My experience with WIPRO BPO.

This is my blog post about my work experience with WIPRO BPO- Pune I was recruited from First choice consultancy in Camp area of Pune in October 2006; First choice consultancy was of great help as they had explained to me about all four rounds of interview which I had to go through. Recruitment I came at the consultancy around 2pm, my first round was Introduction round with HR from Wipro; I was asked to explain about my educational, work experience, family background and then asked me to speak on any one topic of my choice. Second round was telephonic round with Operations manager; he asked me about my work experience and also asked me to speak on any one topic of my choice. Third round was written assessment; it had few maths, grammar and technical questions, but this round was not a problem as people at First choice consultant helped me solve these questions. Fourth round was again with person from HR team (Clington), First I was told that I am selected and then we discussed about various documents that I will have to produce at the time of induction and he also gave my offer letter to me, I was told to attend the induction program at the famous Aurora towers Hotel on 6-11-2006. NitinGokhle yourfriend93@gmail.com Labels: interview process, wiprobpo

http://www.lifebpo.blogspot.com/

Challenges Faced by the BPO Industry, Challenges for the BPO Industry
Challenges Faced by the BPO industry today BPOs have proved a grand success. However, certain problems have cropped up in the process for which long-term solutions are necessary. Areas of concern in BPOs:

Working in a BPO, many feel is a job that does not require much skill. Any body possessing a basic education, good communication skills is employable after some training. Companies do not mind taking in people who are middle aged, and homemakers. There is no sense of accomplishment among the employees. Financial desperation on the part of some people leads them to take up jobs in BPOs- People out of college join BPOs to earn money to finance their higher education, some as a way of improving their life styles. Some others join because they could not find anything else. In short, very few people take up employment in

BPOs for the love of it.

The tasks that BPOs perform are diverse: telemarketing, technical support service, customer support service, insurance processing, data entry and conversion services, bookkeeping and accounting and online researching, and form processing. The problem that this creates is that there can be no standardized training program suitable to all the BPOs that can be given to the prospective employees before they are actually absorbed into the company. High expectations from the outsourcing companies tend to de-motivate the workers. In many cases, the outsourcers think only of achieving targets. They are obsessed with quality work, business continuity, time frame, security of information. However, satisfying them is not always possible. The expectations should be realistic taking into account the work ethics of the region of the service provider, as well as, its culture and polity. Attrition in BPOs:

The single largest worry of the BPO industry is attrition. In the outsourcing context, ?attrition' means a gradual reduction in the number of people working in a company due to retirement, resignation, or death. The rate of attrition in the BPO industry in India is currently nearly 50%. Attrition in individual firms varies from 15% in the larger firms to up to 40% in the smaller ones. Analysts believed that if this left unchecked, there would be a shortage of professionals. The major reasons for staff attrition in BPOs are outlined below.

BPOs do not present attractive career prospects. They are not challenging enough for the employees after a period. Most of them are stuck for good in their present placement once they start working in call centers. People join BPOs because of the lucrative salaries offered to them. They do not have the slightest hesitation in leaving their current employees for a firm offering a bigger paycheck. They do not experience a sense of obligation toward their employers. Higher education in countries like India is expensive. A lot of money has to be deposited as capitation fees in professional colleges. Young men and women just out school and graduates join BPOs as a means to earn and save money to finance their higher studies. The trend is for them to slog for 2-3 years in a BPO and get out of it for studies. BPO employees suffer from many health problems. The strain of working in changing shifts, of meeting deadlines and realizing targets take a toll on their wellbeing. Some of them end up being jittery and still others clinically depressed. Social life eludes most BPO employees. The nature of their employment is such that they are left with little time and energy for their family and friends.

The miseries of the employees are compounded by managers who are not supportive and sympathetic towards their sub-ordinates, by policies that are unfriendly and ill advised. The employees do not feel secure in their job. We request you to call us at +91 9313063554 or email us at deepak@roseindia.net for you software development needs.

http://www.roseindia.net/services/outsourcing/challenges-faced-bpo-industry.shtml
Business process outsourcing (BPO) is a subset of outsourcing that involves the contracting of the operations and responsibilities of specific business functions (or processes) to a third-party service provider. Originally, this was associated with manufacturing firms, such as Coca Cola that outsourced large segments of its supply chain. In the contemporary context, it is primarily used to refer to the outsourcing of business processing services to an outside firm, replacing in-house services with labor from an outside firm. BPO is typically categorized into back office outsourcing - which includes internal business functions such as human resources or finance and accounting, and front office outsourcing - which includes customerrelated services such as contact centre services. BPO that is contracted outside a company's country is called offshore outsourcing. BPO that is contracted to a company's neighboring (or nearby) country is called nearshore outsourcing. Often the business processes are information technology-based, and are referred to as ITES-BPO, where ITES stands for Information Technology Enabled Service.[2] Knowledge process outsourcing(KPO) and legal process outsourcing (LPO) are some of the sub-segments of business process outsourcing industry.
[1]

