Upload
others
View
1
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
17
CHAPTER – II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.1 Review of Articles
The researcher has undertaken extensive literature review to strengthen his
research work. He has reviewed 41 references available in the form of books, articles
etc.
2.1.1 Raghwan, G., Das, A., and Gopal, R. (2008), in their article titled as
“Challenges in the BPO Industry”, mentioned that it is one of the biggest
contributors to the country’s GDP, with soaring revenues, increased job
opportunities, and a promise to change the lifestyles of the educated Indian
youth the BPO/KPO/ITES industry is the brightest star in the business
firmament. The industry is currently sized at $2.3 billion, and is forecasted to
grow.
The better margins expected at the higher end of the value chain might act as a
deterrent of companies in accepting low-end work. As more and more
companies decide to become involved in BPO and KPO, the number of
working professional will increase. This will further drive the trend towards
the migration of low-end services to high-end services. During 2000 to 2003,
the US off-shored 2,38,000 IT service jobs. Evalueserve predicts that this is
likely to increase to 7,75,000 jobs by FY 2010.
2.1.2 Rangana Ghatak (2008), in his article titled as “How to Attain
Sustainable Growth in the BPO Sectors in India : An HR Perspective”,
concluded as – India is one of the fastest growing major economies in the
world. During 2005-06, the BPO industry’s size and growth exceeded their
forecasts. The global KPO industry is likely to become worth $17 billion by
2010, wherein India’s share will be $12-$14 billion! It is expected that
IT/BPO sector to create 1.6 million jobs by 2010 and provide indirect
employment to 6.5 million people by 2010. Indian will face a shortage of
5,00,000 knowledge workers by 2010 (IT Services: 1,50,000 and BPO
Serives: 3,50,000) and total demand for IT professionals, (more than 1.1 mn)
18
will exceed supply in 2007-08. In terms of job creation, the ITES-BPO
industry is growing at over 50%. India confronts a potential shortage of skilled
workers in the next decade. Talent management is a matter of great concern.
This paper is an effort to identify the various problems the BPO and KPO
sectors are facing and to find out what steps are taken or need to be taken so
that Indian can the world’s third largest economy by 2035, as forecast by
Goldman Sachs’ report.
2.1.3 Bhattacharyya, R. and Kohli, S. (2010), in their Research Paper “Women
Empowerment – Role of the BPO Sector” – Women form half the
population in the country. With changing times the girl child is given equal or
enough opportunities as far as education is concerned. The government has
also played its role by making education totally free for girls. All these efforts
have resulted in a large population of educated girls, but jobs have not been
easy to find. The emergence of the BPO sector has changed this. It has been
noticed that BPOs are the best places for women empowerment and growth.
Women are given ample opportunities to prove themselves in the BPO sector.
This is the only industry, which has witnessed high growth for women and
helped them move to higher positions in large numbers. Gender equality,
which is a distant dream in our society even now, is clearly visible in the BPO
industry.
2.1.4 Mathew, T.V., Peris, N., Bhosale, S., and Manjrekar, P. (2009), in their
article titled as “Consumption and Saving Habits of the Individuals”,
conclude we can say that while there has been stated that – The BPO sector is
to India – a significant economic groth driver. This sector has put India firmly
on the global map. Today, a call center to the Orange U.K. helpline is
answered in India. International companies are turning to India for quick,
cheap and efficient medical transcripts. The instances can be multiplied…
The size of the industry is expected to reach over $ 5.7 billion. This growth is
in keeping with past experience. The sector saw total revenues of $3.9 billion
in 2003-2004 representing a 45.3% rate of growth over the previous year.
2.1.5 Pareek, R., Srinivasan, R., Tripathi, S., and Sharma, P. (2008), in their
article titled as “BPO in India, The Road Ahead”, concluded as – This
19
research paper aims to capture the changing hues of the off shoring industry
and provide critical insight into the key strategic and operational issues that
service providers are being asked to address. The research paper contains best
practices with respect to delivery models and reflecting the grow in
competitiveness and uniqueness of the Indian BPO sector.
This paper identifies the challenges that the BPO sector will face in the near
future and understands the factors to control the costs and quality of service.
We have laid out the SWOT (strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and
Threats) of the sector and location-analysis based on empirical data to get the
deeper insight about the BPO industry’s evolution.
2.1.6 Henri, B. (2010), in his article titled as “Employee is the King : Exploring
Various Issues and Challenges of BPO Companies”, opinioned that – India
has turned into a hot destination for global offshore outsourcing companies. It
has become the unanimous choice across the globe due to the availability of a
large amount of cheap but skilled manpower. However, the flip side of the
industry cannot be ignored. Among the complex problems that the Indian
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry is battling, labour attrition
seems to be the one that has been affecting the industry the most. In the world
of consumerism “customer is the king”, whereas in the BPO industry
“employee is the kind”. The present study is focused on various issues relating
to employee satisfaction and retention in the highly competitive and young
industry. The study is to understand employee’s needs and aspirations to
bridge the gap between employees and employer that helps to reduce the
attrition rate.
2.1.7 Manjarekar, P., and Aggrawal, A. (2009), in their article titled as “360
Degree Appraisal System in BPO Industry”, analyzed that performance
appraisals are essential for the effective management and evaluation of staff.
Appraisals help develop individuals, improve organizational performance, and
feed into business planning.
Performance appraisals are important for staff motivation, attitude and
behaviour development, communicating organizational aims, and fostering
positive relationships between management and staff. Performance appraisals
20
provide a formal, recorded, regular review of an individual’s performance, and
a plan for future development. In short, performance and job appraisals are
vital for managing the performance of people and organizations.
2.1.8 Manjrekar, P., and Aggrawal, A. (2008), in their article titled as
“Employee-sensitive BPO Branding – A Case Study Approach”, they
highlighted – as A look at a typical BPO/KPO employee will throw enough
light on what compels this quick turnaround in jobs. Higher salary plays a
major role when there is nothing more to look forward to in any BPO/KPO.
Promotions don’t come easy; policies are stringent; and the light security
measures at work are an everyday hassle. Retaining talent calls for a
transformation in the approach of the HR departments. This is where an
Emotional Surplus Employee Branding can play its part to make the
workplace a preferred one for employees.
2.1.9 Ramnath, R., and Shetty, K. (2011), in their article titled as “Attrition in
the Indian BPO Industry : A Big Challenge” concluded as – Business
Process Outsourcing (BPO) has become a critical agendum for many
multinationals in this era of globalization. India is known for the comparative
advantage that it has in the engineering of software and is emerging as the
worlds, support center for Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES).
This is, primarily, on account of low labour cost and the strategic location
advantage. The Indian Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry is
increasingly perceived as facing a major challenge in retaining employees. To
remain the leader in global outsourcing (off shoring), service providers must
work both at the micro and the macro levels to manage attrition and other ills
of the industry to ensure that the country may retain its share of business.
In spite of, having the geographical advantage, and wide range of manpower,
the attrition rate in the BPO industry always seems to be on the rise. An
industry which was once termed as the future of India is now being labeled as
an industry looking to cause a brain drain in the youths. The term ‘Attrition’
means a reduction in the number of employees through retirement, resignation
or death. The biggest challenge for the BPO industries today is undoubtedly,
ATTRITION!!
21
2.1.10 Bhargava, H. (2010), in his article titled as “BPOs: Emerging Processes
and Challenges”, the author further mentioned that – This paper addresses
four key issues for the BPO industry namely, IT-BPO Convergence, Need for
Innovation, Emerging Processes and Opportunities and lastly Intellectual
Arbitrage. The convergence of IT and BPO capabilities has been demonstrated
by leading Indian companies in the recent past. Such convergence helps both
the client as well as the service provider. However, for the convergence to
succeed the industry needs to address certain issues which are further
identified in the paper. Innovation plays a key role in modern business. This
paper brings out the key role in modern businesses. This paper brings out the
key dimensions in which innovative measures are to be applied in the BPO
industry. The paper thereafter lists the emerging processes and associated
challenges. Most of the above work is based on the field studies and industry
interaction undertaken as part of a format-free and multi-disciplinary elective
titled ‘BPO Management’ taught by the author at a leading Business School in
Hyderabad, India. The paper then examines the concept of ‘intellectual’
arbitrage as opposed to conventional ‘cost’ or ‘labour’ arbitrage. It concludes
with a thought provoking idea of elevating it to ‘knowledge’ arbitrage and
ultimately ‘wisdom’ arbitrage. The Indian BPO industry needs to change its
mindset about outsourcing and think out of the box to consolidate its position
on the global BPO pedestal.
2.1.11 Bhargava, H. (2010) in his article titled as “BPOs: Emerging Processes
and Challenges” says that there arefour key issues for the BPO industry
namely, IT-BPO Convergence, Need for Innovation, Emerging Processes and
Opportunities and lastly Intellectual Arbitrage. The convergence of IT and
BPO capabilities has been demonstrated by leading Indian companies in the
recent past. Such convergence helps both the client as well as the service
provider. However, for the convergence to succeed the industry needs to
address certain issue which are further identified in the paper. Innovation plays
a key role in modern businesses. This paper brings out the key dimensions in
which innovative measures are to be applied in the BPO industry. The paper
thereafter lists the emerging processes and associated challenges. Most of the
above work is based on the field studies and industry interaction undertaken as
22
part of a format-free and multi-disciplinary elective titled ‘BPO Management’
taught by the author at a leading Business School in Hyderabad, India. The
paper then examines the concept of ‘intellectual’ arbitrage as opposed to
conventional ‘cost’ or ‘labor’ arbitrage. It concludes with a thought provoking
idea of elevating it to ‘knowledge’ arbitrage and ultimately ‘wisdom’
arbitrage. The Indian BPO industry needs to change its mindset about
outsourcing and think out of the box to consolidate its position in the global
BPO pedestal.
2.1.12 Bhinde, R. (2008), in his article entitled as “Knowledge Process
Outsourcing Industry in India – Another Viewpoint” says that Knowledge
Process Outsourcing (KPO) requires third parties to perform unscripted
knowledge-intensive tasks like business research, equity research and credit
analysis. To perform such tasks, third-party service providers also need to
have analytical judgment and decision-making skills in addition to the
requisite domain expertise. American and European businesses have been
savvy enough to leverage the strengths of the Indian service providers to
spruce up their operational efficiencies, address issues arising from peak
demand imbalances and unlock capital to deploy it in more profitable
applications like innovation and brand building.
2.1.13 Bhargava, H., and Gupta, A. (2008) in his article entitled as “Outsourcing
of Insurance Claims processing” says that Outsourcing is a business reality
for global competitiveness. Numerous business processes are being outsourced
to countries like India. Processing of Insurance claims is one such outsourced
process. Insurance claim processing and underwriting are the major
components of any insurance process. But claim processing is a very low-end
job as compared to underwriting, which requires highly-specialized skills and
experience to handle. Our financial viability study shows that any insurance
claim processing outsourcing requires a voluminous transition; otherwise
invested fixed cost will not be recovered. Thus economy of scale plays an
important role here. This paper summarizes the findings of a field study
undertaken in Hyderabad. It highlights the cost elements and how they affect
the revenue model. It also gives the break-even analysis and how it is
dependent on some key parameters.
23
2.1.14 Choudhary, D., and Bhargava, H. (2010), in his article entitled as
“Financial Services Outsourcing to Indian BPOs” said the various aspects
of Financial Services i.e., the BFSI Segment of the Indian BPO Industry. The
study was undertaken with a view to gain an insight into the kind of Financial
Services that are being offered, the manner in which they are executed and the
prospects of moving up the value chain. Due to the organizations being a
signatory to the Non-Disclosure Agreement, the information gathered was
very generic. However, with inputs from the experts, an attempt has been
made to explain the processes like Outbound Telemarketing, Outbound Debt
Collection, Inbound Customer Support, Inbound Sales and Up Selling. The
information was collected purely by interacting with the people who are a part
of the industry. Therefore, apart from the usual procedure of call handling,
some real life examples were also provided. This helped in understanding the
real-time challenges that the agents in the BPO industry face and how they
tackle a particular situation.
The interaction also helped in understanding the various aspects of increment
in value chain – how the Indian BPOs are getting ready to take on the
challenges of handling tasks which are more complex and require a great deal
of analytics. Also, the different challenges faced and benefits enjoyed by Third
Party Vendors and Captive Units were brought to light by interacting with
representatives of both the units.
2.1.15 Bhargava, H., and Naug, S. (2008), in his article entitled as “SLA
Compliance in Level 2 Technical Support” says thattheService Level
Agreement (SLA) refers to the minimum level of service that must be
provided by the vendor to the customer, SLA is a specific agreement that
specifies in elaborate detail, the minimum level of service that must be
performed and relevant indicators in this regard. SLA enables both the
provider and the BPO organization to evaluate the quality and level of service
provided. For the BPO organization, it is a statement about what capabilities a
business believes that it can offer its clients at sustainable performance level
while for the provider it is the part of a contractual obligation to ensure
effective performance. SLA must not be perceived as remedies for non-
performance by the BPO organization, and in fact it can seldom repair the
damage that can arise from such an occurrence.
24
The SLA typically defines technical support that a BPO organization would
provide to its clients including measures for performance and consequences of
failure. The Service Level Agreement of BPO organizations providing higher-
end Technical Support has been critically analyzed. The major focus has been
to determine the unambiguous prescribed description of services, the time
frames involved, the Service levels based on Severity, Service Level metrics
(credit and bonus) and determining the escalation process. A comparative
analysis of SLA in four BPO organizations is provided.
2.1.16 Khandelival, D., Korat, K., and Bhargava, H., (2008), in his article
entitled as “Medical Diagnosis as a BPO Segment” says that the healthcare
sector worldwide is significant in size, and continues to grow rapidly. At the
same time it is being challenged from every possible direction – ranging from
cost containment, lack of stability; HIPAA compliance, to an uncertain future.
All these factors have a significant impact on the profit margins of healthcare
organizations today. So, there is an absolute necessity to reduce the costs
while improving the quality of care. Therefore, many of the healthcare service
provider companies are looking to outsource some of their processes.
Healthcare companies are currently outsourcing processes like medical
diagnosis, medical transcription, etc.
Not too many Indian BPO companies are into the healthcare space and for a
very good reason. Operating in the healthcare space requires strong domain
knowledge and this forms a big entry barrier. And quality inadequacies are not
tolerated, as the risks are too huge. However, the healthcare space does offer
huge opportunities.
This paper provides an in-depth analysis about the Outsourcing in Medical
Diagnosis (MD). The broad areas of the study included the policy and strategy
framework, the legal framework, the human resource framework, the
technology framework, etc which all have an impact on the progress of
outsourcing in MD. The document also in conclusion, summarizes the
recommendations and the stance India should take to gain the business in
outsourcing of Medical Diagnosis.
