EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The main objective of my study is to analyze the different retention strategies to retain talent. 1-To check the job satisfaction level among the employees. 2-To know the reasons why they left job. 3-To plan the Retention strategies. 4-To check how retention strategies help in growth of organization. 5-Parameter of their satisfaction Attrition is biggest problem in BPOs this study will help to retain talent and finding best possible way outs to tackle problem. This will help to analyze that are you doing your best to retain your top talent? Employ these factors in your organization to retain your desired employees and attract the best talent, too. Retaining good employees is critical to a firm's long-term success. In the engineering and construction markets, employee retention is especially serious because the job market is tight and competition is fierce for top candidates. Some studies estimate that losing an employee costs a company 100 percent of that employee's salary.

STUDENT DECLARATION CERTIFICATE

This is certified that I Nisha kumari student of MBA-IV bearing Roll Number 81306317030 of kc collage of Eng & It , Nawanshahr has prepared the project report entitled

Retention of Employees in BPO sector.

This is the original piece of work. The findings in this report are based on the data collected by me .I has not copied the data from any previous report .However, my project Guide Ms: pallavi helped me at various points while preparing this project.

Ms.Pallvi Dhingra Kc collage Eng&IT, Nawanshahr

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
It is a matter of great pleasure to thank all esteemed persons who helped me to complete my final project successfully otherwise it would not been possible. Acknowledgement is not only a ritual, but also all an expression of indebtedness to all those who have helped me in the completion process of the project. One of the most legend aspects in collecting the necessary vital information and compiling it is the opportunity to thank all those who actively contribute to it. I would first like to extend my sincere thanks to Mr. SS Nair for providing us with this opportunity to end semester project. I like express my deepest gratitude and heartfelt thanks to my project guide Prof: pallvi for the invaluable guidance and constant encouragement which he extended to me throughout my research project guidance.

Nisha kumari

Introduction To

Working style of BPO

India on the fast track

At the turn of the millennium, India has numerous reasons to smile about. The economy is no longer passive and redundant; on the contrary it is one that is being steered by the winds of social and economic changes. During the past few years, the country has seen phenomenal developments in its political, social and economic infrastructure, accelerated by the strong forces of globalization and Information Technology. A country with a resurgent, progressive economy; India can be rightly called the foster-child of globalization. The booming Information Technology (IT) segment comprising ITES (IT-enabled services) / BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) are the core sectors that have driven the country into the epicenter of change. The liberalization of the Indian Telecom sector in 1994 gave an unexpected boost to the ITES/BPO industry. In no time, India has turned into a hot destination for global offshore outsourcing companies. The expansion in this sector can be attributed to the leading IT giants, captive players and third party service providers, who dominate the Indian ITES/BPO market. While the countries around the world are vying for a fair share of the cake, India has grabbed the pie as the preferred destination for offshore outsourcing. Indeed, India is shining!

BPO Industry: India clicks!

India became familiar with Business Process Outsourcing only in the early and mid 1990s, but now the entire country seems to be quivering with the BPO fever'. The foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country owes a lot to this sector, which is progressing at a break-neck speed. The different kinds of services offered by BPO's include Customer Support, Technical Support, Telemarketing, Insurance Processing, Data Processing, Internet / Online / Web Research and so on. The cheap labour costs and the pool of skilled, English-speaking Indians have always been the two foremost factors contributing to the BPO boom in the country. As the National Association of Software Services and Companies (NASSCOM) points out, the other equally motivating factors include strong quality orientation among players, ability to offer round-the-clock services based on the country's unique geographic location, positive policy environment which encourages

investments and a friendly tax structure, which places the ITES/BPO industry on almost equal footing with IT services companies. The studies conducted by NASSCOM and the global consultants McKinsey & Co. brought to light certain amazing facts on the Indian BPO segment. According to a NASSCOM study, the countrys flourishing ITES - BPO sector is estimated to have achieved a 54 per cent growth in revenue in 2003-04. A key employment - generating sector in the country; the BPO segment created job opportunities for around 74,400 additional personnel in India in the same year. By the year 2008, the ITES- BPO sector is expected to employ over 1.1 million Indians, with its sales expected to touch an amazing 21$ to 24 $ dollars.

Where call centers are a part of life

For todays youngsters, the call centers are a welcome addiction. The industry has woven such magic around the entire nation that these days a city without a call centre would be hard to find. Call centers contribute a fair share to the revenue of the Indian BPO industry. About 70% of the BPO industrys revenue comes from call-centers, 20% from highvolume, low-value data work and the remaining 10% from higher-value information work. The average Indians attitude towards life has undergone a drastic change in the last few years. The motto of todays young Indian generation is Live life king size. The changing lifestyles, demand for luxury and emergence of high-income spending groups coupled with a thoroughly cosmopolitan outlook of life are changing the modern Indian. Call centers are a major turn on for young graduates. In addition to providing employment, the call centers offer excellent benefits, good working environment and attractive remuneration packages. So who wouldnt choose to be a call centre employee?

When things go wrong

It is true that the Indian BPO sector is witnessing an unprecedented boom but the flip side of the industry cannot be ignored. For sometime, the Indian BPO industry has been battling certain complex problems such as labour attrition, poor infrastructure and lack of data protection laws.

The high attrition rate in the industry is primarily due to the restricted career options or growth opportunities for the youngsters. Fear of stagnation is a major factor that forces the employees to quit the industry. While some leave their career mid-way in pursuit of higher education, others are drawn in by the higher pay packages offered elsewhere. The new entrants into the BPO sector, who are consistently on the look out for trained youngsters, offer higher remuneration. With the employees moving to other jobs in less than a year, the industry has to confront the gnawing problem of attrition. Another key problem is the stressful work schedule, particularly night shifts, which may create both physical and mental disorders in the long run. Other reasons for the attrition problem include misguidance by the company, non-conducive policies and procedures, mental strain brought about by reclusive lifestyle and difficult relationships with peers or managers. According to analysts, labour attrition rates in the outsourcing industry vary between 20 and 40 per cent in certain companies while at top firms its around an average of 15 per cent. If the current attrition rate continues, the outsourcing industry is likely to face a shortage of 262,000 professionals by 2012.

Where lays the solution?