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) means delegating the ownership, administration, and operation of a process to a third party. BPO is about solving a business problem. BPO aims to raise a client companys shareholder value because it is about delivering outcomesthat is, higher-performing business processes. Companies essentially have three kinds of processes: core processes (which give strategic advantage), critical, non-core processes (which are important but are not competitive differentiators), and non-core, non-critical processes (which are needed to make the environment work). Few advisors suggest outsourcing core processes; they recommend investing in them. Many do recommend outsourcing critical, non-core processes to providers who specialize in those processes because they will invest in them and aim to make them world-class. And most advisors recommend outsourcing all non-core, non-critical processes. However, outsourcing does not mean handing over an entire process. It generally means turning over to a BPO provider the how aspects of a processthe systems, infrastructure, administration, execution, and some of the design of non-core processes. The company retains the what aspects of the processthe governance, policy-setting, decision making, and strategy of these processes. The intent is to outsource the execution of a process while retaining the direction-setting part. Companies generally outsource four types of processes:

y y y y

processes that link to suppliers (supply chain management) processes that link with customers (sales, marketing, and customer care) production processes (R&D, contract manufacturing) support processes (finance, HR). Examples of processes now outsourced include human resources, employment, accounting, finance, procurement, travel, the order-to-cash process, cafeterias, payroll, landscaping, real estate, manufacturing, advertising, and on and onany process that is not core and should improve if managed by a specialist.

There are several types of BPO providers. One way to categorize them is as

y y y

transaction niche comprehensive

Transaction providers handle a single process (such as payroll), at their sites and with their people. They are accountable for the transactions only, and they are paid per transaction. This form of outsourcing is easiest to manage, but it can also fragment operations because different pieces are handled by different providers. Niche providers handle several processes (such as employment, which includes hiring and staffing). They may work at their site (or the companys) and they may take on some of companys staff. They are accountable for the outcomes of those processes (such as reduced time to hire or lower attrition), so they may be paid based on outcomes. Comprehensive providers handle the transactional and administrative processes of a function (such as HR). They work globally, they aim to increase process effectiveness, and they are generally paid based on outcomes. This is the newest form of BPO and it involves the most change because the providers introduce new and better practices and processes. Offshore outsourcing is building at a very rapid pace. Outsourcing to India has been successful. Other offshore countries currently include Ireland, Philippines, and Eastern Europe. Near-shore countries include Canada and Mexico. Future countries include Vietnam, Russia and China. Some providers are making heavy investments in education and IT infrastructure in these countries. All are possibilities for back-office work. But companies do need to guard their intellectual property when they outsource, especially offshore. When issuing a BPO request for proposal (RFP), explore the realm of the possible by focusing on what you want done. Keep the how in your RFP to a minimum. Every provider has unique capabilities, so its best to let them propose different processes (the how) rather than try to force fit them into one way of working. Focus on the outcomes you want. The problem most prospective BPO clients encounter up front is understanding the cost of the process they plan to outsource. Their estimates are often one-half the true cost, for several reasons. Department budgets are below true costs because of internal overhead allocations. Companies do not count all the people or the technology support costs in a process. And the costs of the process in outlying offices are often not known. Thats why many BPO clients often do not know whether a providers proposed service levels are any better than their own, because they have no benchmark of their internal operation to use as a comparison. Thats also why companies may back off from BPO. For the first time, they see all the hidden costs they have never measured and start to wonder whether BPO will really reduce costs. They also fear losing control of their process, so they see their process more favorably than the providers processes. Advisors can help companies work through these emotional issues and bring the benefits and hurdles of BPO into a more realistic light. As with ITO, service level agreements (SLA) are at the heart of the deal. Without good benchmark data, client companies start out negotiating from a disadvantage. To help reduce that disadvantage, this report provides a seven-step process for creating good SLAs. Metrics are a major part of SLAs, but there are few good BPO metrics today because the field is so new. Metrics cost money to collect, report, and respond to. Thats why the overriding pieces of advice on metrics are: only have a few metrics, keep them simple, only measure the outcome of a process (not input or intermediate steps), and use metrics to incent behavior you want. Consider metrics in three areas: business outcome metrics (the results of a process), service metrics (the health of a process across client and provider), and transformation metrics (the progress of planned changes). Metrics battles most often occur at hand-over points, so its best to measure a process endto-end, with each partys work clearly defined and measured. Agree on metrics before signing the contract, which means doing internal due diligence and measuring before you talk to providers. Often, clients and providers agree to a grace period at the beginning of a deal, to figure out appropriate service levels. But grace periods are not in the best interest of client companies. For one thing, the initial months are a time of turmoil; those metrics will not reflect normal operations. Two, a grace

period might incent the provider the wrong wayso that service levels are less that desired. Three, somehow the parties never seem to define metrics once the deal has been signed. Use reciprocal metricsfor the provider, the clients relationship management team, and the client business unit. That way, all parties have a stake in the success of the relationship. Then discuss these metrics regularly, together, not just to fix problem areas but to consider changing some of the metrics. BPO changes processes, making them more efficient and effective. As these changes occur, new metrics may become more appropriate. Therefore, its important to have a process for changing metrics over the life of the deal. Outsourcing clients need to understand that their work will changefrom managing how to managing what. Managers no longer oversee operations; they become consultants to the business units, setting policy and strategy. Training BPO managers on this new role can be the single most important determinant of BPO success. They need to be good at negotiating, analyzing, managing change, organizational development, and strategizing. Success in BPO is based on how well the client manages the relationship. Yet most companies severely underestimate the cost of managing a BPO relationship. They think it will cost one to two percent of the deal. More likely it will cost two to six percent. Some even estimate up to 12 percent. The relationship should be managed by the people who benefit from the result. For instance, if a call center has a revenuegenerating capacity, through cross-selling or up-selling, it should be managed by sales and marketing. And its metrics should be related to generating sales rather than simply being a low-cost operation. Successful management means having the appropriate governance model, processes, and skills in place, so that the relationship evolves with the business environment. At the moment, outsourcing end-to-end BPO processes is not for the faint of heart because it does involve transforming processes. But it can also lead to more world-class processes than clients would implement on their own. The goal of BPO is to increase shareholder value. One way to achieve that is to have your A players facing your customers, and your providers A players in your back office. Outsourcing is not a one-time event; it is continuous. Companies that outsource one process later outsource another, then anotheras their strategies change and new outsourcing options open up. The outsourcing field is thus not slowing down. At the moment, BPO is the driving force, and it is developing fast. The full white paper on BPO may be downloaded from the Sourcing Interest Group website (requires login).

