It could be night out for BPO staff this Diwali
Thanks to the efforts being made by BPOs to culturally sensitise their foreign clients about India, call centre employees could just be able to join their families in the night-long Diwali celebrations at home.
NEW DELHI: Don’t be surprised if Diwali turns out to be as big a festival as Christmas on the global BPO calendar. Thanks to the efforts being made by BPOs to culturally sensitise their foreign clients about India, call centre employees could just be able to join their families in the night-long Diwali celebrations at home.
Blame it on those stubborn absentees who fail to show up, or changing HR dynamics in this attrition-ridden industry, but a growing number of IT-enabled services (ITeS) companies are asking global clients to prune their level of BPO support during festival days.
“An increasing number of companies are talking to clients in advance, to bring down the level of support during select festival days. In most cases clients understand and are agreeing to divert traffic to various other global locations on Diwali night,” says Vipul Doshi, CEO of Gurgaon-based InterGlobe Technologies.
As a result, companies such as InterGlobe are cutting their work load on Diwali by 60%. “While the back office work gets shifted to another day, in case of voice-based processes the drop is up to 30% and calls are diverted to other locations of the client’s choice,” adds Mr Doshi.
Despite umpteen difficulties faced by managers during festivals, Indians had a tendency to never go back to their clients to educate them about such cultural issues — but things are set to change. “Indian festivals are slowly getting into the mainstream terminology of foreign clients and they are willingly cooperating,” says Rakesh Malik, practice leader, Hewitt India.
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Compounding the situation is the fact that BPO jobs are in abundance, and employees have multiple options. Hence, holding back an employee at work may not be such a good idea, says an industry observer.For Convergys — which employs 10,000 people in India — the drop in work load is to the extent of up to 20% on Diwali with voice-based processes temporarily shifting to the US.
“Convergys wants its employees to be part of the culture that they belong to. Therefore the company tries to be flexible within the given boundaries of business and puts in place initiatives to remain a preferred employer,“ says a Convergys official.
Mumbai-based Intelenet Global Services joins the chorus with Manuel D’Souza, VP-HR, saying that the ITeS industry is focusing on meeting the employee’s basic social needs.
“The clients themselves are reducing the load balance to their side to enable our employees to take leave,“ says Mr D’Souza. This, though, requires the company to do some advanced planning. Close to 18% of Intelenet employees stay away from work on Diwali.
Sam Chopra, president, Call Centre Association of India (CCAI), says the trend is a result of globalisation, increased client visits and cross-border cultural exchanges.
“Companies in the US are becoming more aware of Indian culture. It is a sign of maturity, and increased understanding of employee behaviour and also reflects the empathy of foreign clients,” he points out.
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