The multi-billion dollar BPO industry is racking its brains to solve the crisis, a complicated one that could prove to be disastrous in the long run. Brand building has come up as a good panacea for the attrition problem. The Indian BPO industry is focusing on the process of brand building with a view to create respect and awareness of the job among the people. The problem of talent attrition could be kept at bay by offering perquisites like the right opportunities for education such as degree courses for youngsters. While some BPO companies retain their employees by providing free food and accommodation, there are yet others who offer interest free home and car loans while some others even offer activities such as bungee jumping and salsa classes. Besides creating a challenging, competitive work environment, the stress is now on hiring the right employees. Today, most of the BPOs are on the look out for freshers and agents with more than one-and-a-half to two years of work experience, rather than graduates with no prior experience in the industry. Lack of top-class infrastructure is also another key problem to be dealt with. As part of countrys infrastructure development, measures need to be taken to improve the quality of

roads, power, transport and communication and connectivity. Further, the industry and the Government need to join hands so as to create an efficient legal machinery to enforce stringent laws. This will ensure a smooth, protected environment for the operation of businesses, particularly in connection with laws/policies governing data/cyber security and intellectual property rights.

The road ahead

Although countries like Australia, China, Philippines and Ireland have emerged as the close competitors in the ITES/BPO sector, India is still the favored market for BPO companies. As for 2005, NASSCOM predicts that there would be a considerable expansion in the captive operations of global organizations and MNCs in the BPO sector. Another key development would be the rapid growth in offshore outsourcing, especially in the sectors of Automatic data management, Human Resources (HR), Finance and Accounting and Healthcare. The rating agency ICRA reports that by 2006, India is expected to capture 56 per cent share of offshore business process outsourcing business, with the demand for BPO services increasing at an annual growth rate of 50 per cent during 2004-06. The size of the Indian BPO market is likely to be around $9-12 billion by 2006 and it will employ around 400,000 people.

About the topic

Retention

RETENTION is a concern for most organizations, but often little effort is made to hold on to key employees. Why is this important? Employee turnover is costly, with both direct costs (replacement and training costs) and indirect costs (lower productivity and reduced customer/client

loyalty). But it is important to distinguish between voluntary and involuntary turnover. The former occurs when an employee makes a decision to leave the organization. This may be affected by a wide range of factors, such as the attractiveness of the current job and the availability of alternative employment. Involuntary turnover is an employer-initiated termination of employment. Study focused on voluntary turnover. However, it is important to consider whether such turnover is functional (poor performers are leaving) or dysfunctional (good performers are leaving). At times, employees leave an organization for reasons beyond the control of the employer. However, employees may also be leaving the employer as a result of factors that employers can control or influence. Retention programs within organizations are really aimed at this last group (that is, departures that are voluntary, dysfunctional and avoidable).

Employee Retention in the New Millennium

Today's labor force is different. Supervisors must take responsibility for their own employee retention. If they don't, they could be left without enough good employees. A wise employer will learn how to attract and keep good employees, because in the long run, this workforce will make or break a company's reputation. What's Different? New supervisors must be prepared to be collaborative, supportive, and nurturing of their people. The old style of "my-way-or-the-highway" style of management is a thing of the past. Most new supervisors need training to understand what it really takes to retain employees. Employee retention involves being sensitive to people's needs and demonstrating the various strategies in the five families detailed in Roger Herman's classic book on employee retention, Keeping Good People.

1. Environmental 2. Relationship 3. Support 4. Growth

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5. Compensation

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Company overview

Spice

Spice Telecom, the brand name of Spice Communications Limited is presently operating Cellular Phone Services in the states of Punjab and Karnataka. Considered as one of the best service providers of mobile telephony in India, Spice Communications Limited has been promoted by Modi Wellvest Private Limited and Mr. Dilip Modi. 12

Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) has 46.89% stake in Spice Communications Limited (Spice) through TMI India Limited, Mauritius, a wholly-owned subsidiary of TM's international investment holding company TM International Sdn Bhd (TMI). 48.8% equity stake is held by Modi Wellvest Private Limited.

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Objective of study

1- To check the job satisfaction level among the employees.

14

2- To know the reasons why they left job. 3- To plan the Retention strategies. 4- To check how retention strategies help in growth of organization. 5- Parameter of their satisfaction

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Scope of study

Attrition is the biggest problem in organization. Its biggest challenge in front of HR persons that how to retain talent. This study will provide them better solution for same. In this study I will cover insurance sector where attrition rate is quite high as compare to other sectors. So I feel it has good scope in today work environment.

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17

Review of literature

Indian BPO Industry: Features, Challenges & Remedies

By

Ms. Vijit Chaturvedi

Faculty HRM

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ICFAI University Call centers are facilities that are specifically set up to manage telephone calls from customers. They are intended to provide orderly cost efficient telephone-based services. They serve as the primary telephone interface with customers for specific services provided by the agencies Call Centers are required for large companies to sell their products to the customers, proposing a product or service as well as for the after-sale enquiries made by the customers. Call centers in India are at its peak today. Customized solution through customer interactive programs in the success mantra of numerous corporate firms nowadays. For the strategic business development - that requires acquired skills for customer queries, solutions etc., Indian call-centers are at par with the current marketing demands. Call centers not only handle the task of interacting with customers but also provide a wider base for official tasks of inventories, bill handling, web-solutions and various other business requirement proceedings. This article attempts to identify the features of this booming industry & the obstacles associated with it. It also suggests solutions to overcome them. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Introduction: - Call centers in India is prospering upon the upscale rise amongst the entrepreneurs who are trying to allure their customers through inbound and outbound calling facility. This concept raving in US have enabled many offshore call centers establishments, in India. The quality of English is at par with the international standards. Indians are technically literate and comfortable with new technologies arising in the industry. Indian call centers work round the clock and provide 24-hour support for the customers of these US based clients. From the concept of being just a voice based medium of customer support, today call centers are referred to as 'Contact Centers' which are capable of handling customer queries over phone or the online medium. Qualified professional talent with fluency in English and a neutral accent with the ability to shift to different accents have made India, a preferred destination for offshore clients.

