Human Issues In BPO & Call Centre - SANSU

HUMAN ISSUES IN BPO AND CALL CENTER
HISTORY OF BPO
The concept of outsourcing started with Ross Perot when he founded Electronic Data Systems in
1962. EDS would tell a prospective client, "You are familiar with designing, manufacturing and
selling furniture, but we're familiar with managing information technology. We can sell you the
information technology you need, and you pay us monthly for the service with a minimum
commitment of two to ten years.
BPO is the act of transferring some of an organization's repeated non-core and core business
processes to an outside provider to achieve cost reductions while improving service quality.
Because the processes are repeated and a long-term contract is used, outsourcing goes far beyond
the use of consultants. If done well, BPO results in increasing shareholder value. The main
difference between BPO and more traditional IT outsourcing is that BPO offers companies a way
of achieving transformational outcomes much more quickly. In a typical BPO contract, a service
provider takes over a specific corporate function. Effective BPO encompasses much more than
just changing who is responsible for performing the process. In BPO, the outside provider not
only takes on the responsibility to manage the function or business process, but also re-engineers
the way the process has been traditionally done.
The next generation of Business Process Outsourcing has emerged as a priority for businesses looking to
better options in managing their application portfolios. The first wave offered low-cost, off-shore
development labor, but today firms are demanding new, less risky options for applications that are
strategic, complex, or mission-critical, while still taking cost into consideration. Outsourcing has moved
from a niche technology management tool to a mainstream strategic weapon. Business Process
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Outsourcing leverages process driven efficiencies in terms of organizational excellence, responsiveness
& branding, financial efficiency and customer relationship. BPO is emerging as a powerful and flexible
approach that business leaders can use to achieve a wide range of tactical and strategic aims. The most
common business process that gets outsourced is call centers. Call centers and Help Desks of many
multinational and fortune 500 companies are being outsourced to low waged, English speaking
countries such as Philippines and India. Countries like India with vast IT human resources are also
attracting outsourcing from American IT/Technology companies to outsource their IT Help Desks. Many
of these help desks are state of the art with latest Help Desk software and help desk hardware with
technical savvy IT graduates behind them answering your questions.
It can be defined as the transfer of an organization's entire non-core but critical business
process/function to an external vendor who uses an IT-based service delivery. By doing so, BPO helps an
organization concentrate on its core competencies, improve efficiency, reduce cost and improve
shareholders' value. Though IT outsourcing has been happening for so many years, an increased
momentum has been witnessed since the late 1990s due to the rise of Internet and Communication
technologies. Several global giants from various industries have begun to realize the importance of BPO
and have started outsourcing their non-core business functions. This has given rise to many specialized
BPO vendors across the globe, with India being a major hub owing to its large computer-literate English-
speaking population, low billing rates, strategically favourable time zone and high quality. The BPO
market in India is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years.
Although the term "business process outsourcing" (BPO) has gained visibility in the IT services industry
only in the past four to five years, the service offering itself has existed for decades. For example, several
of the largest service providers have significant legacy revenue streams that are derived from medical
claims processing contracts. In many instances, these contracts include the entire back-office function.
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The outsourcing of payroll administration, an accepted practice for many years, is another illustration of
the true age of the BPO market.
This market is now experiencing noticeable momentum in terms of wider user acceptance and the
emergence of new service offering categories, as well as a proliferation of providers from which to
choose. Service providers offer BPO for literally hundreds of business processes. Some of these service
offerings are very stable; some are just emerging and are, therefore, largely untested.
BPO TERMINOLOGY
BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING
Business process outsourcing means examining the processes that compose the business and its
functional units, and then working with focused service providers to both re-engineer and outsource
these at the same time. BPO involves the full transfer of responsibility for functions such as transaction
processing, policy servicing, claims management, HR, finance, and compliance to the outsourcing
company. The outsourcing provider then administers these functions on their own systems to agreed
service standards and at a guaranteed cost. Some of the BPO contracts call for performance-based
payouts, tying vendor payments to business performance or overall cost savings.
