LIVE PROJECT REPORT

Study on Employee Retention Strategies in BPO Sector

Submitted By Submitted To
Ankita Sharma HRD1815103 Academics
Shalini Singh HRD1815116
Anita Yadav HRD1815123
Ankita Sinha HRD1815130
Krati Trivedi HRD1815138
Sumitesh Gupta HRD1815191
Dhanashri Kotyal HRD1815501
Atman Chandramauli HRD1815542
Souvik Sarkar HRD1815546
Aruna Priya HRD1815552
EMPLOYEE RETENTION
STRATEGIES
IN BPO SECTOR
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The completion of this Research Study could not have been possible without the
participation, involvement and assistance of so many people whose names may not all be
enumerated. Their contributors are sincerely appreciated and gratefully acknowledged.
However, we would like to express their deep appreciation and indebtedness particularly
to the following:

To the Institute (BIMHRD) for giving such opportunity to gain experience on how to
conduct and prepare an effective research report.

To Dr. Rajeshwari Patil for her endless support and guidelines to conduct this research report.

To all the employees working in the BPO sector who contributed their valuable time in
giving the responses which become the core element of our data analysis and
interpretations.

To all the great authors of the articles on research methodology who invested their
expensive knowledge and wisdom which helped in getting the better insight into the
research process and report.

Last but not the least to all the relatives and friends who directly or indirectly helped in
the collection of authentic information which helped in successful completion of the
project.

We Thank you.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

S. No. Content Page No.

1 Executive Summary 3

2 Contextual Background 4

3 Problem Statement 10

4 Purpose, Objective, Research Gap & Research 10

Question

5 Literature Review 13

6 Research Methodology 14

7 Analysis 15

8 Finding & Interpretation 19

9 Recommendation 20

10 Limitations 21

11 Conclusion 22

12 Future Scope of Study 23

13 Annexures 24

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 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Voluntary turnover has become a problem for many organizations, regardless of the nature of
job, in today’s society. The costs of this turnover not only have an impact on organizations but
also would affect the morale. Prior research has examined the costs of an employee’s decision
to voluntarily leave an organization.

There have been a plethora of research studies conducted over the past 40 years by both
academicians and practitioners on the causes and consequences of voluntary turnover. In the
ITES/BPO sector, however voluntary turnover is reaching alarming proportions. It becomes
very important to study this questionable nature of large-scale attrition, as India houses a large
no of ITES/BPOs. An attempt has been made in this research to investigate on the employee
turnover of ITES/BPO sector in India. Analysts believe that India remains a vital destination
for outsourcing and expect its annual GDP to grow at 8-10% for the next decade.

In addition, outsourcing efforts to India are held up as an effective remedy for concerns about
both Chinese government policy and labor force issues, such as increasing costs and shortages.
The business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in the country is facing the challenge of
finding quality human resources given the current attrition rate of around 50 percent. In India,
the average attrition rate in the BPO sector is approximately 30-35 percent. It is true that this is
far less than the prevalent attrition rate in the US market (around 70 percent), but the challenge
continues to be greater considering the recent growth of the industry in the country. Keeping
low attrition levels is a major challenge as the demand outstrips the supply of good agents by a
big margin.

Therefore, we first conducted an initial survey to find the reasons for the rising attrition rate
followed by a detailed survey to understand and clarify the root cause for this negative attitude.
After analysis we discovered that lacking growth opportunities and its variables have created a
hold on the B.P.O Industry and to control this issue, our research has come up with
recommendations albeit with certain limitations.

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 CONTEXTUAL BACKGROUND

Industry Scenario in India

In India, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is the fastest growing segment of the
ITES (Information Technology Enabled Services) industry. Factors such as economy
of scale, business risk mitigation, cost advantage, utilization improvement and superior
competency have all lead to the growth of the Indian BPO industry. Business process
outsourcing in India, which started around the mid-90s, has now grown by leaps and
bounds.

India is now the world's favored market for BPO companies, among other competitors,
such as, Australia, China, Philippines and Ireland. The BPO boom in India is credited
to cheap labor costs and India's huge talent pool of skilled, English-speaking
professionals. Research by the National Association of Software Services and
Companies (NASSCOM) has revealed that quality orientation among leading BPO
companies, 24/7 services, India's unique geographic location and the investor friendly
tax structure in India have all made the BPO industry in India very population.

What is business process outsourcing?

