The great retention : from great resignation to great retention
Raittinen, Tiina (2022)
2022
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022121328268
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022121328268
Tiivistelmä
The Great Resignation is a phenomenon, that describes the enormous wave of resignations, during the covid-19 pandemic. Especially the IT industry has faced issues, in retaining tech employees. Every resignation affects the cost to companies. The costs include visible and hidden costs. What makes the cost structure difficult, is that most of the resignation costs are hidden.
This thesis is about how to turn the great resignation into the great retention. It starts by presenting the great resignation phenomenon, continues to reason the importance of retention with business reasons, and ends with suggestions for the companies, on how to create retention among tech employees. Even though the thesis focused on software companies, the suggestions are valid to apply in every knowledge employee company.
Before making any suggestions, the thesis discovers the main retention drivers, according to external studies available. The identified drivers are meaningfulness, belongingness, flexibility, and learning. The drivers are presented on a more detailed level, in the thesis’s theoretical framework. The thesis’s qualitative research part focused to understand how the most attractive software companies measure and support their tech employees' experience within the identified retention drivers.
As a main result of the thesis, it was discovered, that individual employee understanding is crucial for creating retention. It appeared that leaders have a big responsibility, in creating a possibility to experience meaningfulness, a sense of belongingness, flexibility, and learning. It is under company’s responsibility to enable retention, by understanding the employees on a higher level, and by that creating loose enough frames and guidelines, that leaders and employees can apply. It’s under leaders’ responsibility to understand individuality in the team, and support the individual needs, as a part of the team's needs. It is under employees’ responsibility, to own their well-being, by being the active member of shared decision-making and impressing one’s needs.
This thesis is about how to turn the great resignation into the great retention. It starts by presenting the great resignation phenomenon, continues to reason the importance of retention with business reasons, and ends with suggestions for the companies, on how to create retention among tech employees. Even though the thesis focused on software companies, the suggestions are valid to apply in every knowledge employee company.
Before making any suggestions, the thesis discovers the main retention drivers, according to external studies available. The identified drivers are meaningfulness, belongingness, flexibility, and learning. The drivers are presented on a more detailed level, in the thesis’s theoretical framework. The thesis’s qualitative research part focused to understand how the most attractive software companies measure and support their tech employees' experience within the identified retention drivers.
As a main result of the thesis, it was discovered, that individual employee understanding is crucial for creating retention. It appeared that leaders have a big responsibility, in creating a possibility to experience meaningfulness, a sense of belongingness, flexibility, and learning. It is under company’s responsibility to enable retention, by understanding the employees on a higher level, and by that creating loose enough frames and guidelines, that leaders and employees can apply. It’s under leaders’ responsibility to understand individuality in the team, and support the individual needs, as a part of the team's needs. It is under employees’ responsibility, to own their well-being, by being the active member of shared decision-making and impressing one’s needs.