an employee leaves the firm, we presume that
productivity drops due to the learning curve involved in understanding the job and the
organization. Furthermore, the loss of intellectual capital adds to this cost, since not only do
organizations lose the human capital and relational capital of the departing employee, but also
competitors are potentially gaining these assets Meaghan et al. (2002). Therefore, if employee
turnover is not managed properly it would affect the organization adversely in terms of personnel
costs and in the long run it would affect its liquidity position. However, voluntary turnover
incurs significant cost, both in terms of direct costs (replacement, recruitment and selection,
temporary staff, management time), and also (and perhaps more significantly) in terms of
indirect costs (morale, pressure on remaining staff, costs of learning, product/service quality,
organisational memory) and the loss of social capital Dess et al. (2001).
# ) STRATEGIES TO MINIMIZE EMPLOYEE TURNOVER :

Strategies on how to minimize employee turnover, confronted with problems of

employee turnover, management has several policy options viz. changing (or improving existing)
policies towards recruitment, selection, induction, training, job design and wage payment. Policy
choice, however, must be appropriate to the precise diagnosis of the problem. Employee turnover
attributable to poor selection procedures, for example, is unlikely to improve were the policy
modification to focus exclusively on the induction process. Equally, employee turnover
attributable to wage rates which produce earnings that are not competitive with other firms in the
local labor market is unlikely to decrease were the policy adjustment merely to enhance the
organization’s provision of on-the job training opportunities. Given that there is increase in
direct and indirect costs of labour turnover, therefore, management are frequently exhorted to
identify the reasons why people leave organization’s so that appropriate action is taken by the
management. Extensive research has shown that the following categories of human capital
management factors provides a core set of measures that senior management can use to increase
the effectiveness of their investment in people and improve overall corporate performance of
business. Employee engagement, the organization’s capacity to engage, retain, and optimize the
value of its employees hinges on how well jobs are designed, how employees' time is used, and
the commitment and support that is shown to employees by the management would motivate
employees to stay in organizations..Knowledge accessibility, the extent of the organization’s
“collaborativeness” and its capacity for making knowledge and ideas widely available to
employees, would make employees to stay in the organization. Sharing of information should be
made at all levels of management. This accessibility of information would lead to strong
performance from the employees and creating strong corporate culture Meaghan et al. (2002).
 # ) CONCLUSIONS :

Therefore, if the above strategies are taken into account the business would be able to
survive in a dynamic environment by treating their employees as one of their assets which needs
a lot of attention. Employees are the backbone of any business success and therefore, they need
to be motivated and maintained in organization at all cost to aid the organization to be globally
competitive in terms of providing quality products and services to the society. And in the long-
run the returns on investments on the employees would be achieved. Management should
encourage job redesign-task autonomy, task significance and task identity, open book
management, empowerment of employees, recruitment and selection must be done scientifically
with the objective of retaining employees. Managers should examine the sources of employee
turnover and recommend the best approach to fill the gap of the source, so that they can be in a
position to retain employees in their organization to enhance their competitiveness in the this
world of globalization. Managers must understand that employees in their organizations must be
treated as the most liquid assets of the organization which would make the organization to
withstand the waves of globalization. This asset needs to be monitored with due care, otherwise
their organizations would cease to exist. Employees should be given challenging work.
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research methods:

The goal of the research process is to produce new knowledge. This process takes three main
forms (although, as previously discussed, the boundaries between them may be obscure.):

 Exploratory research, which structures and identifies new problems

 Constructive research, which develops solutions to a problem
 Empirical research, which tests the feasibility of a solution using empirical evidence

The research room at the New York Public Library, an example of secondary research in
progress.

Research can also fall into two distinct types:

 Primary research (collection of data that does not yet exist)

 Secondary research (summary, collation and/or synthesis of existing research)

In social sciences and later in other disciplines, the following two research methods can be
applied, depending on the properties of the subject matter and on the objective of the research:

 Qualitative research (understanding of human behavior and the reasons that govern such
behavior)
 Quantitative research (systematic empirical investigation of quantitative properties and
phenomena and their relationships)

Research is often conducted using the hourglass model Structure of Research.[1] The
hourglass model starts with a broad spectrum for research, focusing in on the required
information through the methodology of the project (like the neck of the hourglass), then
expands the research in the form of discussion and results.
 A) OBJECTIVE OF STUDY:

There are several objectives for research methodology. It should be taken into
consideration that such objective for research methods as data collection is a basic and
obligatory step for a successful paper. Every research starts with the information that is relevant
to the topic of the writing. Moreover, from the viewpoint of objectives any research paper may
be classified as:

1) Correlational,
2) Explanatory,
3) Exploratory, and
4) Descriptive.