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(I)

Achievements & expectations

Call center industry in India is projected at $142 billion by the year 2008 as per NASSCOM. With its built-in potency, India is advertised as the hot destination for 'offshore outsourcing hub'. The booming Indian call center industry is the benchmark of the changing global trend. Reducing cost for business proceeding is the prime focus of the corporate houses. They realized that shifting their call-center operations to India would heavily cut down their costs. Business settlement laws were reviewed and it was easier for alien firms to settle in the Indian soils. The country produces technically sound work force with high standards of English. The call center industry estimated to grow into $301 billion industry by 2010 is a sheer pleasure for the aspiring workforce in India. Call centers in India has also effectively developed a niche in the areas of data verification, data capture, tele research, service follow-ups and renewing subscriptions, which becomes the core outbound activities of a call center. Unless there is talented enough manpower to handle such queries, no business organization will make a move. Thus India have taken a leap step in call center industry, which in recent have been the home more developed nations like Australia, New Zealand, and European nation. (II) Customer benefits of the call centers * A positive experience from operators * Accurate and appropriate responses * High level of customer satisfaction * Improved efficiency

(III) Call Centre activities & Functions 1) Organization design and staff planning 2) Building Customer service representatives (CSRs) 3) Quality Assurance Programs 4) Improvement initiatives

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5) Outsourcing ( IV) Barrier to efficiency ---High Attrition 1) Causes 1. Long hours of work 2. Permanent night shifts 3. Incredibly high work targets 4. Loss of identity 5. Nature of work 6. Irritating customers from across the globe. India is situated 5 h ahead of UK, 10 h ahead of New York and 13 h ahead of Los Angeles. US and UK companies can claim overnight response capability because during their night time, it is day time in India and agents in India can respond to emails during Indian business hours. This is known as follow the sun model. It is this working at nights that requires adjusting the biological clock and social practices to a different time, which is turning out to be a major cause for health-related and social problems. 2) An overview of Health problems 1. About 30-40% of the employees working in the call center had complained of eye problems. 2. Soreness, dryness, blurred vision, light sensitivity, headache, all these put together is labeled as the Computer vision syndrome. 3. Digestive disorders 4. It was also pointed out that the employees are facing the possibility of losing their voice. The problem known earlier as 'The teacher syndrome' is now being found in the young workers of call centers. As of now, no understanding of the problem exists in India, leave alone a minimum standards code. Some call center and BPO companies in the country have got together under the aegis of Nasscom to address common areas of concern - but so far these have largely centered on deciding how not to poach on each other's employees and what to do

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with the Shops and Establishments Act. Employee stress - and its impact on the bottomline through high attrition rates. 3) View of Attrition rates US Australia Europe India Global Average 42% 29% 24% 18% 24%

4) Scenario of Attrition In India, the average attrition rate in the BPO sector is approximately 30-35 % . It is true that this is far less than the prevalent attrition rate in the US market (around 70 percent), but the challenge continues to be greater considering the recent growth of the industry in the country. If a person leaves after the training it costs the company about Rs 60,000. For a 300-seater call centre facing the normal 30 percent attrition, this translates into Rs 60 lakh per annum. 5) Types of Attrition :- It can be of following two types a) Drive Attrition" which is caused due to the employer b) "Drag Attrition" which is caused due to the employee. The reasons for Drive Attrition are due to employer's policies of Terminating the employee at the end of the contract period for employment. Drag Attrition is basically due to the host of insecurities and vulnerabilities Associated with the taking up a career with a BPO company 6) Cost of Attrition to the company I) Recruitment Costs 22

1. The cost of advertisements; agency costs; employee referral costs; internet posting costs.

2. The cost of the internal recruiter's time to understand the position requirements, develop and implement a sourcing strategy, review candidates backgrounds, prepare for interviews, conduct interviews, prepare candidate assessments, conduct reference checks, make the employment offer and notify unsuccessful candidates. This can range from a minimum of 30 hours to over 100 hours per position. 3. Calculate the cost of the various candidate pre-employment tests to help assess candidates' skills, abilities, aptitude, attitude, values and behaviors. ii) Training Costs * Calculate the cost of orientation * Calculate the cost of departmental training * Calculate the cost of the person(s) who conduct the training. * Calculate the cost of various training materials iii) New Hire Costs

* Calculate the cost of bring the new person * Calculate the cost of a manager's time spent developing trust and building confidence According to Nasscom (national association of software and services companies), an apex body that tracks the Indian software industry, the headcount has doubled from 220,000 in 03-04 to 410,000 in 2005-06. Companies like Genpact (formerly GE Capital International Services) recruit about a 1000 people on an average per month while others average around 350-500 a month. Today, Genpact has the highest number of employees at 15,000 in India followed by Wipro BPO at 14,000 while others such as Convergys, WNS and IBM Daksh , Dell and Intelnet

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have an employee strength of around 10,000 each. In such rising demand & expectation level it becomes need of the hour to monitor, control & regulate this Attrition problem 7) Reasons & Remedies What do employees expect???... * A caring company culture * Team spirit * Competitive salary * Supportive and effective team leaders * Training * Career growth, learning and development * Exciting work and challenges * Meaningful work The Top Three Reasons Why They Leave * Low Company Morale * Lack of trust for Managers * Job burnout 8) Recommendations * A need to be more explicit, detailed and relevant in regulations, guidance. * Health risk assessments both pre-employment and periodic for employees should be conducted especially for eye and audiometric tests. * Length and frequency of breaks should be adequate. * Need for full time counselors * Establishment of welfare committees * Ergonomic assessments of work stations. 9) Specific & General Retention Strategies

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1) Specific Retention Strategies adopted by BPO Industry Companies have different kinds of strategies adopted to tackle the problem of Retaining human capital. It ranges from cash incentives to career concern for the Employee. 1) Providing Incentives: - As only 5 out of 150 employees become team leaders in a year, companies like Daksh services and Global Vantedge believe that cash incentives are a great way. 2) Educational Support: - Companies like GE, Wipro Spectra mind Offer management diplomas and MBA courses to their employees. 3) Accommodation benefits: - Exl Service.com and ICICI one source hires outstation Candidates (Mainly Non-Metros) and put them in shared company accommodation. 4) Career counseling and Planning career paths 5) Group Medi-claim Insurance Schemes 6) Personal Accident Insurance Scheme 7) Subsidized Foods and Transportation 8) Recreation, Cafeteria, ATM, gym. Corporate Credit cards 9) Cellular Phone / Laptop. 10) Personal Health Care (Regular medical check-ups) 11) Loans . & Educational Benefits 12) Performance based incentives 13) Regular Get together and other cultural programs 14) Employee Referral Scheme 15) Employee Stock Option plan 2) General Strategies Suggested for Retaining Human Capital in BPOs * Change the employable target audience and also in a way become socially Responsible * Make employees feel important & practice effective Communication * Clear role & goals * Good reward structure

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Conclusion The strategies suggested in the paper are not exhaustive to retain the human capital of BPOs. These are just the basics and if implemented in a proper way can give good Results, but it can only become effective when both employee & employer understand the importance of these precautionary measures & continuously follow them only then this emerging & growing sector will give its proper results. HR Foundrymen Focus on Workforce Recruitment, Retention. By Spada, Alfred T. Publication: Modern Casting Date: Sunday, April 1 2001 By utilizing group discussions and analysis, this conference provided foundry men with a forum to develop strategies to combat labor shortages and relations issues. Often stated as the greatest problem facing metal casters today, worker attraction and retention has become a focus of every foundry operation. For the 65 foundry men in attendance at the AFS Labor Relations & Human Look Who's Talking: Oklahoma's Experience with an Employee Attitude Survey By Boyer, Deborah K Publication: Corrections Today Date: Sunday, August 1 2004 Subject: Correctional institutions Correctional officers provide feedback by completing an employee survey for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. Staffing shortages, employee turnover, insufficient applicant pools, changing demographics and increased competition for quality applicants, an aging workforce,

