Startups, tips to hold on your employees who are running away

"Do you work in Infosys or Wipro? No? Ohh!" says Neel's 56 year old disappointed neighbour, for whom the entire IT world just revolves around the big names. Neel is not the only case, rather every startup employee has faced the same expressions sometimes from their elderly relatives or some nosy neighbours and at times even from peers, who are employed with the biggies. These taunts may lead to frustrations or inferiority complex and the employee may end up jumping ships to a bigger organization. "Some of the male employees in startups, quit their jobs as many of the brides' parents reject them as grooms since they don't work in big companies," says Amitabh Das, CEO of Vati Consulting. Quite a threat for the startups and adding on to the social stigma are the lucrative packages that the established firms offer. So, can this be avoided? Following are certain tips that employers may keep in mind to ensure they don't lose out the people they want to retain.

Create mini-leaders: At the outset, one may think a startup is already a small group, hence a mini group is quite ambiguous. Herein comes the glitch. Name each responsibility, for instance, if you have assigned someone, apart from yourself, with dealing with the clients - designate the person as 'Client Relationship Head" or if there's someone who comes up with decent ideas - term him the 'Innovation Head'. And these heads can gradually form teams of three-four people under them.

Ownership & Emotional Involvement: Clearly put forth your expectations from them and set the milestones. There should be a sense of ownership built within the core people as you make them responsible for their own departments. The person should be made owner of the tasks which are assigned to him i.e. he have to finish it however, if he needs involvement/help from anyone (including founder etc.), he is the boss on that specific task and can make anyone involve if required. If they're asking for added responsibilities, more flexible hours or on-the-job training, be amenable. Also, try asking them for help, this would get them emotionally involved.

Meet Expectations: A person who is serious about a career in a startup is ambitious and hence, the founders should make it a point to meet the employees' expectations. For instance, they need to highlight the progress of the firm and also the future plans for the company growth. This transparency will help them to form a closer bond with the company.

Incentivise: Being recognized gives anyone a boost. So, dole out incentives based on performance, may be less in cash and more in kind. "If the employee is a long-term bet, the management can introduce a profit-sharing 'clause', whereby they have a percentage of the profit earned by the company," says Das. Afterall, the sense of achievement is what most employees look out in their career life.

ESOPs: ESOPs is another lucrative option to keep your employees intact, though employees are still to realize its value. You can introduce shares of your company and distribute certain numbers within the company. Esops make start-ups competitive as against bigger companies who are paying 20-30 percent higher salaries as you make your employees a part of the company.

Working at a startup is interesting and fulfilling, yet, with pressures all around it becomes difficult for any employee to continue. These few tricks may help them create a bond with the startup and stay loyal. Next time an employee turns up with a weird excuse to run away from the company, run a check if all of these methods were tried on him or her. If you have some other tricks up your sleeve to keep your employees hale and hearty within a startup environment do share with us.