Attrition in IT Sector: Psychology Behind the Scene

Attrition is often defined as “a reduction in the number of employees as a result of retirement, resignation or death” and also as “the rate of shrinkage in size or number”. But the scenario is not so simple. We should always consider premature retirement, sudden resignation and premature death, including suicide. The real scenario is employees do leave, either because they expect extra money, dislike the working environment, get rough behavior, non-cooperation from their coworkers, need a change, or because their spouse gets a more robust chance in another region. Retention is more economical than going for brand spanking new recruitment whatsoever. Organizations should have a good retention strategy to retain their valuable employees. Employee turnover may be viewed as the outcome of unmet expectations and gaps between fundamental employee demands. Employees may simply resign under a few unfavourable conditions, but more crucially, “people depart before they leave”, according to the psychology of disengagement. It may be iterated that as they become older, their contribution gradually decreases, much like a slowly fading memory. This text presents a holistic view of attrition and retention of employees based on psychological aspects in this cut-throat competitive environment in India. Biology has a little role in management, though one cannot ignore biology in psychology. In broader terms, attrition is somehow related to psychology, and psychology and physiology are two sides of a coin. A new trend is to relate psychology with physiology to reduce attrition.