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Employee participation in Federal management. By Larson, James S. Publication: Public Personnel Management Employee Participation in Federal Management The purpose of this article is to examine employee participation in federal management. Employee participation can take many forms: employee involvement in decision making, quality of work life (QWL) programs, employee suggestions and their utilization, and quality circles, to mention a few. The article begins with a discussion of employee involvement Employee Involvement in Decision Making The push for more employee participation in decision making gained strength in the 1970s, with the success of Japanese industry and management. American corporations began to realize that Japanese success was related, in large measure, to their view of the organization and the use of human potential to achieve higher levels of productivity (Gehrman, 1986). The Japanese were very successful, utilizing methods like theory Z and quality circles, in removing artificial constraints on employees' productivity and in being sensitive to communication from the bottom-up. In contrast, American corporations, according to one critic, deceived themselves by ignoring bad news from the bottom-up, and dispensed "sugar coated mumbo-jumbo" from the top-down (Gehrman, 1986, p. 35). Employee involvement is a fundamental shift from viewing employees as needing to be prodded, to viewing them as wanting to be self-starters and produce excellent work. To work, it must be integrated into the organizational structure at all levels, and not simply be an experiment of limited application. The purpose of employee involvement is not to create a more friendly work environment, although that is a desirable by-product, but its primary purpose is to improve productivity. To that end, information on productivity should be shared with employees (Crosby, 1986). Supervisors tend to resist employee involvement programs, but their cooperation is essential if they are to succeed. There are several ways to educate supervisors and

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employees. One way is to teach supervisors that employee involvement programs make workers more responsible for their own jobs, thus giving the supervisor more time to plan and organize work. This point can be made by involving supervisors in middle management planning sessions.

A poor incentive
By Bort, Julie Publication: Network World Date: Monday, April 2 2001 Subject: Information technology, Job satisfaction Location: United States As the economy softens, an ironic employee retention issue has developed. The very methods you might be using to reassure IT employees that their jobs are safe could be causing them to worry or even leave. The culprits are incentive and reward programs. Research shows that these seemingly good natured gestures actually sow discontentment. So says Alfie Kohn, the author of several In talking to Kohn, his argument was convincing. Kohn points to more than 70 studies that have concluded rewards don't work if your goal is long term worker satisfaction. Such programs are controlling devices that remind employees who have the power. Likewise, employees working for a reward won't take it well if incentives are cut during tough quarters. In a February survey of almost 1,600 technology professionals by employment portal Techies.com in Bloomington, Minn., 55% said widespread layoff announcements have made them distrust their current employer. One-third also said that they didn't get a promised bonus or incentive, which made them feel "betrayed."

Employee Retention Requires A Plan

By Shawn Abraham Publication: Construction Bulletin Date: Monday, July 2 2007

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A recent graduate from a top engineering program, Robert had a career on the rise with a large, international specialty contracting firm. He had successfully completed the company's three-year project manager training program and had become one of its most reliable and promising employees. So when he suddenly resigned his position to return to his home in the Midwest, his decision shocked his leadership development.

Employee Retention Requires Person-Centered Plan

By Shawn Abraham Publication: Construction Date: Monday, June 25 2007 Retaining good employees is critical to a firm's long-term success. In the engineering and construction markets, employee retention is especially serious since the job market is tight and competition is fierce for top candidates. Some studies estimate that losing an employee costs a company 100 percent of that employee's salary.

Employee Retention in Tight Times.

By Murakami, Patricia H. Publication: Journal of Property Management Date: Thursday, July 1 1999 Subject: Employee retention (Methods), Employee benefits (Management) Location: United States In a market when unemployment was at a record low of 4.2 percent this March, the last thing a manager wants to do is look for good help. It's difficult enough to find anyone to interview, let alone a qualified professional to hire. To avoid the problem, many industries, including property management firms, are examining their compensation and benefits programs to make certain that they are Data Collection Experts In the Chicago Tribune, Sandra O'Neal, a principal at benefits consultants Towers Perrin, noted that "we are on the precipice of a very major change" in pay practices. She estimated that in the past two years about 45 large and medium-sized employers in the U.S. have replaced some staffers' standard raises with variable-pay programs.

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"Regular merit increases aren't dead. But they are losing their credibility and their effectiveness," says Jerry McAdams, a national practice leader at consultants Watson Wyatt Worldwide in the same Tribune article. If the merit increase, once viewed as the traditional motivational tool that kept employees striving, is no longer working, what can you do instead? That depends on whom you talk to and what you read. The greatest struggle appears to be in the chasm that runs between the Fortune 500 company and the rest of us. The former does exhaustive research, searching for trends and patterns while the latter appears to try Band Aids like summer hours and bagels on Friday to go with gourmet office coffee in an effort to stave off abandonment. Is there a road in the middle? First, Analyze The answer is "yes"--but the road is tempered with inventiveness and a willingness to consider the less traditional. The key is to take the research large companies are paying for and make it your own. Still, you can't just steal their ideas and practices, expecting them to work. You need to do your own research with regard to your own management and staff. Start off by asking some basic questions:

Find what workers want: unless you discover what really matters to your employees, you'll never know if your compensation and...
By Babcock, Pamela Publication: HRMagazine Date: Friday, April 1 2005 Subject: Business enterprises (Human resource management), Employee benefits (Surveys) Product: Venture Analysis Location: United States It's no secret to HR that employees' attitudes about their jobs, their benefits and their employers can range from exuberant to sour. What are less well known and harder to find out is exactly what matters to specific types of employees--and how effective various types

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of compensation, benefits and workplace characteristics are in spurring employee productivity and retention.

Common Misconceptions about Retention Programs

By Clapp, Bruce Publication: ABA Bank Marketing Date: Monday, May 1 2006 Subject: Customer satisfaction Most banks acknowledge that reducing customer attrition and developing a full-bodied retention strategy makes sense. But, it can be seem daunting and complicated to truly understand the motivations a customer has for leaving and to develop processes that address those reasons, and effectively counter them. Many also see this approach as riddled with potential financial drawbacks. Misconceptions

Factors influencing turnover and retention of midwives and consultants: a literature review
By McBride, Anne Publication: Health Services Management Research Date: Monday, November 1 2004 This study is a review of literature on the factors affecting the retention and turnover of hospital consultants and midwives. While there is widespread concern and acknowledgement of staff retention problems for professional occupations within the NHS, far less research has analyzed the causes of the staff retention problems

Keeping your best employees.

