In an interaction with Higher Education Review Magazine, Ganapathi Subramanian, CHRO, Sundaram Home Finance, shared his insights on various aspects of employee engagement and retention, effective tools & techniques to measure the effectiveness of employee engagement initiatives within an organization, How organizations leverage data and analytics to develop efficient employee retention strategies and more. Ganapathi is a seasoned HR professional with over two and half decades of experience in the HR space. Before joining Sundaram Group in 2014, he successfully handled key HR functions.

Throw some light on the importance of communication in formulating successful employee engagement and retention strategies.

Communication plays a crucial role and can be regarded as the cornerstone of employee engagement. Everything that the Company does directly relates to the employees throughout the employee life cycle starting from the onboarding process. Hence the entire process has to be communicated before joining. This must include information regarding the Company, its value, the work culture, brand equity, career growth opportunities and various other aspects. Since every organization functions uniquely, it is paramount for the companies to have a proper induction program so that the candidate has a clear picture of the company’s operations. Also, employees in managerial positions have a big role to play in engaging employees by clearly articulating the strategies and tactics to achieve the same, both within the team and with other teams as well.

Briefly explain the impact of having a positive work culture on employee engagement and satisfaction levels.

A positive work culture makes the employee feel secure, have satisfaction with the work they are doing and feel a sense of belonging and ownership in the workplace. Stitching organizational culture with its values and ethics enables the business to create a conducive environment where the employees feel valued and are thus encouraged to put in their best efforts. Regular team-level meetings are very effective in this regard, wherein the TL/managers must interact with their team members, understand their feelings & expectations, identify their pain points, and collectively work as a team towards solving those challenges. Also, every employee must be made comfortable to freely express their views and opinions on any matter. Although these steps seem simple, implementing them effectively within the workplace will go a long way in creating a positive work culture across the organization.

Suggest a few effective tools & techniques to measure the effectiveness of employee engagement initiatives within an organization.

At the end of the day, it is the employees who bring business to the organization. Thus, business leaders need to ensure that their employees are engaged to meet the desired outcomes. There are numerous ways to measure the effectiveness and success rate of an employee engagement program. Conducting company-wide employee satisfaction surveys, comparing them with previous survey scores and making necessary changes in the Ways of Work (WOW) is one of the most common ways in which organizations can measure the efficiency of their employee engagement initiatives.

Additionally, measuring the employee retention rates and comparing them with the industry average percentage is another key way to measure the effectiveness of a company’s employee engagement efforts. Also, every organization that is serious about its employee engagement plans must make sure to have proper exit interviews in place for the employees who are hopping to another company. This not only enables the Company to get a clear idea of its employee satisfaction and engagement levels but also helps it identify areas that need improvement.

How can organizations leverage data and analytics to develop efficient employee retention strategies?

Data analytics has completely transformed the way every process is carried out across the organization. Earlier, most of the employee retention programs were formulated based on the gut feeling of the management team and thus had a very low success rate. However today, organizations are leveraging data analytics tools to analyze employee data and arrive at informed decisions in terms of developing an employee retention plan. Data analytics is not only helping businesses enhance the success rates of their employee retention strategies but also enabling them to have a clear understanding of their employees’ pain points and expectations. Additionally, with the help of data analytics, organizations can also predict the change in employee attrition rates post any changes such as structure, strategy, leadership team, performance management etc., and act accordingly.

How can business leaders ensure that their employee engagement initiatives stay aligned with the overall business goals and objectives?

While every business leader aspires to have positive growth each year, having a highly motivated team is very much necessary. For this, the business leader must communicate the company’s vision, mission and strategy with all the employees and encourage them to work collectively towards achieving the Company's goals. The leadership teams, department heads and managers must conduct periodic team meetings and stay in close contact with all the team members to get timely updates about the progress and make necessary changes in such a way that it benefits both the employees and the organization. Many business leaders now realise that ‘one size does not fit all’.  By segmenting talent, they should ensure and apply different engagement model for different teams so that the engagement stay relevant and aligned with the business results.