BUSINESS APPLICATION OUTSOURCING
Company A (vendor) rents applications to Company B (user). Increasingly corporations are renting
applications like enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, messaging and
collaboration, and e-business. The outsourcer provides the mission-critical enterprise application
hosting and management. The goal is to relieve the corporation from day-to-day management and
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lower the total cost of ownership (TCO). The outsourcer hosts the software solution ensuring a preset
level of performance and reliability. This is also termed application service provider (ASP) service.
BUSINESS PROCESS OFF SHORING
Business process off shoring is the transfer of business tasks (medical transcription) or business
processes (call centers) to a low-cost country like India or the Philippines. The interaction is conducted
over telecom networks and the Internet. Off shoring typically include tasks like transaction or accounts
processing, credit card processing, call centers, translation, and transcription. Most of this work can be
sent without the need for in-person interaction. The off shoring of support functions is still relatively
new. The off shoring wave began with IT/software services in the 1980s and accelerated in the 1990s
with the Y2K hysteria. With the global economic slowdown, off shoring has vaulted to the forefront as
an effective cost-cutting technique that takes advantage of labour price differentials and favourable
skill/performance ratios.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF SERVICES OFFERED BY BPO:-
I. CUSTOMER SUPPORT SERVICES
Customer service offerings create a virtual customer service center to manage customer concerns
and queries through multiple channels including voice, e-mail and chat on a 24/7 and 365 days
basis.
Service Example: Customers calling to check on their order status, customers calling to check for
information on products and services, customers calling to verify their account status, customers
calling to check their reservation status etc.
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II. TECHNICAL SUPPORT SERVICES
Technical support offerings include round-the-clock technical support and problem resolution for
OEM customers and computer hardware, software, peripherals and Internet infrastructure
manufacturing companies. These include installation and product support, up & running support,
troubleshooting and Usage support.
Service Example: Customers calling to resolve a problem with their home PC, customers calling
to understand how to dial up to their ISP, customers calling with a problem with their software or
hardware.
III. TELEMARKETING SERVICES
Telesales and telemarketing outsourcing services target interaction with potential customers for
'prospecting' like either for generating interest in products and services, or to up-sell / promote
and cross sell to an existing customer base or to complete the sales process online.
Service Example: Outbound calling to sell wireless services for a telecom provider, outbound
calling to retail households to sell leisure holidays, outbound calling to existing customers to sell
a new rate card for a mobile service provider or outbound calling to sell credit or debit cards etc.
IV. EMPLOYEE IT HELP-DESK SERVICES
Employee IT help-desk services provide technical problem resolution and support for corporate
employees.
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Service Example: of this service include level 1 and 2 multi-channel support across a wide range
of shrink wrapped and LOB applications, system problem resolutions related to desktop,
notebooks, OS, connectivity etc., office productivity tools support including browsers and mail,
new service requests, IT operational issues, product usage queries, routing specific requests to
designated contacts and remote diagnostics etc.
V. INSURANCE PROCESSING
Insurance processing services provide specialized solutions to the insurance sector and support
critical business processes applicable to the industry right from new business acquisition to
policy maintenance to claims processing.
VI. NEW BUSINESS / PROMOTION:
Inbound/outbound sales, Initial Setup, Case Management, Underwriting, Risk assessment, Policy
issuance etc.
VII. POLICY MAINTENANCE / MANAGEMENT:
Record Changes like Name, Beneficiary, Nominee, Address; Collateral verification, Surrender
Audits Accounts Receivable, Accounting, Claim Overpayment, Customer care service via
voice/email etc.
VIII. INTERNET / ONLINE / WEB RESEARCH
Internet Search, Product Research, Market Research, Survey, Analysis. Web and Mailing list
research etc
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IX. DATA ENTRY SERVICES / DATA PROCESSING SERVICES
 Data entry from Paper/Books with highest accuracy and fast turn around time (TAT)
 Data entry from Image files in any format
 Business Transaction Data entry like sales / purchase / payroll.