Correlational research is conducted, in order to prove the existence of a relationship

between two or more issues. Explanatory research is necessary to find out why and how the
relationship between the aspects takes place. Exploratory research is applied to explore the
field, where little is known. As for descriptive research, it is conducted to give a description
and explanation of a certain situation or problem. All the data is gathered in the dependence on
the research objective. The research question may be answered in two ways – by means of
structured (quantitative research) or unstructured approach (qualitative research)

The research carried had two main objectives:

2) To find out and study the various reasons behind employee attrition.
3) To study the satisfaction level of the employees in respective reasons.
 B) CONCEPTUALISATION:

1) ATTRITION:
A reduction in the number of employees through retirement, resignation or death is
called Attrition .Attrition is also called total turn over or wastage rate.

2) ATTRITION RATE:

The rate of shrinkage in size or number of employees is known as Attrition rate. It

is usually expressed in percentage.

Common methodology in calculating Attrition Rate :

The approach to this calculation might vary from organization to organization. While a few
techniques are common, there are no proven theories.

The most commonly used formulae are :

1) Total Number of Resigns per month (Whether voluntary or forced) X 100

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Total Number of employees at the beginning of the month + total number of new joinees -
total number of resignations)

2) Total Terminations in a month

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Total Head Count at the beginning of the month) + (Total New Hires)

3) Total No.of employee left X 100

-------------------------------------------
Total No .Of employees present

4) Number of employee separations-involuntary separations X 100

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Average employee count
(*Avg. employee count = January month strength + December month strength)
3)EMPLOYEE :

An Employee is defined as a person who is hired to provide services to a company on a

regular basis in exchange for compensation and who does not provide these services as part of an
independent business.

An employee contributes labor and expertise to an endeavor. Employees perform the

discrete activity of economic production. Of the three factors of production, employees usually
provide the labor. Specifically, an employee is any person hired by an employer to do a specific
"job". In most modern economies, the term employee refers to a specific defined relationship
between an individual and a corporation, which differs from those of customer, or client.

4)PRIVATE SECTOR :
In economics, the private sector is that part of the economy which is run by private
individuals or groups, usually as a means of enterprise for profit, and is not controlled by the
state. A variety of legal structures exist for private sector business organizations, depending on
the jurisdiction in which they have their legal domicile. Individuals can conduct business
without necessarily being part of any organization.

The main types of businesses in the private sector are:

 Sole trader
 Partnership, either limited or unlimited liability
 Private Limited Company or LTD-limited liability, with private shares
 Public Limited Company – shares ar e open to the public. Two examples are:
o Franchise – business owner pays a corporation to use their name, receives spec for
the business
o Workers cooperative – all workers have equal pay, and make joint business
decisions

5) DESCRIPTIVE STUDY :
Descriptive study is a fact finding investigation with adequate interpretation. It is the
simplest type of the research. It is more specific than an exploratory study, as it focuses
particular aspect or dimension of the problem being studied. It is designed to gather descriptive
information and provides information for the formulating more sophisticated studies.
6) NON- PROBABLITY SMPLING :

Sampling is the use of a subset of the population to represent the whole population.
Probability sampling, or random sampling, is a sampling technique in which the probability of
getting any particular sample may be calculated. Nonprobability sampling does not meet this
criterion and should be used with caution. Nonprobability sampling techniques cannot be used to
infer from the sample to the general population. Any generalizations obtained from a
nonprobability sample must be filtered through one's knowledge of the topic being studied.
Performing nonprobability sampling is considerably less expensive than doing probability
sampling, but the results are of limited value.

Examples of nonprobability sampling include:

 Convenience, Haphazard or Accidental sampling - members of the population are

chosen based on their relative ease of access. To sample friends, co-workers, or shoppers
at a single mall, are all examples of convenience sampling.
 Snowball sampling - The first respondent refers a friend. The friend also refers a friend,
etc.
 Judgmental sampling or Purposive sampling - The researcher chooses the sample
based on who they think would be appropriate for the study. This is used primarily when
there is a limited number of people that have expertise in the area being researched.
 Deviant Case - Get cases that substantially differ from the dominant pattern (a special
type of purposive sample).
 Case study - The research is limited to one group, often with a similar characteristic or of
small size.
 ad hoc quotas - A quota is established (say 65% women) and researchers are free to
choose any respondent they wish as long as the quota is met.

