Cos To Tap Talent Available In Small Towns, Villages To Save On Costs And Control Attrition Too
Our Bureau HYDERABAD
RURAL BPOs’ initiatives are moving beyond being just corporate social responsibility activities to profit ventures. Start-ups are mushrooming and existing companies too are looking at tapping the large talent pool available in small towns and villages to save on costs and control attrition. Besides, these BPOs are also maturing as business ventures that can handle complex processes related to insurance and banking, according to IT experts. “Indian companies are looking at destinations like Malaysia, China and Vietnam outside India for outsourcing due to cost advantages and talent availability. Though to some extent this will help them explore new markets, the best investment destination that is yet to be explored is Bharat,” Kiran Karnik, former Nasscom president and member of global advisory board, IDG, said while addressing a seminar here. According to him, one should not think small and restrict outsourcing of just low-end processes to rural BPOs. “Our BPOs in the cities were set up as world-class facilities since inception. Similarly rural centres also should be a replica of such centres in terms of quality and work engagement. However, size of such centres can be smaller as it will take some time for them to ramp up like any other operation,” he said. He also pointed out that in order to make rural BPOs viable, companies should consider them as a business proposition rather than CSR. “This will persuade even bigger companies to set explore opportunities in the domestic market. However, these centres need to partner with NGOs and state governments to get more business as they will be able to understand the market well. These tie-ups will also come in handy to build capability and talent pool development,” he said. India has an estimated 50 rural BPOs, employing over 4,000 people. According to AS Murthy, director & senior vice-president of Satyam Computers, efficiency of rural BPOs are 23-25% higher than city-based outsourcing units. Satyam, which employs over 50,000 people has about 3,000 in the support business. It is now looking at shifting around 500 of them to rural BPO centres supported by Byrraju Foundation Tata Group has followed a similar model. The group has three centres in UP, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. In AP, they have joined hands with Byrraju Foundation to run the centre. “These centres cater to our group clients like TataSky, TalaTea, Tata Motors and VSNL. Currently, we employ about 500 people,” said MN Rao, managing director, Tata Business Support. Besides expanding operations, the company is also looking at inventing a standard quality procedure across these different centres. “Though started with low-end process, we are looking at outsourcing complex business engagements to these centres. We are planning centres in Kerala, Jamshedpur and Orissa and in a year we will have 2,000 people,” said Rao. Desicrew, another start-up incubated by IITChennai has already operates in seven verticals including banking, insurance, GIS plotting and translation. “We employ 80 people and we believe that profit making venture will help ensure inclusive growth. Our attrition rate is about 5% while some of the big BPOs servicing global clients are facing 35% to 40% attrition,” said Ashwanth G, cofounder of Desicrew. RAISING FAST • These BPOs are also maturing as business ventures that can handle complex processes related to insurance and banking, according to IT experts • These centres need to partner with NGOs and state governments to get more business as they will be able to understand the market well
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