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The Team Leader's Challenge
One of the most important issues in the BPO industry in India today is Attrition. Various estimates place the industry's annual attrition rate anywhere from 50% to 60%. But an informal chat with executives of many companies will reveal that this number could possibly be under-reported. In some cases, the attritions rates are as high as 100% i.e. the company re-invents every year.
There are many factors that cause agents to leave. There are localized company specific factors like company policies, culture, reputation, salaries etc. There are also personal factors like travel time, marriage, relocation and other family issues. But there are larger economic or demographic factors also at play.
Jobs are a commodity
As compared to the mid 80s or 70s, jobs are no longer scarce. Today, BPO companies are providing graduates with a diverse range of jobs resulting in multiple opportunities. Therefore, jobs are now perceived as commodities. The question for every BPO company now is "How do we build employee loyalty?"
The high growth in the industry has resulted in people with low tenures getting promoted to higher levels even before they are ready which leads to lower managerial maturity among team leaders. So the agent learns very little from his team leader. It therefore makes no difference which team he is in and might as well work for a team leader in a different company which pays a few thousand rupees more. This is a major reason why agents leave companies.
The Concept of the Value Basket
Team leaders should be trained to build a value basket for their team members. The concept enables team leaders to think in following terms: "Why should agents work for me? If my company had a democratic system where agents could choose their own team leaders, what are the reasons agents would choose me?"
Research has shown that people leave because of what their managers' do or don't do. When various other issues important to an agent are not addressed, they don't have a choice but to compare the only common factor across companies i.e. money. Therefore, a few thousand rupees more at another company become more attractive. This is where the concept of a value basket comes into the picture.
Some value based activities are:
1. Success in current job
Everyone wants to be successful however, not everyone knows how. The coaching-monitoring-feedback cycle that is intended to improve the performance of agents is frequently underestimated. Most of them end up telling agents what to do, rather than showing them how to do the job. Such detailed work will enable agents to see that the team leader is genuinely interested in their success.
2. Focus on future career
Everyone has career aspirations beyond their current jobs. If agents see that their current job offers a path towards their future career aspirations, then they are likely to stay longer in the company. Therefore, team leaders have to play the role of career counselors and need to perform career-planning activities. They need to create succession plans for every one of their team members.
3. Training
While most team leaders focus on process related training, they do not realize that developing agents on other parameters will enhance an agent's capabilities. For example, team leaders can train agents on new skills (e.g. use of word, excel, power point etc.) and a variety of other topics including time management, importance of personal savings, career opportunities in various departments, changing attitudes, how to get jobs done in various departments, aspects of the team leader's own jobs etc. If this happens, the agent observes that he is getting smarter by staying with this team leader.
4. Extra Responsibility
Giving extra responsibility to agents is another way to get them engaged with the team/company. The team leader must spend time teaching the agent all the tasks involved including data collection, data analysis, drawing charts and trend lines, top problem generation etc. With this, the agent also learns all the skills that will help him move to his next role.
5. Delegation
Many team leaders and managers feel that they are the only people who can do a particular task or job. Delegation is a great way to develop competencies. However, the moment a job is delegated, team leaders must understand that there will be a performance problem with the agent. For this drop in performance, the team leader must be ready to take the heat from his manager. He must also be ready to compensate for this drop by putting in extra hours to coach the agent.
6. Focus on Family
A key element of Indian culture is family involvement on any major decision. Therefore, if the team leader takes the effort to establish closer ties with the agent's family, he can add an extra layer of friction that will discourage the agent from quitting. For instance, if an agent does something significantly good at work, the team leader can call up his parents and talk about the good job that the agent has done. When the parents know that their son/daughter is being recognized at work, they will certainly check if the agent is making the right decision when he thinks of quitting.
7. Standing up for the Team
Team leaders are closest to their team members. They also need to educate their managers about the realities on the ground. When agents see the team leader standing up for them, they will have one more reason to stay in the team.
8. Setting expectations about career growth
Team leaders and agents need to understand the value of staying in one company for a significant period of time. At a time when jobs are plenty, agents tend to look at their careers in 1 year blocks rather than 5 year blocks. It is very tempting to jump jobs for a more money. However, such jumps will only slow down a person's career in the long run. The agent, who changes jobs, restarts himself at his new job time and again. A senior management position will be offered to a person in the future only if he is able to demonstrate that he can stay and solve problems, rather than run away from them.
9. Becoming Interesting
The team leader must become an interesting person to work with. The team leader must make an effort to discuss various issues with agents. Team leaders can develop such qualities by reading books on a variety of subjects, newspapers etc.
10. Creating a Motivating Environment
Team leaders who are able to create motivating environments are likely to keep their team members together for a longer period of time. Motivation can be through fun events such as pizza parties, celebrations, team outings etc or serious events e.g. arranging a talks and seminars. Agents will look forward to these events and are likely to remain more engaged.
Every team leader must build the value basket based on his or her strengths. Team leaders who create these value baskets can be the strategic weapon companies are looking for to combat attrition.
Article by Mr. Ravi Venkatesam - a founding director of OnTrac, a unique provider of training in Operations Management for the BPO Industry. He is a graduate of IIT Kharagpur and an MBA from IIM Bangalore.
