The Hindu Business Line : `Time for BPOs, call centres to rebrand themselves'

Ms Hema Sadashivan, who works for a multinational BPO in Bangalore, says that cameras capture her movements all the time. "Even when I have to move from one floor to another, I'm being watched and I have to give an explanation. There's no question of taking printouts or CDs outside."

Mr Raghu, an insurance BPO employee voices similar thoughts. "I have been in the industry since its nascent days and we have got clear instructions on the do and don'ts. I don't think companies take security issues lightly."

Some industry watchers and stakeholders feel this is the right time for BPOs and call centres to rebrand themselves and get out of the `fun' image that they have been projecting so far. Ms Kavitha Reddy, Vice-President, TeamLease, strongly feels that candidates need to be told that call centres and BPOs mean business and these jobs come with a lot of responsibility and accountability.

Says Mr Madan Padaki, Director of MeritTrac Services, a competence assessment company, which does candidate assessment for BPOs, the incident should not send out wrong signals to candidates and employees that a BPO job means easy access to unscrupulous money. "Actually it is not easy to do what Mr Bahree has been alleged to have done. On the contrary, Indian systems and processes are pretty stringent and this incident will only tighten the screws more," he says.

Another outcome of the Sun-Infinity episode will be a demand for rigorous conduct reference and background checks of candidates. Ms Reddy says that in the past, TeamLease has done employee criminal and verification checks through authorised agencies, but in the light of the new development, there could be a huge demand for this. Companies working in critical data-intensive kind of jobs and organisations have demanded this and have spent Rs 3,000 - Rs 4,000 per candidate per verification.

Incidentally, MeritTrac is working on a personality test that will focus on assessing candidate on integrity and ethics aspects. "This test, which clients have been demanding for some time now, should be ready by August this year," he says. MeritTrac has roped in an industrial psychologist to design the test. It will also validate on the past behaviours of candidates. In fact, Nasscom has been working to bring out a Registry of Employees, which should go into pilot stage in the next 2-3 months, according to its President, Mr Kiran Karnik. On the need to have background checks, he says, "Though we cannot make reference checks a conditionality, it'll be in the interest of companies."

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