Good people - valuable employees - quit their jobs every day. Usually, they leave for better

positions elsewhere. Take Anup, an experienced banker in a reputed bank, who scribbled the

following remarks on his exit interview questionnaire:

"This job isn't right for me. I like to have more input on decisions that affect

me- more of a chance to show what I can do. I don't get enough feedback to

tell if I'm doing a good job or not, and the company keeps people in the dark

about where it's headed. Basically, I feel like an interchangeable part most of

the time".

In answer to the question about whether the company could have done anything to keep him,

Anup replied simply, "Probably not." Why do so many promising employees leave their jobs?

And why do so many others stay on but perform at minimal levels for lack of better alternatives?

One of the main reasons - Anup's reason - can be all but invisible, because it's so common in

many organizations; a system wide failure to keep good people.

Companies should be concerned about employees like Anup. By investing in human capital, they

may actually help reduce turnover, protect training investments, increase productivity, improve

quality, and reap the benefits of innovative thinking and teamwork.

Human resource professionals and managers can contribute to corporate success by encouraging

employees' empowerment, security, identity, disconnectedness, and competence. How? By

recognizing the essential components of keeping their best people and by understanding what

enhances and diminishes those components.

Anup doubts that his company will ever change, but other organizations are taking positive steps

to focus on and enhance employee retention. As a result, they are reducing turnover, improving

quality, increasing productivity, and protecting their training investments.

Questions:

a. Sketch the landscape of the above case.

b. How significance is the remarks made by Anup with regard to his decision to quit the job and

attitude of the company?

c. What lesson can this company learn from the case of Anup? What can and should it now do?