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Moumita Bakshi

BPOs are listening to their employees - especially when it comes to career aspirations.

TRUTH can sometimes be stranger than fiction.

Consider, for instance, what's happening in the attrition-heavy BPO (business process outsourcing) industry.

A company like Wipro Spectramind is actually `supportive' of its employees pursuing courses in completely unrelated fields such as textile designing, despite the risk of losing them eventually to a whole new career.

The underlying theme is to listen intently to what the employees want. Beyond fun and frolic, that is.

Once known for its `fun job' positioning and promise of a rocking lifestyle, the BPO industry now seems to be undergoing a radical image makeover. Although the fun factor has not been thrown out of the window, it has taken the backseat.

Instead, the spotlight has shifted to HR initiatives that aim at fulfilling the career aspirations of employees.

Increasingly, BPO companies are attempting to find ways and means to chart out a long-term career path for their staff, a move that also enables them to effectively retain them in the medium term.

"There is maturity in the industry. This is reflected in the fact that companies are now shifting focus to future growth prospects as a prime motivator rather than concentrating on fun initiatives to retain talent. The priority now is to enhance the skills of employees," says Nasscom President, Kiran Karnik.

"Some do this through distance-education programmes. Others sponsor employees for MBA courses etc," says Karnik.

At the same time, the industry is making a conscious effort to improve the work environment by integrating yoga, aerobics and counselling sessions into the workday.

"Companies have realised that youngsters are concentrating on improving skills and want a good career going forward," Karnik points out.

Agrees Raman Roy, President and CEO of Wipro Spectramind. According to him, while the fun element has not been done way with, the presence of a new element — providing a career path to employees as an HR tool — is clearly visible in the sector.

"The changes are definitely there for us to see.

It is a function of size. We started with a relatively smaller number but now each of our location has achieved a definite scale," Roy says. "Today, we go to the extent of supporting employees doing courses in the non-BPO space as well, something unheard of earlier.

I know of employees wanting to get into textile designing or becoming an airhostess.

We facilitate their aspirations despite knowing they may move out of the industry on completing the course."

By playing the role of facilitator, Wipro Spectramind supports the career goal of its employees — and also wins their confidence.

It is assured of one thing — the employee will opt to remain with the company for at least the next two to three years, the time it takes to complete a specific course.

"I think more companies are now learning to listen to their employees. It is a mutual win-win situation for both employee and the employer. By not attending to the career needs of employees, the company would have lost them anyway," Roy feels.

While at one level a BPO firm may sponsor a course for its employees, at another it may offer them flexibility of time to pursue the course.

"Within the BPO industry, one generally sees a large pull towards courses in business administration.

Also, there is a rush for technical courses such as B-Tech, M-Tech and even graduate courses, considering that a proportion of the workforce comprises undergraduates," Roy says.

What has driven this re-orientation on the part of employees towards enhancing their skills is the realisation that the BPO industry is not about making a fast buck, feels Navanit, Chief Operating Officer of Epicenter Technologies.

"People realise that we are into serious business and not merely fun and games.

The employee is, therefore, now looking at building a long-term career in the industry, as he knows the players are here to stay.

Companies too are focusing on initiatives such as management classes and funding studies to retain employees," he says.

moumita@thehindu.co.in

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