Work-Life Balance

Maintaining work-life balance has been the focus of industries human resource practitioners amidst the demanding nature of work and the workers personal endeavors in the age of information and technology. The fast-paced life, the instant accessibility of almost anything does not put the individual in a more lax state; instead it pushes the person to do more with the seemingly more time in his/her hands. The individual engages himself/herself with more activities in and out of the office than usual as this seems to be supported by the adoption of flexibility measures in the workplace. The availability of technology anywhere which aids in the connectivity of people 24/7 further delineates the boundaries between work and personal life.

Work-life balance is the stability characterized by the balancing of an individual s life complexity and dynamism with environmental and personal resources such as family, community, employer, profession, geography, information, economics, personality, or values (Crooker et al, 2002: 389). The linkage of work and personal aspect of lives has always been emphasized (Bruck et al., 2002; Gibson, et al., 2006). Gibson et a. (2006: 197-198) offered two explanations regarding the interconnectedness of work and life in the organizational setting: (1) the compensation effect implies that employees tend to compensate for low work or personal life satisfaction by seeking contentment in the other domain; and (2) the spillover view that indicates that job satisfaction spills over into one s work life and vice versa. Work-life balance is different for every individual in different stages of life. An individual who is fresh out from college and single would have a different notion of work-life balance compared with an individual who may be single but have certain obligations to his/her family and again different for a married individual with kids, more so for single parents. According to

Johnson (2005) the employees age, lifestyle, and environment play important role in one s perception of work-life balance. The conflict between work and family spheres is also considered especially when there is role conflict and strain (Friede and Ryan 2005; Kossek and Lambert 2005); added to this is the productivity requirements in the workplace that often interferes with family responsibilities of individuals employed in sectors relying heavily on shift work (Williams 2008).

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966

A Critical Study on Work-life Balance of BPO Employees in India

Smita R. Chavan smita_r_chavan@yahoo.co.in

Sinhgad Institute of Management, Pune BalkrushnaPotdar balkrushna.potdar@yahoo.com Sinhgad Business School, Pune 1. Introduction
This paper analyses the impact of the outsourcing industry on the society and the individuals in India. Both positive and negative impacts have been analyzed. We focused on the following few major aspects during this study: Health issues Societal issues Personal issues, and Benefits offered, and strategies for work and work ethics. Based on a field survey, views of few employees and employers of this industry have been captured and analyzed. Various health issues that came to light are stress, sleeplessness, and headache, fatigue, sense of exhaustion and lack of concentration, etc. It was also found that a number of factors like hindrance in personal life, physically tiring nature of work, better salary, lack of growth opportunity, in conducive policies and procedures could be some of the reasons for employees to leave the industry/company. Majority of employees complained of headache and digestive disorders. Almost everyone stressed on having provision for power naps of 10-15 minutes. Employees accepted that they enjoy various facilities and benefits provided by the company like Provident Fund, Gratuity, Personal Accidental Insurance; Company leased accommodation, Recreational (like Cafeteria) and other facilities (like ATM, Gym etc), Corporate credit card, Educational Benefits, Performance based incentives, Regular get together and other cultural programs, Employee Referral Schemes and Maternity leave, etc. Employees also accepted that their spending has increased and much of the money is spent in lifestyle products, recreational activities and to support the family. Employees dismissed the aspect of increased professionalism being unique to the BPO industry and said professionalism is pervasive in all sectors.

2. Impact of the BPO Industry

Organizations do not work in isolation; they function within the main system of society. Businesses take place by taking the inputs from society in the form of people, capital, resources and gives goods and services as output. These outputs influence the life of people and provide the means of improving the lifestyle. We cannot ignore the effect that the society is largely impacted by businesses of various size and operations. Business process outsourcing is the long term contracting out of non-core business activities to the experts who perform the activities with less cost and more efficiency. Todays business spans the entire globe by their overseas operations and thus they leave a visible change in the societies of various geographies. Like the industrial revolution of the 17th century, the BPO revolution has also brought about a variety of changes in the lives of the people. Business process outsourcing is a strategic choice of the companies when implemented creates numerous advantages such as: Reduction in costs Efficiency in processes Focus on core businesses Relationship with global customers Increased share holder value. A company that outsources is working virtually 24 hrs and catering efficiently to its customers anytime in any part of the world. To enable them working 24 hrs countries like India, Philippines, China etc. diligently work during the nights and ensure better service.
International Conference on Technology and Business Management March 28-30, 2011

967 Some of the major cities in India where outsourced activities are undertaken are Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune and Jaipur. Social Impact of the BPO Industry