2.1.17 Senthamizh Selven P., Srinivasa, R. S., and Bhargava, H., (2009), in his
article entitled as “Managing the Supply Chain through Outsourcing”
explains the concept of the value chain and the integrative role of logistics
25
within the organization. It also explores the concepts of value adding and non-
value adding time and techniques for mapping the Supply Chain (SC)
processes. The SC operations of some of the leading manufacturing giants in
the market such as LG, Samsung, IBM, and Ford are discussed. Irrespective of
being a car assembling unit or a ThinkPad assembling unit or electronics
assembly unit, the process in the SC remains the same. It starts from
anticipating demand in the market, order processing, procurement of Raw
Materials (RM), transportation, and shipping of goods to the clients,
warehouse distribution, inventory planning, picking of Finished Goods (FG),
delivery of FG to the customers. Outsourcing has played a major role in
increasing the profitability of the client as it would enable them to focus on
their primary activities. Third Party Logistics (3PL) providers offer a varied
and diversified product range and operate in various levels of the value chain
ranging from courier services to inventory planning. The process of
outsourcing extends further, where the 3PL providers outsource some of their
activities to Fourth Party Logistics (4PL) providers. The role of Government
in regulating the transfer of goods across borders is also discussed along with
measures of performance of the services offered by the logistics providers. It
also emphasizes the quality issues that bind them. The emerging trends in this
segment are also discussed in brief.
2.1.18 Kumar, D. (2011), in his article entitled as “Analytics: The Emerging
Area in KPO” points out the differentiating areas and the factors favoring
KPO. The article concludes that there is a tremendous opportunity for India to
explore this area as it has the people with right attitude and skill set for the
same.
2.1.19 Yellojiin, N. (2009), his article entitled as “Animation Outsourcing: Issues
and Challenges” says that the rapid proliferation of media outlets in today’s
world coupled with the advancement of technology has resulted in radical
change in the way the animation industry works. The demand for animation in
entertainment industry has therefore increased due to cable and satellite TV
along with the growing popularity of the Internet as well as the increase in
broadband girth. The article outlines the Indian animation industry as such and
its opportunities and challenges.
26
2.1.20 Kapur, R., and Srikant, A. (2009), in his article entitled as “Outsourcing
Chip Design: The Indian Perspective” says that the enhanced market
demand for semiconductors and integrated circuits (chips) has kept in pace
with the pervasiveness of electronic hardware in the environment, Design and
Electronic Design Automation (EDA) are essential (and inherent) processes in
chip manufacture. The cost of infrastructure required for the manufacture of
chips however, is huge. Big companies like Intel and Texas Instruments
outsource the design of the chips they use to other foreign countries. Various
manufactures operating in the domains of communications, computing,
consumer and industrial electronics, have also adopted the methodology of
outsourcing the design of chips. The outsourcing of chip design has thus
emerged as a distinct link in the value chain of chip delivery. India, because of
its strengths has emerged as a natural choice for this outsourcing. This article
attempts to examine the specific features vis-à-vis the process of chip design.
It also discusses the steps to be taken to enhance India’s brand equity in the
global chip design market.
2.1.21 Bhargava, H., and Srinivas, U. (2010), in his article entitled as
“Outsourcing R&D in the Pharma Sector” suggest that India has become
the world’s most favored destination for outsourcing. The trend has been a
steady climb from mere Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) to Knowledge
Process Outsourcing (KPO) and Research Process Outsourcing (RPO). The
growth in the high-end outsourcing is evident from the large number of (over
150) Research and Development (R&D) outsourcing centers established in
India. The R&D outsourcing market for IT in India is estimated to grow more
than $8 bn by 2010 from $1.3 bn in 2003, at a CAGR of 30%, according to
Value Notes’ research.
2.1.22 VenkatRamRaj, T. (2009), in his article entitled as “India’s Global
Competitive Edge in BPO Sector – A Threat Analysis” says thatin the
newly emerged outsourcing scenario, with India getting more and more BPO
deals, it has become imperative to study and understand the emergence of
global competition and India’s attempts to sustain its leadership position. It is
high time for the policy makers, industry experts and BPO gurus to formulate
competitive strategies to keep India ahead of its competition. Low cost
position, largest English speaking force, top companies in the list of clientele,
27
etc. which have been the competitive claims of Indian BPO are under serious
threat from competitors. The BPO managers should realize that they need to
protect their competitive position and build a sustainable future. This paper
aims to study the competitive edge of Indian BPO sector vis-à-vis competitors
like China, Vnam, Ireland, etc.
2.1.23 Bhargava, H., and Thokchom, B. (2009), in his article entitled as “Data
Security Issues in the ITES / BPO Sector” says that in an environment
marked by threats from computer virus, cyber crimes and destruction of vital
data due to natural disasters, the concern for information security and data
privacy is assuming tremendous importance among global organizations.
Since the consequences of an information security and data privacy is
assuming tremendous importance among global organizations. Since the
consequences of an Information security breach could lead to business harm
and legal liability, global customers are demanding that service providers
implement stringent information security measures. Organizations engaged in
outsourcing their non-core business processes are building robust provisions
for information security into their contracts with service providers. Indian
ITES/BPO organizations have increasingly started realizing the importance of
designing and implementing information security policies and procedures to
secure and protect the privacy of their customer-related information. In fact,
there are specific laws, standards and certifications to meet these requirements.
The major focus of this project study has been to gain an insight into the best
practices in data security of ITES/BPO organizations, different laws,
standards, certifications etc. the compliance to which it can ensure a BPO
organization’s ability to protect a client’s customer-related information. As
Internet crimes are throwing up new challenges for the law and order
machinery around the world, laws are being formulated and security agencies
are being trained and equipped to handle such cases in many countries. With
respect to how the Indian law and order machinery is coping with the menace,
the loopholes in the Indian Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 are
analyzed.
2.1.24 Kumar, D., and Mongain A. (2008), his article entitled as “Quality
Assurance – A BPO Perspective” suggest that Outsourcing in today’s
context does not need any introduction. It is the need of the hour as companies
28
are outsourcing secondary business activities and concentrating on their core
competencies and have been looking to reduce costs while maintaining high
levels of quality for non-core activities and processes.
However, outsourcing sometimes is the risky affair if the third party is not
committed to the activities outsourced to them and thus needs the trustworthy
and mutual relations between them.
In such an environment Quality Assurance plays an important role for both the
client and the vendor. The industry has some standards like COPC, ISO,
eSCM, etc which have been developed through experience over a period of
time.
This study tries to develop a correlation between the intended purposes of
these certifications in view of how industry is taking these certifications. There
are gaps in the current system. We have also tried to identify these gaps by
studying the factors which force them or, are the driving force for getting these
certifications and establish Quality Control Measures.
The prevailing certifications are unable to answer certain issues have been
identified and some possible recommendations are given to deal with these
issues.
As most of these issues are industry wide or macro problems, an initiative is
required from the whole industry to come forth and optimize the system before
we lost out to the competition from the other countries up in the BPO Industry.
2.1.25 Rajeevalochana, T. V. S. and Bhargava, H. (2009), in his article entitled
as “Performance Appraisal System in BPOs: A Field Study”says that the
BPO industry in India is growing rapidly and in a few years, it is likely to
increase its human resources manifold. However, it is plagued by problems
concerning human resource management itself. Industry surveys show that one
of the important concerns BPO employees have is with the appraisal system.
This field study focuses on the appraisal system in the BPO industry.
2.1.26 Krishna Kishore Puranam (2008), in his article entitled as “Outsourcing
in Financial Services: Mitigating the Risk”says that being information-
based, financial services industry is well-suited to offshore outsourcing.
Outsourcing has the potential to transfer the risk management and compliance
to third parties who may not be regulated. The risks involved in financial
outsourcing are high, but so are the rewards.
29
2.1.27 Bhargava, H., and Bharti, A. (2008), in his article entitled as “Rural
BPO: An Entrepreneurial Opportunity”says that theBusiness Process
Outsourcing (BPO) has involved the masses and has become the fastest
growing industry in India. This influence had been limited to the larger cities
till recently, but now global companies are breaking these boundaries and
looking for talent in smaller ‘Tier-2’ cities. The next step would be to take the
BPO operations to the ‘real’ India, i.e. to the rural parts of India. There lies an
untapped potential for entrepreneurs willing to work in this field. This paper
highlights the importance of this concept and the entrepreneurial initiatives in
the field of Rural BPO.
2.1.28 Shanthi, B. and Bhargava, H. (2008), in his article entitled as “Social
Impact of Outsourcing Industry”highlight theimpact of the Outsourcing
industry on the society and the individuals in India. Both positive and negative
impacts have been analyzed. We focused on the following five major aspects
during this study: a) Increased Consumerism; b) Increased Professionalism; c)
Health issues; d) Cultural Shifts; e) Quality of life, quality of work and work
ethics.
Based on a field survey, views of few employees and employers of this
industry have been captured and analyzed. Various health issues that came to
light are stress, sleeplessness, and depression, fatigue and hearing ailments. It
was also found that a number of factors like call-volume, work-times, and
repetitive processes contributed to the stress. Majority of the employees
complained of stress to their families. However, there are employees who
never complained about stress to their families but to their team leaders, which
shows that there exists support from the organization as well. It was also found
that employees adopted more than one way to overcome the stress.
Employees accepted that their spending has increased and much of the money
is spent in life style products, recreational activities and to support the family.
Employees dismissed the aspect of increased professionalism being unique to
the BPO industry and said professionalism is pervasive in all sectors.
Employees accepted that quality of life and work has improved, but denied
that BPO employment instills better work ethics and citied that work ethics is
not unique to BPO.
30
In studying the benefits or disadvantages at the individual and societal levels
both employer and the employee perspectives have been taken into
consideration.
2.1.29 R. Gopal and Mohan Ram. D. (2010), in his article entitled as “HRD
Issues Related to Call Centers”highlights outsourced IT enabled services in
India are one of the fast growing industries today. Various models for success
in this industry are just to emerge. This paper explores some of the key
challenges unique to this business and an approach to handle them for success.
“People are power” – this very true for the service industries, so recruiting or
right kind of manpower i.e. “Picking the wining team’ and ensuring enough
trained people available at all time for providing quality service is one of the
key challenges of this industry.
The ongoing call centre revolution and shortage of skilled manpower has lead
to a haphazard mushrooming of training centers offering courses by fly-by-
night operators. The courses are insufficient to cope with the demanding
nature of jobs that involves direct interaction with the people show are far
away and who speak, think and behave in a way unlike those in India. Also,
retaining these on-the-move human resources have become the greatest
challenge that HR managers have ever faced. New centers that are set usually
offer a higher salary for the experienced agents and young employees don not
mind switching jobs even for paltry raise of Rs. 500. Most of them treat this
job as an ad-hoc arrangement and very few are serious about pursuing a career
in this field due to the uncertainties about future prospects and a high level of
job insecurity. Working odd hours and in shifts has only compounded the
problem. To suit the client’s time zone, work is done when everybody sleeps
and vice-versa. This unnatural working environment is taking its toll. Many
have quit their job due to this peculiar reason.
This study, therefore, mainly emphasizes on the organization structure,
recruitment option and training in the field of call centers. It further
enumerates the HRD issues and the remedial measures to ensure that the
working environment enhances productivity at the same time maintain strict
discipline and quality standards.
31
2.1.30 Kalse, A. (2008), Emotional Intelligence: Leading Performance
Dimensions – A Study on Executives in Mumbai
Acquiring emotional intelligence and delivering effective Performance study
with respect various executives.
The challenge for the corporate today is not only to attract and retain the right
employees but also to innovatively train for acquiring the skill required to
survive in the highly competitive global market. And emotional intelligence is
one major dimension which affects the performance in many ways Thus it is
responsibility of management to train their employees in this aspect to get
maximum out of them.
Whether we like it or not or our emotions are part of what make human and
they follow and that means they follow us to work. Effective management of
emotional intelligence is a storing predictor of success in both our personal
life and in the office. Research show that the measure of one’s emotional
intelligence often referred to as emotional quotient (EQ) is twice as important
as traditional leadership skills for job performance in management positions.
Those with high emotional intelligence are much more likely to deliver
superior performance as compared to the average players regardless of the
industry. It is perhaps somewhat intuitive to understand that competencies in
EI matter for salespeople who depend on their ability to relate with and
successfully connect and influence with other but interestingly for the that data
for scientists and similar technical professions also points to El as necessary
for excellent performance even more In complex role having a high level of
analytical the job the more EI matters In complex role having a high level of
analytical and technical skills are simply the entry point. A deficiency of EI
hinders the use of whatever threshold skills a person may have. “In short, out-
of control emotions can make smart people stupid”. Emotional intelligence
impacts many areas under the umbrella of organizational effectiveness, such
as in the areas of retention and leadership. Turnover rates can be very costly to
organizations and can deeply affect the bottom line. The upside is that
employees are more likely to stay with bosses who manage emotional
intelligence/ in other words, people don’t leave jobs – they leave managers.
People with good bosses are four times less likely to leave than are those with
poor bosses. EI is very important in leadership roles, as leaders need everyone
32
to do their jobs as effectively as possible and this requires a high degree of
interpersonal effectiveness. Studies show that high EQ differentiates average
from superior performers, which can be critical for leadership positions. The
good news is, unlike IQ, research studies prove that emotional intelligence
skills can be taught and developed over time. “Instead of being stuck with the
hand they’d been dealt, people can take steps to work and personal lives. Sure
enough, strong emotions make it difficult to think straight; nonetheless,
thought devoid of emotions renders satisfactory decision-making impossible.
The problems is not with emotions as such, but with the appropriatness of
emotion and its expression. Emotional intelligence is neither good nor bad,
like any other intellectual skills, it is morally neutral. Without a moral
compass to guide us on how to employ these skills, emotional intelligence and
be used for good or evil. The subject can be seen in a continuum of related
emotions. The value of EQ is to force us to look at the obvious and improve
our ability to understand, apply the “obvious” and direct our energy towards
the positive side of the emotional continuum. Here in this research, the effort
is taken to find out the score of emotional intelligence with respect to age,
experience, and designation, which will help organization to explore the
untapped potential. This paper finally asserts the fact that performance in the
life as well as workplace is directly related to emotional intelligence of the
executives.
2.1.31 Vijay, M., and Vazirani, N. (2008), A Perception Study of the Indian BPO
Sector
This paper examines the perceptions of graduate students and MBA students
from four metro cities towards the BPO sector in India. The BPO sector in
India is burgeoning at its seams. Finding quality human resources given the
current attrition rate of around 30-40 percent is today its biggest challenge.
Graduates and MBAs are the largest talent pool for a BPO. Their perceptions
of the sector would influence their decision to join a BPO and in turn
turnaround BPOs. A cross section of 2032 students across varying age,
education and gender levels was interviewed using a structured questionnaire.
The findings indicate the BPOs are not the preferred employers for both
graduates and MBAs. The respondents perceived that BPO culture has brought
about changes in society that include Westernization, improved lifestyle, night
33
shift working and earn and study concept. The prime drivers for joining a BPO
were fast and easy money, growth opportunities, enhanced accent and
communication skills and exposure to multinational work culture, while the
night shift, the irrelevant work experience and Curbing of social life were
found to the major deterrents to join a BPO. The BPO sector was found to
suffer from three perceptual distortions namely; the halo effect, the stereotype
effect and the contrast effect. The above perceptions and perceptual distortions
may affect the ability of the BPO sector to attract, retain and upgrade their
talent pool in future.
