The Indian Call Center Journey
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Details
Themes: HR Problems
Period : 1999-2001
Organization :-
Pub Date : 2002
Countries : India
Industry : IT Enabled Services, BPO
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Case Code : HROB005
Case Length : 08 Pages
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However, most of these people entered the field, without having any idea as to what the business was all about. Their knowledge regarding the technology involved, the marketing aspects, client servicing issues etc was very poor. They assumed that by offering cheaper rates, they would be able to attract clients easily. They did not realize that more than easy access to capital and real estate, the field required experience and a sound business background. Once they decided to enter the field, they found that most of the capital expenditure (in form of building up the infrastructure5) occurred even before the first client was bagged. These players seemed to have neglected the fact that most successful call centers were quite large and had either some experience in the form of promoters having worked abroad in similar ventures or previous experience with such ventures or were subsidiaries of foreign companies. The real trouble started when these companies began soliciting clients. As call centers were a new line of business in India, the lack of track record forced the clients to go for much detailed and prolonged studies of the Indian partners. |
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Many US clients insisted on a strict inspection of the facilities offered, such as work-areas, cafeterias and even the restrooms. The clients expected to be shown detailed Service Level Agreements (SLAs6) , which a majority of the Indian firms could not manage. Under these circumstances, no US company was willing to risk giving business to amateurs at the cost of losing their customers. Because of the inadequate investments in technology, lack of processes to scale the business7 and the lack of management capabilities, most of the Indian players were unable to get international customers. Even for those who did manage to rope in some clients, the business was limited. As if these problems were not enough, the players hit another roadblock - this time in form of the high labor turnover problem.
Agent performance was the deciding factor in the success of any call center. Companies had recognized agents as one of the most important and influential points of contact between the business and the customer. However, it was this very set of people whom the Indian call centers were finding extremely difficult to recruit and more importantly, retain. In 2000, the average attrition rate in the industry was 40-45%, with about 10-15% of the staff quitting within the first two months itself. Even though attrition rates were very high in this industry worldwide, the same trend was not expected to emerge in India, as the unemployment levels were much higher.
The reasons were not very hard to understand. In a eight-and-a-half hour shift, the agents had to attend calls for seven-and-a-half hours. The work was highly stressful and monotonous with frequent night shifts. A typical call center agent could be described as being 'overworked, underpaid, stressed-out and thoroughly bored.' The agents were frequently reported to develop an identity crisis because of the 'dual personality' they had to adopt. They had to take on European/US names or abbreviate their own names and acquire foreign accents in order to pose as 'locals.' The odd timings took a toll on their health with many agents complaining of their biological clocks being disturbed. (Especially the ones in night shifts). Job security was another major problem, with agents being fired frequently for not being able to adhere to the strict accuracy standards. (Not more than one mistake per 100 computer lines.)
5] The typical cost of setting up a call center with 100 people worked out to about Rs 50 million in 2000. This included premises, telecommunication infrastructure, computing equipment and cost of meeting regulatory requirements including obtaining DoT clearances.
6] SLAs contained the measurable parameters for a call center such as Average Speed of answer (number of rings before a call was answered), Average Talk Time (time taken to address one query) etc.
7] Scalability indicated the center's ability to increase the number of seats