Outsourcing - BPO
BPO Industry in India - A Report
Business process outsourcing (BPO) is a broad term referring
to outsourcing in all fields. A BPO differentiates itself by either
putting in new technology or applying existing technology in a
new way to improve a process.
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is the delegation of one or
more IT-intensive business processes to an external provider that
in turn owns, administers and manages the selected process based
on defined and measurable performance criteria. Business Process
Outsourcing (BPO) is one of the fastest growing segments of the
Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) industry.
Few of the motivation factors as to why BPO is gaining ground
are:
Factor Cost Advantage
Economy of Scale
Business Risk Mitigation
Superior Competency
Utilization Improvement
Generally outsourcing can be defined as - An organization entering
into a contract with another organization to operate and manage
one or more of its business processes.
Different Types of Services Being Offered By BPO's
Customer Support Services
Our customer service offerings create a virtual customer service
center to manage customer concerns and queries through multiple
channels including voice, e-mail and chat on a 24/7 and 365 days
basis.
Service Example: Customers calling to check on their order status,
customers calling to check for information on products and services,
customers calling to verify their account status, customers calling
to check their reservation status etc.
Technical Support Services
Our technical support offerings include round-the-clock technical
support and problem resolution for OEM customers and computer
hardware, software, peripherals and Internet infrastructure manufacturing
companies. These include installation and product support, up
& running support, troubleshooting and Usage support.
Service Example: Customers calling to resolve a problem with
their home PC, customers calling to understand how to dial up
to their ISP, customers calling with a problem with their software
or hardware.
Telemarketing Services
Our telesales and telemarketing outsourcing services target interaction
with potential customers for 'prospecting' like either for generating
interest in products and services, or to up-sell / promte and
cross sell to an existing customer base or to complete the sales
process online.
Service Example: Outbound calling to sell wireless services for
a telecom provider, outbound calling to retail households to sell
leisure holidays, outbound calling to existing customers to sell
a new rate card for a mobile service provider or outbound calling
to sell credit or debit cards etc.
Employee IT Help-desk Services
Our employee IT help-desk services provide technical problem
resolution and support for corporate employees.
Service Example: of this service include level 1 and 2 multi-channel
support across a wide range of shrink wrapped and LOB applications,
system problem resolutions related to desktop, notebooks, OS,
connectivity etc., office productivity tools support including
browsers and mail, new service requests, IT operational issues,
product usage queries, routing specific requests to designated
contacts and remote diagnostics etc.
Insurance Processing
Our insurance processing services provide specialized solutions
to the insurance sector and support critical business processes
applicable to the industry right from new business acquisition
to policy maintenance to claims processing.
Service Example:
New Business / Promotion:
Inbound/outbound sales, Initial Setup, Case Management, Underwriting,
Risk assessment, Policy issuance etc.
Policy Maintenance / Management:
Record Changes like Name, Beneficiary, Nominee, Address; Collateral
verification, Surrender Audits Accounts Receivable, Accounting,
Claim Overpayment, Customer care service via voice/email etc.
Data Entry Services / Data Processing Services Service Example:
Data entry from Paper/Books with highest accuracy and fast turn
around time (TAT)
Data entry from Image file in any format
Business Transaction Data entry like sales / purchase / payroll.
Data entry of E-Books / Electronic Books
Data Entry : Yellow Pages / White Pages Keying
Data Entry and compilation from Web site
Data Capture / Collection
Business Card Data Entry into any Format
Data Entry from hardcopy/Printed Material into text or required
format
Data Entry into Software Program and application
Receipt and Bill Data Entry
Catalog Data Entry.
Data Entry for Mailing List/Mailing Label.
Manuscripting typing in to word
Taped Transcription in to word.
Copy, Paste, Editing, Sorting, Indexing Data into required format
etc.
Data Conversion Services Service Example:
Conversion of data across various databases on different platforms
Data Conversion via Input / Output for various media.
Data Conversion for databases, word processors, spreadsheets,
and many other standard and custom-made software packages as per
requirement.
Conversion from Page maker to PDF format.
Conversion from Ms-Word to HTML format
Conversion from Text to Word Perfect.
Conversion from Text to Word to HTML and Acrobat
Convert Raw Data into required MS Office formats.
Text to PDF and PDF to Word / Text / Doc
Data Compilation in PDF from Several Sources.
E-Book Conversion etc.
Scanning, OCR with Editing & Indexing Services Service Example:
High speed Image-Scanning and Data capture services
High speed large volume scanning
OCR Data From Scanned page / image
Scan & OCR paper Book in to CD.
ADOBE PDF Conversion Services.
Conversion from paper or e-file to various formats
Book Keeping and Accounting Services Service Example:
General Ledger
Accounts Receivables and Accounts Payable
Financial Statements
Bank Reconciliation
Assets / Equipment Ledgers etc.
Form Processing Services:
Service Example:
Insurance claim form
Medical Form / Medical billing
Online Form Processing
Payrol Processing etc.
Internet / Online / Web Research
Service Example:
Internet Search, Product Research, Market Research, Survey, Analysis.
Web and Mailing list research etc.
Challenges for a HR Professional in BPO
Brand equity: People still consider BPO to be "low brow",
thus making it difficult to attract the best talent.
Standard pre-job training: Again, due to the wide variety of
the jobs, lack of general clarity on skill sets, etc, there is
no standard curriculum, which could be designed and followed.
Benchmarks: There are hardly any benchmarks for compensation
and benefits, performance or HR policies. Everyone is charting
their own course.
Customer-companies tend to demand better results from outsourcing
partners than what they could actually expect from their own departments.
"When the job is being done 10,000 miles away, demands on
parameters such as quality, turn around timeliness, information
security, business continuity and disaster recovery, etc, are
far higher than at home. So, how to be more efficient than the
original?