By Marx, Mary A. Publication: Journal of Property Management Date: Wednesday, November 1 1995

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Subject: Employee retention (Methods), Human resource management (Methods), Employee motivation (Methods) Although our company has hundreds of employees, more than half of our staff has been with the firm for several years; some as many as 10 to 20 years. The secret to recruiting and keeping a top flight management team is simple. The implementation of such a program, however, requires that you remain focused on that goal, year in and year out, internally and externally, professionally

Towards an IR/HRD Agenda for the Call Center- BPO industry

The sustainability, IR and HRD issues in An ebullient CCThe Philippines is Southeast Asias call center capital. In the Asia-Pacific region, the Philippines is considered second only to India in the ICT-enabled sector, which covers data encoding ,call center (variably called contact center or customer service center) and business process outsourcing Employing close to 200,000 and projected to hire 300,000 more until 2010, the countrys call center business process outsourcing industry is now one of the countrys leading employers, along with the electronics assembly industry (with 300,000 plus workers) and the garments industry (down to 300,000 plus workers, from a high of nearly a million in the early l990s). In an economy with stagnant industrial and agricultural sectors, the propulsive growth of the industry appears like a huge ray of hope in a bleak labor market characterized by chronic double-digit unemployment and underemployment rates. This industry also defies the traditional classification of a labor-intensive export-oriented industry. It is a service industry aimed at the export market. It falls under the Mode 1 category(crossborder transactions) of the WTOs General Agreement on Trade in Services and export is made possible by the broadband cyber technology and other advances in internet- based

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communication technology such as the voice-on-internet protocols (VOIP). By Philippine norms, work is also non-conventional. Although it belongs to the service sector, enterprises are organized like huge factories, gathering under one or several roofs hundreds and even thousands of call center agents or professionals. The difference: factories do not look like factories; located in central business districts, they all appear like air-conditioned swanky white-collar offices. For CC agents, work is done mostly at night. Compensation is generally twice or even thrice the statutory minimum wage, with outstanding cyber tele-marketers
*

This paper is based on the results of the 2006 FES-SOLAIR Roundtable Series on the Call Center Industry and varied research papers written by Dr. Rene E. Ofreneo on the industry, in particular the IT/ICT papers presented in RTD on The Philippines in the Global Division of Labor organized by the Fair Trade Alliance (FairTrade) in cooperation with Dr. Fred Magdoff of the University of Vermont, April 13, 2004, Quezon City;Conference of the Philippine Industrial Relations Society (PIRS), November 11-12, 2004, Makati City; research colloquium at the University of Leuven, Belgium, October 6, 2004, and the FourSector Conference of the AsiaPacific Regional Organization of the Union Network International, December 10-15, 2004, Cebu City. Finally, the paper also draws heavily from the paper Industrial relations and global service outsourcing: The swanky sweatshops of Asia, which Dr. Ofreneo co-authored with Christopher Ng and Jose Umali for the International Industrial Relations Association Conference in Lima, Peru, September 11-14, 2006.

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Current scenario

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INDIAN ITES-BPO INDUSTRY

The Indian ITES-BPO Scenario The Indian ITES-BPO segment has witnessed a steady growth. BPO exports are growing at about 33.5% percent and have exceeded FY06 expectation at USD 8.4 billion in FY2007.

Employees ITES-BPO (in 000)

553

Exports ITES-BPO (USD million)

E xp o rts IT E S -B P O (U S D m illio n )
41 5

10
31 6

8 6 4 2
FY05 FY06 FY07

8.4 4.6 6.3

0 FY 05 F Y 06 IT ES - BP O Export FY 07

Key Highlights of Indian ITES-BPO sector performance

Indian ITES-BPO exports grew from USD 6.3 billion in FY 2005-06 to USD 8.4 billion in FY 2006-07 expected to grow to USD 10.5-11bn in FY08. ITES-BPO employee base has grown to 553,000 in FY 07 from 415,000 in FY 06 Over the past decade, the Indian BPO segment has witnessed significant transformation. Starting with basic data entry tasks, the industry graduated to a high 35

proportion of voice-based services and a range of back-office processing activities. The last 3-4 years have seen the scope of services expanding to include increasingly complex processes involving rule-based decision making and even research services requiring informed individual judgment. The rapid expansion in the scope of BPO has been accompanied by an equally rapid adoption across a range of vertical industries. This wide range of services may be summarized into four broad categories comprising Finance and Accounting (F&A), Customer Interaction Services (CIS), Human Resource Administration and business services niche

Key Highlights of Domestic BPO industry BPO demand in the domestic market has witnessed noticeable growth over the past few years. The annual revenue aggregate of the domestic market for ITES-BPO grew to USD 1.2 billion in FY 2006-07 from USD 0.9 billion in FY 2005-06, illustrating a significant increase in demand. While the high growth rate may be attributed to a smallbase effect, the rapid adoption of BPO in the domestic market is receiving welldeserved attention. As the Indian economy becomes more globally integrated, businesses in India are beginning to face increasing levels of global competition and being pushed to deliver world class levels of product and service quality. BPO has emerged as an effective means of entrusting specialists with the task of consistently delivering the desired highlevels of quality leaving the client organizations to focus on their core businesses.

Contrary to concerns of Indias eroding cost competitiveness, best-in-class players have sustained profitability while maintaining above-average growth With significant bandwidth capacity lying unutilized and the steady advancement in technology making access faster and less expensive than before, it is likely that the share of telecommunications in the cost structure of an IT-BPO firm may further decline. Firms are also managing to lower their facilities costs by expanding into other tier-II locations.

