Title:- A STUDY OF THE VARIOUS EMPLOYEE RENTENTION

STRATEGIES USED IN BPO SECTOR

Objectives of the project:-The main objective of doing this study is to understand

the nature of work, employment, and labour relationships in call centres (BPO) and
its impact on workers. This effort aims at identifying and exploring the shared
interests to counter the pre-existing belief that employees (the human resource)
and the human resource management bodies in both the developing and developed
world are divided. One of the biggest challenges companies are facing is the
attraction and retention of good employees and top performers. The purpose of this
project study is also to prove how employee retention is essential in this day and
age, and if the organizations are not awake to the situation and immediate actions
are not taken to that effect what repercussions lay ahead and how they would affect
the organization and the industry.
These are major the objectives:1. To know the concept of retention strategy.
2. To identify best practices and various facts regarding retention of employees of
BPO in India.
3. To know why retention is needed.
4. To understand the various strategies adopted by BPO sector for retaining their
employees.

Problem statement:XYZ Company' is a one of the leading BPO's and had a large turnover in the last
decade. But now it is going through a problem of employee attrition.
In NOV 2015, company hired 200 associates at a package of 2.5 Lacs p.a and
started their Process Training. Company called specialized trainers from its
headquarters at New York, USA.
Company beared the expenses of calling the trainers to India and managed to pay
all the day-to-day expenses of the trainer. Training of 200 associates took 60 days
which again costed 5 lacs to the company including all expenses like electricity,
rent, etc.
But XYZ Company did not realize that their employees are not satisfied which later
resulted into attrition of 150 employees - and the reason provided are as follows -

1. Pursuing higher studies:Employees in BPO jobs work hectic schedules and some handle challenging
portfolios. Most of them would have entered the sector with a basic qualification as
a stop-gap arrangement while they decide on what they want to make out of their
future. Hence after clocking in a few years, certain employees throw in the towel to
pursue higher education and hopefully land a more rewarding job.
2. Low career prospects:The BPO industry usually adopts a flat structure with little avenue for specialization.
Only the most ambitious of the lot manage to climb up the corporate ladder. The
rest have to make do with striving for higher incentives and settling for their own
profiles for a longer period as compared to their counterparts in other industries.
3. For better remuneration:Employees in the BPO sector are usually thrilled during the few months of receiving
their paycheck. But sooner or later they begin to feel either exploited or
underutilized and seek jobs offering higher pay scales. These are usually jobs in
other BPO companies poaching on experienced people by offering better salaries.
With remuneration the prime factor behind any job, employees seldom think twice
about leaving their BPO jobs for a better paying one.
4. Lack of work-life balance:- The unconventional work timings that most of the BPO
companies follow are reason enough to send the average worker into a tizzy after a
while. The employees find themselves pressured by their families who complain
about their crazy hours as well as by their Team leaders and supervisors whom they
need to satisfy. With most of the BPOs supporting overseas operations, night shifts
are a necessity and not something that can be done away with easily.
5. Unsatisfying interpersonal relationships on-cordial relationships with your peers
and superiors makes it strenuous in a BPO job. This is because of the peculiar
nature of the job requiring you to be amongst the same set of people for a larger
part of the day. Hence a sour experience could lead the influential minds of young
employees to think of other alternatives in their career.

Methodology to be used:The task of managing the employees retention could be understood in three stage
process:
1. Identify the cost of employee turnover.

2. Understand why employee leaves.

3. Implement retention strategies.

Now lets discuss these three stages in detail;

1. Identify the cost of employee turnover: The organizations should start with
identifying the employee turnover rates within a particular time period and
benchmark it with the competitor organizations. This will help in assessing
the whether the talent retention rates are healthy in the company. Secondly,
the cost of employee turnover can be calculated. According to a survey, on
an average, attrition costs companies 18 months salary for each manager or
professional who leaves, and 6 months pay for each hourly employee who
leaves. This amounts to major organizational and financial stress, considering
that one out of every three employees plans to leave his or her job in the
next two years.
2. Understand why employee leaves: Why employees leave often puzzles top
management. Exit interviews are an ideal way of recording and analyzing the
factors that have led employees to leave the organization. They allow an
organization to understand the reasons for leaving and underlying issues.
However employees never provide appropriate response to the asked
questions. So an impartial person should be appointed with whom the
employees feel comfortable in expressing their opinions.
3. 3. Implement retention strategies: Once the causes of attrition are found, a
strategy is to be implemented so as to reduce employee turnover. The most
effective strategy is to adopt a holistic approach to dealing with attrition.
An effective retention strategy will seek to ensure:
Attraction and recruitment strategies enable selection of the right
candidate for each role/organization.
New employees initial experiences of the organization are positive.
Appropriate development opportunities are available to employees,
and that they are kept aware of their likely career path with the
organization.
The organizations reward strategy reflects the employee drivers.
The leaving process is managed effectively
As per my understanding, there must be regular one-o-one sessions in order to
know and understand the problem areas of the employees so that they could feel
motivated to come to work. Proper attention should be paid by the managers in
order to understand the requirements of employees related to growth, increment,

designation etc. Employees who are motivated are treated as assets for the
company and stay longer in the company. So overall it could be said if management
pays attention on all of its employees and do not become partial between
employees, then definitely it will lead to a successful organization and will face less
or no problem of attrition of employees or quick quit.