The first step towards understanding the social impact is to understand why India is the most preferred location for business process outsourcing and how the outsourcing industry has changed India to enable it to sustain the position of the most preferred offshore center. Advantage India The products and services are usually significantly cheaper in India compared to US or Europe. While the manpower in India is definitely cheap compared to US or any other developed nation, but manufacturing or service costs are not necessarily very cheap. In India a company typically spends about US $400-$1000 per month on a skilled employee depending on the skill level. This is definitely cheaper compared to same level employee in a developed country. Advantage of Outsourcing to India Cheaper manpower. Cheaper office space (Typically, one sq. foot costs less than $1 per month) Highly skilled workforce (For example, Bangalore is said to have more number of IT engineers than Silicon Valley). On the other hand, the infrastructure and fuel expenses are relatively more in India. Disadvantages Higher fuel and electricity costs. Higher telecom and Internet access charges. Public Infrastructure not up to the mark when compared to developed nations, and the companies need to make their own arrangements (such as back-up power generator etc.) When one tries to study the impact of BPO industry, both individual and societal concerns unfolds. The next section summarizes the impact on society and the individuals. Positive Impact on the Society Advantages that the Indian societies have gained by the outsourcing industry are: Secondary/Indirect Employment Each direct employment in BPO is capable of generating 4-5 times indirect employment opportunity through ancillary industries. Major growth of ancillary industry is seen in the case of real estate, transportation, security, facilities employees creating jobs in the social infrastructure to support BPO employees and their families. Boom in Retail Industry The outsourcing boom has added to more n in the major cities and more jobs have been created. Since the industry pays handsome salaries to the youth, and spending power has increased which has resulted in good business in the retail segments of clothing and related accessories. What has resulted from this is bigger malls, better cars on roads, swanky restaurants, and more brands. Better Infrastructure With the global companies setting up their offshore offices in India to meet the expectations of their clients, providing better infrastructure and support from the government has become essential. Hence the metro cities are evolving in terms of infrastructure facilities, which benefit the societies living the city. Better road and cleaner environment than before has led to healthier environment. Hospitality Industry The hospitality industry is witnessing more business and growth since long stay guests have become a common scene in most of the hotels in major cities. A number of overseas visitors stay in hotels while they are here in India for business. Apart from this when there are contingencies; the employees do not get back to their homes. Instead they stay at hotels and go for work the next day from the hotels. Hence it is seen that this leads to increased business for the hotel industry. Individual Level Benefit At the individual level, it is observed that fresh graduates are able to find better employment after

the advent of outsourcing industry. Prior to BPO, young graduates were not offered many jobs because of lack of work experience. Today the educated youth are offered training and based on
International Conference on Technology and Business Management March 28-30, 2011

968 their excellence they are paid handsomely. This has a flip side; since more money can be earned through this employment there is a tendency among the youth to turn as spendthrift. The spending pattern has witnessed an increasing trend and many other sectors like the retail and real estate benefit out of this trend. Some of the advantages that can be brought out are: Employment to graduates. Better standard of Life. Enhanced skill of educated youth. Increased professionalism There are certain perceived and real threats of BPO on the lives of the Indian educated youth. Some of the cited negative aspects of this industry are: Deskilling or underutilization of human resources. Increased level of stress than any other industry. Cultural shifts. Increased health problems. Deskilling or Underutilization of Human Resources Since the industry pays more when compared to other industries, young graduates are lured to this employment. In many occasions we see that engineers, graduates of other discipline like commerce, arts and science are not willing to take up higher studies and continue with BPO for better pay reasons. It also dawns on many graduates that they need to visualize a career path for them and if BPO will create stagnation then they need to quit and take up higher studies. On the other hand, many college students are positive of growth in the same industry. We see many science graduates starting their career in a medical transcription company, but after putting a few months of experience they have realized that they are working for pay and realizing their potentials. Increased Stress It is a fact that the life of many employees in this industry is more stressful than others working in other industries. Though the working conditions are good and satisfactory, working in night shifts creates increased health problems. The following are a few facts presented by the industry survey of year 2004 by Dataquest. Long working hours in BPO is a combination of workload, call volume and travel time. Any average agent puts in 11-12 hours of work per day and at times it reaches 14 hours in case of companies that encourage overtime. Operational heads regularly work 17-18 hours per day besides staying back for customer conference calls. Stress due to Work Timing The geographical time difference with the US and the UK gives Indian industry one of the biggest advantages to remain a dominant player in the BPO. Hence the employees have to work in nights for long. This creates stress and causes a drastic change in the activities of body. Stress due to Repetitive Nature of Work Monotony is another important reason for stress. Possible solutions can be hiring retired personnel or housewives, since these groups with more experience tend to get frustrated the least. Since other innovative measures can be periodic job rotation. Stress due to Workload

It is argued that even IT services employees have tremendous workload, so why it is that only the BPO employees complain. Though IT services employees work for long and odd hours, the long working hours are interspersed with smoke breaks, coffee breaks or chat with colleagues. Unfortunately, this is not the case in call centers, a fresher gets a little respite, since the first few months on the job involves a lot of training time. Stress due to Insufficient Holidays Most of the employees have to work on Indian holidays. While some companies do celebrate Indian holidays there are a number of small and big call centers, which do not observe Indian holidays.
International Conference on Technology and Business Management March 28-30, 2011