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Finally, there is scope for further leveraging operational levers to drive efficiencies in the organization. A detailed industry benchmarking exercise, underway since 2005, has revealed that there is wide variation in the internal practices adopted across the industry, and suggests that the adoption of industry best-practices can further enhance operational excellence in Indian IT-BPO firms. This is also being evidenced in the performance of some of the best-in-class players. Contrary to concerns of rising wage inflation eroding the sustainability of Indias costadvantage, especially over the past two years, leading players have managed to grow at an above average rate while sustaining their high levels of profitability. Key Growth Drivers of Indian ITES-BPO Exports Abundant Talent- Indias young demographic profile is an inherent advantage complemented by an academic infrastructure that generates a large pool of English speaking talent. Talent suitability concerns are being addressed through a combination of government, academia and industry led initiatives. These initiatives include national rollout of skill certification through NAC (NASSCOM Assessment of Competence), setting up finishing schools in association MHRD to supplement graduate education with training in specific technology areas and soft skills and MoUs with education agencies like UGC and AICTE to facilitate industry inputs on curriculum and teaching and develop faculty development programmed. Sustained cost competitiveness- India has a strong track record of delivering a significant cost advantage, with clients regularly reporting savings of 25-50 percent over the original cost base. The ability to achieve such high levels of cost advantage by sourcing services from India is driven primarily by the ability to access highly skilled talent at significantly lower wage costs and the resultant productivity gains derived from having a very competent employee base. This is further complemented by relative advantages in other elements of the cost structure (e.g. telecom) that contribute to Indias cost competitiveness even when compared to other low-cost destinations. Continued focus on quality- Demonstrated process quality and expertise in service delivery has been a key factor driving Indias sustained leadership in global service delivery. Since the inception of the industry in India, players within the country have 37

been focusing on quality initiatives, to align themselves with international standards. Over the years, the industry has built robust processes and procedures to offer world class IT software and technology related services. World class information security environment- Stakeholders of Indian BPO recognize fool proof security as an indispensable element of global service delivery. Individual firm level efforts are complemented by a comprehensive policy framework established by Indian authorities, which has built a strong foundation for an infosecure environment in the country. These include strengthening the regulatory framework through proposed amendments to further strengthen the IT Act 2000, scaling up the cyber lab initiative, scaling up the National Skills Registry (NSR) and establishing a self regulatory organization. Rapid growth in key business infrastructure- Rapid growth in key business infrastructure has ensured unhindered growth and expansion of this sector. The BPO sector has been a key beneficiary with the cost of international connectivity declining rapidly and service level improving significantly. The growth is taking place not only in existing urban centers but increasingly in satellite towns and smaller cities. Critical business infrastructure such as telecom and commercial real estate is well in place; improving other supporting infrastructure a key priority for the government. STPI infrastructure available across the country and magnitude of investments shows government support to the industry. Enabling Business policy and Regulatory environment- The enabling policy environment in India was instrumental in catalyzing the early phases of growth in this sector. Policy makers in India have laid special emphasis on encouraging foreign participation in most sectors of the economy, recognizing its importance not only as a source of financial capital but also as a facilitator of knowledge and technology transfer. The Indian ITES-BPO sector has benefited from this approach, with participating firms enjoying minimal regulatory and policy restrictions along with a broad range of fiscal and procedural incentives.

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Research Methodology

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Problem in hand

Data collection

Finding solution

Analysis of data

Implementing solution

Sampling plan:- under this study method of data collection is primary as well as secondary data I will use questionnaire and internet , magazines to collect data. Sampling unit: - target population sampled to collect the information will be new joined employees in BPO sector. Sampling procedure:-the respondent will be selected from different companies dealing in BPO like spice, V-custmors, TCS, Airtel, Reliance, Tata indicom main focus will be on Spice telecom. Sample size:- Questionnaire will be given to as many as 100 new employees representing different functional and respondent management. Research instrument:The contact method in this study is ell structured questionnaire. Part 1:- Personal information. Part 2:- Question related to job changes. Part 3:- Job satisfaction criteria among youngsters. Part 4:- What they really looking for in the job Part 5:- What force them to leave.

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Data Analysis And Interpretation

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SURVEY We conducted a survey on as many as 50 call centers executives who were inactive and following were the reason why they were not comfortable in doing their job. Due to family problem Lack of confidence in dealing with People. Lack of product knowledge Communication gap between executive and team leader. Unavoidable Circumstances

#ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF SURVEY

Due to family problem (A) Higher study (B) Because of old age(C) Communication gap (D) BPo job is not so much reputed (E) 25 20 15 10 5 0 A B C D E A B C D E 2 12 4 7 25

INTERPRETATION

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In this chart it is shown that 2 of CCE out of 50 were inactive due to their family problem, 12 of them were due to they want to pursue higher study,4 were because of old age,7 were because of communication gap and rest of them(25)responded that BPO job is not so much reputed.

# Are you satisfied with BPO Job Company?

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YES 20

NO 30

50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 YES NO satisfied not satisfied

INTERPRETATION:
In this it is shown that we conducted the survey on 50 CCE of Spice Company out of which 20 are satisfied and rest of 30 are not satisfied with the company.

#Do you think 10+2 is enough for the recruitment or should it be increased?
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Yes 17

No 33

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 yes no qualification

INTERPRETATION
In this it is shown that we conducted the survey on 50 CCE out of which 17 are satisfied and rest of 33 are not satisfied with the company.

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#According to you what should be done to improve recruitment process (RP)?

Aptitude(AT) Interview(IT) Blank 20 15 application(BA) 15

20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0

RP

AT

IT

BA

INTERPRETATION:
In this it is shown that who are not satisfied and recommend that there should be improvement in recruitment process. 20 suggested for aptitude test , 15said that there should be proper interview and rest of 15 are for blank application

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#Which part of the Recruitment process you disliked? Training (TP) 15 Written test(WT) 35

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 TP WT RP DISLIKED

INTERPERTATION
In this it is shown that 15 disliked the training process and rest of them (35) disliked the written test.

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Findings And Observations

What make people leave their job? From survey I conclude following reasons for the same.

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No growth opportunity/lack of promotion For higher Salary For Higher education Misguidance by the company Policies and procedures are not conducive No personal life Physical strains Uneasy relationship with peers or managers Shift system Work pressure. Lack of knowledge High expectations. 10 REASONS WHY THE ORGANIZATION ARE NOT ABLE TO RETAIN

THE TALENT.

People don't get integrated. Most organizations have an orientation program, which is more of data-dump or focused on compliance trainings being completed. The focus should be more on enabling employees to form networks within themselves.

Performance goals are unclear. In a fast growing team or business the focus is on getting the thing done today, but rarely are performance goals thought through and employees told as to which resources to approach for help.

Development is always tomorrow's job. Culturally Indians are focused on learning. If learning adds value only to the job and not to the overall career goals of the individual then the organizations seems too transactional for the employee.

The personal touch is missing. How comfortable are managers building personal bonds with their subordinates? A lot of managers shy away fearing a bond will make delivering hard messages difficult. I would argue that it's the other way round! Knowing employees on personal level makes a manager know their strengths and weaknesses. Work allocation and employee development become easier. 49

Reward systems are not transparent. Most employees who get salary increases because they have a rare skill at a particular point of time think they got their raise for excellent performance. Can you share details about how they have been compensated?

Perceived equity of reward systems is low. Like it or not, employees discuss salary details and if there is any perceived lack of equity then you have an issue!