2.1.32 Banerjee, D. (2008), BPO/KPO – The Marketing Issues
In the present day cut-throat competition, companies are trying to make their
differentiation in both price and non-price competition. Price is something
customer’s give great importance. Therefore, in order to gain better customer
satisfaction, companies looked for avenues through which both the objective
of customer satisfaction as well as price competition could be achieved. The
best answer found to solve both situations simultaneously was outsourcing.
Outsourcing is a process where the organization takes a third party help to
gain expertise at a reduced cost to do better justice to the organizational
resources. This concept gained popularity all across the globe and the Asian
countries have been considered as the aboard destination to suffice and fulfill
the above objectives.
This concept gave rise to BPO and the success rate of BPO’s brought the
KPO’s in pictures which deal with the transfer of higher domain knowledge
and high execution risk. It moved from niche tool of management to
mainstream strategic weapon.
Both BPOs and KPOs face difficulties in:
Rising cost of operations
High attrition rate
Recurrent expenditure in T and D
Increasing fragmentation and competition.
Increasing need of talented professions.
Increasing acquisition and mergers.
Providing high quality standard.
This paper discusses this issue from two perspectives:
34
1. The current scenario of this industry.
2. How the above mentioned marketing challenges are to be faced by this
industry.
2.1.33 Gopal , R., Mohan Ram D. (2009), The Key Issues Involved in BPO / KPO
Sector
The BPO / KPO sector is undoubtedly the sunrise sector at present. The future
of BPO in India is bright, at least for next 30 years. In spite of emergence of
new competitors the great Indian BPO story still continues and is going from
strength to strength. This is mainly due to its dominance in providing low-cost
IT skills, value additions to the relevant workforce, both on the quality and
quantity fronts, along with development of more low-cost, offshore locations.
It’s party time for India Inc. as business experts are of the opinion that India
will retain its low-cost supremacy over the global giants for at least few
decades.
This paper explores the challenges BPO/KPO industry will have to wade
through to keep up the expectations and predictions for its bright future. The
key issues like the client’s expectation and quality requirements, client
conversation and development takes longer compared to other process in KPO
space and the dearth of skilled manpower with domain expertise is also a
major problem for the Indian Outsourcing industry. The paper places further
emphasis on the NASSCOM’s action plan to make ‘Indian – A Global Hub’.
2.1.34 Dhar, M., Kazi, Z., Dhokalia, P., (2008), The Changing Hues of the
Offshoring Industry
Outsourcing is a management process in the globalized business context that
has been well understood, tried and tested by successful organizations across
the world. The competitive pressures arising from the emergence of a
‘boundary-less’ global economy, have spurred the faith in the process- as a
means for providing significant cost savings, flexibility and improved
operational performance. Offshoring is no longer being considered short-term
tools for cost-saving – the focus is steadily shifting to long-term competitive
advantage, an integral part of the global corporation’s strategy.
However, the process of transitioning to a BPO-based model is not easy. It
raises many questions, presents many challenges and poses many risks.
35
Further, with the BPO industry of India entering into a phase of maturity, a
significant change in the nature of opportunities and challenges is being
witnessed. Concerns and solutions are no longer the same as they used to be.
The objective of the report is to illustrate the emerging issues of the sector
from structural changes in the industry to the human resource challenge, from
migration strategies to governance and monitoring. The issues identified
reflect the changing concerns of the global market, from a position of ‘whether
to offshore’ a few years ago, to the current perspectives of ‘how to best
manage’ this global inevitability.
The aim of this survey has been to identify key strategic and operational trends
of the BPO industry in India, from both a customer’s and a supplier’s
perspective.
The sample of respondents consisted of a judicious mix of 20 key service
providers in India, with respect to ownership type (captives, joint venture
companies, and third party vendors), nature of services being offered (voice,
non-voice) and functional offerings (niche vertical players, general players
etc.) This was to ensure that the analysis drawn and recommendations made,
were representative of the Indian offshoring industry.
The methodology deployed for this survey consisted of primary research, with
insights being captured through questionnaires and face-to-face discussions
with senior management of participant organizations. Inputs from potential
customers to this industry have also been collated, with respect to their key
concerns while considering outsourcing to India.
Our analysis and findings are based on consensus findings from the survey and
are supported by quantitative and qualitative inputs from the respondents.
The data presented in this report is based on information received from the
respondents and has been collated to represent an industry trend.
2.1.35 Srinivasan, R., and Srivastace R. K., (2008), in his article entitled as
“Evolution of BPO in India” says that the Business process outsourcing in
simple terms helps the companies to focus on core issues of the company and
outsource the non-core issues to another company which is specialized in that
work The perception of BPO is that is related to Information Technology but it
is not related to IT only it is also found in sectors like HR finance Logistic
Marketing and sales etc.
36
2.1.36 Mathew, T.V. , Peris, N., Bhosale, S. and Manlrekar, P. (2008), in his
article entitled as “Consumption and Saving Habits of the Individuals
Employed in the IT enabled BPO industries”says that the BPO sector is to
India a significant economic growth driver This sector has put India firmly on
the global map Today a call center to the Orange U.K. helpline is answered in
India International companies are turning to India for quick cheap and
efficient medical transcripts. The size of the industry is expected to reach over
$ 5.7 billion this growth in keeping with past experience.
2.1.37 Pareek, R., Srinivasan, R., Tripathi, S., and Sharma, P. (2008), in his
article entitled as “BPO in India the Road Ahead” highlights the changing
hues of the off shoring industry and provide critical insight into the key
strategic and operational issues. Outsourcing is a management process in the
glob business context that has been well understood, tried and tested by
successful organization across the world. The competitive pressures arising
from the emergence of a boundary less global economy have spurred the faith
in the process as a means for providing significant cost saving flexibility and
improved operational performance.
2.1.38 Henri, B. (2010), in his article entitled as “Employee is the king Exploring
Various Issues and Challenges of BPO Companies” says that India has
turned into a not destinations for global offshore outsourcing companies IT
has become the unanimous choice across the globe dun to the availability of a
large amount of cheap but skilled manpower However the flip side of the
industry cannot be ignored Among the complex problem that the India
business Process outsourcing (BPO) industry is battling labor attrition seems
to be the one that has been affecting the industry the most. In the world of
consumerism “customer is the king whereas in the BPO industry: employee is
the king”. The present study is focused on various issues employee satisfaction
and retention in the highly competitive and young industry. The study is to
understand employees’ needs and aspirations to bridge the gap between
employers and employees and employer that helps to reduce the attrition rate.
2.1.39 Kannan, S. (2010), in his article entitled as “KPO A Facet of IPR”
highlights the software financial service and clinical research outsourcing IPR
has emerged as the new KPO (knowledge process outsourcing) in which India
is poised to become a global. The new patent regime and the growing
37
competition from multinationals have brought patents into the limelight
among India companies. In less than half a decade of KPO s inception one has
observed tremendous growth over a dozen companies precede the end to end
IP management service in India. IPR related strives include search document
writing filing of patent applications worldwide legal advice on infringements
etc.
KPO industry is expected to employ skilled personnel with certain level of
expertise. The tremendous growth envisaged will necessarily mean a quantum
increase in the workforce engaged in providing KPO services and there is
expected to be shortage of skilled personnel.
2.1.40 Manjarekar, P. and Aggrawal, A. (2008), in his article entitled as
“Employee sensitive BPO|KPO Branding-A case Study Approach”
highlight a look at typical BPO|KPO employee will throw enough light on
what compels this quick turnaround in jobs Higher salary a major role when
there is nothing more to look forward to in any BPO|KPO promotions don
com easy policies are stringent and the light security measures at work are an
everyday hassle Retaining talent calls for a transformation in the approach of
the HR departments. This is where an Emotional Surplus Employee Branding
can play to make the workplace a preferred one for employees.
2.1.41 Shrivastava, A. (2008), in his article entitled as “Attrition and Retention of
Employees in BPO Sector” says that “We live in an age of outsourcing,”
clearly designates that outsourcing has now become an acknowledged,
accepted and established business strategy. One of the most familiar forms of
outsourcing is business process outsourcing BPO, i.e., transferring the
operational ownership of one or more of the firm’s business processes to an
external supplier that, in turn, administers the processes according to some
predefined metrics (Ghosh and Scott, 2005; Stone, 2004). BPO or Business
Process Outsourcing thus refers to the rearrangement of entire business
functions to some other service providers, primarily in low cost locations. The
service provider may be either self-owned or a third party. This relocation or
transferring of business processes to an external provider is essentially to
accomplish increased shareholder value.Some of the general services provided
by the BPOs are Receivables and Payables, Inventory Management, Order
Processing, Cash flow Analysis, Reconciliation, Data Entry, Payroll
38
Processing, QuickBooks Accounting, Financial Statement Preparation and
Accounting Services. Some of the web based services include live online sales
and order entry, E-commerce transaction support, Live online enquiry
handling, Web Design/Development.
Reduced international trade barriers and improved telecommunication and IT
capability over the past decade has led to a situation where organizations
across the world are increasingly interlinked with each other. This has resulted
in intense global competition, challenging business managers across the world
to find ways to reduce the cost of conducting business and accessing global
resources in meeting the need of global markets. In such a context, the
reorganization of business models to leverage benefits of outsourcing and
focus on core competencies has become a key strategy pursued by large
corporations across the world. BPO service-providers are expected to provide
a wide spectrum of benefits to their customers, ranging from having greater
expertise in the outsourced processes, lower costs achieved through economies
of scale, scalability and the ability to absorb cyclicality of loads.
� Concluding Remarks:
The following points related to attrition and retention of employees in BPO
units are noted from the review of past studies.
1. BPO units contributing in country’s GDP with soaring revenues, increased job
opportunities and promise to change in life styles.
2. BPO units creating job opportunities for women and their higher growth.
3. BPO units contributing in the development of Indian economy.
4. BPO units failing to fulfill employee’s needs of aspirations and so affecting on
employee productivity.
5. Performance appraisal is significant in BPO units.
From the above points Researcher felt that there is the need of further
research in the area of Attrition and Retention with reference to the BPO units and
other related units; so that through present study the uncovered areas would be
focused to bridge the gap.
Therefore the following aspects are considered in the present study by the
researcher.
39
• The problem of Attrition in BPO units.
• Key factors that have an influence on employee retention.
• Employee retention strategies in BPO units.
• Retention strategies and performance of the employees.
• Proactive methodologies for employee retention in BPO units.
2.2 Conceptual Foundation
2.2.1 High Attrition Rate: A Big Challenge
In the whole world the employees would love their jobs like their co-workers, all
work hard for their employers and get paid well for their work. They have ample
chances for advancement and flexible schedules so that they could attend to personal
or family needs whenever necessary and they never intend to leave.
But then there's the real world. In the real world employees do leave either because
they want more money, hate the working conditions, hate their co-workers, want a
change, or because their spouse gets a dream job in another state. So what does that
entire turnover cost? And what employees are likely to have the highest turnover?
Who is likely to stay the longest?
2.2.2 Major Problems for the Industry
• Reckless Start-ups: a vast majority of 310 start-ups are headed for a dead-end
(according to NASSCOM). Their capacity utilization is less than one of the three
shifts. Many of these companies that converted their empty basements and
warehouses into BPO units or firms with $10 million-20 million VC funds that ran
out of cash without creating anything more than white elephants. They have
driven down prices to grab business but have failed to deliver. They were always
clueless about people, processes or technologies- the three key elements of the
BPO business.
• Poor Infrastructure: the industry is worry more about poor infrastructure than
just reckless start-ups. Primary among those is infrastructure. While telecom
networks are state of the art, getting a connection still takes up to three months.
Unreliable power supply is forcing units to create their own back-ups. Roads are
bad and airports are in dire need of repairs and upgrades.
40
� High Attrition: another major problem is the high attrition and growth aspirations
of the workforce. At least 60,000 of the 171,000 workforce change jobs every
year. About 80% of them look for better leaders. Team leaders want to upgrade to
supervisors, quality professionals or operations heads. The HR problem threatens
and it has become grave. Good agents are becoming hard to find and with tardy
infrastructure, big moves to the much talked about smaller towns will take longer.
This means costs will rise making it difficult for small VC-funded companies to
survive.
Table No. 2.1 - Attrition rates – Cross-country comparisons
S.N. Country Attrition Rate (in %)
1. USA 42
2. Australia 29
3. Europe 24
4. India 18
5. Global average 24
Source: Data Quest, Volume XXX, No. 20, Oct. 2009.
Staff attrition (or turnover) and absenteeism represent significant costs to most
organizations. It is odd, therefore, that many organizations neither measure such costs
nor have targets or plans to reduce them. Many organizations appear to accept them as
part of the cost of doing business - a sign of increasing job mobility and decreasing
staff loyalty perhaps, a matter to be regretted but just 'one of those things.' They add a
sum in their budgets for 'temp staff' and 'recruitment' and forget about it.
However, it seems to be one of the areas in which HR can make a difference - and one
that can be measured in quantifiable, financial terms against targets.
However, it is interesting to note that the attrition rates in India - and the costs
associated - are so high that they can override the benefits of lower wage costs. While
wages in call centers in Indian are less than one-eighth of those in Northern Europe, it
has been reported that Hewlett-Packard have found the cost per 'ticket' (the cost of
processing a query) has doubled "due to the inability of the staff to resolve customer
queries efficiently because of language barriers and inexperience." It is said that this
increased cost has made HP's move from Ireland to India "completely pointless," and
41
that it can never recover the (substantial) costs of the move. It is further reported that
GE Capital has moved a call centre back to Australia "after staff attrition rates of 70%
wiped away any potential cost savings."
The issue is not with the quality or education of the staff - and still less with the
investment in technology. It is simply attrition - people do not stay long enough to be
taught or to learn the job. The staff may be cheaper but if they cannot do the job,
what's the point? Managing attrition is not just a 'nice thing to do' in Indian call
centers. It is the route to their survival.
Far from accepting attrition rates as part of the cost of doing business, it is surely
something that all organizations should address, and equally surely it is an area in
which HR can take a lead - measure attrition, seek its causes, set out solutions and
target performance.
2.2.3 Calculating attrition rate
HR professionals are requested not to drive their own formulas to calculate attrition
rate. In terms of numbers, attrition rate means:
Rate of
Attrition
=
Total Number of Resignations
per month (Voluntary and
forced)
X
100
(Total Number of employees at
the beginning of the month) +
(total number of new joiners) -
(total number of resignations)
If calculating in monetary terms, it includes the following:
Costs Due to a Person Leaving
1. Calculate the cost of the person(s) who fills in while the position is vacant.
Calculate the cost of lost productivity at a minimum of 50% of the person's
compensation and benefits cost for each week the position is vacant, even if
there are people performing the work. Calculate the lost productivity at 100% if
the position is completely vacant for any period of time.
42
2. Calculate the cost of conducting an exit interview to include the time of the
person conducting the interview, the time of the person leaving; the
administrative costs of stopping payroll benefit deductions, benefit enrollments.
3. Calculate the cost of the manager who has to understand what work remains,
and how to cover that work until a replacement is found.
4. Calculate the cost of training your company has invested in this employee who
is leaving.