BPO or business process outsourcing is a part of the umbrella term outsourcing, which
simply stands for a system where the responsibilities of a particular business process
can be contracted to a third-party service provider. This system was originally
associated with manufacturing firms, but over the years that scenario has changed.

Now, BPO is amongst one of the fastest growing industries and has become an integral
part of the ITES industry. Amongst the different South Asian countries, where the BPO
industry is making its mark, India is quite a prominent one. Certain factors such as cost
advantage, time factor, large number of English speakers, competency, the economy
of scale and help from the government have helped the BPO industry to grow in India
and best BPO companies to come into existence

The term Business Process Outsourcing or BPO as it is popularly known, refers to

outsourcing in all fields. A BPO service provider usually administers and manages a
particular business process for another company. BPOs either use new technology or
apply an existing technology in a new way to improve a particular business process.
India is currently the number one destination for business process outsourcing, as most
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 companies in the US and UK outsource IT-related business processes to Indian service
provider.

Serices offered by Indian BPO companies

Indian BPO companies offer varied services, such as a customer support,

technical support, telemarketing, insurance processing, data processing, forms
processing, bookkeeping and internet, online, web support.

1. Customer support services: 24/7 inbound / outbound call center, services that
address customer queries and concerns through phone, email and live chat.

2. Technical support services: Installation, product support, running support,

troubleshooting, usage support and problem resolution for computer software,
hardware, peripherals and internet infrastructure.

3. Telemarketing services: Interacting with potential customers and creating

interest for the customer's services/ products. Up-selling, promoting and cross
selling to existing customers and completing online sales processes.

4. IT help desk services: Level 1 and 2 multi-channel support, system problem

resolutions, technical problem resolution, office productivity tools support,
answering product usage queries and performing remote diagnostics.

5. Insurance processing: New business acquisition and promotion, claims

processing, policy maintenance and policy management.

6. Data entry and data processing: Data entry from paper, books, images, e-books,
yellow pages, web sites, business cards, printed documents, software
applications, receipts, bills, catalogues and mailing lists.

7. Data conversion services: Data conversion for databases, word processors,

spreadsheets and software applications. Data conversion of raw data into PDF,
HTML, Word or Acrobat formats.

8. Bookkeeping and accounting services: Maintenance of the customer's general

ledger, accounts receivables, accounts payables, financial statements, bank
reconciliations and assets / equipment ledgers.

9. Form processing services: Online form processing, payroll processing’ medical

billing, insurance claim forms processing and medical forms processing.

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 10. Online research: Internet search, product research, market research, surveys,
analysis, web research and mailing list research. (THE BPO IN INDIA, 2017)

Role of India in the Outsourcing Industry

The India call center market was valued at USD 28.19 billion in 2017. Major factors
that are driving the growth of the call center industry in India are growth in English
and multiple language speaking population, skilled professional for different verticals
who can provide support in the business operations other than technical support,
government schemes to promote the industry further as it was contributing to country’s
GDP and low cost of employment with professional and quality workforce compared
to developed countries.

India has been able to retain its position as a leading destination for call center support
services because of being able to evolve with the continuous changing needs. It was in
fact within a year that the global outsourcing market rose by 4% in the country.
Efficiency and customer service make India stand out from the crowd out and this is
why call center services still has a bright future.

Customers when outsourcing their business today don’t just look for cost-effective
solutions but also want better productivity, skilled staff, enhanced quality of service
and excellence in business process. India with its enormous population and efficiently
skilled people would still continue to be the best choice for both front-end as well as
back-end outsourcing.

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 India Call Centre Market Size, 2015-2025 (USD billion

The BPO industry entered India in 1980’s with American Express setting up its back-
office operations in Gurgaon, India. This was headed by Harry Robertson and Raman
Roy who later joined GE. In mid-1990s, Pramod Basin started GE capital international
services (GECIS) with Raman Roy and several other employees from American
Express.

The business was growing exponentially with Raman expanding voice operation
outside India at multiple locations. In 2004, GECIS was spun-off into a separate entity
called Genpact by GE. After which with the increasing venture capital investment
many new players entered into the BPO industry including EXL services, Infosys BPM
and WNS BPO in India.

BPO is a preferred industry in India since it has employed a vast majority of

population. The industry contributes to a significant portion of the country’s GDP and
has witnessed a steady growth ranging from 1.2% to 5.4%. The employment rate was
also growing from year on year, for instance the number of people employed in BPM
were 7, 38,000 in 2008 and had increased to 1,188,000 by the end of 2017.

