Summit musings

Day 2 @ NASSCOM 2008: INDIA LEADERSHIP FORUM

Attrition, the constant thorn in the side of BPO companies, had Pramod Bhasin, CEO, Genpact all worried. "Our employees are taking us for a run. Despite providing for world-class amenities in offices, we still have an attrition rate of 30 per cent," he said. Bhasin also rued: "The employees have too many job options and are willing to jump jobs in lieu of a little more money."

Presentations that refused to run or went haywire were the norm for most eminent speakers at Nasscom India Leadership Forum 2008. Speakers like Adil Zainulbhai, managing director (India) McKinsey & Company had a tough time running his presentation but he still managed to get the audience to applaud for him by quoting from the popular Hollywood movie "Jerry McGuire."

Jerry Rao, chairman, EDS (Asia Pacific Advisory board) and vice-president, GM, EDS India, who was present in the audience at a session on "The New Powers Brokers" made an interesting point when he said, "New wealth and billionaires are being created everyday, all thanks to the information technology (IT) industry. Managing the wealth created by the sector is going to be now a much is now going to be a much more serious business."

Surinder Singh, executive vice-president of Fidelity Employer Services "" "According to the media and many analysts, India captives (MNC subsidiaries that do offshoring work) are either dying or dead. In that case (paraphrasing Mark Twain), you all have gathered at my funeral. However, death of the captives is greatly exaggerated".