5. Calculate the impact on departmental productivity because the person is
leaving. Who will pick up the work, whose work will suffer, what departmental
deadlines will not be met or delivered late.
6. Calculate the cost of lost knowledge, skills and contacts that the person who is
leaving is taking with them out of your door. Use a formula of 50% of the
person's annual salary for one year of service, increasing each year of service
by 10%.
7. Subtract the cost of the person who is leaving for the amount of time the
position is vacant.
Recruitment Costs
1. The cost of advertisements; agency costs; employee referral costs; internet
posting costs.
2. The cost of the internal recruiter's time to understand the position requirements,
develop and implement a sourcing strategy, review candidates backgrounds,
prepare for interviews, conduct interviews, prepare candidate assessments,
conduct reference checks, make the employment offer and notify unsuccessful
candidates. This can range from a minimum of 30 hours to over 100 hours per
position.
3. Calculate the cost of the various candidate pre-employment tests to help assess
candidates’ skills, abilities, aptitude, attitude, values and behaviors.
Training Costs
1. Calculate the cost of orientation in terms of the new person's salary and the cost
of the person who conducts the orientation. Also include the cost of orientation
materials.
43
2. Calculate the cost of departmental training as the actual development and
delivery cost plus the cost of the salary of the new employee. Note that the cost
will be significantly higher for some positions such as sales representatives and
call center agents who require 4 - 6 weeks or more of classroom training.
3. Calculate the cost of the person(s) who conduct the training.
4. Calculate the cost of various training materials needed including company or
product manuals, computer or other technology equipment used in the delivery
of training.
Lost Productivity Costs
As the new employee is learning the new job, the company policies and practices, etc.
they are not fully productive. Use the following guidelines to calculate the cost of this
lost productivity:
1. Upon completion of whatever training is provided, the employee is contributing
at a 25% productivity level for the first 2 - 4 weeks. The cost therefore is 75%
of the new employee’s full salary during that time period.
2. During weeks 5 - 12, the employee is contributing at a 50% productivity level.
The cost is therefore 50% of full salary during that time period.
3. During weeks 13 - 20, the employee is contributing at a 75% productivity level.
The cost is therefore 25% of full salary during that time period.
4. Calculate the cost of mistakes the new employee makes during this elongated
indoctrination period.
New Hire Costs
1. Calculate the cost of bring the new person on board including the cost to put
the person on the payroll, establish computer and security passwords and
identification cards, telephone hookups, cost of establishing email accounts, or
leasing other equipment such as cell phones, automobiles.
2. Calculate the cost of a manager's time spent developing trust and building
confidence in the new employee's work.
44
Lost Sales Costs
1. Calculate the revenue per employee by dividing total company revenue by the
average number of employees in a given year. Whether an employee
contributes directly or indirectly to the generation of revenue, their purpose is
to provide some defined set of responsibilities that are necessary to the
generation of revenue. Calculate the lost revenue by multiplying the number of
weeks the position is vacant by the average weekly revenue per employee.
Conclusion: It is clear that there are massive costs associated with attrition or
turnover and, while some of these are not visible to the management reporting
or budget system, they are none the less real. The 'rule of thumb' appears to be
very inaccurate indeed and, while it depends upon the category of staff, it is
probably better to estimate around 80% of salary as a truer rule of thumb - and
this will be on the conservative side.
What does this mean? Well it means that if a company has 100 people doing a
certain job paid 25,000 and that turnover or attrition is running at 10%, the cost
of attrition is:
Cost of attrition = (Total staff) X (Attrition rate %) X (annual salary) X 80%
The implications, for instance, could mean,
• 100 staff at 10% attrition means 10 people leave and are replaced each year.
• A replacement cost of 80% of a salary of 25,000 means the cost of each
replacement is 20,000.
• The cost of turnover is therefore 10 x 20,000 or 200,000 a year.
• The cost to the overall salary bill is 8%.
Saving 8% of salary costs would make the average HR manager a hero.
2.2.4 Retention Strategies in BPO Industry
HR professionals all over the world, working is Call-Center or Contact Center or BPO
industries are breaking their heads to formulate Retention Strategies but nothing is
working in their favor. The average attrition rate in this sector is still 35-40%. No
45
perks, no rewards…just nothing is working.
Before proceeding further, let’s see why people are leaving? Why there is high
attrition rate.
2.2.5 Why people are moving?
When there are so many benefits associated with BPO industry…. when there are so
many privileges for the BPO employees than what makes them to change the
company/industry?? Is it only MONEY that matters or anything else as well?? After
taking exit-interviews and analyzing the trend I am able to list out following reasons
for a BPO professional to change his/her job.
• No growth opportunity/lack of promotion
• For higher Salary
• For Higher education
• Misguidance by the company
• Policies and procedures are not conducive
• No personal life
• Physical strains
• Uneasy relationship with peers or managers
Let’s also see as what are the various benefits…that have been extended to people
working in this sector.
2.2.6 Employee Benefits Provided By Majority of the BPO Companies
A part from the legal and mandatory benefits such as provident-fund and gratuity,
below is a list of other benefits…BPO professionals are entitled to the following:
1. Group Medi-claim Insurance Scheme: This insurance scheme is to provide
adequate insurance coverage of employees for expenses related to
hospitalization due to illness, disease or injury or pregnancy in case of female
employees or spouse of male employees. All employees and their dependent
family members are eligible. Dependent family members include spouse, non-
earning parents and children above three months
2. Personal Accident Insurance Scheme: This scheme is to provide adequate
insurance coverage for Hospitalization expenses arising out of injuries
46
sustained in an accident. This covers total / partial disablement / death due to
accident and due to accidents.
3. Subsidized Food and Transportation: The organizations provide transportation
facility to all the employees from home till office at subsidized rates. The lunch
provided is also subsidized.
4. Company Leased Accommodation: Some of the companies provide shared
accommodation for all the out station employees, in fact some of the BPO
companies also undertakes to pay electricity/water bills as well as the Society
charges for the shared accommodation. The purpose is to provide to the
employees to lead a more comfortable work life balance.
5. Recreation, Cafeteria, ATM and Concierge facilities: The recreation facilities
include pool tables, chess tables and coffee bars. Companies also have well
equipped gyms, personal trainers and showers at facilities.
6. Corporate Credit Card: The main purpose of the corporate credit card is enable
the timely and efficient payment of official expenses which the employees
undertake for purposes such as travel related expenses like Hotel bills, Air
tickets etc
7. Cellular Phone / Laptop: Cellular phone and / or Laptop are provided to the
employees on the basis of business need. The employee is responsible for the
maintenance and safeguarding of the asset.
8. Personal Health Care (Regular medical check-ups): Some of the BPO'S
provides the facility for extensive health check-up. For employees with above
40 years of age, the medical check-up can be done once a year.
9. Loans: Many BPO companies provide loan facility on three different
occasions: Employees are provided with financial assistance in case of a
medical emergency. Employees are also provided with financial assistance at
the time of their wedding. And, the new recruits are provided with interest free
loans to assist them in their initial settlement at the work location.
47
10. Educational Benefits: Many BPO companies have this policy to develop the
personality and knowledge level of their employees and hence reimburse the
expenses incurred towards tuition fees, examination fees, and purchase of
books subject, for pursuing MBA, and/or other management qualification at
India's top most Business Schools.
11. Performance based incentives: In many BPO companies they have plans for,
performance based incentive scheme. The parameters for calculation are
process performance i.e. speed, accuracy and productivity of each process. The
Pay for Performance can be as much as 22% of the salary.
12. Flexi-time: The main objective of the flextime policy is to provide opportunity
to employees to work with flexible work schedules and set out conditions for
availing this provision. Flexible work schedules are initiated by employees and
approved by management to meet business commitments while supporting
employee personal life needs .The factors on which Flexi time is allowed to an
employee include: Child or Parent care, Health situation, Maternity, Formal
education program
13. Flexible Salary Benefits: Its main objective is to provide flexibility to the
employees to plan a tax-effective compensation structure by balancing the
monthly net income, yearly benefits and income tax payable. It is applicable of
all the employees of the organization. The Salary consists of Basic, DA and
Conveyance Allowance. The Flexible Benefit Plan consists of: House Rent
Allowance, Leave Travel Assistance, Medical Reimbursement, Special
Allowance
14. Regular Get together and other cultural programs: The companies organizes
cultural program as and when possible but most of the times, once in a quarter,
in which all the employees are given an opportunity to display their talents in
dramatics, singing, acting, dancing etc. Apart from that the organizations also
conduct various sports programs such as Cricket, football, etc and regularly
play matches with the teams of other organizations and colleges.
15. Wedding Day Gift: Employee is given a gift voucher of Rs. 2000/- to Rs.
7000/- based on their level in the organization.
48
16. Employee Referral Scheme: In several companies employee referral scheme is
implemented to encourage employees to refer friends and relatives for
employment in the organization.
17. Employee Stock Option Plan: ESOPs are popularly used by organizations in
order to motivate employees towards superior performances as well as to
sustain their stay in the firm in the long run.
Now, the actual question, why people are leaving? What types of retention
strategies are required? What is expected from HR Professional and how they
can address this issue?
Retention - A Big Challenge
Fundamental changes are taking place in the work force and the workplace that
promise to radically alter the way companies relate to their employees. Hiring and
retaining good employees have become the chief concerns of nearly every company in
every industry. Companies that understand what their employees want and need in the
workplace and make a strategic decision to proactively fulfill those needs will become
the dominant players in their respective markets.
The fierce competition for qualified workers results from a number of workplace
trends, including:
• A robust economy
• Shift in how people view their careers
• Changes in the unspoken "contract" between employer and employee
• Corporate cocooning
• A new generation of workers
• Changes in social mores
• Life balance
Concurrent with these trends, the emerging work force is developing very different
attitudes about their role the workplace. Today's employees place a high priority on
the following:
49
• Family orientation
• Quality of life issues
• Autonomy
To hold onto your people, you have to work counter to prevailing trends causing the
job churning. Smart employers make it a strategic initiative to understand what their
people want and need -- then give it to them.
2.2.7 Retention Strategies
This is not an exhaustive list, one can add or delete any of the below
mentioned strategies. Secondly, the need of the hour is to have "right basics". Every
individual is different, his needs are different, and his emotions, his problems are
different. So, dear HR-Professionals…sit down and concentrate on your basics. I have
classified retention strategies into two parts:
A. Main and
B. Ancillary
2.2.8 A Main retention strategies
This is not an exhaustive list, one can add or delete any of the below mentioned
strategies. Secondly, the need of the hour is to have "right basics". Every individual is
different, his needs are different, and his emotions, his problems are different. So,
dear HR-Professionals…sit down and concentrate on your basics.
1. Communications - Getting Your People to Care
Communication is the first step toward creating the kind of environment that
people care about, and if they care, they just may stay. I'm not talking about a lot of
New Age stroking designed to bring out the inner person or false praise that creates
a misplaced sense of security. Instead, keep your people in the loop about what's
happening with the company. At any time, all of your employees should have a
pretty good idea of how business has been, and they should be aware of what
issues the company is attempting to address.
50
That means that you regularly keep your people up to date with important events
affecting the company. If November was good, let them know, and while you're at
it, tell them what you expect to happen in December. Share good news, as well as
points of concern. If you've got "issues," talk about them before they start making
you crazy. And if they don't get resolved, figure out whether the problem stems
from a couple of individuals or from your system.
The point here is that you want to treat these people as your partners, which they
are. They may not have to worry about covering the payroll this week, but they do
have worries of their own. Treat them with at least as much respect as they give
you. As the store's owner or manager, you set the tone for the entire organization.
If your salespeople, for instance, enjoy their encounters with you, they are much
more likely to greet customers with a positive attitude. They are also much more
likely to enjoy their work when they don't have a fire-breathing dragon looking to
singe their butts.
Listen to your employees when they have ideas for improvement. Again, the
benefits extend beyond just making people feel appreciated for their contributions.
These are, after all, the people who do the work every day. They may have some
ideas to improve productivity, and when they do come up with one, let everybody
know where it came from. Post a "brag board" in your break room, or circulate an
internal newsletter that touts these contributions. The pay-off is a contagious
feeling of pride and, perhaps, some new efficiency that saves the company money.
2. Set Clear Expectations
• How often do you appraise your employees/team-members?
• What are your expectations from your employees/team-members? What are the
parameters to measure their performance? Have you communicated to them?
• What will be the consequences, if they fail?
• What will be the rewards, if they exceed the expected level?
If you are not having any expectations, how you are going to appraise, your
employees? Yes, you are going to be biased, because you don't have set standards.
51
The role of a CEO, HR Manager is like a director of a movie; choreographer of a
stage show, where there is a defined role for each character, each participant.
Setting expectations initiates the process. Managers need to sit down with each
employee and clearly define what's expected of them. Management consultant,
Kenneth Philips, states that when expectations are not clear, employees may not be
in sync with their job's current demands and priorities. Setting expectations is not a
once and done activity. Jobs change. Priorities change. Resources change. Managers
need to revise and set new expectations throughout the year. Setting expectations
revolves around the following three areas:
• Key job responsibilities
• Performance factors and standards
• Goals
Why is a setting expectation important? Quite simply, this process can be the
cornerstone of improving the motivational climate within your sphere of
responsibility. If your employees know what is expected of them, it allows them to
focus on results and to monitor themselves against the set standards. Environments in
which expectations are not clear, or change from week to week, seldom create high-
performing work groups. The three principles that should drive expectations are
clarity, relevance, anpdsim, licitly.
Clarity: Expectations should focus on outcomes, not activities. In other words, you
achieve clarity when you identify the expected results rather than the method for
achieving them. Managers often make the mistake of attempting to direct the process
that an employee will use rather than being clear about results. The advantage of
identifying the outcome is that you, the manager, focus only on the goal; after all, the
employee will develop the method for achieving the desired results. Defining the
objective often requires some thought on the part of the manager because it is easy to
fall into the "activities trap." While developing a strategic plan for a department or
division is a worthy activity, it does not represent an outcome. In the activities trap,
developing a plan is the goal, rather than increasing your market share.
52
Relevance: The principle of relevance helps define the "why" of the assignment. If
your employees have a full understanding of the project's importance, they can make
adjustments as unanticipated factors crop up within the process. They probably also
will be more committed to the result because they can see more easily how it fits into
the big picture and how their efforts impact the company.
This understanding typically is accomplished through dialogue between the
manager and subordinate, which allows for a more thorough review of the situation
and for feedback and discussion. This process builds good will with the employee
and sets the stage for additional responsibilities.
Simplicity: Simplicity creates a sense of grounding for employees as they endeavor
to carry out assignments. If managers identify the work in simple, straightforward
terms, employees will find it much easier to follow through on managers' wishes. To
accomplish this, a manager must identify the key message in a fashion that the
employee can embrace.
3. Proper Rewarding
A research reports says that in today's scenario,
• 70% of your employees are less motivated today than they used to be.
• 80% of your employees could perform significantly better if they wanted to.
• 50% of your employees only put enough effort into their work to keep their job.
