Genpact's Piyush Mehta Speaks at November Sales Confab
by Paul Catiang

On November 19, 2005, Piyush Mehta, Senior Vice President for Human Resources of Genpact, graced the John Clements monthly sales conference with his presence and a discussion of the BPO industry and how to recruit and retain its employees.

Lowering the Attrition Rate

Attrition is one of the banes of the call center industry: the night shift, the lifestyle changes, and the cultural challenges involved all conspire to encourage call center workers to look for employment elsewhere. Genpact employs several strategies to help deal with these issues, and Mr. Mehta shared some of them at the sales conference.

Firstly, new hires are quickly integrated into the corporate structure through a buddy program that helps them find their place and function. Educational opportunities are next, giving employees a chance to learn and grow as professionals and individuals through the Genpact University, an in-house employee development program begun in 2000. Thirdly, internal growth is planned out and used as a means of encouraging employees to perform better, and consequently, remain with the company. All internal job openings are posted online, along with all the criteria for eligibility. This helps motivate employees to work towards achieving the goal of becoming qualified for positions they are interested in. Individual effort is also rewarded and recognized on a regular basis to further emphasize the fact that Genpact is in touch with its rank and file. Lastly, individuals with skills critical to Genpact's operations are recognized and retained through special programs.

Human Resources with an Individual Touch

One of Genpact's most reliable attrition-combating strategies, Mr. Mehta related, is its High-Impact Touch Point model, which works on the premise that the decision to leave a company is made at least two to three months before the resignation letter is turned in. This decision is triggered by the loss of trust in or respect for the company, which in turn is caused by the mishandling of the high-impact touch points (HITP). These include receiving unfavorable performance evaluations, being subject to disciplinary action, failing to clear promotion requirements, having personal or family issues, and so on.

Genpact Managers are trained to be especially sensitive to employees in this regard and handle the HITP with care. Mr. Mehta calls this "leveraging HTIP to further strengthen emotional equity with the employee." Thus the employees find it easier to trust their superiors, and by extension, feel comfortable staying on with Genpact.

This close monitoring of these high-impact touch points, conducted on a weekly basis, also gives Genpact managers an early warning system, allowing them to engage in pre-emptive action through counseling, offering flexi-time options, or identifying roles in other businesses or functions that an employee might prefer. This level of concern for their employees' well-being has worked effectively for Genpact in retaining more workers.

Genpact has also engaged in alternative means of attracting talents, such as targeting older people, initiating referral programs-which account for 40% of their hires-and by sourcing all across India. This widely-cast net has brought in new hires by the thousands to Genpact's doors. They also partner with governments and universities to help them recruit people from top institutes.

Their retention solutions, on the other hand, include higher study programs, flexible work shifts, allowances to work from their homes, and making the work environment more fun and exciting.

Employee Growth and Development

To create learning opportunities for enhancing skills and competencies, and to retain talent and re! inforce Genpact as the employer of choice, the Genpact University was launched in 2000. Employees attend classes within Genpact premises, where they study using state-of-the-art courseware under the guidance of trainers from reputed institutes. Aside from offering a chance to pursue MBA, CPA and IT degrees, the Genpact University also helps retain employees through a tuition fee reimbursement scheme tied to their tenure with the company.

Basic training, on the other hand, includes knowledge! of the industry, software training in the context of cultural orientation, soft skills development, and voice and accent training. A few hundred trainers ensure a constant supply of well-trained new hires going live at a regular basis. Leadership training awaits those who perform well enough to merit additional responsibilities; the competencies needed for these positions are well known among Genpact employees, and one of the requirements for each of the four stages of leadership positions is tenure with the company.

Building on Cultural Foundations

Genpact also takes care of build a corporate culture, Mr. Mehta stressed. New hires are thoroughly educated in Genpact's values, history, and business philosophy aside from the usual industry overview. Communication channels are kept open through regular reviews and visits by the leadership, to keep them in touch with any developments or concerns that may have arisen. Both the rank-and-file and the leadership also share their best practices with each other, keeping Genpact running efficiently. As always, rewards and recognition go to achievers to further encourage top-notch performance.

Communication channels in Genpact come in several forms: anonymous web chat, meetings with leadership teams, employee lunches, an online newsletter, discussions on the shop floor and video conferences with leaders across sites. This variety provides an appropriate venue for each concern employees might have, and have the end result of showing that employees have a voice in the company.

To aid the process of integration, Genpact also makes sure to involve families: new employees' families are invited to Genpact's offices and are showed the value proposition of working with Genpact, the working environment and facilities, the company's empl! oyee performance and career development programs, and what rewards await achievers. Family involvement is yet another way of making an employee's home a part of his professional life, and shows the value Genpact places on the things that matter most to their workers.

In addition, achieving work-life balance is important to Genpact. To this end, fun and games are considered serious business, and the company holds sports events, musical performances, festival celebrations and short day trips are all a part of their way of showing their appreciation for their employees. This concern is also reflected in the health program: employees are encouraged to not smoke, take several servings of fruit and vegetables every da! y, exercise regularly, and maintain a healthy body mass index. This last health initiative was begun in February 2005.

The Fruits of Low Attrition

As a result of all the effort Genpact has put into caring for its employees, the company has gained a measure of respect within the industry and in India as a whole. Currently, it is the third among the top ten best companies to work for in India. It has been recognized as one of the best learning organizations in the world by the American Society for Training & Development.

Given all these accomplishments, it is only a matter of time before Genpact's practices are duplicated in the BPO industry, where the need for retained employees is greatest.