Retention Issues in Marketing Agencies of Pakistan: A Case

Study of Ogilvy Pakistan

Abstract

Every growing organization considers its human resource as the most precious and critical
asset. Hence the importance of retention management in the organizations is very important.
The world of marketing agencies has changed radically since last decade. In agencies,
employees are required to be smarter, safer, better trained, more thoughtful and more aware
and engaged in order to meet the expectations of customers, colleagues, regulators and
stakeholders. This study is an attempt to investigate the retention issues in marketing
agencies of Pakistan and to identify the key contributor in overall retention management
among job satisfaction, empowerment, training and development, career development and
planning and organization image. The study revealed that among factors used in the study,
career development and organization image were key contributors which helps in increasing
the retention in Ogilvy. The study further revealed that there are many other factors which
are explaining the retention issues and need to be explored. This paper concludes that if the
marketing agencies in developing countries like Pakistan are able to successfully implement
HR practices, they could achieve the maximum contribution of their employees, although, at
present, the economic and political environment within which HR practices operate is not
that conducive.

Keywords: Career development, employee retention, empowerment, job satisfaction,

training and development

1. Introduction

Modern technological changes posed a lot of challenges to the organizations for better
management of their human resources. Nowadays, downsizing, rightsizing, shortage of
skilled workforce etc., are what faced by many organizations. Formulating good Human
Resource management practices help organizations increase their key performance
indicators by creating more staff satisfaction which automatically translate into customer
satisfaction and create good image of the organization in the industry (Robert & Johnson,
2012).

In the marketing agencies, the top priorities are to generate more revenues and profits and
achieve competitive edge over others and more customer satisfaction which thereby increase
their equity. Decreased employee motivation affects the customer relationships with
agencies, which lowers the profit margins of the agencies. It is; therefore, on the top of the
list for agencies to retain their human resources, especially those who are adding value
towards achieving the organizational goal. This is the reason, HR department and the
management with the business partnership always strive to achieve lower attrition rate and
spend lot of time, money and efforts in devising the strategies for retention and lowering the
turnover (Goyal & Joshi, 2012).

This study attempts to investigate the retention issues in marketing agencies of Pakistan and
to identify the key contributor in overall retention management among job satisfaction,
empowerment, training and development, career development and planning and
organization image.
1.1 Problem Statement

Marketing agencies has witnessed increased employee turnover, especially, the talented
individuals who play the key role in organizational growth. High turnover among employees
reduces the performance of an organization due to the increase in replacement and training
costs of newly recruited individual. It needs to evaluate the factors affecting the employee
retention and increase the employee turnover.

1.2 Research Objectives

This study is conducted in order to achieve the following key objectives:

To assess the factors increasing employee retention and reduced turnover

To analyze the key factors which motivate the employee to remain with the
organization.
To examine the role of HRM practices of the organization regarding strategy
formulation and intervention regarding improvement in retention strategies.
1.3 Scope and Limitations of the Research

The scope of this research is limited to the staff members of Ogilvy Pakistan. There are many
factors affecting the retention in the organization but due to time constraint it is not possible
to test all the elements/factors. Other limitations include limited sample size, decline to
participate in the study.

1.4 Research Methodology

It is a qualitative research. The study is based upon the retention issues occurred in marketing
agencies. The research was conducted in the marketing agency named as Ogilvy Pakistan.

2. Literature Review

HR management practices are formulated to employ the competencies, commitment and

culture in the organization. These three forces are helpful in carrying the affairs of the
organization with optimal efficiency, reduce cost of doing business and increase
sustainability (Rao, 2008). According to Pfeffer (1994), HR policies and practices impact
the employee retention which are used by the organizations as a tool for employee
motivation, empowerment. While strong communication, higher than average wages, cash
rewards, career growth opportunities and employee share ownership plans and other
practices also affect the retention positively.

According to Boyens (2007), following are the few secrets in order to minimize the employee
turnover: a) hiring the right employees, b) work on key factors motivating the individuals,
c) proactively manage the three Rs of turnover i.e. rewards, respect and requirements, d)
open and clear communication across the organization, and e) creating a culture where all
staff members can thrive.

Employee empowerment is delegation of authority and increase in the responsibility of the

individual which starts from top management level and runs downwards to lower
management level. Empowering peoples means motivating them towards decision making
and polishing the leadership qualities in them. The empowerment tool add value towards the
organization vision and mission and make the employee more responsible for achieving the
desired level of performance. This is also competent for the organization (Quinn &
Gretchen, 1997). Effective organizations created the culture where their employees are
satisfied from their jobs (Bhatti & Qureshi, 2007).

Every individual sets some career goals and becomes part of the process through which the
person is likely to achieve those goals. The organizations make the road-map for managing
careers of their employees. Thus, career planning and management requires efforts from
both, i.e., organization and the individual, in order to receive maximum benefit out of it
(Baruch, 2004). Organizations use their goodwill and image to attract individuals /
investors and customers to build long-term relationship with the organization. This is very
important from employee point of view that what outsiders perceive about their company
and what they comment on product and services provided by the company.

3. Conceptual Framework
Employee Performance
Empowerment
H1

Job Satisfaction H1

Company’s Performance
H4
Career Planning Retention
& Development
H3
Organizational
Image
H2
Customer Satisfaction
Training &
Development

Based on the above-mentioned conceptual framework the following are the variables:
“increased empowerment”, “training and development opportunities”, “job satisfaction”,
“growth opportunities” and “organization image” “employee retention.”

4. Results and Findings

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