Employee Retention Strategies Adopted by Companies in Kerala: A Case Study

Employee retention is the systematic effort to retain the current employees by providing best policies and to recognize various expectations of the employees. The challenge is not only to attract the talented employees and to retain them. This study analyzed the organizational factors influencing the employee retention and revealed individual factors leading employees to leave the organization and examined the necessary conditions to retain the employees. The major findings derived from the analysis precisely discloses that the respondents are satisfied with compensation benefits and working environment, the employees feel that their work load is fairly distributed.

An Analysis of Road Dust Samples to Understand the Influence of Vehicle Density on the Heavy Metal Accumulation in Kannur District, Kerala, India

The present study is an attempt to assess the heavy metal buildup in road dust samples of heavy traffic areas of Narath Panchayath, Kannur district. Samples have been collected from the roadside and are analyzed using X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy technique. The study also deals with health effects associated with heavy metal accumulation in the study area by calculating and interpreting the various hazard index parameters such as contamination factor, enrichment factor, geo-accumulation index, pollution load index, and degree of contamination. The concentration of heavy metals such as Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, and Pb has been quantified and reported in the ppb units. It is observed that the study area has a specific higher concentration of Fe and a lower concentration of Cd. The index parameters were calculated from the observed concentration of heavy metals and thereby pollution rate is understood. The study indicates that the metallic dust emitted from the vehicles significantly contributed to the heavy metal concentration in the area. The buildup of heavy metals is also influenced by traffic density, weather conditions, and human and industrial activities in that area. The detailed results and discussion of the present systematic investigation are given in the manuscript.

Spinal Cord Injury and Employment: Lived Experiences of Individuals with Paraplegia

Spinal cord injury that damages the spinal cord causes loss of muscle function, sensation, or autonomic function in the body parts of a person with paraplegia. The injury affects their life physically, mentally, socially and economically. As time progresses, they should make adjustments for survival. A steady income and employment which provides self-identity are of utmost importance in this situation. But acquiring a job and maintaining it, is very difficult now, as there is competition in every field. This study explores the experiences in employment of persons with paraplegia. The study tries to explore the influencing factors that helped the individuals to continue their employment, their perceived advantages of working after becoming paraplegic and major challenges of work. The study adopted a qualitative framework. Five case studies are conducted. The findings of the study reveal that apart from financial independence, employment helps spinal cord injured persons to gain confidence, self-esteem and create a good identity for them. This improves their quality of life and increases social interactions. The study suggests that it is high time to improve the vocational rehabilitation facilities for spinal cord injury in the state and to consider their participation with improved societal and environmental development.

Psychosocial Problems of Pregnant Women: A Study with Special Reference to Kadaba Taluk

Psychosocial factors influence a person psychologically or socially. Psychosocial problems include mood changes, anxiety, fatigue, sleepiness, depression, urinary infection, panic disorders and others. In this study researcher had taken 50 respondents from Kadaba taluk, Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka State. Study used structured questionnaire among 5 to 9 months pregnant women. Researcher used both primary and secondary sources of data and this study shows that 98% of respondents are having back pain problem and were well treated by in- laws. This research revealed almost 80% respondents were economically poor. The study result showed that 82% of the pregnant women got sufficient care from the family.

Sunrise from the Debris: Mansarovar Model of Slum People's Participatory Emancipation

Urbanization and fleeing from villages to cities are very high in India. Urban population and economy are mixed one where we meet richest and poorest, people highly accessed to all the facilities and people extremely neglected even for their primary needs, some living in luxuries and others striving for the survival. Urban slums are also in some extent neglected face of urban life. There are around 6.5 crore people living in urban slums in India. If we look at the top ten states having high rate of slum population Maharashtra comes first and Delhi comes at 10th rank. This research study is based on the works done by an NGO in a slum called Mansarovar Park, Delhi. This paper is dealing with the issues and problems that slum people had undergone in relation to their health and hygiene, education transportation etc and how the NGO could intervene on the issues and problems. This is a qualitative study based on the focused group discussion conducted on 14th November 2021 at Mansarovar Park Slum, Dilshad Garden, Delhi. There were seven participants in the focused group discussion among them four were representing the slum, then social worker and two researchers. The data recorded and it presented in verbatim form and it is analyzed and presented here thematically. The major findings of the study are that: There were health and hygienic issues which led to malaria and other diseases; people were aware of the need of awakening from the current situation to build up a healthy environment for their survival and this particular NGO played a vital role for the empowerment and sensitization of the people and enhancing people participation in the slum by supportive systems.