969 Stress due to Pressure to Perform on Metrics Every single action in a call center needs to conform to a performance metric. This is because most call centers are keen on different standard certifications. It is more of business necessity for most companies to follow these quantifiable business metrics to attract customers. With experience, the stress level goes down, and more importantly, working on such quantifiable performance parameters helps the employees in their future careers. Stress due to Travel Time Most call centers are located on the outskirts of cities, and therefore most employees spend a long time traveling to and from their offices. Again, this is a unique problem of the Indian industry. Most call centers require large manpower in order to scale up and grow, and to support such huge workforces; they need lot of space. And exorbitant land prices in cities necessitate their movement to the outskirts. Stress due to Call Volumes While the overall workload is quite high, call volume itself is proving to be a major cause of stress. In most call centers, there is hardly any respite between two calls. Stress Caused due to Overtime Though most companies encourage overtime with incentives, this can be a major reason for stress. Initially, freshers who are willing overtime for making more money feel stressed once they are into it and performing. Overtime, along with long working hours and travel time, is turning out to be a potent combination, causing call center related stresses. Health Problems The consequences of stressful work are health related problems, which eventually leads to quitting of job or quitting the industry. We witness high attrition rates of around 30-40% in this industry. Some of the health issues are: Tension Sleeplessness Headaches Eye-strain Repetitive strain injury (RSI) Voice loss, hearing problems and burn-out. Sleeping Disorders One major severe ailment afflicting people working in Indian call centers is the sleeping disorder. Not only the freshers, even the experienced managers are unable to escape it. Some call centers are looking at devising innovative mechanisms like flexible shifts with sleeping arrangements in the office

premises. Digestive System Related Problems Working long hours and odd hours without any sleep, ad eating food supplied by external caterers every day, has led to employees suffering from digestive disorders. Especially for the large number of girls working in the industry, the problem is even more severe. Many call centers are now taking additional care to ensure their caterers supply hygienic food; besides stipulating strict conditions to maintain the quality of the food they serve. Depression The gradual realization that there are limited scopes in developing a career owing to fewer growth opportunities is increasing the frustration levels in the BPO industry. Coupled with growing mental fatigue and increasingly punishing physical environments, depression is the obvious end result. Some call centers have now devised different stress management programs mainly to counter depression. Eyesight Problems Globally call center employees are considered a high risk group for eye related problems. While the quality of monitors might impact these disorders, sitting continually without adequate breaks seems to be the truerer reason. While this is already a problem in the IT industry, which some companies have overcome by use of anti-glare monitors.
International Conference on Technology and Business Management March 28-30, 2011

970 Hearing Ailments A call center job invokes taking calls throughout the shift, sitting with headphones. While quality of headphones does make a difference, it would not be appropriate to say that good quality of headphones can solve this problem; it is more to do with giving rest between calls. Cultural Shifts Though on one side we learn to become as professional as western world executives some other disturbing issues are arising. One such serious issue is the personal habits that have undergone a considerable change. The personal habits, discipline and behavioral issues and detachment with family have been discussed below. Personal Habits The young executives tend to develop certain bad habits such as alcohol, smoking etc. It is not uncommon to find women smoking and drinking alcohol in the BPO setup which is definitely a social stigma in the Indian societies. There are increased concerns about the habits of the employees among the parents, who are not finding it easy to talk to them about their habits, which in no way are welcomed by the Indian families. Solving such issues lies majorly in the hands of the employees and their employers. Employees can be made to attend counseling sessions of professional counselors. Conducting group counseling, workshops, educative film shows, in order to create awareness on effects of bad habits. Such actions will enable individuals to realize the importance of good habits and they could seek one-to-one counseling sessions. Discipline and Behavioral Issues Call centers provide excellent working environment, free food and transportation. There is always a situation where individual or group of youngsters tend to commit mistakes and abuse the freedom. The most common behavior cited is misuse of food, behave erratically in vans, and smoke in public places, misuse of telephones and other resources of the company. The supervisors themselves reel under the pressure of performance and achieving targets. Hence do not give their time for finding solutions. The professional counselor can play a major role in educating the youngsters on discipline; provide advice to erring executives. Unacceptable behaviors cause disturbance to others and affects the overall productivity. Continuous education and counseling will help to mitigate such problems and it is possible to change the behavior by adopting a positive approach. Detachment from the Family Since the daytime is spent in sleep and recreational activities with friends. The employees are hardly able to give time for their families. Problems become more pronounced when they get married. Additional responsibilities of running a family demands more time and hence eventually

people quit the industry. Most of the employees work on Indian holidays too, which causes frustration. Some employees even feel the need for inclusion in the family and the society. Hence it is important for family members to render support for their young sons and daughters and to help them with the stress that they are undergoing.

3. Review of Literature
The papers say Employees are required to `manufacture' relationships... Quite often, aspects such as moods of the agents (employees), facial expressions and words are subject to monitoring. The agents are even found forced to either express some feelings, which they do not feel or suppress certain feelings, which they genuinely want to share. In both the cases, the employees find the job depressing and leading to emotional dissonance". Emotional exhaustion adds to the physical and mental strain of the workers, leading to higher levels of stress and burnout under the electronically monitored work and tightly bureaucratised work regime. Outsourcing decisions are not, technically, irreversible. But in practical terms the organizational disruption and financial costs of bringing services back in house (back sourcing) mean that few organizations revert, even when quite dissatisfied with an arrangement. Instead, organizations typically seek to move to another outsourcing arrangement, that is sometimes less attractive than the original in-house delivery. Preliminary evidence from studies of business process outsourcing (BPO) experiences, like those into IT outsourcings success, suggests that only a minority of organizations report their BPO arrangements as satisfactory, implying that many are caught in this cant go back bind. In this paper the authors examine two organizations contemplating the adoption of BPO, and consider their expectations and experiences in light of existing empirical literature. The paper concludes with a set of principles to assist organizations to avoid BPO failure. The people who work in these call centres indeed, in any company in India do so out of choice, not coercion. They make that choice on the basis of the options available to them, options which are now far wider
International Conference on Technology and Business Management March 28-30, 2011

