THE PRESENT biggest concern for most companies is employee attrition. Many human resource specialists cite employee satisfaction and retention as main concerns of today’s employers. Today, many people in their 20s change jobs every two years. This frustrates employers, who cannot grasp the changing scenario in today’s competitive job market. Not only are employees competing to get employed, employers are also competing with other employers to hire the best and the brightest talent. While you keep hearing about various offsite incentives and other means of creating loyalty, it is not something that will endure unless there are some specific efforts made to keep it alive and thriving.

In India, Kolkata takes the lead in the arena of mercantile sport to bring about employee satisfaction and camaraderie. All major sporting disciplines, including cricket, football, hockey, badminton, basketball and tennis are already an annual tradition, but two of the oldest are golf and cycle polo. The Merchant’s Cup golf competition, first played in 1906, has traditionally been held at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club in the middle of the monsoons. It was instituted to give the plantation workers and those in the oil and steel industry a well-earned break. Kolkata has a vibrant sporting culture — it is known as the Mecca of Indian football, and is a hub for other major sports in India, which perhaps makes the atmosphere even more eclectic for playing golf.

This year's Merchants Cup, to be played between July 27-30, will be the 102nd edition of this exclusive competition. Between 1906 and 2010, the tournament has been played continuously except for two years when it was cancelled during World War I. This year's event has attracted over 80 companies and 320 golfers, so any further proof that the downturn is over and things are on the upswing is really not needed. Major companies like McLeod Russell -the world's largest tea producer, along with Amalgamated Plantations and Tata Tea are associated with the annual event. KKN Group of Companies, which may be unheard of outside Kolkata, are the title sponsors; while Senbo -whose clients include the Kolkata and Delhi metros, and Ballantine's -known for its array of scotch whiskies, are the associate sponsors.

Four days of fun golf leads to festivities on the 30th, when the Merchants Cup Golf Night -one of the most eagerly-awaited events in the city's social calendar -sees the corporate crowd letting its hair down.

Meanwhile, the Indian edition of the Audi Quattro Cup golf tournament, which is managed by Tiger Sports Marketing, is also coming to conclusion. The annual tournament played across 13 cities in India will see the final being played at the Jack Nicklaus-designed ITC Classic Golf resort on September 4. The winner of the final will then go on to play in the world finals of the tournament in Sardinia, Italy. The Audi-sponsored competition is the largest corporate golf tournament in the world, and there is nothing that comes close to the sheer scale of it. The contest has risen in stature and numbers since it was established in 1991, and we have seen Audi dealers from more than 40 countries organise hundreds of tournaments each year, in which thousands of golfers have participated. It is perhaps the most massive international exercise in employee satisfaction utilising sport in today's world.

(The writer is president and CEO, Tiger Sports Marketing, New Delhi)