Furthermore, the BPO industry in India is not only a call center or data entry work, it
has now shifted from base-level work to serve a whole range of business processes,
including areas such as healthcare and legal advices. The employees working in the
industry are educated and are skilled in various professions. They can handle different
task from huge technical complexity to advising clients.

The companies are also launching certification programme in collaboration with

NASSCOM to create awareness and attract more talent. Moreover, NASSCOM
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conducted a perception survey and found that 40% of student surveyed did not have the
right knowledge and understanding about the industry. As BPO is one of the major
industries in India and contributes to a major portion of the nation’s GDP the
government has also taking steps to promote it by introducing new policies. After 2008
the recession year the demand for outsourcing from India has drastically increased due
to its well qualified professionals and less expensive value proposition.

The information technology minister acknowledges the contribution of BPO industry

to the country’s economy and has initiated promotional programmes to offer a growth
stimulus to the industry. In October 2016, the information technology minister
approved India BPO Promotional Scheme under digital India initiative to increase
employment opportunities. The government is also providing capital support of 493
crore (~ USD 70 million) and incentives of one lakh (~USD 1400) per seat in the form
of funding.

The competitive landscape of the India call center market is highly fragmented with a
large number of established players occupying about 40% of the overall market
including Genpact, Tata Consultancy Services BPO, Wipro BPO and WNS Global
Services. Moreover, according to NASSCOM, there are more than 500 outsourcing
companies in India with their operations present in 66 different countries and
professional speaking in 35 different languages.

The major players in India call center market analyzed are Genpact, Infosys BPO, Tata
Consultancy Services BPO, WNS Global Services, EXL Service, Wipro BPO, Aegis
Limited, First source Solutions Limited, Hinduja Global Solutions and HCL
Technologies BPO Services Limited. (NASSCOM SURVEY, 2017)

Challenges for the Outsourcing Industry in India

The industry undergoing a change and would continue to be driven by extreme changes
even in the future. However, a few emerging challenging that India would have to face
are:

 The rapidly growing industry requires growth in infrastructure as well.

However, this is an area where India lacks, and this issue need to be
addressed to keep up with the competition.
 Companies are branching out to Tier II cities where they would be able to
take advantage of low labor costs.
 Even though India has been established itself as a world leader in the business
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 of outsourcing, in the near future, there are chances of facing tougher
challenges. South-Asian countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore,
Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand and others are trying to improve their position
so as to become alternative offshore locations.
 Other South-Asian countries have been able to challenge the
competitiveness of India by offering cheaper labor in business processing
skills. India, on the other hand is experiencing a rise in the labor costs along
with high attrition which is of course of concern and thereby need to be
addressed as soon as possible.

It is only time that would be able to say if India will actually be able to sustain
itself in this tough competition and still retain its position as a leader in the global
market of call centre outsourcing. The country may still be able to dominate this
space but there are impressive reasons as to why the global firms might turn
towards other destinations apart from India. The outbound call centre industry has
to realize soon that as the industry is maturing, return on investment and profit
margins stagnant and thereby reach a plateau. This time is perfectly ripe for the
BPO sector in India to move up the curve. With other countries working hard to
up their position in this sector, India cannot take risks.

Conclusion

Indian BPO companies can branch out into Tier II and Tier III cities so that their wages
are competitive and that a skilled workforce that exists beyond the cities can be tapped
into. Moreover, the costs can be kept down because of the fact that these cities have a
lower cost of living and doing business than the Tier I cities. The most important step
is that Indian BPO companies can move up the “value chain” which means that they
can migrate to higher end knowledge work or KPO which is more cerebral and pays
well. The point here is that it is time for the Indian BPO industry to take the
phenomenon to another level and this is precisely the reason for many Indian BPO’s
to take up KPO work as well as opening centers in smaller cities.