Goal setting process is not scientific. Most organizations impose a normal curve fulfillment, but do not train managers to set realistic goals or goals that tie up with organizational or functional goals. This also leads to point number

External equity is missing too. Don't do an annual compensation survey when the market moves every 3-4 months. If your practitioners feel that externally comparable professionals are being valued more, then they will leave.

No communication around total value. If you offer benefits apart from only monetary terms do you communicate that to employees too? Things like being a global or niche industry leader, value of the brand of the organization, should also be made explicit.

10 No career planning. Are people aware of the ways in which they can grow in the organization? Who are the role models within the organization? Do they know what they have to do to gain the competencies to move to various levels? 10 Themes Define Retention-Rich Organizations

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Suggestions & Recommendations

There are some retention strategies which can be considered to tackle attrition problem
1- Communications - Getting Your People to Care

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SET CLEAR EXPECTATIONS

How often do you appraise your employees/team-members? What are your expectations from your employees/team-members? What are the parameters to measure their performance? Have you communicated to them?

o o

What will be the consequences, if they fail? What will be the rewards, if they exceed the expected level?

The three principles that should drive expectations are clarity, relevance, and simplicity. Clarity:-Is a worthy Expectations should focus on outcomes, not activities. In other
words, you achieve clarity when you identify the expected results rather than the method for achieving them. Managers often make the mistake of attempting to direct the process that an employee will use rather than being clear about results. The advantage of identifying the outcome is that you, the manager, focus only on the goal; after all, the employee will develop the method for achieving the desired results. Defining the objective often requires some thought on the part of the manager because it is easy to fall into the "activities trap." While developing a strategic plan for a department or division activity, it does not represent an outcome. In the activities trap, developing a plan is the goal, rather than increasing your market share.

Relevance: The principle of relevance helps define the "why" of the assignment. If your employees have a full understanding of the project's importance, they can make adjustments as

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unanticipated factors crop up within the process. They probably also will be more committed to the result because they can see more easily how it fits into the big picture and how their efforts impact the company. This understanding typically is accomplished through dialogue between the manager and subordinate, which allows for a more thorough review of the situation and for feedback and discussion. This process builds good will with the employee and sets the stage for additional responsibilities.

Simplicity:Simplicity creates a sense of grounding for employees as they endeavor to carry out assignments. If managers identify the work in simple, straightforward terms, employees will find it much easier to follow through on managers' wishes. To accomplish this, a manager must identify the key message in a fashion that the employee can embrace.

Proper Rewarding
A research reports says that in today's scenario,

1 2

70% of your employees are less motivated today than they used to be. 80% of your employees could perform significantly better if they wanted to.

As you might be aware of Employee Reward covers how people are rewarded in accordance with their value to an organization. It is about both financial and non-financial rewards and embraces the strategies, policies, structures and processes used to develop and maintain reward systems. The ways in which people are valued can make a considerable impact on the effectiveness of the organization, and is at the heart of the employment relationship.

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The aim of employee reward policies and practices, if any in your organization is to help attract, retain and motivate high-quality people. Getting it wrong can have a significant negative effect on the motivation, commitment and morale of employees. Personnel and development professionals will be involved frequently in reward issues, whether they are generalists or specialize in people resorting, learning and development or employee relations. Keep following parameters in mind, while designing a reward policy:

Build a high degree of recognition value into every reward you offer.
Recognition is the most cost-effective motivator there is. While the high cost of other rewards forces us to give them sparingly, recognition can be given any time, at very little cost. Some very ordinary items and events can be imbued with extraordinary motivational significance, far in excess of their monetary value. I am constantly amazed at how motivating a pizza or movie tickets can be if is given with sufficient appreciation. A sincere thank you can be delivered at any place and at any time, costs absolutely nothing and can be more motivationally powerful than a substantial monetary bonus. Organizations can provide innovative recognition in an infinite number of ways. For example, (A Hypothetical Incident) a small manufacturing company made its employees feels like heroes when they attained a major safety milestone - 100 days without a single accident. On the morning of day 100, it was announced that a catered lunch would be served the next day, if they made it to the 5:30 shift without an accident. At 5:15 anticipating was building. Managers took confetti and streamers to the balcony overlooking the shop floor. When the 5:30 whistle blew, there were congratulations all around, confetti flew through the air and banners were unfurled. It was a great moment for everyone - and one that was not soon forgotten. The recognition value of this celebration was extremely high, while the monetary cost was relatively low.

Highly motivating organizations even celebrate small successes. A health-conscious

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company distributes fruit bowls to employees' work areas when key personal milestones are attained. Another company uses a more fattening approach: fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookies to say thank you.

Reduce entitlements and link as many rewards as possible to performance.

Clearly the traditional "pay for loyalty" systems in most organizations need to be changed. Don't let attendance be your major criterion for rewards. Most employees resent those who only put in their time and yet receive the same reward as those who go the extra mile. Today's employees have higher expectations for what work can and should be, and they want to receive rewards that reflect their personal efforts and contributions.

This is why so many companies are moving toward performance-based rewards, including performance bonuses, gain-sharing and non-monetary recognition. Although not a panacea, companies are finding that these new reward systems do allow them to give substantial rewards to those who really deserve them. Smart organizations are looking for opportunities to reduce across-the-board entitlements, and thereby find more resources for discretionary performance-based rewards, without increasing the total cost of rewards.

Troubleshoot your reward system to make sure that what it is rewarding is what you really want to happen.
The Law of Rewards - "What you reward is what you get" - Is extremely powerful. No matter what your orientation materials or job description might say, it is the rewards your organization gives that communicate the real expectations. The most important question to ask in evaluating the reward system in your organization is, do the rewards we are giving elicit the performance we want? Start with the results you want to achieve and then pinpoint the types of behaviors needed to achieve them. For example:

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If you believe teamwork is going to get you the results you want, make sure you reward teamwork, and not internal competition between departments.

o
o

If you want quality, make sure that productivity isn't over emphasized. And, If you want long-term solutions, don't reward quick fixes

Also, don't confuse employees with too many rewards. It is better to focus rewards

on the

critical few behaviors and results, rather than diluting them by rewarding the trivial many.

Reward promptly.
Rewards should be given as soon as possible after the performance has taken place. This is why the most successful gain-sharing programs pay employees monthly, rather than quarterly or annually as in the past. There is a well-accepted law of behavioral psychology, that if you want someone to repeat a behavior, you should positively recognize it immediately. From this law, smart supervisors and managers can learn a vital lesson: Look for any employee doing something right, right now, and recognizes it. A support to this, here is my favorite reward story:

"When a senior manager in one organization was trying to figure out a way to recognize an employee who had just done a great job, he spontaneously picked up a banana (which his wife had packed in his lunch), and handed it to the astonished employee with hearty congratulations. Now, one of the highest honors in that company has been dubbed the "Golden Banana Award"."

