The emergence of corporate work culture was seen in the 19th century. And corporate practices gained momentum in the Victorian era. Since then, the functioning of the corporate sector has undergone a lot of changes. The changes also affected the corporate life cycle. Back then, the in-charge of the businesses considered a few changes propitious, but the workers at the lower level considered them unfavorable. There is a saying- “workers are the backbone of any business, keep them happy”. Even Richard Branson once said, “Clients do not come first, employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients”. But if you go by the statistics, the attrition rate is high, and very few employees in today’s corporate world enjoy job satisfaction
According to the ARC report, Finland Australia, and Denmark have the happiest employees; and India has begun to raise the happy-chart index. But Japan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, and a few other nations lag in keeping the work environment friendly. So, what do you think is the root cause of this deterioration of the mirthful environment at your workplace? Let’s pinpoint some of them here. But first, let’s have a look at the different stages in the corporate life cycle and the connection with attrition rate.
The Corporate Life Cycle
The way things shape up after the inception defines the life cycle of an organization. It is similar to the rise or fall of any living being’s life. That simply means different stages define the life cycle of a corporate company. Let’s dig deeper into the stages of the Corporate Life Cycle.
The Inception Stage
Every new establishment undergoes this stage. The beginning is called the inception stage. For instance, it could be a startup, and the number of employees may be few, but the tasks are numerous. Hence, the inception stage in a corporate life cycle forms the critical aspect of a business. There are a lot of trials and errors taking place at this stage.
Hence, the workload also increases, and the personal life of all the employees goes for a toss. Additionally, since the number of employees is minimal, every employee is overburdened with unachievable tasks. But at the inception stage, it becomes imperative that every employee works hard so that the company establishes a strong foothold in the market. It is almost like a do-or-die situation for every new entrepreneur. And that results in the start of attrition.
The Growth Stage
Another crucial stage of the corporate life cycle is sustenance. You need growth to fight the competitors. But how does a corporate company do that? It struggles to maintain its peak by working day in and out. In today’s market, you already have established entrepreneurs, and when a new startup forays into a market, it becomes difficult to survive.
Both the competitors and the new startup struggle to rank on the market chart. And that eventually results in the exploitation of the employees. The growth stage is not just about survival but, it also means aiming to kill the competition. Not to forget, it brings an inflow of profits, but the employees lose a lot of energy at the end of their shift. That is why most North Asian countries have unhappy employees.
The Maturity Stage
The corporate life cycle lands on a plateaued stage after enjoying a good amount of success. Some companies struggle at this stage to maintain their position in the market. While some start experiencing break-even points. This type of struggling period is nothing but the Maturity stage.
In the maturity, stage companies go on developing policies to cope with the fierce competition. Again it is not a favorable stage as many perceive. Both employers and employees suffer from anxiety and depression issues to manage the rise and fall of their market value. But mostly, the graph does not peak or fall; it is stagnant, resulting in frustrated employees and owners.
The Decline/Resumption Stage- Final Stage in the Corporate Life Cycle
The final stage in a corporate life cycle is either a decline or renewal stage. The majority of the corporate houses try to re-establish themselves after suffering a setback. If they do not manage to recover themselves at the maturity level, they dissolve the company. But if they manage to revive their failing reign, they come back with a greater force to rule the market.
Talk about any stage the employees suffer. If the company fails, the workers lose their jobs and a daily source of income. And if it revives itself, the workers are forced to work extra hours to cover the losses. All these contribute to the higher attrition rate.
Now, let’s look at other reasons why the attrition rate keeps soaring higher.
No Participation of the Managers/ Rule-formulators at the Ground Level
Many of us would agree on this, that the HODs and other superiors who run the operations do not have any idea of what works at the ground level. A majority of the time, the policies formulated to boost the efficacy of a particular project lack analysis and evaluation. To establish a pilot project successfully, the team leaders and the managers must work in a participative manner with the core employees.
The actual employees who work on the project are the ones who face the issues and are aware of how to resolve them. But many times the immediate superiors sideline their suggestions and solutions. When forced to work under the same conditions, the employees feel demoralized. This is where job satisfaction hits a setback. So, what is the solution?
A team must be set up for brainstorming and to conduct trial and error sessions along with the employees at the ground level. The team leaders, managers, and HODs must take active participation in this process. They must acknowledge the problems faced by their subordinates. The solutions drawn must be in line with the suggestions and recommendations of the workers. Gradually, the performance of the employees will improve and there will be a decrease in employee dissatisfaction.