Finally, the Indian BPO industry has to realize that once the industry matures, profit
margins and return on investment stagnate and reach a plateau. It is for this reason that
the time is ripe for the Indian BPO sector to innovate and move up the curve. With
other nations snapping at its heels, the Indian BPO sector cannot afford to take it easy
nor be complacent 9
 LITERATURE REVIEW

1. Attrition is defined as “a reduction in the number of employees through

retirement, resignation or death"& attrition rate is defined as" the rate of shrinkage
in size or number".(coolavenues.com, article published 0n April 9/14)
Reasons for Attrition
When there are so many benefits associated with BPO industry…. when there are so
many privileges for the BPO employees a few factors make them to change the
company/industry:
• For higher Salary
• No Growth / Lack of Promotion
• For Higher education
• Misguidance by the company
• Policies and procedures are not conducive
• No personal life
• Physical strains

2. Business line (Chennai, Aug 24)-Employee attrition is a major issue in the business
process outsourcing sector. While there are opportunities aplenty in the market,
youngsters are more impatient and want to become managers quickly, said Vardhman
Jain, Vice-Chairman, Access Healthcare Services Pvt Ltd. Everyone wants to be a
manager today itself. A person joins after college at the age of 21-22, and by 23 he is
questioning: ‘why am I not a manager?’’. Therefore employee attrition is also ‘people
leaving the organisation as a result of less patience’

3. Challenges and problems in the BPO sector- Shabnam khatoon- Employees are the
most worthy & valuable assets of organization especially female employees. Mostly
Female employees quit their jobs rapidly because of Cultural and environmental
problems in BPO sector. The significance to organizations calls for not only the need to
attract the best female talents but also the necessity to retain them for a long term. why
does BPOs Female professionals switch their jobs,.

Challenges and Problems of Female Employees:

 Mental Pressure and overstretch.

 Transportation/Cabs Problem.
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  Lack of work-life balance.
 Gloomy career prospect/Lack of promotion.
 Sexual Harassment and Women Safety at Work Place.
 Indian laws every working woman should know about.
Female employees’ Retention has become a key challenge for BPO firms and it
changes organization.HR must take steps to be aware of employee problems and try
to solve them creatively.

4. Context of Hertzberg hygiene and motivation factors

Tamrisha Patnaik - Hertzberg’s (1959) two-factor model of motivation suggested that

satisfaction was related to intrinsic work (“motivating”) factors, while dissatisfaction
was associated with extrinsic (“hygiene”) factors. This independence of the
determinants of satisfaction and dissatisfaction would be expected to extend from
perceptions to actions. In particular, retention/attrition should mirror the
motivating/hygiene dichotomy. The present study proposes to examine the
motivating/hygiene dichotomy.

Employees do not leave an organization without any significant reason. There are certain
circumstances that lead to their leaving the organization. Employee turnover, as defined
by Hom and Griffeth (1994), is ‘voluntary terminations of members from organizations’.
Loquercio et al. (2006) observed that staff turnover is the proportion of staff leaving in a
given time period but prior to the anticipated end of their contract.
According to Singh et al. (1994), staff turnover is the rate of change in the working staffs
of a concern during a defined period. Understanding the different dimensions of a job
that may increase satisfaction or, at least, reduce dissatisfaction would be the very first
step towards designing a strategy for retention of quality staff.

5. Reasons for employee retention –

Bodjrenou kossivi, Ming xu, Bomboma kalgora - Employee retention is

concerned with keeping or encouraging employees to remain in an organization
for a maximum period of time.

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Determinants of employee Retention.

 Development Opportunities
 Compensation
 Work-Life Balance
 Management/Leadership
 Work Environment
 Social Support
 Autonomy
 Training and Development
The need for organizations to retain their talents is crucial for their ability to remain in
business depends on it.

6. Effect of attractive lifestyle of retention - Mr S.Mohan

Retention is to withhold the best talent in the organization. Employee retention involves
taking measures to encourage employees to remain in the organization for the maximum
period of time. If a person is not satisfied by the job he's doing, he may switch over to
some other more suitable jobs. In today's environment it becomes very important for
organizations to retain their employees. The factors which make individual to join BPO
are:

Factors Total score Rank

Good working environment 564 10
Experience is not required 927 3
Benefits 745 9
Flexibility of time 764 8
Platform to express my computer 806 7
Skills
Transport facilities 861 5
Salary 813 6
Attractive lifestyle 939 1
Good communication with minimum 933 2
Qualification
Freedom 869 4
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 The above table shows that Attractive life style is given the 1st preference by the
respondents to choose to work in BPO sector, 2nd reason why respondents prefer to
join BPO sector is t.at it requires only good.

communication with minimum qualification, 3rd reason to join BPO is no need of

experience, 4th rank is given to freedom, 5th rank is given to transport facilities. 6th rank
is given to Salary, platform to express computer skills is given 7th rank, 8th rank is given
to flexibility of time, 9th rank is given to the benefits and the least rank is given to good
working environment. In a nutshell, today’s generation prefer to join BPO sector is because
of the attractive life style where it raises their standard of living.

