What strategies would you recommend to an organisation that wishes to portray itself

as an employer of choice (take into account the current business constraints). What
criticism can be levelled against arguments for employee retention? (20 Marks)

An employer brand starts to grow the moment an individual becomes aware of the
organization; it starts long before they become an employee. Being an “Employer of Choice”
means that a business or organization has a great working environment, an outstanding brand
and able to attract and retain the best staff at a lower cost. The best talent in the industry
wants to work for that particular organization (Shafique, 2012).

According to Charles (2015) the essence of becoming an employer of choice is the quality of
the employment relationship, or psychological contract. The traditional employment
relationship which has arguably been hugely successful for over 200 years since the
Industrial Revolution is a hindrance in climate of complexity, accelerated change and
uncertainty. Employers of choice such as Google have created a culture that is based on a
new employment relationship. It is more collaborative and open than the old 'them and us'
relationship. This new employment relationship is based on the changing needs and interests
of employees and organisations. Therefore it follows that the organization should balance the
needs of the employee and the organization. The employer is interested in making profits
whereas on the other hand the employee wants an adequate wage.

Bratton and Gold (2013) argue that the starting point for an employer who wants to be
portrayed as an employer of choice is to create an Employee Value Proposition (EVP). An
employee value proposition (EVP) is the unique set of benefits which an employee receives
in return for the skills, capabilities and experience they bring to a company. An (EVP) is
about defining the essence of the company; how it is unique and what it stands for. It
encompasses the central reasons that people are proud and motivated to work there, such as
the inspiring vision or distinctive brand and culture. When integrated into all aspects of a
business, a strong EVP will help to retain top performers and attract the best external talent.
Taking into account the prevailing economic conditions and business constraints it is
therefore imperative for employers to strike a balance between making profits and paying an
equitable wage.

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Once the (EVP) has been defined, the employers should find creative and relevant ways to
communicate it to the people that they are trying to attract. The (EVP) should be conveyed
through all hiring channels such as company websites, advertising and the interview process,
so that prospective talent can determine if they would make a good fit for the employer’s
business. Consistently communicating a compelling (EVP) through branding, public relations
and marketing will also help the passive labour market form a positive perception of the
value of working for the employer (Armstrong, 2010). Nowadays with the advent of
information communication technology and the use of internet, organizations should embrace
technology and use the social media platforms to communicate with the labour market. Again
it demands that employers put in place measures that will curb cyber crime, for example of
late in Zimbabwe social media has been used to circulate falsehoods including false job
advertisements.

Dessler (2013) posit that potential employees consider the company’s history, reputation and
stability. Equally important is the products offered by the company, are they of quality and
positive value to society. Employees may be sensitive to being part of process that produces
products that have harmful effects on societies they live in. As a way of creating a compelling
(EVP) Econet Wireless Zimbabwe introduces themselves well as follows as stated in their
official website; ‘Econet Wireless Zimbabwe is Zimbabwe's largest provider of
telecommunications services, providing solutions in mobile and fixed wireless telephony,
public payphones, internet access and payment solutions. Econet launched its network on the
10th of July 1998 and listed on 17th September 1998. It is one of the largest companies on
the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange in terms of market capitalisation. The company continues to
upgrade its network to carry more subscribers, and further widen its geographical coverage,
which is already the most extensive in Zimbabwe’. Econet wireless Zimbabwe also has
information about its key subsidiary companies. Key subsidiaries and associates of Econet
are Liquid Telecom, the largest internet service and access provider in Zimbabwe, and
Transaction Payment Solutions, a leading provider of financial transaction switching, point-
of-sale and value-added support services.

After creating a compelling (EVP) the first step for any employer to perpetuate the idea that
they are an employer of choice is to define the best candidate for the job each time they
decide to recruit. This is supported by Jackson et al (2015) who assert that before the
organization gets started on anything else, the first step is to define what type of person the

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organization is trying to recruit and retain. This is important because hiring the right
employee makes a huge difference to the success of the business. Nixon (2011) argues that
the organization cannot be everything to everyone, however would want to recruit and retain
people who fit to their company culture, and who will become a leader in their business or
organization. It is therefore imperative for employers to create a vision for the workforce, and
then hire new employees to bring the vision to life.

According to Ulrich (2015) the employer should offer perks and benefits that are attractive to
the employees they want to attract and keep. While there are many lists about the top perks
employees want, none of these really matter if they don’t appeal to the workforce and the
company brand. Likewise, if the business owns a growing health benefits Software Company,
the organization would likely want employees who value a healthy lifestyle. For this
workforce, wellness competitions, or discounted gym pass may align well with attracting the
right employees. Small businesses can also compete with the larger companies by offering
employees standard fringe benefits such as health and retirement benefits. In Zimbabwe most
companies aim to offer attractive perks however the prevailing economic conditions are
working against these efforts.

