Role of Gender in Determining the Success of Employee Retention Policies: A Study Based on Software Professionals in India Priyada Sudhakaran, Research Scholar, Department of Management Studies, Sathyabama University, Chennai, India Dr. G Senthil Kumar, Research Supervisor, Sathyabama University, Chennai, Associate Professor, Dept. Of Commerce & Management, Yuvakshetra Institute of Management Studies Abstract The corporate leaders in any industry today encounter the issue of employee retention. This is because the success of any business enterprise depends on its key workforce. The Human Resources professionals today are much concerned about the job-hopping tendency among the employees. Over the past few years this job-hopping trend is rampant in the IT industry particularly among the software employees. The organizations are well aware of this critical situation.thus, they frame retention policies which aim at providing better pay, benefits, opportunities for training and development, good organizational culture and style, a healthy work life balance etc. In spite of making all necessary efforts employees voluntarily leave their companies. This makes it essential for the employer to identify the impact that these retention strategies exhibit on different employees. The aim of this research paper was to understand the relation between gender of the employees and the retention management strategies that are devised by the company. Keywords: Employee Retention,Job Hopping,Software Industry,Gender, India Introduction Voluntary attrition in the IT industry in India has been a topic of discussion among the HR professionals for quite some time.this can be attributed to the alarming rate of resignations that take place in many software companies in India. Employees take the voluntary decision to leave the company for a variety of reasons. They may not be satisfied with the pay they receive or they are not happy with their immediate supervisor and so on.understanding the magnitude of this issue, the organisations frame retention policies. Retention management has gained immense significance in the area of Human resources today. Even with a number of employee retention policies in place, employees tend to voluntarily quit the organization is difficult to understand what every employee needs and what can make him happy. But employers can make considerable effort to understand how different employees in terms of gender, age, different designations respond to the retention management policies of the companies. The basic purpose of this study is to understand how gender of the employees impacts the success of retention management practices employed by the organisations. For the purpose of this study employees working in the software companies in Chennai City were chosen as the respondents. Review of Literature Several studies have identified the role that gender plays in understanding voluntary turnover intentions of employees. Doran Et al (1991) had mentioned in his analysis that females in comparison to males exhibit higher intentions to leave the company. This is because a high percentage of the women see their income as a secondary source in comparison to their spouse s income. Thus, retention policies framed do not have much 367
impact on the women. In contrast to this Igbaria and Chidambaram ( 1997) argued that women react much more sharply to retention efforts by the companies. They stated that any efforts that are made by the employer to improve the work life balance is usually welcomed by the women workforce. Ahuja (2002) had opined that the male employees take retention efforts by companies seriously. They remain apprehensive regarding changes made by their employer with regard to pay categories, especially variable and fixed pay components. Similarly, they seek to get a better understanding of the organizational policies and practices. They view the pay policy of the company as a reflection of the repute that the company holds for itself as well as the employees. Stroh and Reilly (2004) had mentioned in their study that women experience gender bias in the organization even though the employer may vouch that they are an equal opportunity employer. As a result, they do not have feelings of loyalty towards the company. Thus, women may develop intentions of quitting the company very soon. Long hours of work and last-minutedeadlines are a common factor in software companies. Women are hit hard because of this nature of work, since this affects their commute and household responsibilities. This makes women more vulnerable to developing exit intentions. Joseph and Ang ( 2007) stated that male It professionals were more likely to develop voluntary turnover intentions due to low job satisfaction compared to their female counterparts. They had also opined that male employees have more expectations from the employers in terms of organizational culture and style, career progressions and so on. Women are unfortunately hit hard by their marital status as well as gender bias uncertainties. In most of the companies the current organizational culture and style does not help or favor women thus quickly foster voluntary turnover intentions in them. Soe and Yakura (2008) added to this view that that the culture and style a of an organization can impact a female employee s participation and work results. Mc Cracken also pointed out that women employees develop turnover intentions when they feel that their workplace is dominated by men and thus feel that their workplace is biased. Wardell, Sawyer and Mitory ( 2010) found that women are more likely to develop feelings of voluntary turnover even though they are equally skilled as men. This could be largely due to personal reasons, marital status and other work-related pressures which when collides with their personal life forces them to leave the job. Joseph et al (2011) concluded in his study that a healthy work life balance is an essential component in holding an employee to his job irrespective of his or her gender. It helps the employee in relieving his stress thus promotes organizational commitment which in turn enables him/her to perform at his fullest potential. The existing literature has given an idea about the equation between gender and voluntary turnover intentions. But much study has not been done in the area of gender and retention management policies of companies. This study was conducted to understand the effect gender has on the various retention policies that the organisations employ to retain the key workforce. The respondents for the study were chosen from the software companies in Chennai City where job hopping was identified as a common trend by previous studies. For the purpose of analysis one way ANOVA was used for the study. Objective of the study To understand the effect of gender on the success of retention management policies employed by the software companies in Chennai City. Analysis and Interpretations Null Hypothesis H 0: There is no significant influence of gender on the retention policies employed by the software companies such as (a) Pay (b) Benefits (c) Training and Development (d) Career Development (e) Leadership (f) Relations with superiors (g) Work Aspects (h) Organizational Culture and Style (i) Work and Family Demands Table1 shows the results of significant influence of gender on antecedent factors of retention in Software industry. 368