971 than they were a decade ago. When this writer was in college in the early 1990s, it was next to impossible for a young graduate to get a job on the basis of his degree alone. Today, a working knowledge of English suffices. In the socialist decades after independence a middle-class man could save up enough to buy a house and a car only when he was in his 30s, or even 40s. Today, young people in their 20s can do so. Many of them use their time in the BPO industry to better their lives substantially. Some support families, others save up to go abroad for further education. Some simply make money, a goal apparently anathema to grizzled socialists.

4. Research Design
Research Statement A Critical Study on Work-life Balance of BPO Employees in India. Objectives To gain familiarity about various social, emotional and physical problems faced by BPO employees. To study the impact of inadequate sleep on the health of employees working in the BPO sector. To find out various strategies adopted by companies to help their employees to maintain good work-life balance. To find out various present stressful practices. Hypotheses H(1): Employees working in day shifts are more productive than those working in night shifts. H(2): Employees working in night shifts are facing more physical and emotional problems than those of day shifts. H(3): Night shift BPO employees have poor work-life balance. Research Design We have categorized this research as of type descriptive because the study includes surveys and fact finding studies of various kinds. The major purpose of this research is description of the state of affairs or problems as they exists and are faced at present by BPO employees. We have no control over the variables; we have only reported what has happened or what is actually happening. Sampling Design Universe Type: Finite

Sampling Design Type: Simple random probability sampling Sampling Unit: Pune and Mumbai suburban region Sampling Frame/Source List: Please see appendix B Selected Sample:
Table 4.1 Selected Companies

IBM Infosys Ventura Convergys Epitome Emphasis AB Connect Aditya Minacs Access DatalinePvt, Mumbai Persistent JVL Group Solution, Mumbai ADP WNS Ahmis Reliance Three EDS Aaragon BPO Tata Motors TCS Godrej Lawkim Sample Size: 259 Employees of various ITES/BPO companies (Only those respondents will be considered who have already served for more than 6 months in BPO industry).
International Conference on Technology and Business Management March 28-30, 2011

972 Parameters of Interest:

Table 4.2 Parameters of Interest / Variable List

Gender Age Organization Shift schedule of work Amount of sleep per day Facility of rest room

Provision of power nap Feeling of stress Reason for joining this industry Did not get a better job Not much educational qualification required Good work environments Good benefits Attractive life style Other reasons Industries bad repo in society Problem in personal life Period for which you see yourself working in this industry More productive in which shift Ample_growth_opportunity Benefits in the company Provident fund Gratuity Personal accidental insurance Company leased accommodation Recreational facilities Corporate credit cards Educational benefits Performance based incentive Regular get together and cultural activities Employee referral scheme Maternity leave Reasons of problems Inadequate sleep Infrequent timing of meals Not enough drinking water Consumption of junk food Lack of regular exercise Other problems.. Persistent problems Cold Muscular and cardio vascular

problems Headache Lack of concentration Restless sleep Short temper and feeling of irritation Sense of exhaustion Lack of appetite Others Possible reasons for leaving the industry No growth opportunity lack of promotion For higher salary For higher education Policies and procedures are not conducive Hindrance in personal life Physically straining job Uneasy relationships with peers and managers Data Collection Primary Data Questionnaires: (Both by collecting responses personally and also my mailing questionnaires to distant respondents). Personal Interview Secondary Data Internet, books on related issues, NASSCOM reports and research reports of various researchers in relevance to our study. Data Analysis and Statistial Technique Method We have used SPSS as statistical software for the analysis and interpretation of data. We have employed various statistical tools like cross tabulation (nominal form data), frequency distribution curves, pie charts, bar graphs for analysis and representation of data. We have also employed the methods of correlation and regression as a tool to find the relationship between two variables, especially helpful tools were Karl Pearsons coefficient of correlation and Charles Spearmans coefficient of rank correlation. We have also done reliability analysis of alpha type modeling to verify whether the collected data is reliable or not.
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973

5. Analysis and Interpretations

Analysis of Health Issues Health Issues with Respect to Age Group
Table 4.1 Age Groupvvs Various Health Problems

Age Group 15-20 20-25 25-30 Above 30 Count CountCountCount Cold no 21 121 51 2 yes 17 27 19 1

Muscular and Cardio Vascular Problems no 34 117 53 2 yes 4 31 17 1 Digestive Disorders no 25 80 33 2 yes 13 68 37 1 Headache no 5 74 22 2 yes 33 74 48 1 Lack of Concentration no 30 107 57 3 yes 8 41 13 0 Restless Sleep no 26 114 55 2 yes 12 34 15 1 Lack of Appetite no 33 123 68 3 yes 1 25 2 0 Short Temper and Feeling of Irritation no 30 107 45 1 yes 8 41 25 2 A Complete Sense of Exhaustion no 38 93 51 3 yes 0 55 19 0 Any Other Problem No 38 148 68 3 Yes 0 0 2 0
Graph 4.1 Health Problems vs Age Group International Conference on Technology and Business Management March 28-30, 2011

