BPOs no more a stopgap option

More and more IT firms look at arresting attrition by providing on the job education option to staff.

Akshat Kulhar had almost quit his Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) job to pursue management education. But the 24-year-old software engineer from Bangalore has dropped his plans by the latest certificate programme in management for BPO industry being launched by his employer with the help of a premier B-school.

It is some of these ‘tailor-made’ certificate programmes that are beginning to turn the tide in favour of BPOs .

For instance, Infosys BPO in association with — the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), IIM Bangalore (IIM-B) and Mumbai-based Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research — launched a customised short-term programme in management for its employees.

The Infosys BPO has these premier B-schools involved in training its employees, right from studying the employee structure to designing module for these programmes.

“Freshers join our firms but after two-three years quit their jobs to pursue further education, mostly in management. We have been trying to address this issue by launching short term certificate programmes in management education within the campus. This way, our employees will not only be able to develop their skill set but also use this education to grow within the organisation without having to quit their jobs,” says D Swaminathan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Infosys BPO.

These programmes are called ‘Junior management learning programmes’ and comprise distant learning as well as evening classes.

“There are management development programmes conducted by these B-schools but they carry open applications. What we needed were modules with specialisation required by BPO industry. This way, the employees have an opportunity to not only grow academically but also avoid the risk of changing sectors,” added Swaminathan.

The company on an annual basis has attrition of 45-50 per cent only due to people leaving for higher studies.

However, since the company started the programme, attrition has come down to 30-35 per cent.

Expenses for such programmes are borne entirely by the organisations as part of their training budget. Industry sources quote it to a tune of 4-5 per cent of total expenses within an organisation. On their part, B-schools usually charge consulting fees for such programmes.

“They are not management development programmes where the entry is open for everyone by paying fixed set of fees. Instead, they are customised through an in-depth study of these BPO campuses, employees and organisational structure and the company is charged a consulting fee. The programmes are usually spread over a period of six months,”says BH Jajoo, dean at IIM Ahmedabad.

IIM-A has also been approached by Mumbai-based Mastek Limited to design similar programmes.

“Such programmes do work in case of entry level employees wherein the workforce has an incentive to stay within the organisation or industry and grow,”points out Ashank Desai, co-founder, Mastek Ltd.

Genpact, India’s largest BPO services provider, has been conducting such course with reputed colleges and universities from India and abroad through its Education@work programme where it contributes 75 per cent towards the course fee.

Also, Mumbai-based WNS, has tie-ups with 25 institutes and universities in India and across geographies for such programmes.