“A STUDY ON THE RETENTION ISSUES AT METLIFE INDIA INSURANCE Co.Ltd.”

Project Report Submitted In Partial Fulfillment Of The Requirements Two

Year Post Graduate Diploma In Business Administration.

By

(Bency Babu)

Under the guidance of

(Prof. Smitha Sharma)

Mount Carmel Institute of Management Bangalore 560 052

2009-10

GUIDE CERTIFICATE

Certified that this dissertation is based on the original project study conducted by

(Bency Babu) under my guidance. She has attended all the required guidance

sessions held. This project report has not formed a basis for the award of any other

Degree/ Diploma of any University of Institution.

(Prof Smitha Sharma)

Company certificate

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Apart from the efforts of me, the success of any project depends largely on the

encouragement and guidelines of many others. I take this opportunity to express

my gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in the successful

completion of this project.

I would like to show my greatest appreciation to the Director of MCIM-Sr Albina

for providing me the opportunity to do the project and our college Dean

(Academics)-Prof. Michael Noronha for the great support.

I would also like to thank Professor-Smitha Sharma who has been of a great

support to me by providing me with required guidance and direction to carry on

with the project.

In addition, my companies guide Mr. Purushothaman.k (Sr. Sales Manager) for

providing me the opportunity to work on this project. He always allowed me to

encroach upon his precious time and showed his generosity by helping me carrying

out my training smoothly.

I also convey my thanks to all those who have knowingly or unknowingly helped

me to give this report a realistic dimension.

LIST OF CONTENTS:

SR NO: CONTENTS PAGE NO:

CHAPTER 1

1.1 Introduction 9

1.2 Employee retention 10

CHAPTER 2

2.1 Introduction 17

2.2 Statement of the Problem

2.3 Scope of the Study

2.4 Objectives of the study

2.5 Operational Definitions

2.6 Methodology

2.7 Tools and Techniques

2.8 Limitation

2.9 Overview

CHAPTER 3

3.1 History

3.2 Functional structure

3.3 Organization Structure

3.4 SWOT Analysis

3.5

3.6

3.7

CHAPTER 4

4.1 Analysis and Interpretation

CHAPTER 5

5.1 Summary of Findings, Conclusions and suggestions

Bibliography

Annexure

LIST OF TABLES AND GRAPHS:

1.

TABLES:

CHAPTER 1:

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Human resource management (HRM) is the strategic and coherent approach to

the of management an organization's most valued assets - the people working there

who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of the objectives

of the business. The terms "human resource management" and "human resources"

(HR) have largely replaced the term "personnel management" as a description of

the processes involved in managing people in organizations. Human Resource

management is evolving rapidly. Human resource management is both an

academic theory and a business practice that addresses the theoretical and practical

techniques of managing a workforce.

The Human Resources Management (HRM) function includes a variety of

activities, and key among them is deciding what staffing needs you have and

whether to use independent contractors or hire employees to fill these needs,

recruiting and training the best employees, ensuring they are high performers,

dealing with performance issues, and ensuring your personnel and management

practices conform to various regulations. Activities also include managing your

approach to employee benefits and compensation, employee records and personnel

policies. Usually small businesses (for-profit or nonprofit) have to carry out these

activities themselves because they can't yet afford part or full-time help. However,

they should always ensure that employees have -- and are aware of -- personnel

policies which conform to current regulations. These policies are often in the form

of employee manuals, which all employees have

1.2 Employee Retention:

Effective employee retention is a systematic effort by employers to create and

foster and environment that encourages current employees to remain employed by

having policies and practices in place that address their diverse needs.

A strong retention strategy becomes a powerful recruitment tool. Retention of key

employees is critical to the long-term health and success of any organization. It is a

known fact that retaining your best employees ensures customer satisfaction,

increased product sales, satisfied colleagues and reporting staff, effective

succession planning and deeply imbedded organizational knowledge and learning.

Employee retention matters as organizational issues such as training time and

investment; lost knowledge; insecure employees and a costly candidate search are

involved. Hence failing to retain a key employee is a costly proposition for an

organization. Various estimates suggest that losing a middle manager in most

organizations costs up to five times of his salary.

Intelligent employers always realize the importance of retaining the best talent.