974 Interpretation As can very well be seen from table 4.1 and from graphs 4.1, among the major health problems , majority, 156/259 ~ 60.2%, of population complained about headache ,followed by digestive disorders 119/259 ~ 45.9%, which stood second in the list of complaints. Employees were also found complaining about short temper and feeling of irritation (29.3%), complete sense of exhaution (28.6%), cold (24.7 %), restless sleep (23.9%), lack of concentration (23.9%), muscular and cardiovascular disorders (20.5 %) and lack of apetite (10.8 %). Almost all problems were found to be in maximum existence in the age-group 20-25 yrs as this being the group of maximum strength. We also studied categorically the problems on the basis of their age in which majority of population falled under the age group of 20-25 yrs (148/259), followed by 25-30 yrs (70/259), 15-20 yrs (38/259) and above 30 yrs (3/259) group. Within the given agegroups, Muscular and cardio-vuscular disorders were found most prominent in the age group 25-30yrs (24.28% of the population in this age group), followed by 20-25 yrs (20.94% of the population in this age group), and least in 15-20yrs (10.52%). Headache being the biggest monster was found to have the maximum slaves in 15-20 yrs (86% of the population in this age group) with lesser grip on 25-30yrs (68% of the population in this age group) and least on 20-25yrs (50% of the population in this age group) agegroup people.
Graph 4.2 Level of Stress vs Age

Interpretation In the age group 20-25 yrs people are suffering from maximum level of stress, followed by 15-20 yrs age group. Even the complainants of occasional stress are maximum in the age group 20-25yrs.

6. Findings and Suggestions

The information collected for the purpose of this research led to some important findings in addition to helping

testing of hypothesis through the analysis carried out. The replies to questionnaire have, after careful analysis, also led to some suggestion and recommendations. These findings, suggestions and recommendations are presented as follows: Main Findings Majority ~ 60.2%, of population complained about headache, followed by digestive disorders ~ 45.9%,. Employees were also found complaining about short temper and feeling of irritation (29.3%), complete sense of exhaution (28.6%), cold (24.7%), restless sleep (23.9%), lack of concentration (23.9%), muscular and cardiovascular disorders (20.5 %) and lack of apetite (10.8 %). Almost all problems were found to be in maximum existence in the age-group 20-25 yrs as this being the group of maximum strength. 15-20 yragegroup suffer most from headache, 25-30 yragegroup suffer most from digestive disorder.
International Conference on Technology and Business Management March 28-30, 2011

975 25-30 yr age group is found to behave erratically the most, feel irritated and to suffer from short temper. 37% of people in age group 25-30 yrs are found to have a complete sense of exhaustion. There is positive correlation between age group and short temper and feeling of irritation with Karl-Pearsons coefficient coming out to be 0.126 at 0.05 level of significance. Age group and stress level are highly correlated with Karl-Pearsons coefficient to be 0.315 on positive side with only 0.01 level of significance. 70.37% of female and 55.6% male are suffering from headache as a everyday problem. Male suffer more from digestive disorders and short temper than females. Female are found to suffer more than males in terms of feeling of exhaustion and cold. Men are more prone to muscular and cardio-vascular disorders and to lack of concentration. Lack of concentration and restless sleep are positively corelated with gender. 0.144 and 0.125 as Pearsons index of corelation (all these are at .05 level of significance) respectively Short temper and feeling of irritation are found to be hightlycorelated to gender with positive coefficient of correlation as 0.179 at 0.01 level of significance. Those who sleep for less than 4 hrs a day are found to suffer from muscular and cardiovascular problems, digestive disorders like acidity and indigestion, regular headache. To add insult to injury is the fact that they are also not spared by the problems of restless sleep (100%) which in turn leads to a complete sense of exhaustion (100 %) (at least in our study). For those who sleep for 5-6hrs a day are found to suffer most by the common problems like Headache (63.88%) and digestive disorders (45.37 %). Astonishingly, to our amusement, they are somehow found to be more susceptible to cold than population in any other age group category. 6-7 hrs of sleeping is found to build the least affected category. Within the category, headache (51.80%) and digestive disorders (54.21%) are found to be the concerning issues but other problems like sense of exhaustion , muscular and cardio-vascular disorders , lack of concentration, restless sleep, short temper, cold and loss of appetite are found only in small traces. Stress is found at its maximum level in the people who sleep for 4-5 hrs daily (38.7%) while occasional stress is frequent in the group sleeping for only 5-6 hrs (71%) followed by group of 6-7 hrs (66.66%) and 4-5 hrs (59.67%) sleep group. Amount of sleep and cardiovascular problems are found to correlate positively with

coefficient 0.152 at 0.05 level of significance. Restless sleep, short temper and feeling of irritation, sense of exhaustion, and level of stressall are found to correlate heavily with amount of sleep having coefficients of correlation as 0.293,0.164,0.292 and0.304 respectively at 0.01 level of significance. 86.84% of population in the age group of 15-20 said that they joined the industry because they didnt get any better job. Attractive lifestyle has been the reason for 34.46% of 20-25yrs age-group people to join, while 33.33% of above 30yrs and 30% in 25-30 yrs population also joined for same reason. 68 % of the whole population accepted that they joined this industry as they are unable to find any other better job. 25.92% of female and 11.23% males said that, because the industry didnt demands for much educational qualification, they preferred to join the industry. Female give more importance to attractive lifestyle and good work environment, men give more stress on the benefits offered by the company to before deciding to join. The employees, at least in our study, are found clearly rejecting the opinion that Industry has bad reputation in the society. 197/259 i.e.; nearly 76.1% of total population is found to strongly disagree to the above point. Females are found to suffer lesser in maintaining worklife and personal life balance than men. When we compared the results for those who want to work for more than 4 year, a tremendous monotonically decreasing function is observed between their increasing age group and decreasing percentage, starting from about 21.05% in age group 15-20 to 5.71% in 25-30 and null in above 30. An indication that its hard to keep going with increasing age in this industry.
International Conference on Technology and Business Management March 28-30, 2011

