They enhance motivation, despite adverse challenges

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: A conclusion on whether work motivation is poor or not cannot be arrived at by conjecture, but can be based on observation and analysis of relevant facts and data. One of the pointers towards the work motivation levels within the organisation is the attrition rate . E.g., despite the war for talent, techie-specialists working for large software services brands appear to be rather loyal to their employers. Wipro has reported significant improvement in its attrition rate. In Q1, it was at 12.2%, much below the 15.65% reported in the same period last fiscal and marginally lower than 12.8% in the sequential Q4 FY 05 quarter.

The attrition rate has dropped even in Infosys. At 9.8% in Q1 FY 05, it is lower than the 11.7% in Q1 last fiscal. CSC, the world’s third largest provider of IT services, has managed to keep its attrition rate less than that of the industry, even through it has been growing at an astounding rate of 75% per annum in the last three years. One may argue that Wipro and Infosys are not average Indian firms. But the trend is often set by the leaders in a sector.

However, if people quit one organisation and join another in the same sector, e.g. BPO, then the attrition rates might not be a pointer to the workforce motivation levels within that organisation, as people normally quit because better compensation is always on offer elsewhere in a sector experiencing rapid growth. A random survey in Bangalore by leading HR consulting firm PeopleOne Consulting, found that the attrition rate in the BPO segment here is around 25-30%.

The other pointer towards work motivation levels can be the workforce engagement. High levels of motivation results in Engaged Performance from the employees. Engaged Performance is defined as the result achieved by stimulating employees’ enthusiasm for their work and directing it towards organisational success. This can be achieved only when employees offer an implicit contract to their employers, which in turn elicits specific positive behaviour aligned with the organisation’s goals.