************************************************** *********
Regards
Julie
From India, Hyderabad
9The Team Leader's Challenge
One of the most important issues in the BPO industry in India today is Attrition. Various estimates place the industry's annual attrition rate anywhere from 50% to 60%. But an informal chat with executives of many companies will reveal that this number could possibly be under-reported. In some cases, the attritions rates are as high as 100% i.e. the company re-invents every year.
There are many factors that cause agents to leave. There are localized company specific factors like company policies, culture, reputation, salaries etc. There are also personal factors like travel time, marriage, relocation and other family issues. But there are larger economic or demographic factors also at play.
Jobs are a commodity
As compared to the mid 80s or 70s, jobs are no longer scarce. Today, BPO companies are providing graduates with a diverse range of jobs resulting in multiple opportunities. Therefore, jobs are now perceived as commodities. The question for every BPO company now is "How do we build employee loyalty?"
The high growth in the industry has resulted in people with low tenures getting promoted to higher levels even before they are ready which leads to lower managerial maturity among team leaders. So the agent learns very little from his team leader. It therefore makes no difference which team he is in and might as well work for a team leader in a different company which pays a few thousand rupees more. This is a major reason why agents leave companies.
The Concept of the Value Basket
Team leaders should be trained to build a value basket for their team members. The concept enables team leaders to think in following terms: "Why should agents work for me? If my company had a democratic system where agents could choose their own team leaders, what are the reasons agents would choose me?"
Research has shown that people leave because of what their managers' do or don't do. When various other issues important to an agent are not addressed, they don't have a choice but to compare the only common factor across companies i.e. money. Therefore, a few thousand rupees more at another company become more attractive. This is where the concept of a value basket comes into the picture.
Some value based activities are:
1. Success in current job
Everyone wants to be successful however, not everyone knows how. The coaching-monitoring-feedback cycle that is intended to improve the performance of agents is frequently underestimated. Most of them end up telling agents what to do, rather than showing them how to do the job. Such detailed work will enable agents to see that the team leader is genuinely interested in their success.
2. Focus on future career
Everyone has career aspirations beyond their current jobs. If agents see that their current job offers a path towards their future career aspirations, then they are likely to stay longer in the company. Therefore, team leaders have to play the role of career counselors and need to perform career-planning activities. They need to create succession plans for every one of their team members.
3. Training
While most team leaders focus on process related training, they do not realize that developing agents on other parameters will enhance an agent's capabilities. For example, team leaders can train agents on new skills (e.g. use of word, excel, power point etc.) and a variety of other topics including time management, importance of personal savings, career opportunities in various departments, changing attitudes, how to get jobs done in various departments, aspects of the team leader's own jobs etc. If this happens, the agent observes that he is getting smarter by staying with this team leader.
4. Extra Responsibility
Giving extra responsibility to agents is another way to get them engaged with the team/company. The team leader must spend time teaching the agent all the tasks involved including data collection, data analysis, drawing charts and trend lines, top problem generation etc. With this, the agent also learns all the skills that will help him move to his next role.
5. Delegation
Many team leaders and managers feel that they are the only people who can do a particular task or job. Delegation is a great way to develop competencies. However, the moment a job is delegated, team leaders must understand that there will be a performance problem with the agent. For this drop in performance, the team leader must be ready to take the heat from his manager. He must also be ready to compensate for this drop by putting in extra hours to coach the agent.
6. Focus on Family
A key element of Indian culture is family involvement on any major decision. Therefore, if the team leader takes the effort to establish closer ties with the agent's family, he can add an extra layer of friction that will discourage the agent from quitting. For instance, if an agent does something significantly good at work, the team leader can call up his parents and talk about the good job that the agent has done. When the parents know that their son/daughter is being recognized at work, they will certainly check if the agent is making the right decision when he thinks of quitting.
7. Standing up for the Team
Team leaders are closest to their team members. They also need to educate their managers about the realities on the ground. When agents see the team leader standing up for them, they will have one more reason to stay in the team.
8. Setting expectations about career growth
Team leaders and agents need to understand the value of staying in one company for a significant period of time. At a time when jobs are plenty, agents tend to look at their careers in 1 year blocks rather than 5 year blocks. It is very tempting to jump jobs for a more money. However, such jumps will only slow down a person's career in the long run. The agent, who changes jobs, restarts himself at his new job time and again. A senior management position will be offered to a person in the future only if he is able to demonstrate that he can stay and solve problems, rather than run away from them.
9. Becoming Interesting
The team leader must become an interesting person to work with. The team leader must make an effort to discuss various issues with agents. Team leaders can develop such qualities by reading books on a variety of subjects, newspapers etc.
10. Creating a Motivating Environment
Team leaders who are able to create motivating environments are likely to keep their team members together for a longer period of time. Motivation can be through fun events such as pizza parties, celebrations, team outings etc or serious events e.g. arranging a talks and seminars. Agents will look forward to these events and are likely to remain more engaged.
Every team leader must build the value basket based on his or her strengths. Team leaders who create these value baskets can be the strategic weapon companies are looking for to combat attrition.
Article by Mr. Ravi Venkatesam - a founding director of OnTrac, a unique provider of training in Operations Management for the BPO Industry. He is a graduate of IIT Kharagpur and an MBA from IIM Bangalore.
************************************************** *********
Regards
Julie
From India, Hyderabad
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