976 With shift schedule of work its found that more percentage of population want to quit this job in next 1-2 years who work in night shifts (67.19%) and constantly changing shifts (48.71%) than those who work in day shift ( 38.29%). Those who sleep for just 4-5 hrs are found expressing their opinion as they will quit in 1-2 years while those who sleep for 6-7 hrs are found targeting for at least 2-4 years. Female have more complaints than male for having lack of growth opportunity. Male can leave the company with more percentage than females for higher salary. Suggestions Even though the BPO sector provides support to so many other sectors and so many other industries, the society still isnt accepting the industry with all its glory. Some advertisements and social awareness campaigns are necessary to clear the dogma in publics opinion to help the industry and its employees to grow in full strength which has the capacity to eradicate large amount of unemployment in our country. Indian Government need to look into the matter of outsourcing being constrained by other countries like USA and to try to normalize the problem which can open new doors for this industry, before making promises to the presidents of other countries on providing employment and investment in their country. There is a need for more explicit, detailed, fully structured and relevant regulations, guidance specific to this industry. Health risk assessments both pre-employment and periodic for employees should be conducted. Length and frequency of breaks should be adequate.

Full time counselors are needed to strike a balance between physical and mental rhythm to synchronize body clock.

7. Future Scope
The research study can be made more exhaustive by studying the various types of health problems categorically and for providing the remedial solutions. The future study may comprise a larger universe in which instead of concentrating of one or two cities, more no of cities and even more number of countries may be included. A comparative study between the various benefits offered and policies adopted by various companies can also be made. The future has a lot in his bosom to offer, its just the human effort that is needed to ripe the fruits.

8. Bibliography
Research Articles 1. ILO (2001) World Employment Report, 2001; ILO, Geneva. 2. Mattingly, D. J. "Indian Call Centers: The Outsourcing of 'Good Jobs' for Women". 3. Centre for Global Justice, 2005 Conference Mattingly, D. J. "Indian Call Centers: The Outsourcing of 'Good Jobs' for Women", Centre for Global Justice, 2005 Conference Papers. 4. NASSCOM Directory of Indian IT Enabled Services 2002, NASSCOM, New Delhi. 5. NASSCOM Indian ITES-BPO Industry Fact Sheet, ASSCOM, New Delhi, 2004. 6. Ramesh, B. P. "Labour in Business Process Outsourcing: A Case Study of Call Centre Agents", NLI Research Studies Series No.51, V. V. Giri National Labour Institute, Noida, 2004. 7. Singh, P. and A Pandey (2005) 'Women in Call Centers', Economic and Political Weekly, Vol.40, No.7, pp. 684-688. Internet Websites 1. The Hindu Business Line: Tuesday, 1st November 2005. 2. www.mindtree.com 3. www.bpoindia.com 4. www.worklife.com 5. www.neoit.com 6. www.nasscom.org 7. www.dataquest.com 8. www.bpoindia.org 9. www.blonnet.com 10. www.newstodaynet.com
International Conference on Technology and Business Management March 28-30, 2011

977 Books 1. BPOs processes and Challenges Edited by Harsh Bhargava, Deepak Kumar (ICFAI University Press). 2. BPO Digest Edited by Deepak Shikarpur. 3. Research Methodology- Methods by, C.R. Kothari and Techniques.

Business process outsourcing(BPO) is a subset of outsourcing that involves the contracting and responsibilities of specific business functions to a third-party service provider.BPO refers to companies farming out tasks that can range from employee
benefits management to insurance claims processing to call center work to complex research projects.Maintaining work-life balance has been the focus of industries human

resource practitioners amidst the demanding nature of work and the workers personal endeavors in the age of information and technology.

The conflict between work and family spheres is also considered especially when there is role conflict and strain.To study the worklife of the BPO employees and the various problems faced by them while working in the BPO sector.

Work life balance plays an important role now a day.Employees want it ,managers need it and organization cannot afford to ignore it.Iemployess are out of balance or stressed or sick then they wil be less committed to the outcomes,they will be less committed to the organization,less committed to the client Striking a balance is the real fulfillment to life. In the rat race of our present day existence, especially in the long working hours ethos of our industry, we forget to maintain a balance between work and family. The result is devastating: high levels of stress, trauma, and even nervous breakdowns. The phrase worklife balance was coined in 1986 in USA .Until 1999 it remained on the fringes of corporate usage and public dissemination. Post 2000, work life balance has gone mainstream, with hundreds of dedicated internet sites, including those of mega corporations, helping spread its usage. There has been legislation enacted in many countries making worklife balance crucial to the functioning of a corporation. All this translates in the HR departments paying more and more attention to the aspirations of every employee and creating parameters of social interactivity to enable them to constantly discover their true potential. The BPO industry and other IT based businesses are constantly reframing their worklife policies because of high attrition rates