Retaining talent has never been so important in the Indian scenario; however,

things have changed in recent years. In prominent Indian metros at least, there is

no dearth of opportunities for the best in the business, or even for the second or the

third best. Retention of key employees and treating attrition troubles has never

been so important to companies.

In an intensely competitive environment, where HR managers are poaching from

each other, organizations can either hold on to their employees tight or lose them to

competition. For gone are the days, when employees would stick to an employer

for years for want of a better choice. Now, opportunities abound.

It is a fact that, retention of key employees is critical to the long-term health and

success of any organisation. The performance of employees is often linked directly

to quality work, customer satisfaction, and increased product sales and even to the

image of a company.

Whereas the same is often indirectly linked to, satisfied colleagues and reporting

staff, effective succession planning and deeply embedded organizational

knowledge and learning. Employee retention matters, as, organizational issues

such as training time and investment, costly candidate search etc., are involved.

Hence, failing to retain a key employee is a costly proposition for any organisation.

WHAT IS EMPLOYEE RETENTION?

The picture states the latest statement that corporate believes in

“Love them or lose them”

Employee Retention involves taking measures to encourage employees to remain

in the organization for the maximum period of time. Corporate is facing a lot of

problems in employee retention these days. Hiring knowledgeable people for the

job is essential for an employer. But retention is even more important than hiring.

There is no dearth of opportunities for a talented person. There are many

organizations which are looking for such employees. If a person is not satisfied by

the job he’s doing, he may switch over to some other more suitable job.

In today’s environment it becomes very important for organizations to retain their

employees. The top organizations are on the top because they value their

employees and they know how to keep them glued to the organization. Employees

stay and leave organizations for some reasons. The reason may be personal or

professional. These reasons should be understood by the employer and should be

taken care of. The organizations are becoming aware of these reasons and adopting

many strategies for employee retention.

1.3 IMPORTANCE OF EMPLOYEE RETENTION:

Now that so much is being done by organizations to retain its employees, why is

retention so important? Is it just to reduce the turnover costs? Well, the answer is a

definite no. It’s not only the cost incurred by a company that emphasizes the need

of retaining employees but also the need to retain talented employees from getting

poached.

The process of employee retention will benefit an organization in the following

ways:

1. The Cost of Turnover: The cost of employee turnover adds hundreds of

thousands of money to a company's expenses. While it is difficult to fully calculate

the cost of turnover (including hiring costs, training costs and productivity loss),

industry experts often quote 25% of the average employee salary as a conservative

estimate.

2. Loss of Company Knowledge: When an employee leaves, he takes with him

valuable knowledge about the company, customers, current projects and past

history (sometimes to competitors). Often much time and money has been spent on

the employee in expectation of a future return. When the employee leaves, the

investment is not realized.

3. Interruption of Customer Service: Customers and clients do business with a

company in part because of the people. Relationships are developed that encourage

continued sponsorship of the business. When an employee leaves, the relationships

that employee built for the company are severed, which could lead to potential

customer loss.

4. Turnover leads to more turnovers: When an employee terminates, the effect is

felt throughout the organization. Co-workers are often required to pick up the

slack. The unspoken negativity often intensifies for the remaining staff.

5. Goodwill of the company: The goodwill of a company is maintained when the

attrition rates are low. Higher retention rates motivate potential employees to join

the organization

.

6. Regaining efficiency: If an employee resigns, then good amount of time is lost

in hiring a new employee and then training him/her and this goes to the loss of the

company directly which many a times goes unnoticed. And even after this you

cannot assure us of the same efficiency from the new employee.

1.4 WHAT MAKES EMPLOYEE LEAVES?

Employees do not leave an organization without any significant reason. There are

certain circumstances that lead to their leaving the organization. The most common

reasons can be: Job is not what the employee expected to be: Sometimes the job

responsibilities don’t come out to be same as expected by the candidates.

Unexpected job responsibilities lead to job dissatisfaction.

1. Job and person mismatch: A candidate may be fit to do a certain type of job

which matches his personality. If he is given a job which mismatches his

personality, then he won’t be able to perform it well and will try to find out reasons

to leave the job.

2. No growth opportunities: No or less learning and growth opportunities in the

current job will make candidate’s job and career stagnant.

