INTRODUCTION

Employee retention is a process in which the employees are encouraged to remain with the organization for the maximum period of time or until the completion of the project. Employee retention is beneficial for the organization as well as the employee. Employees today are different. They are not the ones who dont have good opportunities in hand. As soon as they feel dissatisfied with the current employer or the job, they switch over to the next job. It is the responsibility of the employer to retain their best employees. If they dont, they would be left with no good employees. A good employer should know how to attract and retain its employees. Most employees feel that they are worth more than they are actually paid. There is a natural disparity between what people think they should be paid and what organizations spend in compensation. When the difference becomes too great and another opportunity occurs, turnover can result. Pay is defined as the wages, salary, or compensation given to an employee in exchange for services the employee performs for the organization. Pay is more than "dollars and cents;" it also acknowledges the worth and value of the human contribution. What people are paid has been shown to have a clear, reliable impact on turnover in numerous studies. Employees comprise the most vital assets of the company. In a work place where employees are not able to use their full potential and not heard and valued, they are likely to leave because of stress and frustration. In a transparent environment while employees get a sense of achievement and belongingness from a healthy work environment, the company is benefited with a stronger, reliable work-force harboring bright new ideas for its growth. Higher employee retention rate enhance goodwill of company.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objectives of the study are To study the present retention strategies adopted by the company. To assess the satisfaction level of employee with existing retention strategies.

1. Reduce the cost of turnover. 2. To stop loss of company knowledge. 3. Good will of the company 4. To reduce attrition rate. 5. To employee satisfaction 6. Regaining efficiency

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Every company should understand that people are their best commodity. Without qualified people who are good at what they do, any company would be in serious trouble. In the long term, the retention of existing employees saves companies money. As Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan- Evan stated in Training and Development: Studies have found that the cost of replacing lost talent is 70 o 200 percent of that employees annual salary. There are advertising and recruiting expenses, orientation and training of the new employee, decreased productivity until the new employee is up to speed, and loss of customers who were loyal to the departing employee. Finding, recruiting, and training the best employees represents a major investment. Once a company has captured talented people, the return-on-investment requires closing the back door to prevent them from walking out.When an employee leaves a company for a direct competitor, there is always a chance that they Page No. 54will take important business strategies and secrets with them to be explained by the competition. This is yet another reason why the retention of employees is so crucial to some businesses. While this practice seems a bit unscrupulous, it skills happens quite frequently. As Bill Leonard stated in HR Magazine: Because employers know that the best-qualified applicants will come directly from competitors, recruiting and hiring employees away from mother of inventive and sometimes controversial business practices. Recruiting and hiring from your competitors is probably as old as business itself. But what is new and a hot topic among employers is how to attract and retain qualified candidates in a

highly competitive labor market while also preventing their own intellectual capital from winding up in the hands of competitors. One way for a company to prevent employees from giving valuable information to competitors is to make it a policy to enforce strict non compete and confidentiality agreements amongst its employees. The existence of such agreements could in fact deter a competitor from hiring a valuable employ because they might not want to risk possible legal entanglements with the other company. Of course, all this could possibly lead to animosity with the employee who could feel that his or her options are being limited. Many employees dont always remember signing such a document, so a copy of it should always be kept on file for the employee to refer to. This area could prove to be a highly sensitive one between employer and employee, so extreme caution is suggested in all instances. Establish better organizational climate and culture Employees plays a vital role in creating an atmosphere of trust and respect in the organization, as well as a transparent culture which promotes efficiency and develops employees as human beings and not just as workers. By respecting people as individuals and valuing their contributions, contributing to self-respect and confidence of employees.Establish relation of employees with peers and superiors.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

1. As the project is prepared for academic purpose only, it suffers from the limitations of time and money, due to which analytical study into all the strategies adopted by the organization was not possible. 2. The study was completed within short span of time that was available. 3. As it was not possible to visit each department the true picture of working condition could not be judged. 4. The workers were busy with their work therefore they could not give enough time for the interview. 5. The personal biases of the respondents might have entered into their response. 6. Respondents were reluctant to disclose complete and correct information 7. The report also suffers from the limitations of exhaustiveness as far as the information is concerned.

8. All this Survey is limited to RAIN Commodities Ltd. Only. 9. Normally employees hesitate to disclose the information.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology is considered as the nerve of the project. Without a proper well organized research plan, it is impossible to complete the project and reach to any conclusion. The project was based on the survey plan. The main objective of survey was to collect appropriate data, which work as a base for drawing conclusion and getting result. Therefore, research methodology is the way to systematically solve the research problem. Research methodology not only talks of the methods but also logic behind the methods used in the context of a research study and it explains why a particular method has been used in the preference of the other methods.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Employees are the most important and valuable asset of an organization. Employees are the foundation of an organization. Retaining them is an important as hiring them in the first place. Hence it is necessary to know the strategies used to retain the employees in the organization.

ASSUMPTIONS
The following are assumptions upon which this study is based: 1. Employee retention and job satisfaction are linked. 2. Identification of employee perceptions about job satisfaction will offer a basis for identifying recommendations for practice, this will contribute, to job satisfaction. 3. The use of a questionnaire to determine employee satisfaction perceptions will result in honest and useful feedback for purpose of analysis.

EMPLOYEE RETENTION STRATEGIES

The basic practices which should be kept in mind in the employee retention strategies are: 1. Hire the right people in the first place.

2. Empower the employees: Give the employees the authority to get things done. 3. Make employees realize that they are the most valuable asset of the organization. 4. Have faith in them, trust and respect them 5. Provide them information and knowledge. 6. Keep providing them feedback on their performance. 7. Recognize and appreciate their achievements. 8. Keep their morale high. 9. Create an environment where the employees want to work and have fun.

CHAPTER SCHEMA
I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. Introduction Selection Retention Attrition Literature Review Company Profile Industry Profile Research Methodology Conclusion Recommendations Bibliography Annexure