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This work proposes an innovative model for segmenting online players based on data related to their in-game behaviours to support player retention management. This kind of analysis is helpful to explore the potential reasons behind why players leave the game, analyse retention trends, design customised strategies for different player segments, and then boost the overall retention rate. In particular, a new similarity metric which is driven by players' stickiness to the game is developed to cluster players. Three feature dimensions, namely engagement features (e.g., log-in frequency and length of log-in time), performance features (e.g., level, the number of completed tasks, coins and achievements), and social interactions features (e.g., the number of in-game friends, whether or not to join a guild, and the guild role), are employed and aggregated to derive the stickiness metric. The applicability and utility of this new segmentation model are illustrated through experiments that are conducted on a realistic MMORPG dataset. The derived results are also discussed and compared against two benchmark models. The results reveal that the new segmentation model not only achieves better clustering performance, but also improves player's lifetime prediction by better distinguishing between loyal customers and churners. The empirical results confirm the effects of social interaction, which is usually underestimated in the current research, on player segmentation. From an operational perspective, the derived results would help game developers better understand the different retention-behaviour patterns of players, establish effective and customised tactics to retain more players, and boost product revenue.

Post-treatment stability is one of the most challenging aspects of orthodontic treatment and is a concern to all orthodontists. There are some important post-treatment factors that could influence the result, such as normal maturational changes, post-treatment tooth alterations, and persistent imbalance in the neuromuscular environments. Thus, early treatment brings about many benefits including better use of the patient's growth potential, less risk for adverse iatrogenic effects, better patient compliance, and potentially better outcomes, some with and others without retention management.

Retention protocols remain controversial despite the fact that long-term stability is rarely observed in orthodontics. In this review article, we examine current evidence and discuss emerging trends to managing retention which may ultimately improve patient care. Our goal is to provide information that may help overcome the gap between scientific evidence and clinical practice.

The effects of forest management on native fauna are of key interest to managers and conservationists. Individual studies have expanded our knowledge of management impacts, but meta-analyses of multiple studies are needed to summarize and integrate findings into a more generalizable form. Most meta-analyses on the effects of tree harvesting have focused on mature forest taxa because of concerns for these species; however, early-successional specialists, such as shrubland birds in the eastern United States, are also of key conservation concern. Using data from 34 studies that examined the effects of silvicultural treatments on bird communities, we conducted a meta-analysis to determine the effects of tree retention on a suite of bird species reported to be associated with shrubland habitats within the northeastern United States. Of 21 putative shrubland bird species for which we had sufficient sample sizes for analyses, most (62%) exhibited monotonic declines of density with increasing tree retention, defined as percent basal area or canopy cover retained. Five other species (24%) exhibited quadratic relationships with tree retention. Finally, three additional species (14%) considered to be shrubland birds did not exhibit significant relationships with tree retention. We also calculated density estimates of shrubland birds in three categorical classifications of basal area retention corresponding to common management regimes: regeneration harvests with little retention (clearcut and seed-tree methods), regeneration harvests with moderate retention (shelterwoods), and high retention management regimes (commercial thinning, selection methods, no management). Many of the shrubland species had high densities in clearcuts as well as in stands with low levels (5–25%) of mature tree retention, and some species had equally high densities in stands with moderate tree retention (30–70%), supporting the use of retention forestry approaches, which can provide other benefits associated with mature trees. Overall, our findings provide managers and conservationists with robust, quantitative relationships of shrubland birds with tree retention. Managers can use these quantitative relationships for more detailed planning and evaluation of silvicultural projects, more so than what was feasible using previous findings of shrubland bird responses to discrete silvicultural treatments from disparate studies.

The vast amount of data that is now available allows retailers to make marketing decisions at the customer level and thus to manage customer defection proactively. Although there is an extensive literature that focuses on developing models to predict customer "churn'' in contractual settings, few studies have addressed managing customer defection in the noncontractual context. Using data supplied by a large German grocery retailer, we address this gap in the literature for noncontractual settings as follows. First, we develop a definition of churn that distinguishes between random short-term volatility and true defection. Second, we compare various prediction algorithms in terms of their ability to predict customer churn from data available to the retailer; this analysis enables us to devise an approach for identifying the customers most likely to defect and for targeting them proactively. Third, our approach is tested in a large-scale field experiment involving 400,000 customers for whom we estimate defection probabilities. In particular, potential churners are targeted with a series of marketing campaigns over six months. We find that weekly revenue from this treatment group increases by 3% and that, in comparison with the control group, the number of churners declines by 6%. Lastly, we show that the effects of proactive churn management last for at least two months after the end of the field experiment.

