Managing People for Superior Performance & Retention

The Indian telecom industry has seen tremendous growth in the last 10 years due to the liberal policies of the government and the extensive need for communication. A conducive business environment, favorable demographic outlook and the political stability enjoyed by the country have contributed to the growth of the industry. As per TRAI July 2010 report, India has over 621.28 million mobile subscribers with a growth of over 10.52 %, on a quarterly basis. It is also estimated that by mid 2010, around half of the country's population will own a mobile phone. The total number of mobile subscribers is expected to breach the 800 million mark by the end of the year 2012 accounting for a teledensity of around 70%. India is fast emerging as the telecom hub of the world in terms of the growing demand, size of demand and FDI inflows. The rapid growth of the Indian Telecom Industry has been contributing to the India's GDP. With more and more players entering the industry and adding around 1 Lakh employees to the workforce, retaining the best talent is emerging as a major focal area for organizations in general and HR Managers in particular. However, one of the primary areas of concern for the telecom sector is the spiraling attrition rate that is currently hovering around the 25% mark. The ‘Job Hopping’ in the telecom sector is one of the contributory factors that erode the organizational productivity. One of the primary drivers of this phenomenon is increase in monetary benefits that accompanies job hopping. The objective of this paper is to analyze the causes of the high attrition rate in the telecom sector while understanding their organizational impact and identifying suitable remedial measures