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`Improving attrition levels saves big money for the company'

MR V. K. RAMAN, CEO of Global Realty Outsourcing India Pvt Ltd, Chennai, addressing students of a post-graduate diploma course of the Madras School of Social Work, Chennai, at a Business Line Club lecture

Chennai , May 21

What can a chartered accountant do in the HR field? Can he be an effective CEO in an industry where human resources planning is a major problem because of high levels of attrition? What strategies does he adopt to retain employees? Is he able to concentrate on other aspects of human resource development when faced with attrition on one hand and the pressure to recruit more graduates to meet the increasing demand for outsourcing from India on the other?

These are some of the questions students of P.G. Honours Diploma in Personnel Management & Industrial Relations of Madras School of Social Work, Chennai (many of whom are practising executives and managers), put to Mr V. K. Raman, CEO of Global Realty Outsourcing India Pvt Ltd, Chennai, at a lecture organised by the Business Line club. He replied, "Earlier, 35 out of 200 used to leave us within six months, but now only six out of 200 employees leave us in six months. Attrition is down by 80 per cent." He added that in the BPO and KPO industries, attrition is "something to plan for before we recruit. We interview 150 candidates, but we select only 15 candidates, that is 10 per cent.

"We don't give job letters to everybody. We make sure that our prospective employees feel that they join a very important company. We remind our prospective employees two days in advance either through phone or e-mail. We ask our prospective employees to come with their parents. I speak to them in Tamil about what we do, how we decide on things, the career and growth prospects, why we invited them and then ask them whether they want their ward to join us. We also tell them that `we are not selecting you, you are selecting us,' " he continued. Nearly 40 per cent of his company's employees are recruited through a referral programme.

HR practices affect bottom line. Recruitment and training are costly. Improving attrition levels saves big money for the company. "If attrition comes down, we can move into other aspects like HR development," Mr Raman said. Speaking to employees after six months helps gain feedback on the organisation's performance. Sometimes, even trivial issues affect employee morale and lead to attrition _ change of place/seat, pantry, air-conditioning equipment management and the like, he said.

He downplayed the night shifts and long hours of exposure to computers as reasons for attrition on the grounds that they are a part and parcel of the IT industry and that employees have taken to this field out of choice. Also present on the occasion were Mr C. Chandramohan, co-ordinator, Prof S. Aravindan, faculty member, and Mr S. Sridhar, Assistant Regional General Manager (Circulation), The Hindu, Chennai.

More Stories on : Human Resources | Outsourcing | Tamil Nadu

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