A practitioner perspective on drivers of employee loyalty

The aim of this practice-based paper is to provide some insight into the drivers of employee loyalty in the IT industry. This paper is the result of more than four years of industry experience in the area of human resources management with different IT companies based in Mumbai, India. The paper argues that although the HR professionals working in the IT industry are trying hard to formulate strategies in order to understand the psychology and loyalty of an IT professional, nothing seems to be working in their favor, including their strategy of perks and rewards to gain employee loyalty. The paper outlines and discusses the following four attitude-based important loyalty drivers: employee focus; development opportunities; job quality; and brand. The paper further discusses the following five experience-based factors driving employee loyalty: care and concern for employees; fairness at work; day-to-day satisfaction; feelings of accomplishment; and compensation/benefits. The paper concludes by suggesting that the role of a CEO or HR Manager is like that of a director of a movie or a choreographer of a stage show, where there is a defined role for each character, each participant. CEOs and HR Managers should take a closer look at their organisations and find out if he/she is doing his/her best effort to know their top talents and how to obtain their loyalty.