Even studies intended to be probability studies sometimes end up being non-probability

studies due to unintentional or unavoidable characteristics of the sampling method. In public
opinion polling by private companies (or other organizations unable to require response), the
sample can be self-selected rather than random. This often introduces an important type of error:
self-selection error. This error sometimes makes it unlikely that the sample will accurately
represent the broader population. Volunteering for the sample may be determined by
characteristics such as submissiveness or availability. The samples in such surveys should be
treated as non-probability samples of the population, and the validity of the estimates of
parameters based on them unknown.
 7) CONVEINIENCE SAMPLING:

As its name implies convenience sampling refers to the collection of information from
members of the population who are conveniently available to provide it. Convenience sampling
is a non-probability method. This means that subjects are chosen in a nonrandom manner, and
some members of the population have no chance of being included. With non-probability
sampling, researchers have no way of calculating how well their sample represents the
population as a whole. In general, probability sampling is considered to be more stringent and
accurate than non-probability sampling, but it is not always feasible. This method is used when
you are unable to access a wider population, for example due to time or cost constraints.

Used when you are unable to access a wider population due to time or cost constraint. As
many people as possible are used to ensure that results from a single test is not just a
coincidence.

Convenience sampling generally assumes a homogeneous population, and that one person is
pretty much like another. Whilst people are known to be different, the difference is assumed to
be probabilistic - thus if 80% of a sample prefer coffee to tea, you might conclude that 80% of
the population at large would choose coffee. In practice, your sample may be mostly middle
class Parisians and the same test in London may well give a different result.
 C) MEASUREMENT OF VARIABLES :

Measurement is a part and parcel of our daily life. We measure physical object as well as
abstract concepts. The term measurement implies aligning numbers to objects or observations,
the level of measurement being a function of rule s under which the numbers are assigned.
Technically speaking, measurement is a process of maping of a domain onto other aspects of a
range according to some rule of correspondence. The process involvesdevising in the scale of
range and then transforming or mapping the properties of objects from the domain on to this
scale.

Stevens defines measurement as,”the assignment of numerals to objects or events according

to the rules.” Cambell defines it as, “The assignment of numbers to represent properties.”
According to the Torgerson measurement is “the assignment of numbers to objects to represent
amounts or degrees of a property possessed by all the objects.” The research conducted consisted
of various variables like sex of the respondants , job satisfaction , pay satisfaction etc. The total
variables were found to 20. The variables were numbered according to the flow of the
questionnaire.

D)RESEARCH DESIGN :
Research design is a catalogue of the various phases and the facts related to the formulation
of a research effort. It is an arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of data in a
manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with the economy in procedure.
Descriptive research design means research design in a case of descriptive studies which is
concerned with describing the characteristics of a particular individual or of a group.

E)POPULATION OF SAMPLE :
A sample as the name implies, is a smaller representation of a larger whole. A sample is a
composed of some fraction or a part of the total number of elements or units is a defined
population. Sampling, therefore is a method of selecting some fraction of a population.Sampling
is an essential part of all scientific procedures. It is well developed in the field of biology,
physics, chemistry and social science research. The research undertaken comprised of total
population of all the employees working in public sector in pune region with total sample size of
277.
F)METHODS AND TOOLS OF DATA COLLECTION :

The two main sources of data collection in a social science research come from the inner
world of the library and outside world of living people. We may label these two sources simply
under the general rubric of documentary or paper sources. We may consider historical records,
diaries, biographies and statistical records. When we turn to consider “people” as a source social
science data, we identify various forms of observation, but more particularly and primarily the
interview and questionnaire are the techniques for the collection of the data from the source.

A) Primary Data:- Primary data is the information collected during the course of an
experiment during experimental research. It can also be obtained through observation or through
direct communication, with the person associated with the selected subjects, by performing
surveys or descriptive research. There are several methods of collecting primary data. These are
as follows:
1) Observation Method.
2) Interview Method.
3) Questionnaires and schedules.
4) Other Methods are warranty cards, distributor’s audit, pantry audits,
consumer panels, using mechanical devices, through projective
techniques, depth interviews, content analysis, their surveys e-mail-
internet survey.