As you might be aware of Employee Reward covers how people are rewarded in
accordance with their value to an organization. It is about both financial and non-
financial rewards and embraces the strategies, policies, structures and processes used
to develop and maintain reward systems. The ways in which people are valued can
make a considerable impact on the effectiveness of the organization, and is at the
heart of the employment relationship.
The aim of employee reward policies and practices, if any in your organization is to
help attract, retain and motivate high-quality people. Getting it wrong can have a
significant negative effect on the motivation, commitment and morale of employees.
Personnel and development professionals will be involved frequently in reward
53
issues, whether they are generalists or specialize in people resourcing, learning and
development or employee relations. Keep following parameters in mind, while
designing a reward policy:
Build a high degree of recognition value into every reward you offer.
Recognition is the most cost-effective motivator there is. While the high cost of other
rewards forces us to give them sparingly, recognition can be given any time, at very
little cost.
Some very ordinary items and events can be imbued with extraordinary motivational
significance, far in excess of their monetary value. I am constantly amazed at how
motivating a pizza or movie tickets can be if is given with sufficient appreciation. A
sincere thank you can be delivered at any place and at any time, costs absolutely
nothing and can be more motivationally powerful than a substantial monetary bonus.
Organizations can provide innovative recognition in an infinite number of ways.
For example, (A Hypothetical Incident) a small manufacturing company made its
employees feel like heroes when they attained a major safety milestone - 100 days
without a single accident. On the morning of day 100, it was announced that a catered
lunch would be served the next day, if they made it to the 5:30 shift without an
accident. At 5:15 anticipating was building. Managers took confetti and streamers to
the balcony overlooking the shop floor. When the 5:30 whistle blew, there were
congratulations all around, confetti flew through the air and banners were unfurled. It
was a great moment for everyone - and one that was not soon forgotten. The
recognition value of this celebration was extremely high, while the monetary cost was
relatively low.
Highly motivating organizations even celebrate small successes. A health-conscious
company distributes fruit bowls to employees' work areas when key personal
milestones are attained. Another company uses a more fattening approach: fresh-
baked chocolate-chip cookies to say thank you.
Reduce entitlements and link as many rewards as possible to performance.
Clearly the traditional "pay for loyalty" systems in most organizations need to be
changed. Don't let attendance be your major criterion for rewards. Most employees
54
resent those who only put in their time and yet receive the same reward as those who
go the extra mile. Today's employees have higher expectations for what work can and
should be, and they want to receive rewards that reflect their personal efforts and
contributions.
This is why so many companies are moving toward performance-based rewards,
including performance bonuses, gain-sharing and non-monetary recognition.
Although not a panacea, companies are finding that these new reward systems do
allow them to give substantial rewards to those who really deserve them. Smart
organizations are looking for opportunities to reduce across-the-board entitlements,
and thereby find more resources for discretionary performance-based rewards,
without increasing the total cost of rewards.
Troubleshoot your reward system to make sure that what it is rewarding is what you
really want to happen.
The Law of Rewards - "What you reward is what you get" - Is extremely powerful.
No matter what your orientation materials or job description might say, it is the
rewards your organization gives that communicate the real expectations. The most
important question to ask in evaluating the reward system in your organization is, do
the rewards we are giving elicit the performance we want? Start with the results you
want to achieve and then pinpoint the types of behaviors needed to achieve them. For
example:
• If you believe teamwork is going to get you the results you want, make sure
you reward teamwork, and not internal competition between departments.
• If you want quality, make sure that productivity isn't over emphasized. And,
• If you want long-term solutions, don't reward quick fixes
Also, don't confuse employees with too many rewards. It is better to focus rewards on
the critical few behaviors and results, rather than diluting them by rewarding the trivial
many.
Reward promptly. Rewards should be given as soon as possible after the performance
has taken place. This is why the most successful gain-sharing programs pay employees
55
monthly, rather than quarterly or annually as in the past.
There is a well-accepted law of behavioral psychology, that if you want someone to
repeat a behavior, you should positively recognize it immediately. From this law, smart
supervisors and managers can learn a vital lesson: Look for any employee doing
something right, right now, and recognizes it.
A support to this, here is my favorite reward story:
"When a senior manager in one organization was trying to figure out a way to
recognize an employee who had just done a great job, he spontaneously picked up a
banana (which his wife had packed in his lunch), and handed it to the astonished
employee with hearty congratulations. Now, one of the highest honors in that company
has been dubbed the "Golden Banana Award".
Give employees a choice of rewards. Rewards are as different as the people who
receive them and it doesn't make sense to give rewards that recipients don't find
rewarding. For example, some people prefer more pay, while others prefer more time
off. A promotion might be more rewarding to one person, while a job-sharing
arrangement might be more rewarding for another. Some people are excited about
sports events, others about movies. Some employees would love a dinner in a
romantic restaurant, others a book by their favorite author. Food, fun, education,
improved work environment, gifts, travel, and family-oriented activities - the options
are endless.
How do you know what will be rewarding to employees? Ask them. Smart
organizations are also letting employees choose their own rewards from reward
menus and catalogs. Personalizing rewards shows that a company cares enough to
discover what "interests" each employee, rather than just distributing generic items.
It also reduces the following danger: In one organization I was visiting, an employee
opened a big drawer in his desk and disdainfully showed me all the "worthless
trinkets" he had collected over the years.
Increase the longevity of your rewards. This can be done in a number of ways: One
of the keys to reward longevity is symbolism. The more symbolic an item is of the
accomplishment, the more likely it is to continue reminding the employee of why it
was given. For instance, a T-shirt of coffee mug with a meaningful inscription will
56
continue rewarding those who wear it, or use it, long after its initial receipt. There are
many tokens of appreciation I still keep on or near my desk that remind me of the joy
of past accomplishments, while the monetary rewards I have received are long spent
and long forgotten.
Another way to increase the longevity of rewards in your organization is by using
some kind of point system. Rather than rewarding each individual behavior or
accomplishment, points can be awarded, which employees can accumulate and
eventually trade for items from a reward menu or gift catalog. This keeps the
anticipation of rewards fresh for longer periods of time. It also addresses the need for
reward individualization.
One company that designs motivational systems offers an electronic debit-card
system to help larger clients cope with the complexity of distributing, tracking and
redeeming employees' points. Employees can use their points to purchase virtually
anything they want, from sports equipment and clothing to automobiles and overseas
vacations. They only caveat for such programs is to make sure that the recognition
value of the rewards isn't lost because of the impersonal nature of the technology.
One company uses a game it Call Safety Bingo. All employees receive a weekly
bingo card. When an employee is observed working safely, a number is presented
(immediate recognition). When they get "bingo", they receive a safety jacket (along
with appropriate verbal reinforcement). The rewards escalate for subsequent wins.
This type of program keeps employees interested for long periods of time, even
though there might be weeks or months between rewards, and makes routine work
more fun overall.
Interestingly, when researchers have investigated the motivational dynamics of these
workplace games, they have found that the major motivator is the playing, not the
prize. Be continually vigilant of demotivators that may undermine your
organization's best efforts to provide power rewards, and reduce them promptly.
Most demotivators can be dramatically reduced by soliciting employee involvement
in identifying highest-priority demotivators and by enlisting top-management
commitment to support their reduction.
57
It is probably self-evident that considerable sensitivity is needed in the
administration of any reward system. One demotivator that is probably endemic in
any reward system modification (especially as an organization moves from
entitlements to more performance-based rewards) is a sense that something is being
taken away. Employees need to be educated about the reasons that this is being done,
understand the ultimate benefits to them and the organization, and should probably
have some input into the change process.
To avoid the perception of unfairness, it is important, first and foremost, that the
process for allocating rewards is viewed by employees as being impartial. This
requires an objective measurement system that few organizations have. Without such
objective measurement, any reward system is probably destined to failure.
Ancillary Retention Strategies
1. The quality of the supervision an employee receives is critical to employee
retention. People leave managers and supervisors more often than they leave
companies or jobs. It is not enough that the supervisor is well liked or a nice
person, starting with clear expectations of the employee, the supervisor has a
critical role to play in retention. Anything the supervisor does to make an
employee feel unvalued will contribute to turnover. Frequent employee
complaints center on these areas.
� Lack of clarity about expectations,
� Lack of clarity about earning potential,
� Lack of feedback about performance,
� Failure to hold scheduled meetings, and
� Failure to provide a framework within which the employee perceives he can
succeed.
2. The ability of the employee to speak his or her mind freely within the
organization is another key factor in employee retention. Does your
organization solicit ideas and provide an environment in which people are
comfortable providing feedback? If so, employees offer ideas, feel free to
criticize and commit to continuous improvement. If not, they bite their tongues
or find themselves constantly "in trouble" - until they leave.
58
3. Talent and skill utilization is another environmental factor your key employees
seek in your workplace. A motivated employee wants to contribute to work
areas outside of his specific job description. How many people could contribute
far more than they currently do? You just need to know their skills, talent and
experience, and take the time to tap into it. As an example, in a small company,
a manager pursued a new marketing plan and logo with the help of external
consultants. An internal sales rep, with seven years of ad agency and logo
development experience, repeatedly offered to help. His offer was ignored and
he cited this as one reason why he quit his job. In fact, the recognition that the
company didn't want to take advantage of his knowledge and capabilities
helped precipitate his job search.
4. The perception of fairness and equitable treatment is important in employee
retention. In one company, a new sales rep was given the most potentially
successful, commission-producing accounts. Current staff viewed these
decisions as taking food off their tables. You can bet a number of them are
looking for their next opportunity.
In another instance, a staff person, just a year or two out of college, was given
20,000 in raises over a six month time period. Information of this type never
stays secret in companies so you know, beyond any shadow of a doubt; the
morale of several other employees will be affected.
For example, you have a staff person who views her role as important and she
brings ten years of experience, an M.B.A. and a great contribution record to the
table. When she finds she is making less money than this employee, she is
likely to look for a new job. Minimally, her morale and motivation will take a
big hit. Did the staff person deserve the raises? Yes. But, recognize that there
will be impact on others.
5. Your best employees, those employees you want to retain, seek frequent
opportunities to learn and grow in their careers, knowledge and skill. Without
the opportunity to try new opportunities, sit on challenging committees, attend
seminars and read and discuss books, they feel they will stagnate. A career-
oriented, valued employee must experience growth opportunities within your
organization.
59
6. A commonplace complaint or lament I hear during an exit interview is that the
employee never felt senior managers knew he existed. By senior managers I
refer to the president of a small company or a department or division head in a
larger company. Take time to meet with new employees to learn about their
talents, abilities and skills. Meet with each employee periodically. You'll have
more useful information and keep your fingers on the pulse of your
organization. It's a critical tool to help employees feel welcomed,
acknowledged and loyal.
7. No matter what the circumstances are but never, never, ever threaten an
employee's job or income. Even if you know layoffs loom if you fail to meet
production or sales goals, it is a mistake to foreshadow this information with
employees. It makes them nervous; no matter how you phrase the information;
no matter how you explain the information, even if you're absolutely correct,
your best staff members will update their resumes. I'm not advocating keeping
solid information away from people; however, think before you say anything
that makes people feel they need to search for another job.
1) V CUSTOMER
Technology Leads the Way
With focus on automation of processes and employee welfare, vCustomer has learnt
the sure shot way to be, and stay, number 1
For the fifth time in a row, vCustomer maintained its position as the Best BPO
Employer. Factors such as job content, salary and compensation, and appraisal system
that matters most to the young BPO employees are the parameters where vCustomer
topped the list. The organization played deploying technology in different areas.
In FY11, the company’s overall focus was on automation. It used technology to
reduce employee time spent on various transactional activities by automating various
HR processes and reporting formats. This not only freed employees from hunting for
various information, but also enabled the company to maintain up-to-date information
with little effort. Meanwhile, a dedicated team for employee relations was formed to
understand their needs and get regular feedbacks on new processes. A lot of work was
done in consolidating its LinkedIn and Facebook profile, and the social media
platform was leveraged even for internal communication to engage and motivate its
60
employees in today’s style rather than traditional buck-up-banner styles. A lot of
initiatives were also taken around employee welfare, like organizing preventive
employee healthcare and stress-busting massage camps in the office premises twice a
week.
Although it ranked #1 in salary and appraisal parameters, yet the HR revealed that
they have to deal with dissatisfied employees from time to time. The key is to keep
the management-employee communication open, listen to the employees’ grievance,
and solve them in a structured manner as soon as possible. Keeping that in mind, it
even made exceptions in certain cases and reviewed employee salaries without
waiting for the yearly appraisal cycle. As far as gender inclusivity is concerned, the
company blames late night shifts for US based processes as a reason for low scores in
this parameter. Nevertheless, making use of the inputs from the DQ-CMR survey, the
HR has decided to give specific instructions to the hiring team hereon to hire a
decided percentage of women and introduce work from home facilities whenever
possible.
Table 2.2: Rank of Employee Feedback- V CUSTOMER
Employee Feedback Industry Rank
High Rating +
The appraisal system in the company is fair 1
The appraisal system in the company is transparent 1
I am getting paid at par with industry standards 1
Low Rating -
I am proud of working for this company 8
The company is very open to ideas and suggestion given by
employees 9
I have exciting growth opportunities in this company 9
Source: Data Quest, Volume XXX, No. 20, Oct. 2009
2) AEGIS LTD
Fresh Investments
Aegis BPO optimized its operational costs by increasing the percentage of freshers
and encouraging internal recruitment for lateral hiring
61
One of the major learning’s for the overall industry after the recovery was optimizing
operational costs. For Aegis BPO, this meant changing the employee mix by
increasing the percentage of fresher, and encouraging internal recruitment for lateral
hiring.
This drastically brought down the number of lateral hiring from the 80% around 3
years back. The count came down to 20% last year. The HR department started a new
initiative called ‘Get Set Go’ for ensuring higher retention rate and increasing the
average tenure of employees. Started last year, the program included 2 major levels of
developing employer value.
Starting with training on soft skills, product and managerial knowledgeable and
building career path system for all the employees; the second level is for the
performers who further undergo another round of training called Aegis ACE
(achieving continuous excellence) and develop the qualities, namely Climb
(consistency learning intuitive maturity benign). Last year around 10% of the total
workforce qualified for ACE. It also introduced a global talent exchange program
where local employers could apply for openings in the global centers of the company.
While the retention rate came around 76%, the attrition came to around 17%.
Aegis BPO has been rising up the ranking in the past few years, and this time again it
overperformed compared to 2010. It credits the new initiatives for last year’s
performance. While it gathered high votes on people, growth, infrastructure and job
security, it ranked low on company image, average hike and salary. According to the
company, about 60% of the revenues go into employee costs, and therefore the salary
and compensation benchmarks are determined by businesses. However it witnessed
an increase across all levels.
The entry level salary, for example, appreciated by 30% in the last 1 year. Aegis has
been working towards building a diverse culture. It claims in maintain the industry
proportion for its women workforce, having more than 600 differently abled people –
around 97% of the hires are of local nationality, and 3.5% of the global population is
aged above 45. It also maintains cultural diversity with large presence, and has
touched economically diverse cities from metros to 3 and 4 tier cities.