Lack of focused training and certifications Given this background,
the recruiting and compensation challenges of HR departments are
only understandable.
Key To success
The key to success in ramping up talent in a BPO environment
is a rapid training module. The training component has to be seen
as an important sub-process, requiring constant re-engineering.
Business Process Outsourcing: The Top Rankers WNS has emerged
as the top BPO in India, pushing Wipro Spectramind to the second
position, according to a survey done by NASSCOM. The basis of
ranking is the revenues generated by the BPO companies in 2003-04,
as per US GAAP. A list of top fifteen BPO companies in India is
given below.
WNS Group
Wipro Spectramind
Daksh e-Services
Convergys
HCL Technologies
Zenta
ICICI Onesource
MphasiS
EXL
Tracmail
GTL Ltd.
vCustomer
HTMT
24/7 Customer
Sutherland Technologies
The parameters for the survey was: Employee Size (Operation level
executives), Percentage of last salary hike, Cost to company ,
Overall Satisfaction Score, Composite Satisfaction, Company Culture,
Job Content / Growth, Training , Salary and Compensation , Appraisal
System, People, Preferred Company: (Percentage of respondents
of a company who named their own company as the preferred one),
Dream Company: (Percentage of respondents in the total sample
who preferred a particular company).
Employee Benefits Provided By Majoriy Of the BPO Companies Provident
Fund: As per the statutory guidelines, the employee is required
to contribute a percentage of his basic salary and DA to a common
fund. The employer for this fund contributes as well. The employee
can use the amount deposited in this fund for various personal
purposes such as purchase of a new house, marriage etc.
Gratuity: Gratuity is one of the retrial benefits given to the
employee in which the employer every year contributes a particular
amount. The fund created can be used by the employee for the purpose
of long-term investment in various things such as a house etc.
Group Mediclaim 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
Personal Accident Insurance Scheme: This scheme is to provide
adequate insurance coverage for Hospitalization expenses arising
out of injuries sustained in an accident.
Subsidized Food and Transportation: The organizations provides
transportation facility to all the employees from home till office
at subsidized rates. The lunch provided is also subsidized.
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.
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.
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
Cellular Phone / Laptop: Cellular phone and / or Laptop is provided
to the employees on the basis of business need. The employee is
responsible for the maintenance and safeguarding of the asset.
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.
Loans: Many BPO companies provides 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.
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.
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.
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
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, Special Allowance
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.
Wedding Day Gift: Employee is given a gift voucher of Rs. 2000/-
to Rs. 7000/- based on their level in the organization.
Employee Referral Scheme: In several companies employee referral
scheme is implemented to encourage employees to refer friends
and relatives for employment in the organization.
Paid Days Off
Maternity Leave
Employee Stock Option Plan
Inspite of all these benefits, the attrition rate in BPO industry
is very high, why?. What is the reason for an employee to leave?
These and many more are the questions that need immediate attention
from the industrial gurus.
Why people prefer to join BPO's?
In general a person with any graduation can join any of the BPO.
Some BPO's like to take people with MBA but then again the specialization
are of an individual hardly makes any difference. Again, this
is the industry, where there is no reference checks and very often
people don't even specify there exact age. Lets me share with
you some of the reasons as why people prefer to join a BPO:
Did not get a better job.
Find nothing better to do.
Education level doesn't matter
Good work environment
Good Benefits
Flexibility of time
Attractive life style
Transport facility
Why people leave the BPO's?
When there are so many benefits associated with BPO industry….when
there are so many privileges for the BPO employees than what makes
them to change the company/industry?? Is it only MONEY that matters
or anything else as well?? Here are some of the reasons for a
BPO professional to change his/her job.
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
What they have to say?
With so much of uncertainty in the market…..people are trying
their best to stop or to at least have a control on the attrition
rate…let me share with you the opinion of the real gurus
of the industry.
"Training is a very important aspect of the ITES-BPO industry"-
Mr. Arjun Vaznaik, COO, Tracmail
" Career growth in the industry is robust and there is a
long-term opportunity. The great growth momentum that the industry
is witnessing is creating both vertical and lateral career opportunities.
There also exists enough growth opportunities in the middle-management
and supervisory level within the industry". - Aadesh Goyal,
Executive Vice President & GM, Hughes BPO Services
"It will not be possible for the industry to arrive at a
blanket agreement on poaching but bilateral agreements between
companies are being signed. Basic norms are being put in place
and code of ethics is being stressed upon by industry players
within the sector with respect to HR practices. We are encouraging
companies to adopt responsible behavior in order to ensure that
the industry does not become a victim of its own actions. Industry
needs to go aggressive but not cannibalistic." - Mr. Suren
Singh Rasaily, Senior Vice President, NIIT Ltd. and Head Plantworkz,
Conclusion:
This is a descriptive report on BPO industry. I have tried to
cover almost everything related to the industry. I like to have
your opinion about the same. Even at the end of this comprehensive
report, my concerns are related to development of employees in
BPO, controlling attrition rate in BPO, can we have some standard
industrial compensation package/ break-ups?
About Author:
Sanjeev Himachali
E-mail: ss_himachali@yahoo.com; sanjeev.himachali@gmail.com
Blog: http://sanjeevhimachali.blogspot.com/
You can read my ITES-BPO related articles at http://www.bpoindia.org/research/
or http://www.contactcenterworld.com/articles.asp
Sanjeev (Himachali) Sharma, is a 29 yrs of age from India, having
six years of experience in "Human Resource Development".
By qualification, he is Bachelor of Science and Masters in Business
Administration. He is also a Motivational and Inspirational writer
and speaker.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/
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