3. Lack of appreciation: If the work is not appreciated by the supervisor, the

employee feels de-motivated and loses interest in job.

4. Lack of trust and support in co-workers, seniors and management: Trust is

the most important factor that is required for an individual to stay in the job. Non

supportive co-workers, seniors and management can make office environment

unfriendly and difficult to work in.

5. Stress from overwork and work life imbalance: Job stress can lead to work

life imbalance which ultimately many times lead to employee leaving the

organization.

6. Compensation: Better compensation packages being offered by other

companies may attract employees towards themselves.

7. New job offer: An attractive job offer which an employee thinks is good for

him with respect to job responsibility, compensation, growth and learning etc. can

lead an employee to leave the organization.

CHAPTER 2

DESIGN OF THE STUDY

2.1 INTRODUCTION:

Employee retention is a process in which the employees are encouraged to remain

with the organization for the maximum period of time or until the completion of

the project. Employee retention is beneficial for the organization as well as the

employee.

Employees today are different. They are not the ones who don’t have good

opportunities in hand. As soon as they feel dissatisfied with the current employer

or the job, they switch over to the next job. It is the responsibility of the employer

to retain their best employees. If they don’t, they would be left with no good

employees. A good employer should know how to attract and retain its employees.

Retention involves three major things:

                                            

  COMPENSATION                     SUPPORT                       GROWTH

                                   

                                                 

Compensation:

Compensation constitutes the largest part of the employee retention process. The

employees always have high expectations regarding their compensation packages.

Compensation packages vary from industry to industry. So an attractive

compensation package plays a critical role in retaining the employees.

Compensation includes salary and wages, bonuses, benefits, prerequisites, stock

options, bonuses, vacations, etc. While setting up the packages, the following

components should be kept in mind:

Salary and monthly wage: It is the biggest component of the compensation

package. It is also the most common factor of comparison among employees. It

includes

Basic wage

House rent allowance

Dearness allowance

City compensatory allowance

Salary and wages represent the level of skill and experience an individual has.

Time to time increase in the salaries and wages of employees should be done. And

this increase should be based on the employee’s performance and his contribution

to the organization.

Bonus: Bonuses are usually given to the employees at the end of the year or on a

festival.

Economic benefits: It includes paid holidays, leave travel concession, etc.

Long-term incentives: Long term incentives include stock options or stock grants.

These incentives help retain employees in the organization's startup stage.

Health insurance: Health insurance is a great benefit to the employees. It saves

employees money as well as gives them a peace of mind that they have somebody

to take care of them in bad times. It also shows the employee that the organization

cares about the employee and its family.

After retirement: It includes payments that an Employee gets after he retires like

EPF (Employee Provident Fund) etc.

Miscellaneous compensation: It may include employee assistance programs (like

psychological counseling, legal assistance etc), discounts on company products,

use of a company cars, etc.

Growth and Career

Growth and development are the integral part of every individual’s career. If an

employee can not foresee his path of career development in his current

organization, there are chances that he’ll leave the organization as soon as he gets

an opportunity.

The important factors in employee growth that an employee looks for himself are:

Work profile: The work profile on which the employee is working should be in

sync with his capabilities. The profile should not be too low or too high.

Personal growth and dreams: Employees responsibilities in the organization

should help him achieve his personal goals also. Organizations cannot keep aside

the individual goals of employees and foster organizations goals. Employees’

priority is to work for them and later on comes the organization. If he’s not

satisfied with his growth, he’ll not be able to contribute in organization growth.

Training and development: Employees should be trained and given chance to

improve and enhance their skills. Many employers fear that if the employees are

well rained, they’ll leave the organization for better jobs. Organization should not

limit the resources on which organization’s success depends. These trainings can

be given to improve many skills like:

Communications skills

Technical skills

In-house processes and procedures improvement related skills

C or customer satisfaction related skills

Special project related skills

Need for such trainings can be recognized from individual performance reviews,

individual meetings, employee satisfaction surveys and by being in constant touch

with the employees.

Support

Lack of support from management can sometimes serve as a reason for employee

retention. Supervisor should support his subordinates in a way so that each one of

them is a success. Management should try to focus on its employees and support

them not only in their difficult times at work but also through the times of personal

crisis.

