ITES players to hire the physically challenged, retired and part-timers

Sudipta Dev / Mumbai

The high attrition rate in the ITES sector has always been a subject of much concern—it hits the bottom line and affects quality— critical factors for the survival of the industry. There has been much debate lately about the ways and means to find an alternate solution to the problem. A few experts have also started believing that the focus in India on employing fresh young graduates who are just out of college and find their job just an extension of their campus life, is one of the greatest blunders of the recruitment managers. The focus should also be on hiring an alternate segment who have a more mature outlook and can ensure more loyalty to their organisation. And who are these people—retired personnel, the physically challenged and even part-time workers (including housewives). While an organisation like Msource has already decided to hire 15 percent to 25 percent of its workforce from the above 35 age limit bracket, at Intelenet it has been agreed that 5 percent of the workforce should be physically challenged people, EXL Services at Noida has recently been taking out special ads with "age no bar" criteria to attract this segment. The first steps have already been taken—successfully—and more are yet to follow.

Learning from the West

It is a known fact that a large percentage of the workforce in call centres in western countries comprises the physically challenged and retired people. Says P V Kannan, chief executive of Bangalore-based 24/7Customer.com, "In most of Europe and the US, the employment laws prohibit discrimination of people based on physical disability (handicap) or based on age. So they tend to employ a number of disabled people and provide them with extra training and tools to help them cope with the job."

"In the UK there are call centres manned by the physically challenged while in the US there are tax breaks for companies who employ war veterans," adds Chiranjit Banerjee, executive director (South) of Quest Screening Services in Bangalore. This, he says, is particularly viable in India in non-voice segments and verticals like insurance/finance/accounts—the country’s traditional strengths in the outsourcing space—all industries where veterans are available for probably the same cost to company (CTC) as a 22-year-old.

Indian BPO managers are realising that their hiring strategy has been fundamentally flawed in that they went looking for ambitious, extroverted and restless twenty somethings, agrees Banerjee. Hiring of physically challenged and retired personnel is a tried and tested model in more mature markets. He adds, "For one, they are not prone to job and party hopping, which impacts productivity. For a process driven function that a call centre agent’s job largely is, an element of maturity along with discipline are key. Subsequent to VRS programmes run by state owned banks, there are thousands of banking operations veterans out there who would fit into the non-voice based roles." Furthermore, the directorate for resettlement of the Indian Armed Forces, which has profiles of retired non-combatant personnel, can provide thousands of potential candidates. The HR departments of nationalised banks can also provide the same data.

The beginnings

The beginnings have already been made by some organisations. Manuel D’Souza, head of HR at Intelenet Global Services informs, "My CEO has already mandated that 5 percent of the workforce will comprise the physically challenged, in this fiscal and next. Which means that out of the 2,000 employees at least a hundred will be from this section." While the company is exploring this, both as a corporate social responsibility (CSR) effort and a conscious business decision, D’Souza categorically states that the initiative has not been taken because the organisation feels "sorry" for this section:

"We realise that there is a serious lack of employment opportunity for this section and BPOs can provide the option. We want to give them the chance." Intelenet hires from the National Society for Equal Opportunities for the Handicapped, an NGO based in Govandi, Mumbai. The candidates have to go through the same aptitude tests like the rest and have to convince the selectors that they have good communication skills. Presently the company has seven to eight physically challenged people working with them and the process is on to identify sources to recruit more. In fact, one person in the organisation has been given the portfolio to exclusively look after this task.

Msource has made non-traditional hiring a policy. The company has decided that at least 15 percent to 25 percent of its workforce should include people above 35 years of age who are looking for a second lease of career. "Apart from giving back to the community what we have got, we also consider this effort as a good business decision to hire people who are looking at long-term career options, are more mature and also loyal," says Elango, vice president HR of Msource. Sensitisation training is being conducted for the peers—a necessity for a diversified workforce.

