Staff retention in the engineering industry

M.Comm.Staff Retention in the Engineering Industry: Proactive staff retention should be a primary goal of every company and not just those involved in engineering activities. Every departing employee takes with them a set of learned skills and knowledge that cannot be replaced, and also deprives the company of the personnel that are required to mentor and coach the new engineering personnel that are coming into the industry from the Universities and Technikons. Engineering skills cannot be classroom taught in their entirety, there is a need for mentorship and coaching of the finer skills and expertise and for this there is a reliance on the 'old hands' to pass on some of the knowledge they have acquired. The rationale for this study was a perception that there is a high rate of churn in the engineering industry and that engineers and technicians are moving quickly from one employer to another and some times out of the engineering profession completely. The perception from the employer's standpoint appears to be that this is solely for remuneration reasons. The employer may not be aware of the true reasons for the dissatisfaction that leads to high turnover rates for engineering personnel and that through the application of some basic employment relationship principles this could be arrested to the significant benefit of the company. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that affect the mobility of engineering personnel in the South African work environment. The study examines some of the key relationship issues that the employees have with the employer and the employer's representatives, and the perceptions of the employees regarding how well these are being administered. The study also examines the key factors of employee satisfaction and dissatisfaction and compares these with the findings of the Herzberg studies of the 1950's and 1960's. The findings of Herzberg are still valid to this day. The target population was those engineers and technicians that are registered through the Engineering Council as professional engineers, technologists and technicians or candidate professional engineers, technologists and technicians. The research instruments were distributed electronically by the Engineering Council. Most of the responses were received electronically with only two of the responses being received by post. The demographics were reviewed and the majority of respondents were white males, some responses were received from other race and gender groups but the response was too small to bear significant analysis. From the analysis of the responses to the research instrument a series of recommendations are made for the employer regarding the establishment of an environment that will encourage employees to remain in the employ of a company and also for the establishment of a proactive retention strategy for employees. The recommendations made include a structured approach to the management of the 'employment life cycle'. Ensuring the employees receive a sound induction program starting with the employment interview, are mentored and coached, receive regular performance management assessments, and are challenged and developed through job enrichment. Provide the employee with room to grow. For work well done express sincere appreciation, ensure workplace stress is managed and that there is a balance between work and life. Ensure there is security and that this iscommunicated honestly from the senior executives. Where employees do resign then the employer should conduct a full exit interview and ensure knowledge of the employment experience is channelled back into the company employment program. The study reflected on the findings of Herzberg and reinforced the management of the hygiene factors and the true motivators. Within the capabilities and practices of the company the employer should review the hygiene factors and true motivators and ensure that these are addressed to assure minimal dissatisfaction and the maximum is employee satisfaction