The feedback from supervisor helps the employee to feel more responsible,

confident and empowered. Top management can also support its employees in

their personal crisis by providing personal loans during emergencies, childcare

services, employee assistance programs, counseling services, et al.

Employers can also support their employees by creating an environment of trust

and inculcating the organizational values into employees. Thus employers can

support their employees in a number of ways as follows:

o By providing feedback

o By giving recognition and rewards

o By counseling them

o By providing emotional support

2.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

Retention is the major concerning issue in many of the organizations today.

Employee Retention involves taking measures to encourage employees to remain

in the organization for the maximum period of time. Corporate is facing a lot of

problems in employee retention these days. Hiring knowledgeable people for the

job is essential for an employer. But retention is even more important than hiring.

There is no dearth of opportunities for a talented person. There are many

organizations which are looking for such employees. If a person is not satisfied by

the job he’s doing, he may switch over to some other more suitable job. In today’s

environment it becomes very important for organizations to retain their employees.

The top organizations are on the top because they value their employees and they

know how to keep them glued to the organization. Employees stay and leave

organizations for some reasons. Thus it is important to know the reasons to reduce

attrition in the organisation.

2.3 SCOPE OF STUDY:

The project limits to only 1 branch of MetLife in Bangalore and the project was

accomplished with the complete support of all the printed materials required and

the information needed and a supportive staff.

2.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

To study retention strategies implemented in MetLife

To analyze employee perception on retention strategies

To study factors which help in employee retention

To study the drawback of current strategy used

To develop new retention strategies

2.5 OPERTIONAL DEFINATION OF CONCEPTS:

i. Compensation

Compensation constitutes the largest part of the employee retention process.

The employees always have high expectations regarding their compensation

packages.

Compensation packages vary from industry to industry. So an attractive

compensation package plays a critical role in retaining the employees.

ii. Attrition rate:

Attrition rate/ churn rate is a measure of the number of individuals or items moving

into or out of a collection over a specific period.

It is a reduction in the number of employees through retirement, resignation or

death. Thus, we can see that attrition rate and retention rate are very closely related

and loosely speaking attrition rate is inverse of retention rate.

2.6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

RESEARCH DESIGN: An exploratory research design is used for the project

SAMPLE SIZE : 50 respondents

SAMPLE DESIGN :

A Sample design is a definite plan for obtaining a sample from a given population.

It is the procedure used by the researcher in selecting items for the sample. Thus

Stratified Random Sampling technique is used.

2.7 TECHNIQUES OF DATA COLLECTION:

PRIMARY SOURCE:

Personal discussions with HR manager

Questionnaire

SECONDARY SOURCE:

Journals

Books

Websites (given in the annexure)

2.8 LIMITATIONS:

One constraint has been regarding the cost, as study involves the collection

of primary and secondary data. Therefore, the cost incurred was much more.

Another constraint has been geographical area, which is confined only to

MetLife (M.G Road Branch.)

Normally employees hesitate to disclose the information.

2.9 OVERVIEW OF THE CHAPTER SCHEME:

CHAPTER 1

Introduction of the Research Topic

CHAPTER 2

Design of the Study

CHAPTER 3

Profile of the Company

CHAPTER 4

Analysis and Interpretation

CHAPTER 5

Summary of Findings, Conclusions and Suggestions

CHAPTER 3

PROFILE OF THE COMPANY

3.1 HISTORY:

MetLife: A Fortune 500 company in India. The Metropolitan Life Insurance

Company (MetLife ®), established in1868, is one of the largest insurers in the US,

with over US$ 2.4 trillion of life insurance. MetLife serves approximately 10

million individual households in the US as well as 88 of the Fortune 100

companies. MetLife’s institutional clients have approximately 33 million

employees and members. MetLife India Life Insurance Company Private Limited

was incorporated in India in 2001 as a joint venture between MetLife International

Holdings Inc., The Jammu and Kashmir Bank, M. Palling and Co. Pvt. Ltd. and

other private investors. MetLife India has developed and distributes a range of life

insurance products in India.

MetLife India is headquartered in Bangalore with offices and presence in major

Indian cities, and an additional 1000 outreach points through its channel partners.

