Retain your “New Master Grads”

Give them a fun place to work!

A good job, combined with a competitive salary and on top, attractive fringe benefits, might not be enough in the coming year to tie your new master grads and other qualified employees to your company.

Indeed, even in rapidly developing economies like Thailand, a generation of “New Professionals” expects to find all of the above PLUS a fun place to work, at according to a recent Gallup survey**.

These professionals want to be part of a Fun Club of people. They enjoy working for a company that treats staff like a big Family: in this family context, they can develop themselves, they are relatively safe from being fired, they are surrounded by interesting colleagues and they are positively valued for their contributions.

Unlike a couple of years ago, being part of a Fun Club will stop them from jumping ship for a few thousand baht per month, always assuming the pay is seen as fair and substantial enough to look after self and family.

For quite a few company owners and executives, becoming a warm “family father” will be a real challenge. But if they want to prevent their valued professionals from quitting at a rate of 1 out 4 every year (2005 turnover rate of managers in Thailand) they’ll better think through the alternatives: either outbid the competition in salary and benefits with double digit increases as recently reported by Mercer Thailand or….take time to focus on who their employees really are and what drives them everyday.

The economic justification for managers and for HR to create such an environment can easily be calculated and will put you in the right place for the future.  And although no specific statistics are available on turnover of new Master grads, our guesstimate based on extensive resume analysis, lingers just under 3 out of 4 people that change jobs the year of graduating, so don’t hesitate to start the brainstorm now.