Jackson et al (2015) argues that when it comes to attracting and recruiting candidates, the
organization should know how to stand up against competitors. Candidates, and current
employees, are looking around to see how other companies treat their employees. While
some organizations may feel like they cannot compete with larger business’s compensation
packages, they can still compete by having a favourable company culture and providing
unique perks, benefits, and professional development among other benefits. Leede et al
(2015) suggest that, to get a sense of what competitors are doing, management may network
with managers from other companies, look at competitor's career web pages, and talk to
employees and candidates about what they are seeing or hearing. A good example is what is
obtaining in the Ministry of Health and Child Care as compared to other ministries that fall
under the Public Service Commission. In the Ministry of Health and Child Care employees
are afforded the chance to go for manpower development leave on full salary and benefits
whereas in other ministries the employees who go on manpower development are put on half
salary. This follows that given a chance to choose an employer; prospective employees will
choose Ministry of Health and Child Care ahead of others.

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According to Armstrong (2010), offering challenging work keeps employees engaged.
Employers should make sure the work is challenging from the beginning of employment, and
throughout employment. Offering interesting and challenging work, along with a strong
company vision, will create overwhelming interest about working for the employer’s
business. Similarly, Kim (2013) argues that the employer should demonstrate opportunity for
advancement. If the employer wants employees to stay with the company for a long portion
of their careers, employers have to give them a career path. This includes a clear path to
promotions, regular evaluations, training for new skills, and mentoring opportunities to help
employees get there. In the Ministry of Health and Child Care up to year 2017 employees
were not paid according to additional qualifications, for example if an employee was
appointed as a diploma holder, despite that they acquire a degree they were not paid on the
scale of a degree holder. However this has since been changed since the beginning of year
2018. This strengthens the efforts towards making the ministry an employer of choice.

Employee recognition is important to company culture and morale. Recognition can be done
in many ways. Fair pay is part of the picture, but so are rewards for accomplishments and for
time spent with the company. Contests such as sales goals also help employees feel valued, as
can bonuses, free food, benefits, and other perks. Recognition should be done on an
individual, team, and company-wide basis (Chen and Hung, 2010). These measures are
strong enablers of employer branding.

What criticism can be levelled against arguments for employee retention?

Jackson et al (2015) posit that employee retention is the overall strategy or ability of an
organisation to retain its best employees and hence maintain a lower turnover. An
organisation is able to achieve this by adopting various employee retention programs and or
strategies. Employee retention is and should be one of the main focus areas of the human
resources department in any organization.

An employee retention program involves steps starting from identifying the major
contributors in the organisation, and designing schemes to involve them within the
organisation to ensure that they do not leave. The success of these programs is measured by
simple metrics like retention ratio, and turnover ratios (Holbeche, 2014).

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According to Gonzalo (2015) each organization spends a lot on attracting the best talent.
These employees contribute a lot towards the success of the company. All these contributions
directly impact the bottom line of the company. The employees who stay with the company
for longer time contribute efficiently and become integral part of the company and the
position. Now if these employees leave the company and join the competitor, this would
mean double loss for the company. First they will be directly impacted by the employee not
being available and secondly the employee is now contributing to the competition. Also the
person who may replace the employee may not be able to come at par that early. So it is
better to retain the employee and make sure he/she remains motivated.

Armstrong (2010) suggest that typical strategies used to retain employees include; better job
design to motivate and engage the employee, good compensation so that the employee does
not look for better paying opportunities outside, on job learning and training helps the
employee to remain relevant and add to the skills and contribute back to the organization.
Further , better perks like insurance, car, house which makes sure that employee feels
comfortable and secure, rewards and recognition go a long way in valuing the employee and
making sure that he/she stays. On the other hand Ulrich (2015) inclusion in company
decisions will give employees the confidence of being an important part of the company.
Timely interaction with the employees to make sure they are not dissatisfied with the job or
role so that steps can be taken to improve the situation is also important. In case the
employee decides to leave, proper channel and process should be in place to make sure the
company can communicate options and listen to the reasons so that employee can take a more
informed decision. The above strategies are just few steps which a company can take.
Employee retention is very subjective and may vary for different companies and different
employees.

Panayotopoulou et al (2013) argue that it is however necessary to critique the relevancy of

the retention strategies mentioned above. Job design can be divided into two, the human
approach and the engineering approach. The human approach of job design puts emphasis on
designing a job around the people or employees and not around the organizational processes.
In other words it recognizes the need of designing jobs that are rewarding (financially and
otherwise) and interesting at the same time.

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Pfeffer (2014) states that the engineering approach on the other hand aims for jobs to gratify
an individual’s need for recognition, respect, growth and responsibility The approach is based
on the application of scientific principles to job design. Work, according to this approach
should be scientifically analysed and fragmented into logical tasks. Due emphasis is then laid
on organizing the tasks so that a certain logical sequence is followed for efficient execution
of the same. The approach also lay due emphasis on compensating employees appropriately
and training them continuously for work efficiency. This approach is popular at the Ministry
of Health and Child Care Zimbabwe. Nurses for example practise a lot of division of labour;
you find that the patient flow in a health institution is divided into various tasks handled by
various nurses. This is achieved through job design and has proved to be working well in the
administration of health services.