MetLife India is driven by the principles of uncompromising integrity and the

highest level of professionalism. Its mission is to work with utmost integrity,

fairness and financial prudence in all its dealings.

The company has 600 employees, 3,000 commission agents and 300- 400 other

distributors. MetLife India has a capital base of US$ 35 million. Working towards

a goal of 5 million customers by 2010, MetLife India currently has more than

100,000 customers.

MetLife is a joint venture between its parent company, Metropolitan Life Insurance

Company (MetLife), Jammu and Kashmir Bank, M.Pallonji and Co. and other

private investors. MetLife, having 130-year-old reputation, is the largest Life

Insurance Company in the U.S. MetLife operates in 15 countries throughout

Americas, Europe and Asia and it serves approximately 9 million individual

households in the U.S as well as 87 of the Fortune 100 companies.

MetLife benefits from its parent company’s global presence in the field of

insurance, track record of establishing successful insurance operations in emerging

markets and the unique strengths of its other Indian promoters. MetLife,

headquartered in Bangalore, delivers value and world class service to customers

through its financial advisors and corporate sales representatives.

VISION:

“To be formidable player in the industry in the Indian Life Insurance Industry”

METLIFE CORE VALUES:

INTEGRITY AND HONESTY

INNOVATION

PARTNERSHIP

MetLife Worldwide:

Financially strong company

A recognized brand name

Serves 90 of 100 Fortune 500 companies

Largest life insurer by sales

A Fortune -39 company

A 140 year old financial giant

Assets> USD 580 Billion

Trustworthy company -70 Million customers world wide

Highest ratings by external agencies

3.2 FUNCTIONAL STRUCTURE:

MetLife’s sales function is divided into two functional structures within the

organization. These two Structures are: Banc assurance, Agency

Both types of structures are described as follows:

BANCASSURANCE OR BANCA: -

MetLife is a pioneer in offering life insurance solutions through banks and

alliances. Within a short span of two years, and with nearly a large number of

partners, B & A has emerged as a vital component of the company’s sales and

distribution strategy, contributing to approximately one third of company’s total

business. The business philosophy at B&A is to leverage distribution synergies

with their partners and add value to its customers as well as the partners.

Flexibility, adaptation and experimenting with new ideas are the hallmarks of this

channel. The business philosophy at B&A is to leverage distribution synergies with

its partners and add value to the business of both. Bancassurance Team include

Banks:

The Jammu and Kashmir Bank

Axis Bank

Dhanalakshmi Bank

Karnataka Bank

Corporate Agents:

Karvy Consultants Limited

Geojit Securities

Way2wealth Consultancy

Mini Muthoottu Bank

AGENCY : -Agency is the largest distribution channel of MetLife comprising a

large advisor force that targets various customer segments. The strength of agency

lies in an aggressive strategy of expanding and procuring quality business. With

focus on sales & people development, agency has emerged as a robust, predictable

and sustainable business model. Generally this advisors works under the leadership

of sales manager, who motivate them in every step by providing training and

guidance to them, usually each sales manager have 20 to 30 advisors under them.

Branch Sales Manager (BSM)/ Area manager

Agency Manager(AM)

Sales Manager (SM)

Advisors:- Advisors are the people who are the regular employees of the

METLIFE, Commissioned agents are also a part of agency but they are not the

regular employees of the company and are being paid for insuring peoples with

MetLife’s traditional and nontraditional insurance policy.

3.3 ORGANIZTIONAL STRUCTURE:

Fig: 1

ACTURIALACTURIAL AGENCYAGENCY

STATUTORY VALUATION

STATUTORY VALUATION

COMPLIANCE COMPLIANCE

INERNAL CONTROL

INERNAL CONTROL

REGIONAL AGENCY SALES

REGIONAL AGENCY SALES

MARKETINGMARKETING

REWARDS AND PERFORMANCE

REWARDS AND PERFORMANCE

HUMAN RESOURCES

HUMAN RESOURCES

RECRUITMENT

REGIONAL HRREGIONAL HR

GOVT. RELATIONS

INTERNAL COMM.