7.Creative retention strategies – Dr. Sc. Das

Retention strategies are policies and plans that organizations follow to reduce employee
turnover and attrition and ensure employees are engaged and productive long-term. The
key challenge for businesses is ensuring a retention strategy aligns with business goals
to ensure maximum return on investment. Corporate social responsibility is a key growth
area of retention strategies – employees may be more likely to remain with an employer
that shows a commitment to the local community or the environment retention
strategies/practices being followed by companies are flexi time, fun@ work, training and
development opportunity, bridging the gap, work with friends, and best reward system
etc.

1. Learning organization as a retention strategy

Mr S.Siva- a learning organization is a company that facilitates the learning of its

members and continuously transforms itself. Attrition is always a problem for BPOs. They
use various pecuniary and non pecuniary incentives and schemes which are beneficial to
the employees as retention strategies to reduce the level of attrition. But still they are
struggling to tackle the issue.

Peter Senge- Learning organizations as “organizations where people continually

expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive
patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where
people are continually learning to see whole together”.

To convert the traditional organization into an innovative learning organization Peter

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Senge has given five basic disciplines, we can call them as component technologies.
To become a learning organization it is essential to adopt and apply these disciplines
which are listed below:

 Systems thinking
 Personal mastery
 Mental Models
 Shared Vision
 Team Learning
There are various common strategies used to manage the attrition in companies. But no
companies have used a method which makes the workers learn about the work and
performs well to attain the organizational goal. Learning organization technique is one
such method which is not used by any company to retention employees

2. Building loyalty

Seema Mehta et al - Loyalty can be best described in terms of a process, where certain
attitudes give rise to certain behaviors (intended or actual). There have been major
changes in the business world and the workforce in the last couple of decades. In the
past, once hired an employee believed it was a life time job and managers expected their
unstinted loyalty to the enterprise. Similarly, workers used to be devoted to their
employer. Loyalty has two dimensions: internal and external. Loyalty is, fundamentally,
an emotional attachment. The internal dimension is the emotional component and must
be nurtured carefully.

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PROBLEM STATEMENT

Attrition rate in BPO sector is very high.

In the global business scenario, BPO is on top of the list today. The new age workforce
comprises mostly
of knowledge workers, who are techno savvy, aware of market realities, materially focused
and who
have higher propensity to switch jobs. The challenge of acquiring new talent and retaining
the existing
talent is only going to intensify. The present study is an attempt to explore the reality of
attrition problem
in the BPO sector and study how people are managed in BPOs.

PURPOSE

To identify the major reason of attrition in BPO sector of Pune region and to develop
retention strategies for the same.

RESEARCH GAP

Study of specific genders, age groups and personal reasons not conducted due
to lack of time and resources.

RESEARCH QUESTION

What is the main reason for attrition in the BPO sector of Pune?

OBJECTIVES

• To find out the reasons for high attrition rate in BPO sector in Pune.
• To identify the current retention strategies in the BPO sector in Pune.
• To develop new strategies for increasing the retention rate based on reasons
and other variables affecting attrition found through survey.

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 RESEARCH METHODOLGY

Types of Research: Exploratory, Descriptive

Exploratory, because we need to gain insights and develop new strategies for retention.
Descriptive, because we are describing the current trends use for retain the employees.

Technique of sampling:
Convenience sampling (non-probabilistic in nature) because in this research questionnaire
was sent to our contacts in BPO sectors hence the total population did not have equal
chance to be considered as the sample.

Sample size:
Universe – 1,20,000 (approx.)
Number of employees leaving their organization/year – 22,000 (approx.) Sample size– 100
(basic survey), 55 (detailed survey)

Tool of data collection:

Primary Source: Questionnaire confined of both open ended and close ended question.
Secondary Source: Online articles, books, old research papers, journals.

First a generalized survey on 100 people was conducted to find the presence and reason of exit
intention.Following that, a detailed second survey was conducted on people who replied with a
positive exit intention to find in detail, the reason, the attitude etc. relating to attrition, this was
done for the 55 respondents who said they will be quitting their organization.

