"BPO sector will have 7 lakh jobs in 3 yrs"
Vibha Sharma

THE BPO sector, says S. Varadarajan, Vice-President (Talent Engagement & Development), Wipro Spectramind Ltd, is the ‘victim’ of the love-hate relationship that scribes often share with it. "Employees in hospitals, hotels, airlines, manufacturing units, even journalists, work at night. So, why focus on this aspect of the BPO industry?" he asks.

Till the advent of BPO in the country, graduates really did not have very many opportunities. "Youngsters in India are still influenced by their elders and if people keep harping on the stress and travails of the industry, the country might end up losing the advantage of the boom," Vardarajan cautions. The jobs in the industry will grow from the existing 2.5 lakh-3 lakh to 7 lakh in about three years.

"Today, a fresh graduate is able to earn between Rs 90,000 and 1.5 lakh per annum without any experience. But to be able to cash in on the boom, we need major improvements," he feels.

For one, the right way to speak English needs to be taught right at the grassroots level. Besides, emphasis should also be laid on additional skill enhancement in specialised areas such as accounting. Familiarity and training in US GAAP methods is becoming increasingly important because back-end accounting work, outsourced to India by US multinationals, would require manpower familiar with these methods.

How do BPO companies deal with the high attrition rate?

By creating a sense of belonging. In our company we believe in the homing-pigeon policy. A person who leaves the company has all the reason to come back. See, these days a company has to plan for everything- right from absentees to Monday-morning blues. We also know that a certain number of employees will leave every month and therefore budget for it.

Opening up of the economy and liberalisation have made available opportunities to smart young graduates that were earlier not there. Today, youngsters have much better focus, expect faster growth in career and loyalty towards an organisation are concepts that do not make much sense to them. It is for an organistaion to plan according to these new factors. The youth also expect immediate rewards and recognition. So, reward an individual on the spot for the kind of work he or she has put in. It can be a pat on the back, a card, flowers, a raise in the salary, but the reward should definitely be commensurate with the work put in.