CHANNEL

MKTGCHANNEL

MKTG

BRAND MGMTBRAND MGMT

INDIVIDUAL PRICING

INDIVIDUAL PRICING

PAYROLL SERVICES

GAAP

BOARD AFFAIRSBOARD AFFAIRS

IRDA

RBI SALES TRAINING

AGENCY STRATEGY

CORE AGENCYCORE AGENCY

GROUP BUSINESS

MANAGING DIRECTORMANAGING DIRECTOR

BANGALORE AGENCY:

MetLife Bangalore branch is divided into three agency headed by one agency

manager with senior sales managers and sales managers in their individual team.

Then the sales manager appoint financial advisors who work as the agents for the

company. The multiple distribution channels will help an insurance company to

offer a range of contact points to the customer, thereby increasing the chances of

success.

However, along with these distribution channels comes the challenge of

'relationship management'. Since most of the new channels involve collaboration

with various entities whose demands and powers of negotiation are varied, it

requires delicate skills on the part of the insurance company to manage these

relationships. Effective management of channel conflict, and curtailing the costs of

distribution will be of utmost importance. The advisory agents undergo proper

training prior to join the organization in assigned branches.

3.4 SWOT ANALYSIS:

CHAPTER 4

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

4.1 ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA:

This chapter analysis the data collected with respect to the objectives of the project

and draws appropriate inferences there from

Objective 1: To study the retention strategies implemented in MetLife

TABLE 1: For how long have you been working in MetLife?

NUMBER OF YEARS NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS

3-4 YEARS 352-3 YEARS 101-2 YEARS 3<1 YEAR 2

GRAPH 1:

INFERENCE:

The graph(1) shows that there are 35 employees who have been working in

MetLife for almost 5 years and only 5 have joined within a time span of 1-2 years.

TABLE 2: Are you satisfied with your current job?

OPTIONS NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS

YES 45

NO 5

GRAPH 2:

INFERENCE:

The graph (2) shows that maximum numbers of employees are satisfied with the

job in MetLife and only 5 employees are dissatisfied.

ANALYSIS:

The company takes ample measure to retain their employees in the organization for

the company to grow in all ways.

The major issue faced by all employees in all jobs is the growth career and it is

resolved only through identification of proper adequate training needs and

implementing it.

MetLife always initiates training requirements and supports the employees. The

main aim of MetLife is to equipping the employees to become an all –round sales

professional through world class training and coaching. This training support is

done through:

Product and Process training

Sales Personality development

Skills training

Professional courses

Sales and Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP): a half day training intervention

program was introduced to ensure consistent knowledge and skill development of

sales management.

MetLife Management Induction school Program (MMIS): was introduced to train

all the employees in Management issues faced in the organization as their day to

day activities.

“In an organization every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence thus

work is accomplished by those who have not reached their level of incompetence.”

In order to incentivize each one of the employees a whole new Recruitment

Rewards and Recognition Program (R&R) is been launched.

The R&R includes Monetary and the Non Monetary benefits such as

Free training camps

Free coupons for the Month end

Free service ( free insurance life policy)

Awards and certificates

Medal of honor for the excellent performance of the year

Launch of long term retention programmes for both managers and the employees is

the initiative taken in this current year by the Director Mr. Samal Bansal.

The goal sheets have been simplified in order to provide the employees with an

opportunity to aspire for better and higher achievements. The agency structure also

has been simplified to enable faster decision making and career progression.

MetLife conducts monthly all round meetings with all its employees and managers

for discussing the current issues faced by them in the organization for

implementing the transparencies in the working of the organization.

Job rotation is on employee need basis and the need for the organization for both in

the benefit of the employee as well as the managers.

The hirechial structure is becoming quite narrow and the manager needs to handle

only 4-5 employees in a row, which speeds up the decision-making process and

makes the employees happy, as they need not report to many managers at a time.

The work is also inclusive of incentive-based structure as and when clients are

increased, the monetary benefits are raised to the next level.

Objective 2: To analyze employee perception on retention strategies

TABLE 3: Do you think MetLife does consider retention issues seriously?

OPTIONS NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS

YES 45

NO 5

GRAPH (3):

INFERENCE:

As shown in the graph (3) the employees feel that the managers are making ample

measures to safeguard the interest of the employees in the organization and it

makes the employees happy and satisfied to work in MetLife.