Noida-based EXL Services published specialised advertisements with the "age no bar" criteria to attract senior people living in the vicinity. The workforce already includes many 35-40 year olds, including retired Army and Air Force personnel. The company had got in touch with the resettlement boards of the Army and Air Force about three-four months earlier and set up interviews. Retired school teachers and housewives are also working with the organisation. Deepak Dhawan the vice president HR of at EXL Service, "It is very do-able and possible, but needs the right effort behind it. There should be change in the organisation culture, when for instance a 40-year-old has to work under a 23-year-old team lead. Currently 120-130 such people are working with us. We are particularly focused on Noida residents so that people do not have to travel much." Selection is on the basis of the number of years of relevant experience and not by age. They are more comfortable in areas which require more maturity, e.g. claims process than retail. EXL has also employed a few physically challenged people and all its facilities have been designed to accommodate them—from the open access to the walkways, stairways, gangways, etc.

Providing part-time employment

Engaging part-timers is also becoming a popular option in the industry. At Intelenet many youngsters who are still in their final year of graduation have been engaged. The company is also looking at the option of hiring retired personnel to work for 5 hours every day. Housewives are also been considered for part-time options and are allowed to choose from two shifts—early evening and late night. "We have in fact initiated a dialogue with our clients for working with part-time workers and one of them has consented. A pilot of 20-40 people has been launched comprising a mix of all segments, " adds D’Souza.

Msource has regular part-timers working on different processes between 2 hours to 4 hours everyday. All the part-timers have to also go through the regular training sessions. Currently as many as 150 part-timers are working at the Msource centres in Bangalore and Pune.

Zia Shiekh, CEO of Infowavz International says, "At Infowavz, we are presently putting a plan in action that focuses on attracting and retaining physically handicapped people and retired people. Before implementing this, we are ensuring that our facilities can support such people (e.g. installation of wheel chair slopes for ease of movement within the centre; specially equipped vehicles for their home pick-up and drop; use of escalators for moving from one floor to another in the center, etc.). We have not yet tried housewives; and that is primarily because most of our operations are currently taking place in the night-shift and we recognise that it would be quite challenging for home-makers to be away from their familities during the night. However, as we increasingly expand our back-office data management and transaction processing operations, there are significant opportunities coming up for day-time and even for part-time work. This is ideally suited for housewives, especially during the early part of the day when spouses have left for work and children for school/ college."

The challenges

It is not just enough to emulate the West by providing jobs to this alternate section, Indian BPOs and call centres need to create the right kind of physical infrastructure and cultural environ. While there might be no obvious handicap it might not be easy for 35 or 40 year olds to work under a 22-year-old team leader. Furthermore, aligning seniors to voice accents (for voice-based operations) may not be as easy as it is with the youngsters. While similar training is provided to all, according to Dhawan, it takes sometimes more patience with this section. The training involves a lot of homework with regular tests and certifications. While it is easier for younger people to cope with the pressures and give more time.

Shiekh informs that Infowavz is also focusing on cultural and other work environment related issues that some of these new types of employees may face and their potential conflicts with perhaps the younger and less mature existing employees. "The objective is to create an environment that is healthy and exciting for all the people by giving everyone an opportunity to learn and benefit from the experiences of the other, thereby creating a true win-win situation. And that not only make us a socially responsible corporate, but also mitigates much of our on-going challenge of attracting huge number of qualified people on an ongoing basis to meet the client ramp-up goals and objectives."

Evident advantages

Most industry experts now believe that the advantages of hiring this alternate segment are manifold. "It caters to our optimum productivity staffing issue and we also have better control over attrition," adds D’Souza. Happy employees make happy customers, are absent less and more productive. Apart from loyalty and sincerity they are also not overtly ambitious and are content with what they are doing. Elango points out a not-so-obvious advantage: "Having such people and working with them creates a sense of humility. The youngsters come to realise that they are also as good. This creates a ripple effect."

Banerjee summarises the advantages: stability and thereby lower attrition; empathy with customers; realistic salary growth/ aspirations and crises management abilities.