To prevent negative posts on social media by employees, some organizations have developed social media policies. But creating effective policies designed to control employees' online activities requires an understanding of the current laws regarding social media and the responsibilities of both employees and employers. This article provides an up-to-date analysis of the relevant regulations and statutes that will guide leaders who are creating or revising their social media policies.

Every employer tries to have qualified employees that could participate in creating competitive advantage. This goal can be achieved not only through the correct choice of employees and their motivation, but mainly by providing their permanent professional education and development, which results in harmonizing an employer’ needs with the needs of his employees. Human Resources Management is an important part of management activities whereas it focuses on the adaptation, education and development of human potential. The system of further education in production companies usually differs from the one used in the companies providing services or in the area of state administration. The goal of this article is to describe the way the State Administration of Taxation in Slovakia has provided professional education of its employees for a few years.

We claim that often marketers have not all the information to develop various marketing campaign models. For example, marketers may have sufficient information to build a model for predicting possible churners, while they may have no clues of which customers are most likely to accept a retention campaign. In this paper, we first show that the information useful for a successful churner prediction model alone is not sufficient to develop a successful retention marketing program. In such a case, we claim that only theory-based simulation approach is feasible. In particular, it is claimed that optimal retention management models should consider not only churn probability but also retention probability and expected revenues from target customers. To validate our claim, we develop and compare five retention management models based on churn probability, retention probability, expected revenues, and combination of these models along with different evaluation metrics. Our experimental results show that the retention management model with the highest accuracy in predicting possible churners is not necessarily optimal because it does not consider the probability of accepting retention promotions. In contrast, the retention management model based on both churn and retention probability is the best in terms of predicting customers who are most likely to positively respond to retention promotions. Ultimately, the model based on expected yearly revenue of customers accrues the highest revenues across most target points, making it the best model out of five churn management models.

Student retention is an essential part of many enrollment management systems. It affects university rankings, school reputation, and financial wellbeing. Student retention has become one of the most important priorities for decision makers in higher education institutions. Improving student retention starts with a thorough understanding of the reasons behind the attrition. Such an understanding is the basis for accurately predicting at-risk students and appropriately intervening to retain them. In this study, using five years of institutional data along with several data mining techniques (both individuals as well as ensembles), we developed analytical models to predict and to explain the reasons behind freshmen student attrition. The comparative analyses results showed that the ensembles performed better than individual models, while the balanced dataset produced better prediction results than the unbalanced dataset. The sensitivity analysis of the models revealed that the educational and financial variables are among the most important predictors of the phenomenon.

Retention management, i.e., keeping qualified employees, is a top priority for contemporary organizations. Commitment, and especially team commitment, can be the key to mastering this challenge. There is a lack of longitudinal research concerning the development and the direction of the effects of team commitment over time. In a longitudinal field-study design with three points of measurement, a total of 360 employees in 52 semi-autonomous industrial teams were surveyed over a period of three years. On the one hand, organizational commitment showed stronger effects on organization-related criteria (job satisfaction and intention to leave). These effects were consistent over the three points of measurement. Team commitment, on the other hand, affected team-related criteria (team performance and altruism). Longitudinal analyses confirmed the effects of organizational commitment on job satisfaction and intention to leave, and of team commitment on team performance and altruism. Moreover, these effects increased over time. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Nowadays, employers face the mobility of the most productive employees and large costs induced by labour turnover. This paper examines the impact of two management policies on employees’ motivation on one hand and their quitting behaviour on the other hand. These two policies are i) the participation in High Involvement Management (HIM) practices and ii) the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Employees’ motivation, which is at the heart of this question, has different facets. Some employees exert effort because their job is in line with their values, gives opportunities for personal growth and pleasure in performing tasks. Alternatively, employees may simply be driven by rewards or compulsion. Using recent survey-based data of employees, the results show that the HIM and ICT strategies are positively related to the two types of work motivation (personal growth and rewards/compulsion). However, these strategies affect differently the likelihood of staff to remain or leave their current employer by type of motivation. While the HIM strategy reduces the risk that employees motivated by personal growth search for another job, it encourages on the contrary those who are motivated by rewards or compulsion to leave. ICT appear to play no role in employee retention.