TABLE 4: Is MetLife flexible when it comes to modifying its strategies?

RESPONSE NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS

FLEXIBLE 40NOT VERY FLEXIBLE 5RIGID 5

GRAPH (4):

INFERENCE:

As shown in the graph (4) 40 employees feel that the strategies implemented are quite flexible in nature and can be modified as per the results achieved by the organization and only five employees feel it is rigid.

TABLE 5: Do you have the authority to take part in the formulation of retention strategies?

OPTIONS NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS

YES 40

NO 10

GRAPH 5:

INFERENCE:

As shown in the graph (5) majority of the employees have the authority to have a say in the affairs of the company rewards and recognition policy.

ANALYSIS:

MetLife is an organization that endeavors in equal participation of employees as

well as the employers in the functioning of the company for its future existence

and for the goodwill of the company.

This also helps the employees in building good rapport between the management

and the staff in order to create a congenial atmosphere to work in.

A good relation with the manager and the peers is one of the factor which tends to

make the employees stick to the organization for a longer period of time and thus

resulting in reduction of attrition rates.

Objective3: To study factors which help in employee retention

TABLE 6: Rate the factors in a scale of (1-4) for you to retain in MetLife (lowest to highest)

OPTIONS NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS

FLEXIBILITY 5PAY PACKAGE 25GROWTH OPPURTUNITY 15RELATIONSHIP WITH PEER AND MANAGER

5

GRAPH (6):

INFERENCE:

As shown in the graph (6) pay package and growth opportunities are the most

important factors that motivate the employees to stay in the organization

ANALYSIS:

The most important factor pertaining to employees is the pay package and the

growth career in their lives. These two factors gives them satisfaction and personal

growth and development to climb the ladder in the corporate world.

The flexibility is the secondary factor that helps in maintains a balance between the

professional and the personal life of the employees. It can be possible if the work is

done from home or there is shift timings whichever is comfortable to the

employees and the work is not hampered in any of the ways.

The relationship with the manager and the peers is also a very crucial factor as the

behavior and the integrity of the employee is known and analyzed in this factor.

This helps the work to be done in a cordial and friendly manner that results in

proper understanding and avoids conflicts and chaos in an organization.

The work culture and the work behavior is maintained.

Objective 4: To study the drawback of current strategy used

TABLE 7: Do you think the current strategies used with respect to Retention are

motivating the employees to stay in the organization?

OPTIONS NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS

YES 40

NO 10

GRAPH 7:

INFERENCE:

As shown in the graph (7) majority of the employees are satisfied with the current

strategies used in the organization and that is the reason the attrition rate is too low.

Only 10 employees feel that there needs to be changed with respect to flexibility in

timing i.e. work from home can be introduced if required.

TABLE 8: Do you feel there needs to be a change in the retention Policies

undertaken?

OPTIONS NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS

YES 10

NO 40

GRAPH 8:

INFERENCE:

As shown in the graph (8) maximum employees do not need any change in the

retention strategies in the organization, as they are able to balance their

professional with their personal life.

ANALYSIS:

The employees in MetLife feel that the strategies used are quite acceptable to them

with only the rigidness of timings and the implementation of shift timings would

be an alterations in the policies.

Objective 5: To develop new retention strategies

Implementation of the shift timings and the flexibility of work from home

will be a new way to make the employees build a balance between the

personal and the professional life which will result in the reduction of

attrition rate.

Fun activities, games to be organized so that employees feel the ease in the

work pressure and tend to come to work happily and thus feel contended and

satisfied.

No uniforms to be implemented so that employees are free to wear their

choice and are more adaptable to changes in a positive manner

Attainable targets to be formulated and given to the employees to be

achieved.

Personal counseling to be provided to all the employees so that they feel

de-stressed and relaxed to work

CHAPTER 5

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS

AND SUGGESTIONS

5.1SUMMARY OF FINDINGS:

The findings include the following:

High salaries and incentives is the primary tool for employee retention. Most

of the companies attract the employees by paying them high salaries and other

incentives time to time. Monetary packages are able to attract and retain talent,

however, in long run it becomes limiting for the organization to pay huge cash.