Table 1 Influence of gender on antecedent factors of retention Retention Strategies Gender N Mean SD F-value p-value Pay Benefits Training and development Career development Leadership Relationship with superiors Work aspects Organizational culture and style Work and family demands **Significant at 1% level Male 595 3.89 0.388 Female 347 3.85 0.445 Male 595 3.78 0.564 Female 347 3.79 0.567 Male 595 3.70 0.448 Female 347 3.66 0.520 Male 595 3.48 0.871 Female 347 3.53 0.762 Male 595 3.48 0.905 Female 347 3.50 0.856 Male 595 3.52 0.752 Female 347 3.51 0.803 Male 595 3.63 0.731 Female 347 3.69 0.770 Male 595 3.45 0.839 Female 347 3.51 0.902 Male 579 3.56 0.762 Female 344 3.60 0.714 1.811 0.179 0.137 0.711 9.234** <.001 10.355** <.001 0.356 0.551 2.375 0.124 1.199 0.274 3.131 0.077 1.698 0.193 Results and Discussions Pay The obtained 'F' value is 1.811 and it is not significant at 5% level. The value indicates that there is no significant influence of gender on Pay in Software Industry. Hence, the formulated null hypothesis There is no significant influence of gender on Pay in Software Industry is accepted. Thus, it can be concluded from the study that both male as well as female employees consider pay as an important retention tool. Benefits The obtained 'F' value is 0.137 and it is not significant at 5% level. The value indicates that there is no significant influence of gender on benefits in Software Industry. Hence, the formulated null hypothesis There is no significant influence of gender on benefits in Software Industry is accepted. Both the genders do not agree to the fact that benefits which the employees are entitled too are an essential component for retaining them in the company. 369
Training on Development The obtained 'F' value is 9.234 and it is significant at 1% level. The value indicates that there is significant influence of gender on training on development in Software Industry. Hence, the formulated null hypothesis There is no significant influence of gender on training on development in Software Industry is rejected. The mean table 4.31 indicates that the male respondents have scored higher mean value of (3.70) and the lowest mean value was scored by the female respondents (3.66). This show the male respondents agrees that training on development is an important variable in retaining an employee. Career Development The obtained 'F' value is 10.355 and it is significant at 1% level. The value indicates that there is significant influence of gender on career development in Software Industry. Hence, the formulated null hypothesis There is no significant influence of gender on career development in Software Industry is rejected. The mean table 4.31 indicates that the female respondents have scored higher mean value of (3.53) and the lowest mean value was scored by the male respondents (3.48). This show the female respondents agrees that career development is an important variable in retaining an employee. Leadership The obtained 'F' value is 0.356 and it is not significant at 5% level. The value indicates that there is no significant influence of gender on leadership in Software Industry. Hence, the formulated null hypothesis There is no significant influence of gender on leadership in Software Industry is accepted. Relations with Superiors The obtained 'F' value is 2.375 and it is not significant at 5% level. The value indicates that there is no significant influence of gender on relationship with superiors in Software Industry. Hence, the formulated null hypothesis There is no significant influence of gender on relationship with superiors in Software Industry is accepted. Work Aspects The obtained 'F' value is 1.199 and it is not significant at 5% level. The value indicates that there is no significant influence of gender on work aspects in Software Industry. Hence, the formulated null hypothesis There is no significant influence of gender on work aspects in Software Industry is accepted. Organisational Culture on Style The obtained 'F' value is 3.131 and it is not significant at 5% level. The value indicates that there is no significant influence of gender on organizational culture on style in Software Industry. Hence, the formulated null hypothesis There is no significant influence of gender on organizational culture on style in Software Industry is accepted. Work and Family Demands The obtained 'F' value is 1.698 and it is not significant at 5% level. The value indicates that there is no significant influence of gender on Work and Family Demands in Software Industry. Hence, the formulated null hypothesis There is no significant influence of gender on Work and Family Demands in Software Industry is accepted. Conclusion This research study throws light on the role that gender plays in the determination and success rate of employee retention policies that are designed by the company. Today the world has evolved and women have come to the forefront of doing work and business. Women possess the same level of skill sets as men. But the manner in which their attitudes and perceptions towards work differ, so it their thought process relating to retention strategies. Male employees dominate the IT workforce in most of the companies. Thus, gender differences can be considered as a major factor that influences the success rate of retention strategies that are employed by the companies in terms of better pay, benefits, opportunities for training and development and so 370
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