Strategies to Retain Employees in the IT Industry: The Case In India

Abstract

Although the Information Technology (IT) sector accounts for the highest contribution to Gross Development Product in India, it has high employee turnover. This turnover is a waste of investment and detracts from organizations’ knowledge and experience pools. Person organization (PO) fit theories posit that when people are hired by and for organizations (not just individual jobs), they are less likely to quit. This study examines the benefits provided by IT firms to retain their employees and how these benefits’ effectiveness vary by designation and firm. It does so by employing the ‘work environment congruence’ approach to PO fit. Moreover, it proposes how to build a strategic model of the mix of benefits for retaining staff at different position levels (designations) in the firm. Findings show that preferred benefits differ by designation. For all factors except location, organization does not play an important role in retention, but designation impacts it in all the factors. Keywords: Retention strategies, Retaining employees, Information technology, Indian IT industry.