Competitive compensation strategy is yet another strategy which can be used to retain
employees; however this strategy is dependent on the ability to pay by the concerned
organizations. The economy of Zimbabwe has not been doing well for over a decade now,
with many companies expressing difficulties to pay let alone salaries on time. The other
strategy that companies use to motivate and retain employees is training and development.
Kim and Sung Choon (2013) argue that employees are happy to be able to perform their tasks
with great precision. Usually this works well hand in hand with a performance appraisal
system which recognizes the effort that employees put towards their work.

Perks such as insurance cover, car and a house are of value to employees (Ulrich 2015).
Some organizations in Zimbabwe have managed to create sustainable competitive advantage
through offering their employees such perks. These have managed to motivate employees and
improve their productivity. Organizations such as banks and contributory schemes like
National Social Security Authority can afford to offer loans to buy cars and houses to their
employees.

Armstrong (2010) argues that recognition in the workplace also matters and motivates
employees. This can contribute to the retention of employees. Employees need to be part of
decision making in the workplace as opposed to a one way top down approach to issues.
Employees respond to appreciation expressed through recognition of their good work because
it confirms their work is valued by others. When employees and their work are valued, their
satisfaction and productivity rises, and they are motivated to maintain or improve their good

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work (Dessler (2013). Examples of employee recognition can be in the form of achievement
awards, productivity bonuses and employee participation in decision making. Some
organizations for example would display the portraits of employees of the month, year and so
on as a method of expressing recognition of employee’s outstanding performance.

A lot of investment is needed to train an employee and to make him productive. The
employee retention makes sure the employee stays and applies the learning for the growth of
the organization. Employees retained in the organization feel part of the overall vision and
become better contributors in the long run. Messmer (2010) found that one of the important
factors in employee retention is an investment in employee training and career development.
Organizations have always invested in the form of training and development of those workers
from whom they expect to get a return on its investment. Dr Mathimaran and Prof Amanda
(2017) forwarded the view that organizations can keep the leading edge in this competitive
world by having their employees well trained in the latest technologies.

Given the growing needs for organizations to retain its best employees in the face of
competition, certain variables are crucial in influencing the employees’ decision to either
leave or remain in an organization. Such variables include training and development,
recognition/reward for good performance, a competitive salary package and job security.
Nonetheless, the importance of other variables should not be under - estimated when
formulating a retention policy. It is only a comprehensive blend of intrinsic and extrinsic
motivational variables that can enhance retention and reduce the high rate of employee
turnover in our various organizations.

Human resources are complex and not easy to understand. These are the assets which can
make as well as break an organization. Retaining them will help in the long-term growth of
an organization and will also add to their goodwill. But the most difficult task faced by an
organization today is retaining as well as satisfying these resources.

In conclusion, effective employee retention is a systematic effort by employers to create and

foster an 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

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ensures customer satisfaction, increased product sales, satisfied employees 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.

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References

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Guide to People management, Kogan Page Limited. London

Bratton,J. and Gold, J.(2013) Human Resource Management; Theory and Practice, 3rd
edition, Palgrave MacMillan. New York

Charles R. (2015). Strategy and human resources: New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Chen, H. & Hung, S. (2010). Systematic linking of organizational strategy, HR strategy and
training strategy across OLC: International Journal of Business Strategy, 10(1), 104-115.

Dessler, G. (2013) Human Resource Management; Thirteenth Edition, Pearson Education

Limited. England

Dr Mathimaran, KB & Prof Amanda, K.A (2017) Employee Retention Strategies: An

Empirical Research: Global Journal of Management and Business Research: E-Marketing
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Gonzalo. (2015). Strategic human resource management: integrating the universalistic,

contingent, configurational and contextual perspectives: International Journal of Human
Resource Management, 16 (5), 633-659.

Holbeche, Linda. (2014). Aligning human resources and business strategy: Oxford: Elsevier
Butterworth-Heinemann.

Jackson, Susan E. & Schuler, Randall S. (2015) Managing human resources through
strategic
partnerships, 9.edition, South-Western.

Kim, H. & Sung-Choon, K. (2013). Strategic HR functions and firm performance: The
moderating effects of high-involvement work practices, Asia Pacific Journal of Management,
30, 91-113.

Leede, Jan de & Looise, Jan Kees (2015) Innovation and HRM: towards an integrated
Framework: Creativity and Innovation Management Journal, 14(2), 108-116.

Messmer, M. (2010), “Orientation programs can be key to employee retention”, In Strategic

Finance. 81 (8), pp. 12-15.

Nixon, B. (2011). Growing company needs HR plan: Canadian HR Reporter, 24(13),

Pfeffer, J. (2014). Competitive advantage through people: Harvard School Business Press,
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Panayotopoulou, Leda, Bourantas, Dimitris & Papalexandris, Nancy (2013) Strategic human
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Shafique, O. (2012). Recruitment in the 21st century: Interdisciplinary Journal of
Contemporary Research in Business, 4(2), 887-901.

Ulrich, D. (2015). Human resource champions: The next agenda for adding value and
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