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Paromita Pain

Women give the thumbs-up to the BPO sector, which they perceive as an equal opportunity employer that also packs in flexibility and a global work environment.

The Stamford, Connecticut-based research firm, Gartner Inc., puts information technology outsourcing and business process outsourcing (BPO) as the fastest-growing areas in the financial services sector. The concept of a BPO in financial circles is not new. But today there is rapid expansion of BPO services into areas that weren't thought of earlier. After finance, IT-enabled services and even medicine, where MBPO (medical BPO) is becoming a byword with Apollo hospitals being the first major Indian player, big business in any sector in India seems unthinkable without the corresponding BPO support. They are the latest, key creators of jobs in the market. In this atmosphere of swift outsourcing of yet more businesses, how has the BPO boom affected the Indian woman professional?

Spread over varied services, BPOs seem to have embraced women from all walks of life, providing a comfortable niche for most.

A challenging option

With over 12 years of experience in HR, and engineering and MBA degrees, Jyothi Menon was with an IT giant before joining Lason India. The challenges offered are addictive. "HR practices in a BPO are very different from those in industry and manufacturing. HR in the ITES (IT-enabled services) space is multi-faceted and needs a combination of human understanding and focussed business management. We are aware that we have these jobs because of the cost advantage and therefore have to deliver optimum results with minimum overheads and costs. Return on investments whether training or other costs or is high along with attrition rates. It's a huge challenge to motivate individuals to stay back. This takes skill and brings out the best in me," she says.

Jayshree Ravi, HR Executive in charge of training, Secova eServices, an HR BPO company, says her incentive is the culture, which "is drastically different from a brick-and-mortar company. A vibrant atmosphere and a culture reminiscent of a campus, drive women like me to be in the BPO industry."

Basic advantages

Diana Christian of Infowavz International, a global BPO solutions provider, says, "Being a fairly new industry it is an equal opportunity employer and is a platform for women to work in a global work environment that helps them grow into various managerial roles by learning people management skills effectively. At all levels the ability to listen, negotiate and build a rapport with people are key skills required and we know how good women are at this. At Infowavz some of our best managers are women. Salaries are good. We work nights in most BPO jobs. This means less commuting hassles! This industry will continue to grow rapidly and take those women who like a challenge a long way."

Usha Pillai, general manager in a service delivery BPO, disproving many of the myths associated with women working in BPOs, says, "Many believe that night shifts are mandatory. Often this is only project dependent. Women can opt for support function roles in IT, training and HR. Companies provide pick-up and drop facilities, so travelling alone is negated."

Uma Sridharan, Head of Training, Nirvana Business Solutions, says she hasn't come across any woman who was denied a promotion because of her gender. "Hard work, tenacity and ability to learn are the ingredients for success here. Women do amazingly well in training and this is the only industry that spends so much on training."

Mala, after her VRS from RBI, applied to various BPOs. "During the screening process, I found consultants politely turning me away stating that I was too experienced to be offered lesser posts. Some would directly state that the avenues were meant strictly for youngsters, and not for pensioners like me." Today she is attached with some software companies. "The shift system enables women to do justice to the home and office. BPOs being taskmasters recognise and provide incentives for good work through a process of quick and fast promotions. In the call centre business, women excel because of female voice modulation, which is captivating and soothing to listeners. In large BPOs, exploitation is a rare phenomenon and every employee has to follow ground rules." But it can occur when the BPOs outsource work to smaller agents, who might squeeze work for poor salaries, keeping a large share for themselves. But the best thing is that some BPOs permit women to work from the home, says Mala.

Sunita Bhuyan, Training Head at Epicenter Technologies, asserts, "BPOs work out different shift patterns to tap a larger resource pool, especially the educated wife and mother who would love to work half a day and be connected to the world outside in an international environment. Most BPOs have a Sexual Harassment Committee and the open culture discourages such negative behaviour to a large extent." For Jyothi, "Challenges today are `unisex' and in such organisations the bottomline remains delivery of results, for I have seen companies removing women as fast as they remove non-performing men."

From the hiring end

Being a global concept, BPOs strive towards an internationalism that reflects on recruitment policies also. Venkat Tadanki, CEO, Secova eServices, says, "Being an international company, we have to maintain global standards in recruitment, and keep the right mix of men and women. Generally, men dominate areas like finance and technology while women are more oriented towards operational aspects. In Secova, nearly 70 per cent of women are involved in operations."

Mala asserts, "This is one avenue open to the country, by which we can command a place in the global market through our efficiency and earn precious foreign exchange for the country. The promises made by the government to provide employment to the teeming millions, especially the youth, will probably be answered by BPOs alone. Being storehouses of employment, they can help reduce urban poverty substantially."

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