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 DATA ANALYSIS

We collect form the survey that about 55% of the sample has an exit intention with
intention. This is a very alarming situation as the cost of attrition in the B.P.O. industry
is 1.5 times the annual salary. Following costs are incurred if employee leaves an
organization: 51% - costs of hiring & training 24% - loss of productivity 19% -
damaged morale of employees 6% - loss of business.(The percentages are of the
average annual salary in the industry.)

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Further we can see that the reason people who are keen on leaving and people who
might leave in futures are mainly Lack of growth opportunity, monotony of job, low pay
scale and other reasons like Cultural Mismatch, Lack of Independence in Job, Lack of
Participation in decision-making etc. this calls for identifying variables relating to the
major reasons and determine their effectiveness in satisfying employees. The survey
result for reasons for attrition is as follows. It is based on a survey of 100 people
employed in BPO sector

Comparison of reason for attrition of

the sample respondents with reason
for attrition of respondents with
confirmed exit intention
Respondents Exit Respondents Without intention
Intention

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Next, we found 5 variables that mainly affected Growth since lack of growth opportunities was
listed as the major reason for exit by the respondents. The variables we identified were: Payment
Growth, Growth via Training and Development, Job Enrichment Opportunities, Position Growth
Mentoring/ Coaching/ Counselling provided. We discovered the following scenario:

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We also tried to collect data about the satisfaction of employees from the performance
appraisal method used in the B.P.O. Industry and from the 55 respondents who had an
exit intention, we gathered the following graph in which 1 = Highly Agree, 2 =Agree,
3 = Neutral, 4 = Disagree and 5 = Highly Disagree.

This graph helps us understand that although there is a scope for great improvement
in performance appraisal systems prevailing in the B.P.O. industry, it’s is not
completely inaccurate or obsolete but fairly well received instead and the actual
problem lies in the pre identified variables that are a component of growth in any
organization.

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 FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATIONS

1) We conducted a survey on the sample of 100 employees. As we are focused

mainly on developing retention strategies so we are trying to put emphasis
on the sample of people who are likely to leave the organization. After
conducting survey we found that 55 employees had shown positive intention
towards exiting the organization.

2) Now we were more focused on the various reasons and factors which affects
or which will most likely to affect employee’s intention toward leaving the
organization. After analyzing the reason we came to the conclusion that
majority were affected by the lack of growth opportunities. Most of the
people don’t like to continue in the same organization as they are asked to do
the repetitive jobs and thus there is no scope for their growth. So, they try to
move to other organization for a better opportunity and exploration.

3) The absence of growth opportunities in the organization can be seen from

different aspects and there are some variables of growth which can precisely
define the actual measures of growth opportunities. So, here we had
determined 5 variables and tried to find out the satisfaction level of each
employee for each of these variables.

4) As we are mainly focused on discovering the most likely reason for employee
attrition so that we could develop the best strategy for the retention of the
employees, we are required to rank these variables where first being the most
preferred reason followed by less preferred reason, based on the preference
made by each employee. The rank sequence we got is as follows:

1) PAY GROWTH RATE

2) JOB ENRICHMENT
3) POSITION GROWTH
4) MENTORING & COACHING
5) TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

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 RECOMMENDATIONS

The research conducted by our team on Employee attrition and retention in BPO sector
lead us to the main reasons why employees are leaving BPO sector and one of the main
reason was lack of growth opportunities. This research further lead us to few parameters
for why there is no growth opportunities and it was due to parameters like pay growth
rate, job enrichment, position growth, mentoring / coaching, training and development
issues.

Our research, in our finding showed that the main reason for attrition is lack of growth
opportunity in the organization and we came up with some recommendation to reduce
attrition in the BPO sector and provide the employees with some career growth
opportunities.

1. The organization should come up with a system where the performance of the
employees must be rewarded. There should be performance bases pay. There
can also performance based promotions.

2. In a team the best performer can be given the chance to become the next team
leader. This way there will be a healthy competitive spirit in the team and this
will also motivate the other team members to perform well.

3. Organizations should provide Employee Stock Option plans to the best

performers in the organization. Providing with Employee Stock Option is to
give employees limited shares of the company. This can be done to appreciate
the performance of the employee. In a way this will also reward the loyalty of
the employee towards his organization and develop a sense of belongingness
towards the organization. Employees will give their best to be recognized as
this will also project their names on the annual report of the organization.

