| For two weeks now, Uday Kumar Varma has been "unavailable" to the press. Last month, the director of the Noida-based V V Giri National Labour Institute had published an excoriating report on call centre outfits, likening them to 19th century prisons. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Having set the cat among the pigeons with a "case study" that refers to business process organisations as "sweatshops", the civil servant has resorted to the one thing the subjects of the study do not have the leisure of "" blinking off his telephone line. Varma should be glad he doesn't work in a call centre where he might have been fired for negligence of duty. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| It is ironic that the National Labour Institute should be making a case out of virtue and transparency. Call centre agents, the report points out, are always being policed. They aren't allowed the indulgence of being late over lunch, or delaying the taxi at the designated pick-up point. Why, even their professional calls can be monitored "" isn't that, it seems to suggest, an infringement of your rights? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Any wonder the $5.8 billion industry is up in arms? Stung by the allegations it says are the cornerstones of any call centre operation, the industry has been quick to respond to the institutes unfair whinings.
Now, if only Varma were to pick up his phone, he might find that that Parul Duggal Sharma, manager with Genpact, would have him know that far from being inflexible, the company has more than made room to accommodate her and plan her long-term career. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parul joined Genpact as an associate in 1999. For two and a half years she worked the graveyard shift, joining the inhouse voluntary group (aimed at making the night shift enjoyable) when monotony set in. She was promoted and moved to the communications department. Later, when she married and her husband was at sea, Parul shifted to remote Dalhousie (in Himachal Pradesh) to be with her in-laws. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No problem, said Genpact; she was given a laptop and a VPN connection to log on to the company server, so she could be with her family as well as continue to work for the company. No wonder she's back at its Gurgaon office, this time as a full-time manager. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Is Parul's case an isolated one, or does it represent the majority view of an industry that has been plagued with high attrition rates, and accusations of working under constant stress without long-term service benefits? Does it continue to attract young grads with the glamour of MNC workplaces and salaries, only to lose them to regular jobs? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| At Genpact's office, six clocks loom large in the mall-like building, their arms pointing to corresponding times in London, Budapest, Sydney, New York, Tokyo and New Delhi, suggesting the international nature of BPOs or, as their high-end versions are referred to, KPOs (business or knowledge processing organisations; for those who continue to be mystified about the nature of such jobs, think of the service people you call every time your internet broadband collapses, or you need to freeze your credit card, or apply for a loan, or need to ask someone how to plug in the computer printer "" these calls go through to agents at a call centre who log your complaints/problems and offer solutions). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| For every Parul, of course, there are workers like Priya Sinha (name changed) who quit after six months of joining a KPO job in Gurgaon. Her annual salary package in the KPO was over Rs 8 lakh, substantially higher than her previous job. Besides, she got medical facilities, sick, casual and earned leaves, group insurance, and was a member of a pension fund. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| But after four months she tired of the long hours and high pressure. "Initially, I was given six hours to complete an assignment; then it was compressed to four hours, and finally just three hours. But the quality checks remained just as stringent. I couldn't take the pressure so I quit," says Priya. Yet, she misses the BPO's excellent work environment, infrastructure and logistical support. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jayesh Kumar (name changed) doubled his salary when he joined a KPO from a media company and is hanging on to the job. "Everything else is fine," he cribs, "if only I could get rid of the night shift, and if my clients would realise that sometimes there are problems of phone lines jamming, or not getting access to the remote servers." But if his clients demand timely delivery and strict quality adherence for which they're more than willing to compensate him with twice the market rate, why should he complain? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Or take the case of Amit Navami who quit a call centre to join Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) in Noida. "I wanted to get rid of the call centre tag, night shifts and the perception that call centre executives only drink, smoke, party and are not serious about their future." He did have professional issues too, he admits, but he was still able to land the CSC job without any formal degree in IT. "I was dealing with clients like Wipro and Microsoft and developed IT skills on the job," he says. Hs call centre stint not only saved him the Rs 30,000-40,000 he might have had to pay for the training, he actually got paid while he learnt on the job. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Similarly, Shruti Kandelwal (name changed) made the transition from a call centre to, hold your breath, Microsoft without a formal IT degree: "While the BPO job gave me a two-fold jump, my present job will give me a three- to four-fold jump," she enthuses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Increasingly, BPOs find themselves going out on a limb to retain executives. At Infosys's BPO arm, Progeon, in Bangalore, a "fun officer" has been part of the solution. "We recognise most people do not find night shifts normal, a time when many of their friends may be socialising," says Nandita Gurjar, VP and head of human resources. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No wonder Progeon organises everything from family days to health checks, hair and skincare programmes, and rewards employees who have made exceptional contributions beyond their primary job duties. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Some pampering and a little bit of fun aside, increasingly organisations are finding that a little more education might just be the lure their execs need to stay put. "We've tied up with 20 Indian universities for our executives to attain degrees in software, finance; to do their MBA or post-graduation while they are working with us," says Pramod Bhasin, president and CEO, Genpact. Wipro BPO has signed up universities like BITS Pilani and Symbiosis for offering higher degrees in management and computer engineering. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The benefits for agents are two-fold. Such working students don't have to compete for a seat in the university, and they get paid for getting on-the-job experience "" a must if they decide to apply for an MBA in an American university. "Even a boy or a girl from a family with a modest income can easily meet his/her aspirations," says Raman Roy, former CMD, Wipro Spectramind and founder, AccessIntellect. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| More importantly, such employment is no longer limited to Bangalore or Delhi. Genpact has operations in Jaipur and Hyderabad, Xansa India in Noida and Pune. "We are looking at spreading our operations in tier two and three cities," says Saurabh Srivastava, executive chairman Xansa India. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Agrees Bhasin, who says it is profitable for BPO companies since increasingly quality employment is generated in smaller cities. Even the National Labour Institute report admits that students from states like Bihar and Punjab have a representation of over 8.6 per cent each in the six call centres in Noida that the institute surveyed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| However, there's still the matter of the high ""70 per cent according to the industry; 25-40 per cent according to Nasscom's Strategy Review "" attrition rate. "It is the demand supply mismatch," says Devashish Ghosh, CEO, Wipro BPO, explaining that employees quit for jobs within the industry and heftier pay packets. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The highest attrition is in the voice-related and entry-level jobs, termed frustrating by most. Here, the Labour Institute report may have a point: of the 6,000-odd customer care agents in the six call centres surveyed by it, 90 per cent were engaged in voice-based work (help desk, customer care, sales support). "Which job isn't monotonous or frustrating at the entry level?" disagrees Bhasin with its findings. "I used to spend hours matching tram tickets in Kolkata in my initial years of chartered accountancy." Adds Ghosh, "Those who enter the industry for a joyride will definitely exit; there are no free lunches." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Both Wipro and Progeon have a lower percentage of voice-related jobs. "Our focus is end-to-end outsourcing where voice could be an important but not the dominant part of our horizontal and vertical solutions," says Vijay Menon, VP and head of marketing, Progeon. Even so, Progeon ensures a substantial rotation of jobs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ghosh says frustration sets in when an employee is not recognised for good work: "We at Wipro make sure that employee motivation remains high." The V V Giri Institute report is based on a narrow sample of voice-related businesses in Noida. No wonder the industry itself is dismissive of its findings. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Airlines, hotels, banks, telemarketing "" all service-related jobs are similar in nature. Does that mean all of them chuck up their jobs? After all, you are being rewarded for what you are doing," insists Raman Roy. Too true. Especially when entry level jobs start at Rs 1 lakh per annum, and a two-year seniority means you could be taking home an annual pay packet of Rs 2 lakh, not counting the incentives. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Besides, asks Srivasatava, if middle-aged employees at Accenture or McKinsey or any other consultancy or bank can work as hard, why can't youngsters in call centres take the pressure? Not just that, the industry spends time and money on training, several times more than manufacturing, retail and hospitality. And working conditions in relation with employee qualifications are probably the best in the country. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Is there a case then for a labour union in the BPO industry? Roy rubbishes the suggestion as a Left gimmick. Laughs Srivastava of Xansa: "There is a debate about creating a labour union in the BPO services to take care of attrition. But here nobody is laying off workers; in fact, we are constantly asking employees to stay back." But C S Venkata Raman, director, International Management Institute, says the fear of unionisation stems from the sector's vulnerability: "Employers fear it will destroy the competitiveness of the industry." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Even anglicising names is no longer an issue. When Bhagyashree became Barbara and Sandhya became Sandra, "It was the most irritating part of my call centre job. I still work for a multinational corporation but they haven't asked me to change my name," says Shruti. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| But the right of whether to use anglicised or Indian names now rests with the clients. "I was called Ami initially because my clients could not get my first name correct; now it's okay with them if I use my real name," says Amrapali Mukkamala (which is a bit of a mouthful). Increased comfort levels and the value addition provided by Indian call centres are also changing mindsets. Even the phoney accent call centre agents were asked to use is no longer enforced. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Increasingly, pampered call centre execs have less to complain about. And for those who've descended to whining about finding the time to pay their telephone bills, buy train tickets for the parents or file income tax returns, may well find all solutions now lie within the office. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Genpact, for instance, has ATMs, bill drop boxes, a convenience store, a Barista coffee shop, a full-fledged clinic maintained by Apollo, postal facilities, income tax filing, rail and air ticket counters. In addition there is a 24-hour cafeteria (employees are served all three meals free), any number of dispenser machines for tea/coffee, televisions, a gym, a library, and table tennis boards. Similar facilities exist in IBM Daksh's Gurgaon office. "These make life so much more convenient," admits an executive. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| With clients stressing stringent data protection, labour unions pressurising the industry to start a labour union, damaging reports like the V V Giri National Labour Institute's can play havoc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Consider this: Genpact alone employs 14,000 people in the BPO industry in India, and 5,000 together in Hungary, Mexico, China, Romania and the US. Can we afford to lose out on the opportunity? Quit telling the kids to gripe, Mr Varma.
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