62
Table 2.3: Rank of Employee Feedback- AEGIS LTD
Employee Feedback Industry Rank
High Rating +
A am satisfied with perks and benefits available to me 1
The perks and benefits I get in this company are relevant to me 1
Special initiatives and efforts are duly recognized at the time of
appraisal 2
Low Rating -
The training given to me is relevant to the kind of work I do 6
I am satisfied with number of days of training that is given to me
in a year 3
The company’s policies and procedures are open and transparent
and create a positive work environment 6
Source: Data Quest, Volume XXX, No. 20, Oct. 2009
3) WIPRO BPO
Building Inner Strengths
Employee trust enabled Wipro BPO to stand out on the parameter of stability, It
however suffered on other parameters
Last year was no different for the Wipro BPO team, barring a few leadership changes.
Moving with the industry trend, the company’s HR team was building focus towards
retention, training, and career development. The job market did see a rise in the cost
of labor, but as the ongoing trend. Wipro too was meeting the demand with internal
hiring. Although the company’s internal hiring target was around 1,000-1,500 fresh
recruits per month, yet on a y-o-y basis its employee growth was negative. The
company saw marginal rise in budgets, with larger focus towards compensation,
followed by rewards, training, and lastly, welfare activities.
As a business strategy, the company has made a constant attempt to increase the
revenue per employee by increasing their skill, knowledge, and domain expertise. It
saw 10% growth in this parameter. It also was one of the few that followed almost 3
months training that included personal and skill devilment.
According to the team, capability building has been an important aspect of training as
it not only makes them more billable, but also helps the employees move up the value
63
chain in the company and heir career development. The utilization came around 90%,
with around 10% workforce involved in training.
Despite management changes, employees showed hope and trust towards the
company, which according to the HR team was the result of strong succession
planning and leadership building. Compared to 2010, Wipro BPO came down one
point in ranking. While on one side the company gathered appreciation for training
and de elopement, on the other, work environment, job culture, salary and
compensation were weak. The discrepancies in the HR and employee scores also
affected overall ranking. However the average tenure of 8-9 years in the leadership
positions for this 11- year – old firm was a reflection of stability.
Table 2.4: Rank of Employee Feedback-WIPRO BPO
Employee Feedback Industry
Rank
High Rating +
I am proud of working for this company 4
I would definitely recommend this company to close friends of
mine, seeking employment 8
The appraisal parameters are well thought out and relevant 6
Low Rating -
The perks and benefits I get in this company are relevant to me 9
I am satisfied with perks and benefits available to me 8
I am getting paid at par with industry standards 10
Source: Data Quest, Volume XXX, No. 20, Oct. 2009
4) CENPACT
All in the Open
Emphasis on employee training significantly boosted the employee satisfaction index
rating
Recognizing that people practices are a critical element in the outsourcing industry,
Gen - pact’s human resource policy is guided by employee welfare considering
employees as its most valuable asset and provides training and learning programs for
the growth of employees’. No wonder then that Gen - pact was ranked $1 in the
‘company being open to ideas and suggestions’. This obviously translates into an
64
openwork culture which encourages employee feedback and also takes it into account,
leading to happier employees. I think program for instance is an open platform for
employees to speak their minds and voice their concerns. Supervisors were made
accountable, and were also given mentorship programs to enable them to deal with
their employees and issues. The company’s culture of openness is integrated into their
appraisal process as well; it was ranked #2 on the ‘fairness of the appraisal process’
parameter.
The company also undertakes development raining programs to inculcate leadership
traits to build the second rung of leaders – ‘Lead’, a structured program which grooms
senior leaders on personal effectiveness, leading and motivating large teams and
building new leaders.
Genpac lays a lot of stress on training. It makes a substantial and continuous
investment in employee training, or enabling employees to move up the career ladder,
resulting in significantly pushing the employee satisfaction index up. The company
has introduced multi-dimensional initiatives like ‘iThink’, Led by Example and
Development (LEAD) and Genpact Operating Leadership Development (Gold).
GOLD is a structured program which is offered to a set if 50-100 supervisors to
enhance people skills and management capabilities. Perhaps this is why it has been
able to outperform the industry average on his parameter.
In fact it prides itself as being a learning organization, which encourages
entrepreneurship and nurtures talent.
In pact of boasting of a gender inclusive work culture and a stated goal of 25%
women in the executive ranks and 50% women hires at the management levels, the
company stood at #11 in this parameter.
65
Table 2.5: Rank of Employee Feedback- CENPACT
Employee Feedback Industry Rank
High Rating +
The company is very open to ideas and suggestion gives by
employees
1
The appraisal system in the company is fair 2
Special initiatives and efforts are duly recognized at the time
of appraisal
4
Low Rating -
I am satisfied with perks and benefits available to me 12
I am getting paid at par with industry standards 13
I am satisfied with kind of salary hikes I get 12
Source: Data Quest, Volume XXX, No. 20, Oct. 2009
5) TCS BPO
Dream Company
TCS BPO is a name to reckon with and has scored highest on the image parameter
TCS BPO made a re-entry in to the DQ CMR BPO E-Sat survey 2011 and clinched
the 5th place in the overall ratings. TCS BPO stands out in the overall company image
parameter, beating all its counterparts to become the first choice of employees. The
BPO tries to meet employee satisfaction levels based on the industry standards.
Furthermore, it boasts of conducting internal employee satisfaction survey y-o-y to
identify the areas that help it match employee expectations.
Unlike other BPO firms, the company continues to maintain the lowest attrition rate,
i.e, 25% in the industry. In spite of this, the company had to counter the challenge of
retaining efficient people.
In addition, the company claims to associate and invest in its employees’ personal and
professional development. Some of the initiatives it took for employees’ include the
associate catalyst program, the high potential program, propel, employee connect, etc.
The associate catalyst program was to enhance integration of HR with operations
whereas its high potential program was oriented towards the predictive talent
management concept with an objective to identify, develop, and track the careers of
the high performing associates (across work levels) based on their strength and
66
predictive fitment to various career streams available within the organization. Besides,
it also claims to encourage its employees to participate in leadership programs.
The company fared low on the training and growth opportunity parameters. Whereas
in HR scores, the company topped the table. But when it came to employee scores, the
company could manage only the 10th spot. On the work culture parameter, it stood at
number 8, whereas on the salary parameter it was way behind at 13th place. Similarly,
it fared low on the appraisal parameter, at #12.
In the gender inclusivity parameter the company was at the 10th place. The company
claims to have similar KRAs for both male and female employees. But TCS has
programs such as ‘DAWN’ (Diversity and Women Network) which specifically focus
on developing female workforce at all levels of the jobs, nurture and build a diverse
leadership pipeline.
Table 2.6: Rank of Employee Feedback- TCS BPO
Employee Feedback Industry Rank
High Rating +
I am proud of working for this company 9
I feel a sense of belongingness in this company 10
I would definitely recommend this company to close friends
of mine seeking employment 12
Low Rating -
The training given to me is relevant to the kind of work I do 15
I am satisfied with number of days of training that is given to
me in a year 15
I have exciting growth opportunities in this company 14
Source: Data Quest, Volume XXX, No. 20, Oct. 2009
6) INTEL NET CLOABAL SERVICES
Focus on Training
Through training programs, Intel net strives to retain employees who want to leave for
new sectors like retail and aviation, which are also offering ‘day’ jobs.
Intel net Global Services retained its spot at #6 in the DQ-CMR BPO E-Sat survey
2011. What contributes to its success as one of the best BPO employers is its
commitment towards employee related issues and also management of these matters
in a professional manner. Although Intel net sands out when it comes to offering
67
work environment, it has its own share of challenges when it comes to retaining
employees who are leaving for other industries. According to Manuel D’Souza, chief
human resources officer, Intel net global Services, the biggest challenge staring the
company in the face is the demand for its talent in growing sectors such as aviation
and retail, where the allure of day jobs for similar roles are attracting employees.
Training activities and skill enhancement programs are part of Intel net ’s DNA,
claims the company, as it grooms employees for leadership roles within the
organization. It also runs programs that assist employees grow and apply for positions
in the company. Training programs such as Skill Enhancement and Employee
Development (SEED), get Ready for Opportunity at Work (CROW), Strive Towards
Excellence and Performance (STEP), and Leadership Excellence Accreditation and
Development (LEAD) continued to help employees in their pursuit of achieving the
best in their career graphs.
In a number of parameters, the company competes with its counterparts and gives
hem tough competition. It stood at #2 on the parameter of training for employees, #3
on job content, #3on appraisal, and #4 on job satisfaction. Also, he employees have
confidence in the company as they ‘want to recommend it to others’. But there are
certain parameters on which the company has been rated low. One such is the ‘sense
of belongingness’. In addition, the employees also question the relevance of training
imparted to them.
However the company’s emphasis and internal growth opportunities continues to
make it one of the hottest places to work in the BPO industry.
68
Table 2.7: Rank of Employee Feedback-INTEL NETCLOABAL SERVICES
Employee Feedback Industry
Rank
High Rating +
I would definitely recommend this company to close friends of
mine seeking employment 1
I am paid enough for the work I do in this company 1
I am proud of working for this company 1
Low Rating -
The perks and benefits I get in this company are relevant to me 7
The company’s policies and procedures are open and transparent
and create a positive work environment 7
I feel a sense of belongingness in this company 8
Source: Data Quest, Volume XXX, No. 20, Oct. 2009
7) ADITYA BIRLA MINACS
Training Matters
Proactive training coupled with a well-managed employee growth path saw the
company move up the ladder
A perfect score on 3 key areas – training, growth opportunities and compensation –
did the trick, and that acted as the key driver for Aditya Birla Minacs to better its last
year’s performance. The company’s HR head attributes the good scores on training to
its aggressive mapping of employee requirements and delivering it across a blended
training model that seemed to have connected well with the employees. The
company’s training revolves around what it calls the ‘Minacs Talent Management
Process’ framework that addresses the key touch points during the employee lifecycle.
Using this framework the company was able to tightly mesh the organizational goals
and killing its employees with the right talent set leading to higher business results
and greater per employee productivity.
The employees prioritizing training in addition to compensation also drives home the
point that the industry is slowly changing from a purely compensation driven to
expectations on other areas like growth opportunities and acquiring job related skills
on a regular basis. In the case of Aditya Birla Minacs, the HR head states that the
69
pro-active training has clearly acted as one key motivator and an employee retention
factor
Interestingly, during FY10, one of the areas that called for attention was training and
clearly over FY11 the company has concentrated on talent mining with its framework
with 3 key deliverables – to acquire, develop and align.
Yet another sweet spot for the company relates to the employees feeling that they
have a robust career progression within the company. Yet again, this parameter also
leans on effective training that helps the company identify multiple talent streams, be
able to map high achievers, and be able to provide them an effective career path.
While the surveyed sample at Aditya Birla felt that they are paid enough for the work
they are ding, they gave lesser scores to salary hikes. Some felt the appraisal system
also needed to become more transparent and fair. But the company feels these are
perception based comments, and more individualistic.
70
Table 2.8: Rank of Employee Feedback-ADITYA BIRLA MINACS
Employee Feedback Industry
Rank
High Rating +
I am satisfied with the quality of training the company provides 1
I have exciting growth opportunities in this company 1
I am paid enough for the work I do in this company 1
Low Rating -
The appraisal system in the company is transparent 4
The appraisal system in the company is fair 3
I am satisfied with the kind of salary hikes I get 5
Source: Data Quest, Volume XXX, No. 20, Oct. 2009
8) SPANCO BPO
TAPPING Growth
Continuous employee engagement programs have ensured lower attrition levels and
also growth f the employees
With employees used to working in accordance to the structured roadmap chalked out
for them. Spanco BPO tried to do the same last year. As a result of its employee
engagement activities, the attrition rate of the company has come down drastically.
This speaks volumes about the employee satisfaction ratio that has resulted in the
company’s image being raked at #4.
With the motive of highlighting the job content for employees, the company took
various steps leading to the company being rated #2 on this parameter. Spanco left no
stone unturned in ensuring that the best practices from various locations were brought
into the company. With its business in destinations like Africa expanding by leaps and
bounds, it necessitated the need for ‘STIR’ tphje;[ in relocating employees.
In order to enable employees to achieve their job content perspective, training became
an important factor. Therefore, Spanco rolled out a ‘Team Leader Training Program’
and also got an external designer to design the biggest initiative ‘Working
Management Program’ for employees from the rank of mid-level management till
ACMs. These step led Spanco to be raked at #4 on training.
71
Since performance of an employee is based on objective grounds, hence the company
made the right noise by preparing a job description bank highlighting all the activities
and responsibilities of th4 3mployee. This approach enables rating the employee in
line with his or her deliverable responsibilities and also a feedback is provided on a
regular basis. Also, it ensures that almost 75-80% of the responsibilities are aligned.
Application of this approach resulted in an effective appraisal system that has been
rated at #7.
Even recognition in the form of awards given at the corporate level ensured to keep
employees happy. And in order to prevent exits for transport issues, the company
started recruiting employees in a manner in which their transport facility can easily
cover all its employee.
Table 2.9: Rank of Employee Feedback- SPANCO BPO
Employee Feedback Industry Rank
High Rating +
Special initiatives and efforts are duly recognized at the time of
appraisal 3
The appraisal parameters are well thought out and relevant 5
I am satisfied with number of days of training that is given to me
in a year 2
Low Rating -
I am satisfied with the kind of salary hikes I get 8
The company is very open to ideas and suggestion given by
employees 10
I am paid enough for the work I do in this company 10
Source: Data Quest, Volume XXX, No. 20, Oct. 2009
9) EXL SERVICES
Gender Bender
On the gender inclusivity front, EXL Service has come out trumps thanks to its
gender diversity policy and a robust redressal system.
At EXL Service, human resource initiatives comprise many small things like the
Annual Family Day – an annual event that was previously held at every center and
was in FY11 transformed from a center-wise event into one combined event for a city.
Even their Succession Planning exercises earlier done in-house were converted into a
72
professionally executed and designed program for mapping the top leadership. Under
the program, the roles were mapped (critical or routine) and between individual and
the role, a Risk Criticality Matrix was mad – basically a combination of individual
risk potential and the criticality of the role. From an investment perspective this was
the largest learning and development initiative.
The company also created an e-learning school under which 3 pillars or schools were
formed – School of Skill Development, School of Management Development
(catering to the mid-management talking about how importance of leadership,
demonstrating leadership skills and handling attrition), School of Leadership
development intended for the senior management teaching them how to handle large
teams, cost management, and to think like a CEO.
Surprisingly, in spite of all these learning related initiatives, EXL scored low when it
came to the number of training days even as under the e-learning initiative around
5,000 employees have already been trained.
On the salary front too the company scored low, not surprisingly since the average
salary hike was less than 10%. However, the company is quick to point out that it is
all for rewarding outstanding performers and wouldn’t mind shelling out the money
for the exceptionally talented.
On the transparency front, the company comes out te winner thanks t its policy of
publishing the company policy related documents on its Intranet ‘Planet EXL’, an
informative page featuring employee blogs. In fact the company also takes into
account the feedback on any new policy put out on the Intranet.
One aspect wherein EXL has come out trumps is the gender inclusivity parameter
thanks to its gender diversity policy and a robust redressal system in employees being
of the fairer sex.
