The Hindu Business Line : IT's a woman's world

She was barely out of college when she started. The money was good (actually great) and certainly made up for all those late nights, window-shopping and coffee mornings with friends. But it wasn't really a career option — as her mother put it, "till her MA classes start". The classes started but Anjali didn't join. Today, after five years and being referred to as the "Phonewalli Bai" in her small suburban Malad locality in Mumbai, Anjali Mathur is a happy woman. At 25, she takes home a Rs 50,000-plus salary and is among the best representatives of the BPO boom that changed forever the economics of young English-speaking Indians.

"Which other industry would give me this kind of money and position? Working with finance ensures that I know and understand the way businesses works here and abroad. Ask me about terms, shares and banking related stuff and I will show you I am no bimbo with just a graduate degree," says this feisty team leader who heads a group of 15 and is well known for her troubleshooting skills.

In a scenario where the BPO industry in India has matured from simple call centres to established players in the high-end KPO (knowledge process outsourcing) market to the point where the ubiquitous call centres have become `contact centres', the change isn't just about nomenclature. The Indian ITES-BPO segment recorded year-on-year growth of 37 per cent for 2005-06, with exports growing from $5.2 billion in 2004-05 to $6.3 billion in 2005-06.

From the outset, the sector has had a large number of women employees in all rungs of the corporate hierarchy. "And justifiably so," says Vaibhav Tewari, President, e4e India Operations. "We have found that women employees are generally more loyal and retainable. They stay 1.5 times longer than male employees. Hence the ROI on their training is higher."

Growing space

Opportunity was never an issue for women in this sector, but pre-conceived notions could prove to be stumbling blocks. "My mother freaks out each time someone mentions a BPO, thinking all it entails is working at night," says college student Amrita.

But as S. Seelan, Vice President - HR, Allsec Technologies says, "Night shift is not mandatory in a BPO job as it is made out to be." Many companies make extra efforts to deal with the issues arising from night shift. At HP, the night shift environment mirrors the day shift in terms of the facilities and support provided — the floors are brightly lit to ensure that the night-shift energy levels are as high as those of the day shift.

"All support functions — HR, Training and Facilities, and Administration — are on call during shifts to make the work environment comfortable for employees," says Karthikeyan Selvaraj, HR Head, HP BPO India. Most companies have systems in place to help new recruits cope better. As Seelan says, "At Allsec, we have a pre-transition into operation counselling that addresses all these issues... New agents in operations are given adequate time to settle into their new routines and adjust into their roles."

At SlashSupport, the appointment order itself provides new recruits with ample information on ways to cope with night shifts. As Manuel D'Souza, Vice-President - HR, Intelenet Global Services says, "Working in shifts is commonplace in the media and publishing industry, hospitality, airline and similar service industries, so it would not be appropriate to single out the BPO sector alone."

Besides, not all jobs call for customer interaction and adherence to US/UK timings. As Sudeshna Chatterjee, Training, HP BPO, says, "Functions like Training, Quality, HR and Administration are typically not constrained by shift timings, and allow women to work normal hours."

Health-wise

This is definitely one industry that boasts special measures to deal with the BOSS. No, this is not about the usual boss-subordinate relationship building efforts... BOSS here refers to Burn-Out Stress Syndrome, whose symptoms include chronic fatigue, insomnia leading to chronic gynaecological problems in women and sleep disorders often seen in young contact centre employees.

Thankfully, health is top priority with most organisations.

"The cafeteria is a lively place to take a break. Keeping in mind the fact that diet plays a very important role in a person's health, we offer healthy snack alternatives such as fresh juice stands," says Selvaraj. Tanisha was surprised when she joined a leading financial BPO and received along with her appointment letter a diet and exercise chart.

With most companies being equal opportunity players, gender isn't of concern until incidents such as the murder of a young contact centre employee in Bangalore bring to fore security concerns. "I was scared," recalls Tanisha. "Suddenly I was looking more closely at who was driving us home and actually trying to get to know the people in my car pool."

How do the companies reassure their staff? Says Milind Kelkar, Chief of Business Services, Vertex (India), "We have deployed internal communication channels to effectively reassure employees, as well as address their doubts through newsletters, mailers, and internal posters. We have reiterated the security measures undertaken. Employees were constantly told about safety actions and precautions they need to adopt or, if required, how they can reach the right people in the organisation to resolve their problems." At iGate, Bangalore, women are taught basic self-defence techniques.

Newer models

With outsourcing work assuming greater importance and proportion today, the BPO industry is all set to expand both in size and areas of work.

Mohan Sekhar, Member of the Board & Chief Delivery Officer, iGATE Global Solutions agrees, "The models have moved towards Integrated Technology and Operations (iTOPs) and Business Services Provisioning (BSP)." For women, this is certainly a time to celebrate as the BPOs go all out to retain trained employees, who are viewed as valuable assets to the company. "Women in India at some point in their career resort to taking long breaks to handle family needs. BPOs have an edge over other industries as they can offer flexi timings to suit the needs of women employees," says T. Indrakumar, HR Head, NTrustInfotech.

This means most women don't need to take career breaks to deal with marriage or childrearing. "BPOs can work out different shift patterns to tap a larger resource pool, especially the educated wife and mother who can work half-a-day and be connected to the world outside in an international environment," says Tewari.

Compared to other industries, working from home is a good option here, at least for non-processing roles. Shiva Ramani, CEO, SlashSupport, says, "We also have special part-time assignments directed specifically at women requiring maternity break." Ultimately, as one long-time BPO employee said, gender would cease to be an issue in a sector bristling with opportunities, as professionalism and efficiency emerge as key deciding factors.

More Stories on : Outsourcing | Gender | Human Resources

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