Genpact sees high churn at the top

NEW DELHI: India’s largest BPO, Genpact is facing attrition at the senior and top management levels. In the past one month, up to eight key executives have put in their papers.

This includes key personnel such as Rohit Bhayana, who was the head of the company’s software, centre of excellence and in charge of its high-priority China market, his deputy Ravinder Sharma who has joined Mumbai-based software company Ariba as director, Sandeep Phasgonkar, who was chief of the company’s IT infrastructure team and is now moving to Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, his second-in-command Yash Paul who will be joining Fidelity, and Gopal Ratnam, who was overseeing Genpact’s analytical division and KPO practices out of Bangalore.

Responding to an e-mail questionnaire from ET, a Genpact spokesperson said: “Genpact denies any recent attrition in the senior leadership team. The direct reportees to the CEO and president have not resigned from their current positions.

Genpact is a global provider of high-quality business and technology services, employing 25,000 highly-skilled associates. It has one of the lowest attrition rates in the BPO industry owing to the company’s employee responsive practices.”

BPO industry sources say part of the reason why these key executives left Genpact could be because of the opportunities now on offer in sunshine sectors such as retail. Just as the BPO sector managed to attract some top talent when it was coming up, it’s now the turn of the newer sectors.

Also, senior management executives often look for an entrepreneurial opportunity which is another reason for exits from larger organisations to smaller or start-up companies.

Some HR sources attribute it to the company’s rechristening, from GECIS to Genpact last year, that could also have had an impact on senior level attrition. In fact, according to a Genpact source, the attrition would have showed up earlier had it not been for some key HR initiatives by the company.

A comprehensive deferred salary plan has been one of the latest retention tools that the company has adopted. As per this practice, incentives are not cleared along with monthly salaries, but paid on half-yearly or annual basis.

This clutch of exits is not usual for Genpact which has emerged as a solid and credible employer branding in India over the last few years. In a sector otherwise hit by severe attrition, the company has maintained a formidable retention track record. At present, with over 15,000 employees in India, Genpact is the largest call-centre.