73
Table 2.10: Rank of Employee Feedback-EXL SERVICES
Employee Feedback Industry Rank
High Rating +
I would definitely recommend this company to close friends 6
The company’s policies and procedure are open and
transparent and create a positive work environment 4
I feel a sense of belongingness in this company 7
Low Rating -
I am satisfied with the kind of salary hikes I get 9
I am satisfied with number of days of training that is given to
me in a year 10
I am satisfied with perks and benefits available to me 9
Source: Data Quest, Volume XXX, No. 20, Oct. 2009
10) FIS GLOBAL
Health is Happiness
Effectiveness of initiatives was the key concern to ensure wealth of the organization,
and health of the employees
FIS Global moved up 2 positions taken pots aggressive employee engagement
policies. The clubbing of IT and BPO HR in Gurgaon and the Philippines facility is a
big step which will be implemented in 2011l Now Chennai is on the cards and
Chandigarh and Bengaluru may also do the same if a business need arises.
HR initiatives in 2011 earmarked he importance of growth and engagement of
employees to meet business objectives of profitability and timely delivery. In 2010-
11, and Effective Live Cycle Management program was rolled out with a 30-day
induction program for each employee, with top management’s invention. Although
ranked #13 on the parameter of training, yet more training programs have been
designed at all levels of employees to ensure skill development and career mapping
and progression opportunities.
Employee engagement initiatives such as Voice of employee including skip and pulse
meetings were adopted. However 3 employee recognition activities were launched in
FY 10: FIS is You – reward and recognition program, Employee appreciation Week,
74
and FIS All Inclusive Management awards (FAIM). In addition, fun and learning
activities, including health and sports week, kept the employees in high spirits.
Apart from last year’s activities [Ladders in Learning, Team coach Orientation
program (TCOP), Team Leader Orientation program (TLOP), FIS introduced lesser
number of programs but focused on their effectiveness. Program and action Learning
and Tuition assistance Program (TAP) were rolled out to benefit all levels of
management and encourage enrollments in certification programs. Since salaries of
employees are benchmarked every year to attract and retain the best talent of the
market, therefore in FY10 appraisal budget was increased by 10%.
On the parameter of gender inclusivity, FIS ranks low #12, as it does not have any
separate policy for women employees. It provides flexible work option to managers,
but not toit’s almost 26% female employees. Steps such as health awareness and
checkup programs in association with MaxHospitals, and guidance on saving and
financial planning were also provided to employees.
Table 2.11: Rank of Employee Feedback-FIS GLOBAL
Employee Feedback Industry Rank
High Rating +
Special initiatives and efforts ae duly recognized at the time of
appraisal 12
I am paid enough for the work I do in this company 9
I am getting paid at par with industry standards 9
Low Rating -
The appraisal system in the company is fair 13
The company is very open to ideas and suggestion gives by
employees 14
I have exciting growth opportunities in this company 13
Source: Data Quest, Volume XXX, No. 20, Oct. 2009
11) eCLERX SERVICES
Quality Matters
Investment on its diverse business lines and workforce has paid rich dividends, and
sustained growth even during the global slowdown
e-clerx Services is a surprise entry in the DQ-CMR BPO E-Sat survey 2011. But more
appreciable was its survival after the bankruptcy declared by Lehman brothers (its
75
major client) and it outperforming its peers with a 68% growth rate in FY09,
maintaining an average growth rate of 44% in the past 4 years. Not only its ability to
manage its clients’ rapidly growing businesses, but its consistent employee
development initiatives have resulted in its strong positioning in the BPO industry
with big clients in the kitty.
e-Clerx has successfully adopted integrated approach (Knowledge Management and
Leadership Development) to ensure skill development at all levels. The employee
development initiatives included: leadership Grooming senior management,
Knowledge management and Learning Development activities, and Employee Reach-
out and Development initiatives for the middle and lower levels. In FY10, e-Clerx
was appraised to level 3of People Capability Maturity Model (PCMM) due to which
its 13 process areas and 291 people practices were benchmarked against the PCMM
framework.
e-Clerx deploys 2 categories of training –subject matter training and leadership
training. It has tied up[ with Symbiosis Institute, Pune for MBA programs for middle
and lower level managers; and with SP Jain for executive MBAs for the senior
management.
e-clerx score very well in assessing the employees through its 2 cycles of the appraisal
system: April – for regular work and compensation appraisal and September – only
work. For top management, the first phase of the 360 degree feedback system has
been rolled out and will follow training and intervention: and a 6-month executive
coaching program through KPMC’s HR advisory team. Middle management
assessment identifies training and development needs and career mapping. The
engineers in the organization are appraised bi-monthly on the basis of their
performance matrix.
Its small size and the type of business does not give too much opportunity to e-Clerx
to employ a large number of women, hence it is low on gender inclusivity. However
through the Women’s Club it promotes women empowerment, recruitment, and flexi-
timings for female managers.
76
Table 2.12: Rank of Employee Feedback-eCLERX SERVICES
Employee Feedback Industry Rank
High Rating +
I am satisfied with the kind of salary hikes I get 1
Special initiatives and efforts are duly recognized at the time
of appraisal 5
I would definitely recommend this company to close friends
of mine seeking employment 4
Low Rating -
I am satisfied with the quality of training the company
provides 15
The training given to me I relevant to the kind of work I do 14
I am satisfied with number of days of training that is given to
me in a year 14
Source: Data Quest, Volume XXX, No. 20, Oct. 2009
12) KNOAH SOLUTION
People Centric
While Knoah Solutions lost some ground but its focus on people, compensation, and
employee engagement augurs well as one looks ahead
While looking at the scores of Knoah Solutions, it appears that there have been
significant changes from 2010. In 2010 the compensation part was by and large not an
issue, but in FY11 it became the focal point, which gets amply reflected in the scores
related to salary hikes, and perks given to the employees. The company acknowledges
this and says it has already initiated an organization – wise salary correction and
brought in some key changes in its appraisal systems. However the HR head clarifies
that the lower ratings on salary might be due to employees;’ attitude of comparing
competitive salaries without making a distinction between gross and variable
components.
In addition to salary correction, the company is also fine-tuning its appraisal
processes, and has brought in more uniformity by adopting a standard year-end cycle
by phasing out individualistic y-o-y pattern – for instance, in the old system an
employee was apprised as per his or her joining date every year. With the new system
the company hopes to achieve parity in the appraisal process and effective address of
77
issues such as hikes, benefits, etc. The company has also launched a ‘Performance
Linked Potential Incentive Program’ that’s expected to go well with the employees.
Interestingly, last year employees asked for more transparency in the appraisal
process.
Knoah has consistently topped in the parameters related to people and the ht head
attributes that to the company’s fundamental and core values that revolve around
giving respect to the individual. This was reflected in the scores as well with
employees rating high on parameters such as ‘sense of belonging to the company’.
Another area that halted the steep slide was training that got the top scores. The
company’s HR head says that Knoah invests significant time and attention in the
training part and employees are given relevant on the job training on business
communication, processes, language usage, and a whole lot of other skills.
Table 2.13: Rank of Employee Feedback- KNOAH SOLUTION
Employee Feedback Industry Rank
High Rating +
The training given to me is relevant to the kind of work I do 11
I feel a sense of belonging in this company 14
I am satisfied with the quality of training the company
provides 12
Low Rating -
The perk and benefits I get in this company are relevant to
me 15
I am satisfied with the kind of salary hikes I get 15
I am satisfied with the perks and benefits available to me 15
Source: Data Quest, Volume XXX, No. 20, Oct. 2009
13) HINDUJA GLOBAL
For a Better Tomorrow
The company introduced ne3w policies and processes, revisited salary structure, and
used IT as differentiator
The past few months tuned out to be action packed for the HR team at Hinduja Global
solutions. Other than introducing new policies and processes, the company launched
an IT, administration and HR helpdesk, and developed around 2-3 associates in every
location to look after needs of transportation, infrastructure, and other grievances. It
78
also introduced an automated system for appraisals that incorporated KRA sheet,
performance review, job description and many other features. According to the team,
this was to bring more transparency, which had been a major concern. Interestingly,
the company follows the hiring recruitment process through SLAs with predefined
processes for offers, joining numbers, etc.
One of the major highlight was the new salary policy, wherein the performance
incentive was combined with the salary, i.e., the fixed and variable components were
merged, increasing the monthly take home. The company defines salary and hikes on
2 major parameters – location and experience, and not the percentage increase. It has
different packages for each tier-1, -2 and -3 cities. Similarly, every level/designation
in the hierarchy has a uniform package.
They introduced retention incentives for the teams, involving the team leads of the
various projects. Starting Q1 2011, all the team leads were evaluated and the teams
with 100% retention rate were awarded. In the last quarter around 8 teams (15-20)
people each) qualified for the awards. Keeping in line with the industry, HCS too
witnesses a rise in internal hiring. In the last one year, only 15% of the lateral hires
came from the market, while the remaining were internal hires. Various focused
attempts at retention helped HCS achieve 81% retention.
HCS launched a few employee engagement programs in addition to its existing on the
job training. The company also partners with an agency to provide soft skill training,
counseling etc. It deployed one HR/counseling person in almost all locations barring
3, which were launched recently.
While training emerged as its strong point, HCS received quite a low rating on salary,
appraisal, work culture and job content. However with fresh initiatives in these areas
the company is poised to grab a much higher position in the next survey.
79
Table 2.14: Rank of Employee Feedback- HINDUJA GLOBAL
Employee Feedback Industry Rank
High Rating +
I am satisfied with number of days of training that is given to
me in a year 4
The training given in this company genuinely helps me in my
professional and personal growth 4
I am satisfied with the quality of training the company
provides 6
Low Rating -
The appraisal parameters are well thought out an relevant 14
The appraisal system in the company is fair 14
I am satisfied with the kind of salary hikes I get 14
Source: Data Quest, Volume XXX, No. 20, Oct. 2009
14) SYNTEL
Strong Career Moves
By sculpting growth paths of its talented employees, Syntel has ensured that it
achieves employee satisfaction
Syntel’s ability to take its trained employees to the next level of growth owing to its
IT-BPO advantage has helped retain experienced professionals a well as ensure
employee satisfaction. This speaks volume of the attrition rate of approximately 22%
where the KPO domain loses the crème de la crème to its IT functions. However all
ranking.
The company follows a unique system of rating, wherein the ratings in the appraisal
system is decided upon by the heads of various departments, thus making it a more
transparent function. Through the effectiveness of the appraisal system the top 50
talented professionals are brought to the surface, whose career the company then sets
out to shape. Since this approach has ensured that the company relations 86% of the
talented staff, hence it scored #10 on the parameter of appraisal system.
In order to ensure that the employees perform in accordance to their set goals, training
is provided on a regular basis, as reflected in its score of #12 on this parameter. Apart
from domain training for the newer breed to the bandwagon, even lean training and
80
self-improvement lessons are imparted. Training is given utmost importance, as it
helps the company weed out unproductive skills and offer the best to its clients. Even
cash awards and certificates are awarded to boost employee morale.
On the completion of the training, as a morale-boosting measure the CEO distributes
the certificate as a n acknowledgment of the efforts make. In fact, on a monthly basis
the global CEO (Prashanth Ranade) connects with the employees by lending an ear to
their woes or accepting even queries. Similarly, the ‘Pulse sessions’ conducted on a
monthly basis assist the board members to connect better with the employees. Also, it
organizes Syntel Talent Engagement Program (STEP) and SYNFIT (health program)
for the benefit of employees. Last but not the least; the company intends to add a
feedback-driven culture to its functioning.
Table 2.15: Rank of Employee Feedback-SYNTEL
Employee Feedback Industry Rank
High Rating +
Special initiatives and efforts are duly recognized at the time of
appraisal 11
The appraisal system in the company is transparent 11
I feel a sense of belongingness in this company 13
Low Rating -
I am getting paid at par with industry standards 14
The perks and benefits I get in this company are relevant to me 14
I am satisfied with the perks and benefits available to me 14
Source: Data Quest, Volume XXX, No. 20, Oct. 2009
15) ANTHELIO BUSINESS TECH
Unity in Diversity
The management, through its inclusive policies, puts emphasis on both diversity of
talent as well as gender
In the last one year, Anthelio Business Technologies has grown in strength; literally,
from an employee base of 4 it has reached 400 in the healthcare business alone. But
what makes Anthelio stand out from the rest is that unlike other healthcare out
sourcing companies that cater to physicians, Anthelio is catering to the IT
requirements of North American hospitals. In order to build upon this unique
81
opportunity, it has even stated partnering with the educational institutions to
strengthen the supply side of the industry.
Sourcing talent from across India, the company is clear on its focus of bringing in a
diversity of talent, although it does give preference to Hyderabad based colleges but
only since healthcare talent abounds there. Currently, in partnership with 30 odd
colleges including Thapar Institute, it sources talent from as far away as the North
East and Central India’s engineering colleges, medical colleges, management
colleges, nursing schools and even veterinary colleges.
The company even bagged the NASSCOM NEXT Practices award for promoting
innovation and entrepreneurship.
Not just diversity of talent, the Anthelio management also emphasizes on gender
diversity s well with 30% of its workforce being women and most of the recent hires
at the executive level being women.
Surprisingly, when it comes to company culture, Anthelio has been ranked at #10
even though its policies are designed by the employees themselves. Stressing that its
work culture should be enjoyable and safe, it follows the 3 principles of ‘Simplicity,
Passion, and Lage Raho’. The company follows a ‘first name’ culture and an open
feedback mechanism wherein any employee can write to the CEO.
There has been a lot of emphasis by Anthelio on its training, putting in a lot of
investment, in a lot of investment; in fact 4% of its overall revenues were invested in
training this year. It even put into place an e-learning platform. While certain training
programs are mandatory, the company stresses on e-learning for its employees and
on-the-job training instead of classroom training programs. In its leadership programs
too, experiential training is encouraged which can go up to 6 months. Rightly so,
Anthelio calls this training program mix as Learning and Development.
82
Table 2.16: Rank of Employee Feedback-ANTHELIO BUSINESS TECH
Employee Feedback Industry Rank
High Rating +
I am paid enough for the work I do in this company 2
I am satisfied with the kind of salary hikes I get 4
The perks and benefits I get in this company are relevant to
me 4
Low Rating -
I am satisfied with number of days of training that is given to
me in a year 8
I have exciting growth opportunities in this company 8
The culture of the company is such that it creates very
positive work environment 10
Source: Data Quest, Volume XXX, No. 20, Oct. 2009
83
REFERENCES
Anandkumar, V., Biswas, S. (2008). Business Process Outsourcing. Response Books publication.
Anonymous (2004). Transforming Your Business Through IT and Business Process Outsourcing. Insurance & Technology, (29)7, Jul 2004: 35.
Anonymous. (2008). Focus on the World Business Process Outsourcing Market. Business Wire (New York), 16 Dec, 2008.
Anonymous. (2009). Research and markets: Business Process Outsourcing- a World Market Analysis . Business Wire (New York), 2 Dec, 2009.
Anonymous. (2009). Research and markets: 2009 Trends to Watch in Business Process Outsourcing. Business Wire (New York), 27 Feb, 2009.