The best and foremost HR practice to retain employees is proper and

tangible recognition and appreciation to employees for their individual

performance. The tools like employer of the year/month, best performer/trainee of

the project etc are those appreciations that not only retain employees but also

encourage them for better performance.

For employee satisfaction, the most important aspect to take care by the

organization is that the job profiles offered should match with individual

capabilities and aspirations. This makes the employee feel satisfied and glad in his

job.

Better work culture is also very important where the relationship between

employee and employer is such that individual problems and conflicts are

properly addressed with time.

Excellent career growth should be provided to the employees to move on the

vertical ladder of organizational hierarchy. The most common reason for leaving

the job is the expectation of higher level of responsibility and position.

Work-life balance initiatives are important. Innovative and practical

employee policies pertaining to flexible working hours and schemes, granting

compassionate and urgency leave, providing healthcare for self, family and

dependants, etc. are important for most people. Work-life balance policies would

have a positive impact on retaining skilled employees, as well as on attracting

high-caliber recruits.

Organized training, counseling and development programmes for employees

also used to motivate them for their work. Best performers should be encouraged

to share their experiences with others and guide others. The emphasis is to create

the desire to learn, enjoy and be passionate about the work they do.

CONCLUSION:

As employees are the bases for company so retention of employees is a major

focus for HR department. The management should identify the important factors

that affect retention and should take necessary measures to improve these. Also,

the management should take appropriate measure to identify the reasons of

employee voluntarily leave.

It is only the employees that implement and give tangibility to the corporate

mission. In other words if it is the highest rung in the corporate hierarchy that has

ideas, it is the employees’ rung that has the chisel to bring the vision to life.

In the best of worlds, employees would love their jobs. Like their co-workers,

work hard for their employers, get paid well for their work, have ample chances of

advancement and flexible schedules so they could attend to personal or family

needs when necessary. And never leave. But then there’s the real world. And in the

real world, employees, do, leave, either because they want more money, hate the

working conditions, hate their co-workers, want a change, or because their spouse

gets a dream job in another state.

Unlike inanimate products and systems that subject themselves to fine tuning

without any reaction, employees would not subject themselves to any measure

taken without reaction and analysis. Hence managing human resources,

particularly retaining them, is an art that calls for special skills and strategies.

Employee survey and exit interviews can be used for assessing the reasons of

employee voluntarily leave. HR interventions such as improving selection process,

effective orientation and training, better employee relation, better career

development programs and planning etc should be used to improve employee

retention.

SUGGESTIONS:

1. Following steps/ efforts should organization take to retain its employees:

o Lucrative opportunities

o Implement good employment practices

o Maintain healthy organizational climate

o Proper training should be provided to employees according to their skills

o Proper salary structure should be there.

2. Need to restructure company’s policy and follow certain process to overcome

problems.

3. Should make a hierarchy for various positions.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

(A) BOOKS:

Gupta Shashi K. & Joshi Rosy, Human Resource Management, Tata

McGraw Hill, Fourth Revised & Enlarged Edition, 2007. (Page 20.9-20.14)

KOTHARI C.R., Research methodology, New Age Publishing House,

Second Edition.

(B) WEBSITES

www.google.com

www.yahoo.com

www.scribd.com

Annexure:

Questionnaire:

Name :

Designation :

Q.1) For how long have you been working in MetLife?

a) 3-4 years

b) 2-3 years

c) 1-2 years

d) < 1 year

Q.2) Are you satisfied with your current job?

a) Yes

b) No

Q.3) Do you think MetLife does consider retention issues seriously?

a) Yes

b) No

Q.4)Is MetLife flexible when it comes to modifying its strategies?

a) Flexible

b) Not very flexible

c) Rigid

Q.5) Do you have the authority to take part in the formulation of retention strategies?

a) Yes

b) No

Q.6) Rate the factors in a scale of (1-4) for you to retain in MetLife(lowest to highest)

a) Flexibility in job timing

b) Pay package

c) Growth opportunities

d) Relationship with the peers and the managers

Q.7) Do you think the current strategies used with respect to Retention are motivating the employees to stay in the organization?

a) Yes

b) No

If No, specify which strategy.....................................................................

Q.8) Do you feel there needs to be a change in the retention Policies undertaken?

a) Yes

b) No