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 One
of the greatest challenges for the ITeS/BPO industry is finding
the right candidate and retaining their loyalty. The high rate of
attrition and spiralling salaries has had a direct impact upon billing
rates, a fact that could hit the cost advantage that India offers.
Most BPO organisations are now looking at finding alternate sources
of skilled and qualified candidates such as retired personnel and
housewives. Disabled people are an untapped source of qualified
candidates. Unfortunately, most organisations are unaware of the
range of skills of these potential employees. Aware of the possibilities
of employment that the IT/ITeS sector can provide to the disabled,
the National Society for Equal Opportuni-ties for the Handicapped
India (Naseoh, website www.naseoh.org) in Chembur, Mumbai has been
training them for the last few years. Datamatics Technologies Limited
(DTL) has broken ground by setting up a BPO unit within the Naseoh
campus, which employs 60 qualified and trained “knowledge associates.”
The fact that they happen to be physically challenged is only incidental.
Low attrition
Most employers are oblivious to this opportunity
to hire well-trained and qualified employees that are extremely
dedicated and fiercely loyal to their organisation. Their rate of
attrition is minimal. A case in point is a report published in 2001
by the National Organisation of Disability, US, which stated that
Washington Mutual, a financial services company, reported an attrition
rate of 8 percent in 1999 among people with disabilities working
at its call centres, compared to an overall attrition rate of 45
percent. The cost to recruit, train and develop new employees was
$15,000. Washington Mutual saved money by hiring more people with
disabilities because they had better attendance and were more committed
to their jobs. Their productivity was the same or higher than others.
In the Indian context, with limited options available
elsewhere (apart from the 3 percent quota in government jobs), the
possibilities of a physically challenged person changing jobs is
almost negligible.
The challenge
The greatest challenge is to overcome their psychological
barriers and assure them that they can be productive and earn their
own livelihood. “They have to be convinced that computers are
not difficult. Furthermore, most of the students are from the vernacular
medium, so the biggest effort is to polish their English language
skills,” says Sudha Balachan-dra, director general of the National
Centre for the Handicapped and executive secretary of Naseoh.
The institution had set up a computer training
division in 1998 through a grant made by the Rotary International
Foundation and Rotary Club of Bombay Midtown. Training is given
in government certified courses. Compulsory English language classes
are also organised to enhance their communication skills. These
students are then eligible to work for the BPO (data entry) unit.
In 2002 the Japanese Consulate gave a grant for
buying 20 computers for the data entry centre. Naseoh then requested
Datamatics Technologies to outsource their BPO operations to them.
The reason why Datamatics Technologies was approached is also obvious:
The company has a unique outsourcing strategy—it trains and
engages housewives to do data entry work for its foreign clients,
working from home.
Following an initial hesitation because the company
was not sure of the calibre of potential candidates, DTL finally
decided to go for it. Today it runs a successful BPO unit from Naseoh’s
premises, with sixty trained and qualified knowledge associates
working in three shifts. The work includes data processing, editing
and abstraction. Most are within the age group of 20-28 years and
are orthopaedically handicapped or have impaired hearing.
No compromise on quality
DTL provides clients with solutions in the areas
of publishing and data management, data warehousing, business intelligence,
document management & workflow solutions, transaction processing,
claims processing and tax preparation.
“We do not discount anybody on grounds of
disability. They are disabled physically, not mentally,” says
the DTL spokesperson. The candidates are chosen following a screening
test of their mental capability and their ability to work for eight
hours. Further training is given to them as per their disability.
Quality work is a pre-requisite and no compromises are made—and
there is a cut from the monthly remuneration if the employee fails
to deliver. The knowledge associates do not want any special treatment
on account of sympathy, they like it that way.
“It is a start-up support from them, and
not permanent. By the end of the second year we want them to work
at home with a computer, and more people should get the opportunity
to work from this BPO unit,” says Balachandra. There is of
course no limit to the number of hours one can put in to work from
home, but being your own motivator is not an easy task.
A home away from home
It is the stimulating environment at Naseoh which
attracts people, even those who can work from home. One of them
is Vandana Deshnehare, a resident of Vikhroli. Despite being partially
blind and having a computer at home, she comes all the way to Chembur.
One of the star workers she is a big help to others. “I like
the atmosphere here, enjoy the work and want to achieve more in
this field,” she says with confidence.
Another star performer is Amit Verma. He was recently
felicitated for his excellent performance. Suffering from hearing
and speech disability, Verma communicates through sign language:
“I want to be awarded again as the best performer next time.
My father was very proud of me when I took the gift home.”
Interestingly, according to the Datamatics spokesperson, it is his
higher level of concentration (with no sound to distract him) that
has made him excel in his work. For the parents, who have a low
level of expectation from their disabled children, such success
comes as a pleasant surprise.
Archana Waghmare (who has a lower limb handicap)
has just earned her first salary and is thrilled with the prospect
of spending it. She has clear plans of making a successful career
with Datamatics Technologies. Jatwant Wadkar however dreams of setting
up his own business, along similar lines, and help other handicapped
people.
For Mubina Ibrahim her workplace is like her home.
“I love coming here, we are like a family. We always help each
other,” she says. Despite her regrets of not being able to
realise her dream of joining the JJ School of Arts and working as
an artist, she enjoys her job, which includes different types of
data entry work.
While all of them enjoy the work that they do,
data entry is not the end of the road for them. Those who are exceptionally
good can graduate to the next level of 'compare' including monitoring
databases.
Limited options
Naseoh has been making efforts to aid the computer
trained students in finding suitable career avenues. Campus recruitments
were organised a couple of times and a few students were selected
by Reliance and Transworks. The company Quest2Travel, which creates
IT solutions for the travel industry, is setting up a travel agency
where it wants to provide employment to disabled people to work
on their computerised reservation systems. A few students are being
trained for the job. Such options are however limited.
“We feel that this has the potential to grow
further. The options are few when they complete their training.
It is a process to keep them motivated. They look to Naseoh for
support,” says Yogendra Shetty, assistant director general,
Naseoh. Funds however remains a problem for the institution, it
does not have any transport arrangement for the disabled. The computer
facilities are also limited. Balachandra has been trying to get
a copy of 'Jaws for Windows' screen reader which will make it possible
for the visually impaired to work on computers. She adds, “IT
opens limitless possibilities for the disabled people. We have a
lot of space here. Other ITeS/BPO organisations can also set up
units.” The only need is for corporates to change their mindset
that physically disabled people are in any way mentally inferior.
sudipta@expresscomputeronline.com
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