Favoritism Plays a Major Role in Decision-making
We all must have faced this whip in the initial years of our careers. Nobody likes favoritism, but when it comes to climbing up the ladder, most of the superiors give a favorable hand to their favorite ones. But these favorites are nothing but sycophants who obey their senior’s orders without even questioning them. And in this process, they overlook the organization’s growth. The people who entertain favoritism do not think pragmatically. Are their decisions going to favor the company’s progress? The decision to fill a vacant position at a higher level solely depends on who is their best -‘sidekick’.
It is because of the ulterior motives of the superiors; that sincere employees tend to lose motivation at work and that leads to a higher attrition rate. Very few companies conduct examinations and personal interviews to hire internal employees for higher positions. There has been a similar situation in my life as well, where my organization rehired a non-experienced ex-employee and uncivilized team leader for our training.
Honestly, the solution to eradicate favoritism in a corporate environment is impossible because it is an inherent trait. But if we as superiors take a stance of not mixing personal benefits into decision-making, then, maybe we can curb the hostile environment at work. Eventually, it will also help in reducing the attrition rate.
Disappointing Emoluments
This is one of the hard-hitting factors behind employees leaving the job. In many sectors, especially where there is the involvement of hard work, the weekly wages or monthly wages are not at par. Likewise, IT jobs, mechanical jobs, and other corporate jobs require meticulousness and adroitness to fulfill their duties. Hence, these employees expect salaries to be at least to a level where they can feel their work is been compensated at the right amount. No doubt, there are incentives for good performers and yearly or half-yearly increments; but the pay rise is barely in a few figures. In some places, there is inequality in wage distribution as well.
So, if you ask me the solution to this, I’d say, the entire wage structure needs an overhaul. The reason is, that it’s been more than two centuries since the existence of the corporate world, and the disbursement of salaries continues the old-fashioned way. I believe there should be a statutory body in every organization to set the salary brackets according to the inflation rate in the country and by taking the profits earned by the company into consideration in that particular year.
Loss-making companies will eventually sack the employees. But if the employees make a good earning in their jobs, they can face the heat and survive the hard times with their savings until they find another job. A respectable amount of pay-package with perks and benefits is one of the best solutions to lower the attrition rate.
What Employees Deal with in the Corporate Life Cycle- Inhumane Working Hours
Targets are the reason why many corporations push their employees to extend their working hours. Even during the pandemic, people who worked from home were asked to work for ten to twelve hours every day, as they were working in the comfort of their homes. But if you look at the positive side, working for a few extra hours was compensated with overtime pay. And the flip side was the over-time was not even satisfactory. Many of you will agree with this. So, the workers defy if there are no respectable compensatory benefits, then why work extra?
Also, the targets that are set are almost unachievable, and that leads to extreme work pressure and stressful life. So, when the balance between working hours and personal life goes haywire, agitation takes place in humans. That aggravates their emotional disturbances which leads to other psychological trauma. Many also suffer from panic attacks, PTSD, and anxiety attacks.
To prevent such dissatisfaction from the job, the organization must adhere to strict work-hours management. The employees must not be forced to work beyond their will. Conducting yoga sessions and other recreational activities are positivity boosters, but remember humans are social animals and they need to enjoy their social life as well.
The Corporate Life Cycle’s Worst Aspect- No Appreciation/Acknowledgement for Sincere Work
Near about 70% to 75% of the employees will agree that most of the sincere workers are not given any proper encouragement. Their smart work and diligent efforts are overlooked, and instead, they are expected to work even better. Comparisons also take place with those who are low-level performers. This scenario of making genuine employees work for longer hours because other employees are non-performers is prevalent in 90% of the sectors.
I believe this is not just a biased approach but also highly unacceptable in the corporate world. It is agreeable that new employees take time to adjust to the new working environment. Tenured people often suffer from this biased behavior. So, what do you think is the solution to this? I certainly believe the people who work with heart and soul must receive appreciation periodically with some perks or bonuses. Also, loyal employees must receive rewards in the face of promotion and a higher pay package.
Employees expect monetary benefits if they work wholeheartedly. This should be acknowledged by the Human Resources team and the respective manager of the department. For this, the superiors of the organization must also take active participation in understanding how the employees work and what problems they face. Regular practice of appreciating good performers will boost their morale and help in motivating the other non-performers as well. A motivating hand always helps in lowering the attrition rate.
Summary
Conclusively, employees leave their jobs when there is no job satisfaction. Also, due to extreme stress and work pressure, they miss out on various opportunities to maintain a good work-life balance. And to make matters worse, there is no satisfactory pay package as well. Hence, these are the reasons why the company has to spend extra effort and money on re-hiring employees for a similar post in a short duration. To mitigate the attrition rate every organization must formulate rules and laws (including rules on pay scale) keeping their workers’ expectations as a top priority.