Human Capital is the utmost vital resource on which the Information Technology & Information Technology Enabled Services (IT & ITES) depends. One of the greatest challenges for today’s administrators lies in building a workplace that employees want to persist with and outsiders want to be hired into. Therefore, an employer’s foremost responsibility is retention of its best employees and this can be attained only by keeping the employees satisfied and motivated. Focusing on employee satisfaction can positively impact the organization as it increases employee productivity, performance, quality of work, profits, commitment to the organization and reduces turnover and absenteeism. The present paper is an attempt to study the impact of job satisfaction on the employee retention, which is measured by a structured questionnaire administered to the middle level employees in leading BPO companies in Jaipur.

The UK government is keen to reduce the number of people on disability benefits. Many employers and practitioners lack awareness of the practical and financial support available to them in employment retention situations. Disability Management for Employment Retention (DMfER) is a 30-month project, part funded by the European Commission's Leonardo da Vinci programme. It aims to assist individuals, their employers and advisers, to develop positive strategies for staying in work and to raise awareness amongst policy makers of the benefits of retaining disabled workers. Project partners in Spain, Sweden, Poland and UK have identified and exchanged good practice in the area of employment retention. A lack of training materials was identified in three key areas: 1. Information on employment retention 2. The business case describing the benefits of employing disabled people 3. How to best influence policy makers and what changes to policy need to be made or introduced in partner countries. Partners are piloting newly developed training modules and an Employment Retention Toolkit with various stakeholders and working towards accreditation. DMfER provides a new model for working with employers, disabled people and organisations from the statutory, private and voluntary sector to support disabled people to stay in work.

Employers routinely provide financial support for their employees who pursue post-secondary education despite the fact that it represents perhaps the classic example of a “general skill” that costs the employer money and raises the market wages of employees who possess it. The analysis below examines why employers provide such support, and the results suggest that employees do not pay for tuition assistance through below market or training wages, the typical arrangement for funding general skills training. Instead, tuition assistance appears to select better quality employees who stay on the job longer, at least in part to keep making use of that benefit.

This study examined the moderating effect of exchange ideology on the relation between perceptions of organizational politics and manager-rated retention. Data collected from 178 employees of a distribution services organization indicated that employees’ perceptions of organizational politics related negatively related to manager assessments of retention. However, the variables were only related among employees with a moderate to strong exchange ideology. These individuals were more sensitive to a political environment than individuals with a weak exchange ideology. Implications for employees seeking to actively manage their careers are discussed.

In recent months, a plethora of states have turned their legislative attention to protecting employee privacy in the workplace, focusing specifically on passing state laws that protect the "social media privacy" of individuals in their states. Indeed, discussions of workplace privacy are everywhere nowadays: Media stories condemn employers’ efforts to monitor their employees’ email, Internet and telephone usage. Employees rage about perceived invasions of their privacy. Politicians heatedly debate how to limit employers’ prying conduct, passing laws designed to reign in certain types of monitoring by employers. At the same time, employers also find themselves perplexed, as they grapple with how they can gather the information that they need to make important business decisions within an environment that views such efforts with disdain. In a world where technological advancements have made it easier than ever to collect massive amounts of information about those in the workforce and where employers feel an increasing need to collect such information, looming questions continue to exist regarding the proper scope and limits of employees’ privacy.This article represents one effort to answer these questions while taking the employers’ perspective into account, explaining both the motivations behind and justifications for employers’ efforts to "snoop" into their employees’ private lives. The article describes the means through which employers gather information about their employees, including through some recent, rather novel approaches to collecting such data. In addition, this article discusses the financial, legal and practical concerns that motivate employers to snoop in the first place, arguing that employers engage in this conduct for what frequently amount to very legitimate reasons. More significantly, this article places substantial responsibility for employer snooping with the courts themselves, highlighting particular decisions and doctrines that not only permit, but in fact encourage, employers to engage in these efforts to monitor employees. At bottom, this paper attempts to put the "problem" of employer snooping into a broader context. While employers certainly should not have access to every aspect of their prospective and current employees’ private lives, and while abuses of the boundaries undoubtedly exist, much of the snooping behavior for which employers have been condemned represents more than just senseless meddling, but rather is part of a sound business plan designed to protect employers, employees and the public at large.

Retention of employees is an important function of the HRM. Unless there is a deliberate and serious effort from the management towards this direction, the competitors in the industry are likely to attract and snatch the talent already nurtured in the company over a period of time. Careful strategies for crafting and implementing employee retention strategies are a skill and should be given top priority by the management. This paper discusses the issues and solutions to address this problem with a case study. The results of the study indicate that retention strategies should be carefully worked out for different groups and levels.

This paper studies employers' search by analyzing the duration of vacancies notified at public employment offices. It appears that employers use a non-sequential search strategy to find new employees.

