It’s a problem Corporate India is having to come to terms with only today. You spend a lot of money in an elaborate recruitment process seeking the best in the land. You welcome your new hires and try to keep them happy. But, lo and behold, within a few months, they are gone.

“Even at the starting level, it costs us more than Rs 1 lakh to find one candidate. And that’s an averaged-out price when you are talking about taking on several freshers through campus recruitment,” says the HR chief of a foreign bank.

But he says the expense is not that important. What matters more is that a person leaves so soon after joining. “It sends a message that there is something wrong with our organisation,” says the HR manager. “He has come, seen, and rejected. This can be very damaging in today’s war for talent. We’d much rather he didn’t join at all.”

Of course, there are people who leave because they have got admission to an IIM or a foreign B-school. But you have to take that in your stride. The best of candidates mention the possibility at the job interview stage. And the best of companies maintain links with the departing recruit. After all, they have offered him a job, which implies that he has been found superior to many. They ask him to return for summer training and roll out the red carpet when he finally acquires his B-school honours. “It’s cheaper,” says Mumbai-based HR consultant Shashi Rao. “And the so-called new recruit is already familiar with the company. He can’t be called a new recruit at all.”

These are stray cases. But there is a growing problem with new recruits. This is not just true of new industries like business process outsourcing (BPO) where, reports Bangalore-based skill assessment firm MeritTrac, the attrition rate has shot up from 15-18 per cent a few years ago to 80 per cent this year.

Headhunters and placement agencies report that the phenomenon is across industries and across the country. Established companies, however, have a baggage of loyalists who will stay on till they retire. There are large numbers of such employees on the company’s rolls. Attrition on this large base is low. But if you look at attrition amongst new recruits only, it will be very high.

Data from the West also underscores this point. According to a study by the US-based Leadership IQ, a training and research centre for management best practices, 46 per cent of newly-hired employees fail within 18 months, while only 19 per cent achieve unequivocal success.

More important are the reasons for this. According to the study, 26 per cent of new hires fail because they can’t accept feedback, 23 per cent because they’re unable to understand and manage emotions, 17 per cent because they lack the necessary motivation to excel, 15 per cent because they have the wrong temperament for the job, and only 11 per cent because they lack the necessary technical skills. In other words, the softer issues are primarily responsible for new-hire failures.

While companies have to pay more attention to these issues and, of course, take a closer look at their recruitment process, the new recruits have a responsibility too. The Web has a wealth of advice on this. CollegeGrad.com, for instance, gives more than 100 tips, ranging from “Remember the names of those who you are introduced to” and “dress conservatively” to “Never tell dirty jokes” and “Don’t drink at the Christmas party”.

If you want more help pick up copies of New Kid on the Block: 10 Steps to Help You Thrive and Survive in the First 100 Days of Your New Job, by Frances Kay, or Your First 90 Days In A New Job (How To Make An Impact), by William Robinson. At FastCompany.com, they have advice on your first 60 days. The honeymoon period is getting shorter.

SURVIVOR’S MANUAL

What you must do in the first 100 days in a new job

Take notice of everything you are told

Ask lots of questions

Use every opportunity to show your potential

Learn to play the game

Keep an open mind and don’t prejudge the job or others

Source: New Kid on the Block: 10 Steps to Help You Thrive and Survive in the First 100 Days of Your New Job, by Frances Kay