B) Secondary Data:- Secondary Data means data that is already available in various
reports, diaries, letters, books, periodicals, etc. Secondary data is that, which has been used
previously for any research and is now in use for the second time. In short, data presented in
research reports when used again in further research, is called “secondary data.”
 DATA PROCESSING AND ANALYSIS :

VAR00002 * VAR00005 Crosstabulation

VAR00005
1.00 2.00 Total
VAR00002 1.00 Count 128 83 211
% within VAR00002 60.7% 39.3% 100.0%
2.00 Count 12 54 66
% within VAR00002 18.2% 81.8% 100.0%
Total Count 140 137 277
% within VAR00002 50.5% 49.5% 100.0%

Chi-Square Testsd
Asymp. Sig. (2- Exact Sig. (2- Exact Sig. (1-
Value Df sided) sided) sided) Point Probability
Pearson Chi-Square 36.296a 1 .000 .000 .000
Continuity Correctionb 34.617 1 .000
Likelihood Ratio 38.548 1 .000 .000 .000
Fisher's Exact Test .000 .000
Linear-by-Linear Association 36.165c 1 .000 .000 .000 .000
N of Valid Cases 277
V2 – Job satisfaction

V5 – Pay satisfaction

From the graph we can see that, 128 people are satisfied with their job and pay.

83 people are satisfied with job but not with the pay. And 12 are not satisfied with job but are
satisfied with the pay. 54 are neither satisfied with job and pay.
 VAR00002 * VAR00008 Crosstabulation
VAR00008
1.00 2.00 Total
VAR00002 1.00 Count 87 124 211
% within VAR00002 41.2% 58.8% 100.0%
2.00 Count 29 37 66
% within VAR00002 43.9% 56.1% 100.0%
Total Count 116 161 277
% within VAR00002 41.9% 58.1% 100.0%

Chi-Square Testsd
Asymp. Sig. (2- Exact Sig. (2- Exact Sig. (1-
Value Df sided) sided) sided) Point Probability
Pearson Chi-Square .151a 1 .697 .775 .401
Continuity Correctionb .061 1 .806
Likelihood Ratio .151 1 .698 .775 .401
Fisher's Exact Test .775 .401
Linear-by-Linear Association .151c 1 .698 .775 .401 .105
N of Valid Cases 277
V2 – Job satisfaction

V8 – work environment.
From the graph we can see that, 87 people are satisfied with their job and work environment.

124 people are satisfied with job but not with the work environment. And 27 are not satisfied
with job but are satisfied with the work environment. 37 are neither satisfied with job and work
environment.

VAR00003 * VAR00006 Crosstabulation

VAR00006
1.00 2.00 Total
VAR00003 1.00 Count 103 66 169
% within VAR00003 60.9% 39.1% 100.0%
2.00 Count 12 96 108
% within VAR00003 11.1% 88.9% 100.0%
Total Count 115 162 277
% within VAR00003 41.5% 58.5% 100.0%
 Chi-Square Testsd
Asymp. Sig. (2- Exact Sig. (2- Exact Sig. (1-
Value Df sided) sided) sided) Point Probability
Pearson Chi-Square 67.400a 1 .000 .000 .000
Continuity Correctionb 65.363 1 .000
Likelihood Ratio 74.525 1 .000 .000 .000
Fisher's Exact Test .000 .000
c
Linear-by-Linear Association 67.156 1 .000 .000 .000 .000
N of Valid Cases 277
V3 – to change job

V6 – who thinks that pay is less than their efforts

From the graph we can see that, 103 people want to change their current job and think that pay is
according to efforts.

66 people are satisfied with current job but think that pay is less than their efforts. And 12 are
not satisfied with job but think that the pay is according to the efforts. 96 are neither satisfied
with job and think pay is less than efforts.
 VAR00003 * VAR00013 Crosstabulation
VAR00013
1.00 2.00 Total
VAR00003 1.00 Count 75 94 169
% within VAR00003 44.4% 55.6% 100.0%
2.00 Count 22 86 108
% within VAR00003 20.4% 79.6% 100.0%
Total Count 97 180 277
% within VAR00003 35.0% 65.0% 100.0%

