Employee retention in Thailand is a tremendous issue that keeps hitting companies. The problem includes employee turnover and a phenomenon called “Job hopping”.
What is the employee turnover?
It is the number of employees who left the company for any reason during a specified period of time over the total number of employees.
… And job hopping?
It is the fact that people hop continuously from a job to another within a short period of time. This phenomenon is becoming a trend.
What is the impact on companies located in Thailand?
First of all, companies located in Thailand definitely suffer from it since it is a waste of time and money (going through the hiring process over and over again). Secondly, it doesn’t allow the company to train properly the employees so they can’t really perform the job as good as it should be, especially since Thailand is a developing country, the workforce usually faces a lack of skills and often requires some additional training. Thirdly, it directly impacts team-building which is normally a very appreciated concept all over Asia (asian culture tends to collectivism) and job hopping makes it harder if not impossible.
How can companies retain their employees?
Thai people are really proud so as soon as you get harsh on them at work, they lose face and they prefer to leave your company since they have so many other opportunities waiting for them. Losing face is the fact of feeling disrespected or humiliated in public and it is one of the main reasons why employees look for another job.
Anyway, here are 6 main things you can do to have good employees retention and to counter “job hopping” :
- Training employees so they will feel themselves progressing, growing and improving or developing their skills.
- Career development program (especially in Thailand) such as tracking your employees’ progress so they can be rewarded which is very good to attract new employees and secure the old ones.
- Evaluate your employees on a regular basis. It will allow them to know what to improve and measure their personal success.
- Express a clear company vision so your employees will understand their purpose.
- A work-life balance is needed. If the working hours are more or less flexible and allow the employees to have some free time then they’ll feel rested and more motivated.
- Team building such as pizza parties, games, trips, etc. is very appreciated and makes your employees become more productive since a strong team spirit is built. The concept will also increase your chances to retain your employees as they will feel more working with friends than “co-workers”
To summarize, the low retention rate in Thailand is due to an extremely low unemployment rate. However, by implementing some of the practices mentioned above, companies can increase this retention rate and therefore save time and money.
