The Hindu Business Line : What's troubling the BPOs?

Human resources, and not technology, are a company's prime asset, says Linda Lucas, consultant psychologist of the New-York based Lucas Research International.

Industry pundits have been urging companies to address the manpower crisis threatening the growth of the ITeS-BPO sector, which, according to Nasscom (National Association of Software and Service companies), is set to achieve its projected revenue target of $8.5 billion in 2006-07, up from $6.3 billion in 2005-06.

Lucas says that attrition rates are high at business process outsourcing (BPO) centres because of high stress levels, which bring about sleep disorders and depression. The stress builds up as young people from traditional Indian backgrounds are pitch-forked into jobs which need them to work late into the night, talk with a foreign accent, dress smart and with peer pressure to `waste'.

Lucas is a trained psychologist with an M.Sc in Social Psychology from the London School of Economics. She has worked with focus groups in hospitals in London and New York.

In India, Lucas Research International has become a division of Bieber Consultancy, a Chennai-based management consultancy. Together, they offer psychological consultancy to BPOs and in a multi-speciality hospital in Pondicherry. Lucas says that they are in talks with BPO managements on the importance of treating the problems experienced by the staff and retaining them.

Take a look at what the Nasscom Web site says: "The IT-ITeS industries are grappling with the crucial issue of manpower acquisition and retention. Attrition levels remain high, causing concern for organisations. Indian IT-ITeS players, both large and small, are struggling with a workforce crisis! People issues loom large on the agendas of companies that are attempting to position themselves as the `best career destination,' `employer of choice,' and the `best place to work'.

"The companies also had to take a serious look at the manpower availability factor and ensure there was adequate skilled talent to fuel and catalyse the growth of the market, now and later. Both large and SME BPOs were handling their own set of issues. While big companies would typically be worrying about when their next big deal would materialise, a smaller company would be concerned about hiring right and then holding on to this manpower. The offshore call centre business, for instance, had been negatively impacted by attrition, wage inflation, skill shortages, thin management ranks, and data protection concerns and players catering to this segment had to redefine and reposition themselves within the BPO space. The country's most promising sector, which has been recording 40-50 per cent growth since its inception, now has to grapple with concerns that face every high momentum industry."

Addressing HR problems

Andreas Bieber, Consultant, Bieber Consultancy, says that these high growth rates warrant that BPO companies address their human resource problems upfront. BPO companies are already incurring a huge cost in training and recruiting personnel only to lose them to other companies or industries.

Bieber says that if one goes directly to the issues, which create the problems, this is what comes up. Most of the BPOs are servicing the US market, where there is a lot of resentment about losing jobs to India. He said that this resentment finds expressions in abusive calls.

Then there are the regular calls, which are, at their best, impatient or irritated, from customers who have problems with insurance or bank account or whatever else the BPO is dealing with.

This young person, answering to names like Susie or Jack with a phoney American accent, takes these calls hour after hour during the entire shift, is being dumped with someone else's problem.

After a while, this along with other issues such as work environment, long work shifts and a deep sense of frustration causes them to quit their jobs.

Lucas says that the important message here for the youngsters is not to internalise the problems and not to take it (the abusive calls) personal.

Talking about what is going wrong in this segment, Lucas says that in her experience, there is a lack of team spirit in the Indian work environment. People are not willing to share their skills and knowledge with fellow workers. This could be because of the deep sense of insecurity and the highly competitive environment of schools and colleges.

She says that though Indians are very diligent workers, they lack leadership qualities and are low on self-esteem. These issues can be addressed through focus groups where problems are discussed and analysed. This helps teams work together better. Indian workers in this sector have to get a sense of empowerment, which can be achieved though group therapy sessions, she says.

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