Anonymous. (2011). Global Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Industry. PR
Newswire [New York], 2 Dec. 2009.
Balle, M. (1995). The Business Process Re-engineering Action Kit. Kogan Page.
Banerjee, D. (2008). BPO/KPO – The Marketing Issues. In Gopal, R and Manjrekar, P. (Ed.), BPO/ KPO Management: an industry perspective. Excel Books, New Delhi.
Bardhan, I., Mithas, S. and Lin, S. (2007). Performance Impacts of Strategy, Information Technology Applications and Business Process Outsourcing in U.S. Manufacturing Plants. Production and Operations management (16)6,
Nov./Dec. 2007):747-762.
Beverakis, G., Dick, G. N., Cecez-Kecmanovic, D. (2009). Taking Information Systems Business Process Outsourcing Offshore: The Conflict of Comprtition and Risk. Journal of Global Information Management (17)1, Jan.-Mar. 2009:32-48.
Bhargava H., and Thokchom, B., (2009). Data Security Issues in the ITES / BPO Sector. Data Quest Journal, vol. XXVII, .no. 5
Bhargava, H. and Anshul Bharti, (2008). Rural BPO: An Entrepreneurial Opportunity. Data Quest Journal, vol. XXVI, .no. 10.
Bhargava, H. and Kumar D. (2007). BPO’s Process and Challenges, ICFAI University Press, Hyderabad.
Bhargava, H., (2010).BPOs: Emerging Processes and Challenges. Data Quest
Journal, vol. XXVIII, .no. 9
Bhargava, H., and Gupta, A. (2008). Outsourcing of Insurance claims processing. Data Quest Journal, vol. XXVI, .no. 1.
84
Bhargava, H., and Naug, S. (2008). SLA Compliance in Level 2 Technical Support. In Gopal, R and Manjrekar, P. (Ed.), BPO/ KPO Management: an industry
perspective. Excel Books, New Delhi.
Bhargava, H., and Srinivas, U., (2010). Outsourcing R&D in the Pharma Sector. Data
Quest Journal, vol. XXVIII, .no. 23.
Bhargava, H.,(2010). BPOs: Emerging Processes and Challenges. Data Quest
Journal, vol. XXVIII, .no. 4.
Bhattacharyya, R. and Kohli, S. (2010). Women Empowerment – Role of the BPO Sector. Data Quest Journal, vol. XXVIII, .no. 17.
Bhinde, R., (2008). Knowledge Process Outsourcing Industry in India – Another Viewpoint. In Gopal, R and Manjrekar, P. (Ed.), BPO/ KPO Management: an
industry perspective. Excel Books, New Delhi.
BPO India (2004), “Attrition in Indian BPO Industry” http://www.bpoindia.org/reserch/attrition.shtml
BPO Potential in the Insurance Sector by S. C. Das
Brache, A.P. & Rummler, G.A., (1990). Improving Performance: How to Manage the White Space on the Organization Chart. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Brights Call Centre BPO’s Recruitment Manual by Pankaj K. Sinha.
Business Editors. (2009). E- Business Process Outsourcing Paving the Way for Virtual Corporations of the Future. Business Wire (New York), 28 Oct., 1999:1.
Buxbaum, P.A. (1995). The horizontal company. Transportation and Distribution, (June, 1995), 36, 82.
Chakravorty B(2005), “BPO E-Sat 2005”, Dataquest, PP.22-28 available at www.iseva.com/news-events/downloads/iseva-The-prefered-employer.pdf.
Chaudhary, L.P. (2009). R.M. in Business. A.K. Publications, New Delhi.
Choudhary, D., and Bhargava, H., (2010). Financial Services Outsourcing to Indian BPOs. Data Quest Journal, vol. XXVIII, .no. 9.
Cite HR Human Resource Management Community, available at http://www.citehr.com/hr-stratergy -vt25866.html.
Copacino, W. C. (2002). Take a look at business process outsourcing. Logistics
Management(2002)(42)7, Jul. 2003:70.
Daityari, A., Saini, A. K., Gupta, R. (2008). Control of Business Process Outsourcing Relationships. Journal of Management Research (8)1, Apr. 2008: 29-44.
Dash, J. (2001). Business Process Outsourcing. Computerworld, (35)1, Jan1,2001: 43.
85
Data Quest, Volume XXIX, No. 20, Oct. 2009
Davenport, T. H. (1993). Process Innovation: Reengineering Work through Information Technology. Boston MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Dhar, M., Kazi,Z. Dhokalia, P., (2008). The Changing Hues of the Off shoring Industry. In Gopal, R and Manjrekar, P. (Ed.), BPO/ KPO Management: an
industry perspective. Excel Books, New Delhi.
Dukart, J. R. (2003). Business Process Outsourcing on the rise. AIIM E – Doc
magazine (17)5, Sep./Oct. 2003: 34-37.
Dzever, S., Gupta, B. (2012). Business Process Outsourcing industry in India: Additional benefits of a CSR approach. Asian Business & Management, suppl.
Special issue: The Evolving Nature of Corporate Social, (11)3, Jul.2012: 273-289.
Edge in BPO Sector – A Threat Analysis
Gewald, H. (2010). The perceived benefits of business process outsourcing: An empirical study of the German banking industry. Strategic Outsourcing: an
International Journal (3)2, 2010:89-105.
Gopal, A. (2008). Engineering MIS for strategic Business Process. Excel Books, New Delhi.
Greenemeire, L. (2002). Business Process Outsourcing grows. Information Week 871,
Jan 14, 2002:49.
Gupta, V. (2006). Call Centre/ BPO Training Course Kit. Dreamtech press, New Delhi.
Henri B., (2010). Employee is the King : Exploring Various Issues and Challenges of BPO Companies. Data Quest Journal, vol. XXVIII, .no. 14.
Henri, B. (2010). Employee is the king Exploring Various Issues and Challenges of BPO Companies. Data Quest Journal, vol. XXVIII, .no. 5.
Hodges, M., and Block, D. (2005). Business Process Outsourcing: Current Trends and Best Practices. Contract Management (45)1, Jan. 2005): 8-17.
Imai, Masaaki (1986), Kaizen: The Key to Japan’s Competitive Success. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Publishing Co.
Jain, S. (2006). Guide to BPO and IT Jobs. BPB publications.
Jaworski, B.J. & Kohli, A.K. (1993). Market orientation: Antecedents and consequences. Journal of Marketing, vol.57. (July 1993). 53-70.
Jayraman, M. S. (2002). Business Process Re-engineering. T M H Publications Compony, New Delhi.
86
Kalse, A. (2008). Emotional Intelligence: Leading Performance Dimensions – A Study on Executives in Mumbai. In Gopal, R and Manjrekar, P. (Ed.), BPO/
KPO Management: an industry perspective. Excel Books, New Delhi.
Kannan, S. (2010). KPO A Facet of IPR. Data Quest Journal, vol. XXVIII, .no. 5.
Kapanen, A. (2008). Roebuck, K. (2011). Business Process Outsourcing. Vdm Verlag publication.
Kapur, R., and Srikant, A., (2009). Outsourcing Chip Design: The Indian Perspective. Data Quest Journal, vol. XXVII, .no. 22
Khan, J.A., (2007). RM. A.P.H. Publishing Corporation, New Delhi.
Khandelival, D., Korat, K., and Bhargava, H., (2008). Medical Diagnosis as a BPO Segment. Data Quest Journal, vol. XXVI, .no. 10.
Kohlbacher, M. and Gruenwald S. (2011): Process orientation: conceptualization and measurement. Business Process Management Journal 17(2), pp. 267-283.
Kothari, C.R. (2004). R.M. Methods and Techniques. New Age International pvt. Ltd. Publishers, New Delhi.
Krishna Kishore Puranam, (2008). Outsourcing in Financial Services: Mitigating the Risk. Kumar, D. and Mongain, A., (2008). Quality Assurance – A BPO Perspective.
Krishna, S. J. (2004). Business Process Management-Concepts & Cases. ICFAI University Press, Hyderabad.
Kumar, D.,(2011). Analytics: The Emerging Area in KPO. Data Quest Journal, vol.
XXIX, .no. 3.
Lacity, M. C., Stan, S., Yan, A., Willcocks, L. P. (2011). Business Process Outsourcing studies : a critical review and research directions. Journal of
Information Technology, (26) 4, Dec. 2011: 221-258.
Manjarekar, P. and Agerawal, A. (2008). Employee-sensitive BPO Branding – A Case Study Approach. In Gopal, R and Manjrekar, P. (Ed.), BPO/ KPO
Management: an industry perspective. Excel Books, New Delhi.
Manjarekar, P. and Agerawal, A. (2009). 360 Degree Appraisal System in BPO Industry. Data Quest Journal, vol. XXVII, .no. 5
Manjarekar, P. and Aggrawal, A. (2008). Employee sensitive BPO|KPO Branding-A case Study Approach. In Gopal, R and Manjrekar, P. (Ed.), BPO/ KPO
Management: an industry perspective. Excel Books, New Delhi.
Mathew, T.V. , Peris, N. Bhosale, S. and Manlrekar, P. (2008).Consumption and Saving Habits of the Individuals Employed in the IT enabled BPO industries. Data Quest Journal, vol. XXVI, .no. 9.
87
Mathew, T.V., Peris, N., Bhosale S. and Manjrekar, P. (2009). Consumption and Saving Habits of the Individuals. Data Quest Journal, vol. XXVII, .no. 16.
May, A. S. (1998). Business Process Outsourcing: A new test of management competence. Career Development International (3)4, 1998: 136-141.
Mehrotra, N. (2005). Business Process Outsourcing- The Indian Experience. ICFAI University Press, Hyderabad.
Mehta A, armenakis A, Mehta N and Irani F (2006),” Challenges and opportunities of Business Process Outsourcing in India”, Journal of labour Reserch,Vol.27,No.3 PP,324-33
Nakkiran, S. (Ed.) (2004). Business Process Management. Deep and Deep Publications, New Delhi.
NASSCOM (2004), “Indian ITES-BPO Industry” NASSCOM Analysis,India, www.nasscom.org,
Neale Helan (2004), “Offshore BPO Delivery”, Nelson-Hall BPO and outsourcing Subscription service, Nelson-Hall, www.nelson-hall.com
Panneerselvannum, R. (2011). R. M. PHI Learning Private Ltd, New Delhi.
Pareek, R. Srinivasan, Tripathi,S. and Sharma, P. (2008). BPO in India the Road Ahead. In Gopal, R and Manjrekar, P. (Ed.), BPO/ KPO Management: an
industry perspective. Excel Books, New Delhi.
Pareek, R., Srinivasan, R., Tripathi, S. and Sharma, P. (2008). BPO in India, the Road Ahead. In Gopal, R and Manjrekar, P. (Ed.), BPO/ KPO Management:
an industry perspective. Excel Books, New Delhi.
Peppard, J. (2002). The Essence of Business Process Re-engineering. P H I Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.
Porter, M.E. (1985), Competitive Advantage: Creating & Sustaining Superior Performance. New York, NY: The Free Press.
Pradeep Kumar, Ed. (2011). R.M.- A Brief Survey. Global Publication, New Delhi.
Prakash S and Chowdhury R (2004) “Meaning Attrition in BPO”, In searchof excellence, Cool avenues, http://www.coolavenues.com/know/hr/s_1.php,
R. Gopal and Mohan Ram. D. (2010). HRD Issues Related to Call Centers. Data
Quest Journal, vol. XXVIII, .no. 9.
R. Gopal, Mohan Ram D.(2009). The Key Issues Involved in BPO / KPO Sector. Data Quest Journal, vol. XXVII, .no. 12
Raghwan, G. Das, A. and R. Gopal, (2008). Challenges in the BPO Industry. In Gopal, R and Manjrekar, P. (Ed.), BPO/ KPO Management: an industry
perspective. Excel Books, New Delhi.
88
Rajmanohar, T. (2007). Business Process Outsourcing-Growth and Country. ICFAI University Press, Hyderabad.
Ramnath, R. and Shetty, K., (2011). Attrition in the Indian BPO Industry : A Big Challenge. Data Quest Journal, vol. XXIX, .no. 4.
Rangana Ghatak, (2008) How to Attain Sustainable Growth in the BPO Sectors in India : An HR Perspective. In Gopal, R and Manjrekar, P. (Ed.), BPO/ KPO
Management: an industry perspective. Excel Books, New Delhi.
Roebuck, K. (2011). Business Process Outsourcing: High –Impact Strategies. Tebbo publication.
Saravanavel, R. (2007). Research Methodology. Kitab mahal, New Delhi.
Saxena, K. (2007). Business Process Outsourcing for strategic advantage. Excel Books, New Delhi.
Senthamizh Selven P., Srinivasa R. S., and Bhargava, H., (2009). Managing the Supply Chain through Outsourcing. Data Quest Journal, vol. XXVII, .no. 11
Shanthi, B. and Bhargava, H. (2008). Social Impact of Outsourcing Industry. Data
Quest Journal, vol. XXVI, .no. 17.
Sharma J.H., (2007). Research Methodology. Deep and Deep Publication Pvt.Ltd. New Delhi.
Sharma S (2004) ‘High Attrition Rate: A Big Challenge” www.bpoindia.org/reserch/attrition-rate-big-challenge.html
Sharma, N. K. (2010). Research Methodology. KSK Publishers and distributors, New Delhi.
Shrivastava, A.(2008). Attrition and Retention of Employees in BPO Sector. Data
Quest Journal, vol. XXVI, .no. 17.
Sinha, P. K., and Bright, P.S., (2011). Call Centre & BPO Recruitment manual. Bright Publications, New Delhi.
Sople, V. V. (2012). Business Process Outsourcing. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.
Souibki, K. (2008). Business Process Outsourcing. Vdm Verlag publication.
Srinivasan, R. and Srivastace, R. K. (2008). Evolution of BPO in India. In Gopal, R and Manjrekar, P. (Ed.), BPO/ KPO Management: an industry perspective. Excel Books, New Delhi.
Suresh, K. (2004). Business Process OutsourcingVol. II – An Indian. ICFAI University Press, Hyderabad.
89
T V S Rajeev Alochana and Bhargava, H., (2009). Performance Appraisal System in BPOs: A Field Study. Data Quest Journal, vol. XXVII, .no. 5
Venkat Ram R. T., (2009). India’s Global Competitive. Data Quest Journal, vol.
XXVII, .no. 12
Vijay, M. Vazirani, N. (2008). A Perception Study of the Indian BPO Sector. In Gopal, R and Manjrekar, P. (Ed.), BPO/ KPO Management: an industry
perspective. Excel Books, New Delhi.
Vora, M. (2010). Best Practices in Business Process Outsourcing. Financial
Executive. (26) 5, Jun 2010: 44-47.
Weth, A. (2007). Business Process Outsourcing. Grin Verlag publication.
Willcocks, L., Hindle, J., Feeny, D. and Lacity, M. (2004). IT and Business Process Outsourcing: The Knowledge Potential. Information System management
(21)3, Summer 2004:7-15.
Yellojiin, N. (2009). Animation Outsourcing: Issues and Challenges. Data Quest
Journal, vol. XXVII, .no. .13