Chi-Square Testsd
Asymp. Sig. (2- Exact Sig. (2- Exact Sig. (1-
Value Df sided) sided) sided) Point Probability
Pearson Chi-Square 16.691a 1 .000 .000 .000
Continuity Correctionb 15.652 1 .000
Likelihood Ratio 17.417 1 .000 .000 .000
Fisher's Exact Test .000 .000
Linear-by-Linear Association 16.630c 1 .000 .000 .000 .000
N of Valid Cases 277
 VAR00003 * VAR00016 Crosstabulation
VAR00016
1.00 2.00 Total
VAR00003 1.00 Count 64 105 169
% within VAR00003 37.9% 62.1% 100.0%
2.00 Count 14 94 108
% within VAR00003 13.0% 87.0% 100.0%
Total Count 78 199 277
% within VAR00003 28.2% 71.8% 100.0%

Chi-Square Testsd
Asymp. Sig. (2- Exact Sig. (2- Exact Sig. (1-
Value Df sided) sided) sided) Point Probability
Pearson Chi-Square 20.206a 1 .000 .000 .000
Continuity Correctionb 18.994 1 .000
Likelihood Ratio 21.779 1 .000 .000 .000
Fisher's Exact Test .000 .000
Linear-by-Linear Association 20.133c 1 .000 .000 .000 .000
N of Valid Cases 277
V3 – to change job

V16 – excessive stress

From the graph we can see that, 64 people want to change their current job and are suffering
from stress.

105 people want to change current job but are not suffering from stress. And 14 don’t want to
change with the job but are suffering from stress. 94 people don’t want to change their job and
are not suffering from stress
 VAR00003 * VAR00017 Crosstabulation

Count

VAR00017

1.00 2.00 Total

VAR00003 1.00 46 123 169

2.00 16 92 108

Total 62 215 277

V3 – to change job

V17 – motivation problem.

From the graph we can see that, 46 people want to change their current job and are suffering
from motivational problem

123 people want to change current job but don’t face motivational problem. And 16 people don’t
want to change with the job but are facing motivational problems. 92 people don’t want to
change their job and don’t face motivational problem.
 LIMITATION OF STUDY :

Limitations of convenience sampling:

 The sample is not an accurate representation of the population.

 The findings from this sample are less definitive.

 Results have to be extrapolated in order to fine tune them

 It is completely unstructured approach.

Limitations of Non-Probability sampling:

 Does not generate representative samples.

 Confidence intervals cannot be calculated.
 Potential selection biases in respondents need to be assessed.
 Interviews must be kept reasonably short because respondents are busy
 Incentives may be needed for respondents in markets in lieu of time taken for interview
 Potential for repeat capture of the same respondent

Limitations of descriptive study:

 The fundamental limitation of the descriptive method is that the findings indicate norms
and not the standards. The investigator learns what is being done and not what could be
done or what should be done
 Such an approach is essentially static for the situation which may be well dynamic
 The method provides relatively recent picture but if most educational situations are
rapidly changing, the snapshots become absolete even as it is developed.
 MAJOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION

A)KEY FINDINGS:

1. Respondents do not consider family oriented events as important factors to leave a company,
although employees conveniently use family oriented events like – marriage, child birth,
need to stay closer to family – as explanations for departure

2. Relationships with peers are one of the top three reasons why employees stay with a

company.

3. People who have held stable jobs vs. who have moved across employers are not very different
in terms of tracking the importance of factors to select or stay or leave an employer. Both
category of respondents have similar scores and identical ranking of the STAR™ factors.

B) CONCLUSIONS :

1)Pay,contrary to the popular notion, is not the top reason for attrition. lack
of career growth opportunities and recognition from supervisors are more
compeeling drivers for attrition.

2 ) 5 0 % o r m o r e p e o p l e r a t e the following four reasons important or very important

factors in selecting or leaving a company:

1)Clarity of Career Path.

2)Relationship with and recognition from supervisor .

3)Career Growth Opportunities .

4)Pay .
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

 BPO firms”, Journal of Labour Research, Vol. 27 No. 3

 Business Research Methods , Alan Bryman and Emma Bell.

 Research Methodology , C.R.Kothari

 Research Methodology, Dr. Mahesh Kulkarni

 Attrition in India , paper presented by Global Talent Metrics

 Budhwar, P., Varma, A., Singh, V. and Dhar, R. (2006b), “HRM systems of Indian call

centres

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Sampling_techniques , for sampling techniques

 http://www.rashmipriya.com/employee-attrition , for attrition related information

 http://www.icmr.nic.in/ad-hoc.htm, for formats

ANNEXTURES