4. Our research showed that one of the major reasons for attrition in BPO industry
is lack of growth. To avoid people leaving the organization, the organization can
come up with schemes where they can identify potential and competent
employees and provide them with latest technological training and development
programs. This will be seen as a way to appreciate the performance of the
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 employees and by advance training the employees can attract more business for
the organization. The organization can also sponsor for higher education for
selected employees. This will develop a sense of competition among other
employees and everyone will contribute as much as they can to avail these
benefits.

5. In the organization there should be culture of job rotation and job enrichment.
Job rotation as in the employees must be given to work on different profiles
where the employee can learn about various tasks performed in the organization.
This will provide the employee with an all-around development in his career and
he will know how different department performs. This process of job rotation
will remove the monotony and boredom from the work of the employee. This
will keep the employees motivated and they will get many opportunities to learn
various new things and showcase their talents in various areas of their work.

6. Comprehensive up skilling and overall development by academic and non – academic

programs.

7. Giving career counseling and planning career paths to required employees

identified via frequent psychometric tests.

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 LIMITATIONS

1. Geographic constraints - The area of study is only limited to Pune region.

2. Time constraint - inappropriate time and ridiculous schedule by academics.

3. Sample constraints – The responses collected are only on convenience basis.

4. Access: Limited access to people due to small sample size

5. Self-reported data: We have to take what people say through interview, surveys
and it could be bias up to some extent as we are relying on information provided
by them

6. Measurement: It might happen that sometimes after collection of the entire data
we realize that the way we gathered data is not the right way of collecting data
and we could use another instrument for this.

7. Implementation of collection of data: As we are not expertise so the way we

interpret data might not be the right way to interpret as an expert would have had
d

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 CONCLUSIONS

Retention has become a key challenge for the BPO industry & it varies from one
organization to another. Employee Retention strategies can be classified into two
categories i.e. monetary & non-monetary strategies, like Performance Linked Incentives,
Rewards, Increment in Salary, Job Rotation, Job Enrichment, Exit Interviews,
Participation in Management, Public Recognition of Achievements etc.

Research says that most of the employees leave an organization because of frustration and
constant friction with their superiors or other team members. In this study it is found that
most of the employees in BPOs are retained due to the following factors such as
competitive compensation, Encouragement and Recognition, well equipped and safety
environment, infrastructure, potential talent and job involvement. If organization is going
to practice these factors, the employee retention will be possible.

Our research also concludes that while focus on growth is important, focus on pay and
job growth is paramount importance to diffuse the increasing attrition in the B.P.O.
Industry

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 FUTURE SCOPE OF STUDY

Our research on attrition and retention strategies in BPO sector lead us to various
parameters that why there is a high rate of attrition which included factors like lack of
growth opportunities, cultural mismatch, lack of independence in job, low pay scale,
monotony in job, lack of participation in decision making, organizational politics, unfair
performance appraisal etc.
Out of these factors we studied only lack of growth opportunities and neglected the rest
of parameters. These other parameters may provide in-depth scope of reasons as to why
there is a higher retention rate. Each of the above mentioned parameters can me a separate
research topics in future.

The research study we conducted was only constrained to Pune city. We did not expand
our geographical territory for research the mind-set of employees in Pune may be different
from employees working in BPO sectors of other cities. As we had a geographical
constraint our sample size was also limited we had a sample size of about hundred
employees among which we conducted a detailed survey of fifty-five employees who said
that they wanted to leave their organization. In future we may expand our geographical
territory and conduct surveys on other cities and try to get a larger sample size to get more
accurate results.

In our research we suggested some recommendations to control the rate of attrition and
improve retention rate. In future we can conduct research on our own recommendations as
to how much impact they can bring on the minimization of attrition rate. Each
recommendation strategy may be taken as a separate research topics and we can conduct a
thorough study as to how helpful it is to the BPO sector.

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 REFERENCES

• Social Research Method by Alan Bryman

• https://scholar.google.co.in
• Nascom Strategic Reviews
• Journal of Business Management & Social Sciences Research (JBM&SSR) ISSN No: 2319-
5614 Volume 5, No.1, January 2016 by Tamrisha Patnaik, Research Scholar
• http://www.iaeme.com/MasterAdmin/UploadFolder/JOM_05_04_006/JOM_05_04_
006.pdf by S. Siva
• http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/jspui/bitstream/10603/186707/9/09.pdf by SC Das
• https://www.ijmra.us/project%20doc/2017/IJRSS_MAY2017/IJMRA-11463.pdf
by Shabnam Khatoon

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 ANNEXURES
Basic survey questionnaire

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Detailed Survey Questionnaire

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