Wipro angles for a buyout in the BPO segment

Wipro Technologies Ltd is considering an acquisition in the transactional process domain which at present is one of its biggest focus areas.

The transactional process domain consists of all business process outsourcing (BPO) functions, including activities relating to the back-office process of actual transactions.

The acquisition is expected to help the company notch up the growth rate planned for the next couple of years.

"We are looking at a few specific instances, but are yet to decide on an acquisition," said Bijay Sahoo, vice president for human resource, Wipro.

He said the acquired business should complement Wipro's offerings "and match our cultural environment".

Sahoo said the company was constantly on the lookout for companies that would provide the right fit both culturally and in the transactional process domain.

Talking about Wipro's expansion plans, he said discussions were on with the Punjab government for acquiring around 25 acres in Chandigarh.

At Pune, the company plans to expand its existing operation, while additional land is being sought in Coimbatore too.

In Bhubaneswar, Orissa, the company has already been provided with 27 acres.

In Kolkata, Wipro would be adding another 1,000 employees in the next one year. "The infrastructure in the city could be scaled up to provide employment to as many as 5,000 individuals here," Sahoo said.

Talking about attrition rates at Wipro, the HR head said, the company has managed to bring down the figure to around 9 per cent in December against 18 per cent in the previous corresponding period.

"This was the result of a four-pronged strategy to reduce attrition that has yielded results," the HR head informed.

The four prongs were one-on-one meeting and open houses with employees, employee perception feedback, exit interviews and following the 'WLR' concept.

WLR stands for "Wipro listens and responds". Sahoo said WLR is essentially a employee relationship management tool that was followed rigorously within the organisation. "We also acted and corrected ourselves on the basis of the exit interviews," he said.

According to him, restricted stock option grant with lock-in periods also stemmed the attrition rates. It did not allow an employee to encash his option if he left the company.

Sahoo said Wipro has also corrected the salary structure wherever it was necessary to retain employees.

On the hunt

• Buyout to help company notch up growth rate
• Acquired business to complement Wipro's offerings and cultural environment.
• Wipro to buy around 25 acre in Chandigarh and to expand Pune operation