Building Capabilities For Rural Employability

Slide 1: Building Capabilities For Rural Employability R. Bhatnagar Head Operations SerWizSol

Slide 2: Indian BPO Scenario • Growing fast • Several challenges have emerged • Don’t intend to get into details of it during this session – they are well known !

Slide 3: Some Pioneers In Rural BPO Name of BPO Details Runs 2,000 telecentres + ten facilities across rural India, offers transaction processing Comat services for a US client, hires graduates in villages around Mysore. Datamation Employs about 50 employees in Kuppam (Andhra Pradesh) and in some villages in group Uttar Pradesh. Services offered include data entry and data processing. Has 10 centers and 60 employees around Chennai. Set up with assistance from IIT DesiCrew Chennai. It provides services like - Translations, plotting data on maps, lead generation Solutions for IT companies etc. GramIT (Rural Supported by Satyam Foundation - GramIT employs 300 people in three units. GramIT BPO program of recently won a project from a UK-based company. Satyam) Supported by Lason, Chida Soft is located in Kizhanur village of Tiruvallur District in Lason India Tamil Nadu. Employs graduates from the village involved in coding, data entry and (Chida Soft) auditing legal publishing. Based in Puttaparthy has 50+ employees. Handles image-based data capturing activity, Sai Seva electronic records creation for investment products, loans etc. HDFC Bank is a key client. Other players Source: ValueNotes Research • PURA (Providing Urban amenities in Rural Areas) • Bharat Nirman • Azim Premji Foundation • The TelNet Group of IIT, Chennai •

Slide 4: Capability Assessment Carried Out Area Rural Average (%) Urban Average (%) Logical Reasoning 70.5 73.0 Analytical Ability 68.0 70.0 Language and 65.0 80.0 Communication Subject Rural Average (%) Urban Average (%) English 59.8 70.1 Maths Correlate to 53.5 55.2 analytical Physics and 36.7 39.2 Chemistry reasoning 36.9 41.4 aptitude Source - GramIT

Slide 5: SerWizSol Call Centre Initiative • Possibly the first voice based work being done from rural India • Two functional centres – Rural AP, Ethakota (pop 4515, census 2001), 90 seater operation functional since November 2007. Handling telecom related work. Approx 5,000 calls per day. Ramping up to 150 seats by March ‘08 – Rural Gujarat, Mithapur, 100 seater operation functional since mid January 2008. Handling telecom related work. Approx 3,500 calls per day • Redefined what a call centre agent is – not necessarily a graduate or a Class 12 pass – but one with intent to learn and good communication ability

Slide 6: SerWizSol Call Centre Initiative • Fade in approach adopted to ensure no dip in quality • Additional time spent in imparting training – 2.5 to 3 months in comparison to a 28 day training module • Appreciative comments received from end customers Look ahead • Start at least 4 more locations in the coming months to handle voice and non voice related work • Assess capability to handle English Calls after regional language calls “settle down”

Slide 7: Challenges Faced • Irregular power and poor / unreliable telecom facilities • Virtual absence of computer literate staff • Disinclination of supervisors to move to rural areas • Transportation difficulties from neighbouring villages • Lack of skills required by industry – soft skills / customer orientation etc • Intermediate / degree certificates have no value in jobs arena • Poor command over English • Risk over time – there could be attraction of higher salaries in metros for trained personnel

Slide 8: Demand Side Drivers • Adequate availability of employable pool • Lower salaries – ranging from Rs. 1,500/- to Rs. 4,000/- • Enables serving growing domestic market • Capitalize on local language skills • Serving local and regional government IT development • Could possibly alleviate need to migrate to metros • Addresses aspects of Corporate Social Responsibility In the long run • Facilitate development of rural infrastructure, • Improve standard of living, • Increase employment opportunities in rural India • May even start a reverse migration from urban areas

Slide 9: Supply Side Drivers • White collar jobs change the perceived status of the family • Quality of life improves since income is not agriculture based • Some employed youth opt for higher studies or invest in education of their siblings • Women / Mothers – of youth want a better life for their children – Keen to use opportunities which provide a sustainable way out of the vicious cycle of poverty • Provides an option to youth to avoid getting into social problems • Helps teenage girls from falling victims to exploitation • Vulnerable segments of population like young widows and disabled get a new lease of life • Job mobility of employed youth may increase over time with the knowledge of English Hence, extremely motivated and willing to learn – desire to be successful “like the man on TV”

Slide 10: Rural BPO – Some Illustrations

Slide 11: Domestic Worker

Slide 13: Agricultural Worker

Slide 15: Temple Priest

Slide 17: Rural BPO Facility

Slide 18: “It is difficult to say what is impossible – for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow” - Robert H. Goddard