Ancillary Retention Strategies The quality of the supervision an employee receives is critical to employee retention. People leave managers and supervisors more often than they leave companies or jobs. It is not enough that the supervisor is well liked or a nice person, starting with clear expectations of the employee, the supervisor has a critical role to play in retention. Anything the supervisor does to make an employee feel unvalued will contribute to turnover. Frequent employee complaints center on these areas. 1 Lack of clarity about expectations, 56

2 3 4

Lack of clarity about earning potential, Lack of feedback about performance, Failure to hold scheduled meetings, and

Failure to provide a framework within which the employee perceives he can succeed.

Some Retention Strategies in ITES-BPO Industry

HR professionals all over the world, working is Call-Center or Contact Center or BPO industry are breaking their heads to formulate Retention Strategies but nothing is working in their favor. The average attrition rate in this sector is still 35-40%. No rewardsjust nothing is working.

perks, no

Before proceeding further, lets see why people are leaving? Why there is high attrition rate.

Employee benefits provided by the majority of the BPO companies

1. Group Medi-claim Insurance Scheme: This insurance scheme is to provide adequate insurance coverage of employees for expenses related to hospitalization due to illness, disease or injury or pregnancy in case of female employees or spouse of male employees. All employees and their dependent family members are eligible. Dependent family members include spouse, non-earning parents and children above three months 2. Personal Accident Insurance Scheme: This scheme is to provide adequate insurance coverage for Hospitalization expenses arising out of injuries sustained in an accident. This covers total / partial disablement / death due to accident and due

57

to accidents. 3. Subsidized Food and Transportation: The organizations provide transportation facility to all the employees from home till office at subsidized rates. The lunch provided is also subsidized. 4. Company Leased Accommodation: Some of the companies provides shared accommodation for all the out station employees, in fact some of the BPO companies also undertakes to pay electricity/water bills as well as the Society charges for the shared accommodation. The purpose is to provide to the employees to lead a more comfortable work life balance. 5. Recreation, Cafeteria, ATM and Concierge facilities: The recreation facilities include pool tables, chess tables and coffee bars. Companies also have well equipped gyms, personal trainers and showers at facilities. 6. Corporate Credit Card: The main purpose of the corporate credit card is enable the timely and efficient payment of official expenses which the employees undertake for purposes such as travel related expenses like Hotel bills, Air tickets etc 7. Cellular Phone / Laptop: Cellular phone and / or Laptop are provided to the employees on the basis of business need. The employee is responsible for the maintenance and safeguarding of the asset. 8. Personal Health Care (Regular medical check-ups): Some of the BPO'S provides the facility for extensive health check-up. For employees with above 40 years of age, the medical check-up can be done once a year.

9. Loans: Many BPO companies provide loan facility on three different occasions: Employees are provided with financial assistance in case of a medical emergency. Employees are also provided with financial assistance at the time of their wedding. And, The new recruits are provided with interest free loans to assist them in their initial settlement at the work location. 58

10. Educational Benefits: Many BPO companies have this policy to develop the personality and knowledge level of their employees and hence reimburses the expenses incurred towards tuition fees, examination fees, and purchase of books subject, for pursuing MBA, and/or other management qualification at India's top most Business Schools.

11. Performance based incentives: In many BPO companies they have plans for, performance based incentive scheme. The parameters for calculation are process performance i.e. speed, accuracy and productivity of each process. The Pay for Performance can be as much as 22% of the salary.

12. Flexi-time: The main objective of the flextime policy is to provide opportunity to employees to work with flexible work schedules and set out conditions for availing this provision. Flexible work schedules are initiated by employees and approved by management to meet business commitments while supporting employee personal life needs .The factors on which Flexi time is allowed to an employee include: Child or Parent care, Health situation, Maternity, Formal education program 13. Flexible Salary Benefits: Its main objective is to provide flexibility to the employees to plan a tax-effective compensation structure by balancing the monthly net income, yearly benefits and income tax payable. It is applicable of all the employees of the organization. The Salary consists of Basic, DA and Conveyance Allowance. The Flexible Benefit Plan consists of: House Rent Allowance, Leave Travel Assistance, Medical Reimbursement, and Special Allowance. 14. Regular Get together and other cultural programs: The companies organizes cultural program as and when possible but most of the times, once in a quarter, in which all the employees are given an opportunity to display their talents in dramatics, singing, acting, dancing etc. Apart from that the organizations also conduct various sports programs such as Cricket, football, etc and regularly play matches with the teams of other organizations and colleges.

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15. Wedding Day Gift: Employee is given a gift voucher of Rest. 2000/- to Rest. 7000/- based on their level in the organization. 16. Employee Referral Scheme: In several companies employee referral scheme is implemented to encourage employees to refer friends and relatives for employment in the organization. These strategies can be applied in BPOs for retaining talent.

Limitations
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Scarcity of time workforce was there. All BPO offices could not be covered due to scarcity of time. As views of HODs and officers had to be sought, some of the questions in the questionnaire? Open ended. Opinions being subjective, the interpretation could not to some degree possible reveal true picture owing to individual perception differences. Some of persons are not covered as they were on some assignment at outstation

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62

Conclusion

63

Attrition is biggest problem in BPOs this study will help to retain talent and finding best possible way outs to tackle problem This will help to analyze that are you doing your best to retain your top talent? Employ these factors in your organization to retain your desired employees and attract the best talent, too. Retaining good employees is critical to a firm's long-term success. In the engineering and construction markets, employee retention is especially serious because the job market is tight and competition is fierce for top candidates. Some studies estimate that losing an employee costs a company 100 percent of that employee's salary.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

65

 Literatures of Retention Hand bills and other printed documents.

Research Human

Methodology Resource

by

C.R.kothari,3rd by

ED,Pearson

education,2004,157

Management

sontakkipearson

education,2000 www.spice .com www.google.com www.yahoo.com

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Appendix

67

Questionnaire

Questionnaire for those people who left the Programme in Between Q1. Why did you left the program in between? a) b) c) d) Got the better opportunity Lack of Time Fear of Sales job Different field

Q2.Whatever job profile you have been told was it different from what you wanted to do? a) Yes b) No c) Similar Q3.Are you satisfied with current recruitment Process? a) Yes b) No Q4.According to you what should be done to improve recruitment process? a) Aptitude test b) Interview c) Blank application Q5. Which part of the process you disliked? A) Training B) Written test Q6.Do you think 10+2 is enough for the recruitment or should it be increased?

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Q7.would you like to give any feedback or suggestion.

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