Employee retention is the dependent variable of this study and thus its nuances, such as the importance of retention, retention management, professionals' suggestions, and employee turnover will be reviewed thoroughly. Institute for Employment Studies defines employee engagement as “a positive attitude held by the employee towards the organization and its values.” (Perryman & Hayday, 2004). Employees will feel engaged when they find motivation and personal meaning in their work, get positive interpersonal support and also operate in a work environment that is efficient (Bernthal, 2004; Seijits & Crim, 2006). Employers are highly engaged when they are performing roles that are non-job. Many employees have a sense of fairness even if they are treated unfairly in the work place and therefore many usually do their job role. However, employees’ just coming to work and performing their roles does not bring long term competitiveness for the employer. This is because they can be hired by another employer and continues performing what they did for you (Welbourne, 2003).

An on-site retention program at long-term nursing care facilities had little effect overall on retention of low-wage employees, aside from a small increase in retention in the short term and among subgroups with particularly high turnover rates.

I use an experiment to examine whether expanding employee decision making - by either allowing employees to jointly determine firm activities with employers or assigning employees the sole authority to determine these activities - affects contributions to firm value. I investigate this issue in an informal reward setting where employers cannot commit to how employees will be rewarded. Experimental results demonstrate that employees jointly determining firm activities with employers evaluated the decision-making environment to be fairer than employees with either no role or sole authority to choose firm activities which led them to derive more enjoyment from their work environment which ultimately led them to contribute a greater amount to firm value. Despite the higher contributions, employees with a joint role neither expected nor received a greater informal reward from employers. My findings contribute to literature suggesting that the incorporation of non-pecuniary factors such as employees' preferences for a fair decision-making environment into organizational architecture designs can increase the efficiency of employment relationships.

This paper aims at developing insight on how employee retention is relevant in present business context. A model Systems Approach to Retention is devised that can be effectively used to plan employee retention initiatives in the organizations. Here, I have discussed number of environmental factors both external and internal, which are responsible for influencing the employees' decision to either leave or to stay with the organization. And on the basis of interactions between these two set of forces: attritive and retentive forces, the organizations can discover the employees who are more likely than others to leave the organization. Moreover after mapping the employees on the proposed productivity potential matrix, the identification of the categories of employees; on which the investment for retention is justified; can be done. And then on the basis of the specific employee needs (identified through employee personality and employee contexts), the organizations should implement only the relevant retention strategies. Since ONE Strategy does not Fit All in the organization there exists a need for the HR Managers to identify the employee needs and then devise the retention strategies. The most relevant of retention strategies, which can be used by organizations in present times, are also discussed in this paper.

Privacy raises particularly difficult and important questions in the employment context. Employees and employers have competing interests in disclosing and preventing disclosure of information. Maximizing the value of a firm often requires that confidential business information be widely disseminated within the firm, but not disclosed outside the firm. At the same time, excessive protection of the employers' information could reduce employees' mobility and the flow of valuable information in society. Employers, in turn, need information about employees in order to evaluate them for hiring and to monitor them while they are employed. But employees also may have an interest in keeping some information private to protect their personal space or to hide shirking or other bad acts that are detrimental to the firm. Appropriately balancing employers', employees' and society's interests in workplace privacy contributes to social wealth by encouraging efficient employment relationships. This requires sensitivity to the unique characteristics of the economic activity that gives rise to the specific organizational form chosen by a given firm. In some cases, the optimal solution to this problem can involve employment contracts that allow intrusions into an employee's privacy, and restrictions on an employee's freedom, including restrictions that extend beyond the employees tenure at the firm. To be sure, employees may prefer ex post not to be bound by restrictions on employment or disclosure and not to be monitored by the employer. But employees are better off ex ante to the extent that they share in the value of efficient arrangements through higher compensation. On the other hand, contractual restrictions on the dissemination of employer information or on employee mobility may benefit both employees and employers but reduce social wealth because of their negative effects on development of intellectual property and competition. However, regulation of these contracts may impose more costs than benefits. For example, restricting protection of employer information can inhibit firms from disseminating confidential business information to employees and, in turn, force revision of relationships with employees. Protecting the privacy of employees' information can inhibit monitoring of employees and force employers to resort to non-agency-type relationships. This paper is both normative and positive. It shows why contracts regarding these issues should be enforced. It also shows that the contracts are enforced despite seemingly mandatory state rules preventing enforcement. The key to understanding the positive analysis is to see the enforcement issue in the interstate context, where both employers and employees are free to choose the states in which they live, contract, and sue.