 Data entry of E-Books / Electronic Books
 Data Entry: Yellow Pages / White Pages Keying
 Data Entry and compilation from Web site
 Data Capture / Collection
 Business Card Data Entry into any Format
 Data Entry from hardcopy/Printed Material into text or required format
 Data Entry into Software Program and application
 Receipt and Bill Data Entry
 Catalog Data Entry.
 Data Entry for Mailing List/Mailing Label.
 Manu scripting typing in to word
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 Taped Transcription in to word.
 Copy, Paste, Editing, Sorting, Indexing Data into required format etc.
 Data Conversion Services Service Example:
 Conversion of data across various databases on different platforms
 Data Conversion via Input / Output for various media.
 Data Conversion for databases, word processors, spreadsheets, and many other standard
and custom-made software packages as per requirement.
 Conversion from Page maker to PDF format.
 Conversion from Ms-Word to HTML format
 Conversion from Text to Word Perfect.
 Conversion from Text to Word to HTML and Acrobat
 Convert Raw Data into required MS Office formats.
 Text to PDF and PDF to Word / Text / Doc
 Data Compilation in PDF from Several Sources.
 E-Book Conversion etc.
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X. SCANNING, OCR WITH EDITING & INDEXING:
 High speed Image-Scanning and Data capture services
 High speed large volume scanning
 OCR Data From Scanned page / image
 Scan & OCR paper Book in to CD.
 ADOBE PDF Conversion Services.
 Conversion from paper or e-file to various formats
XI. BOOK KEEPING AND ACCOUNTING:
 General Ledger
 Accounts Receivables and Accounts Payable
 Financial Statements
 Bank Reconciliation
 Assets / Equipment Ledgers etc.
XII. FORM PROCESSING SERVICES
 Insurance claim form
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 Medical Form / Medical billing
 Online Form Processing
 Payroll Processing etc.
For many employed in the call centre sector, "the daily experience is of repetitive, intensive and
stressful work, based upon Taylorist principles, which frequently results in employee "burnout".
Brown, more vividly, characterizes the work as "repetitive brain strain". These descriptions are
hardly surprising, in a way, given that call centres are established by organizations to "create an
environment in which work can be standardized to create relatively uniform and repetitious
activities so as to achieve economies of scale and consistent quality of customer service". This
means, in other words, that workplaces are organized in ways that weaken employee autonomy
and enhance the potential for management control, and "a loss of control is generally understood
to be an important indicator of work-related stress".
There is almost universal consensus that call centre work is stressful. Even in studies that report
the observation that some staff actually enjoys their work, mention of stress is still the norm, and
a significant portion of the call centre literature is devoted to detailing the sources of stress in call
centre work.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
PRIMARY DATA:
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RESEARCH DESIGN
A research design encompasses the methodology and procedures employed to conduct
scientific research. The design of a study defines the study type (descriptive, correlation, semi-
experimental, experimental, review, meta-analytic) and sub-type (e.g., descriptive-
longitudinal case study), research question, hypotheses, independent and dependent
variables, experimental design, and, if applicable, data collection methods and a statistical
analysis plan.
Data Collection Procedure: - Survey
Research Instrument: - Structured Questionnaire.
Sample Size: - 100
Sample Area: -Chennai region.
Sample procedure: -Stratified Random sampling.
TOOLS OF ANALYSIS
The data collected were classified, analyzed, tabulated and interpreted. Percentage
analysis and other statistical tools like Weighted Average, Rank Correlation and Chi-square
were applied for processing the data.
PERCENTAGE ANALYSIS
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Percentage analysis is used to find out the level of opinion gathered from the total
Respondents. It is calculated by dividing the number of opinions of the respondents by total
number of respondents.
CALCULATION OF PERCENTAGE
SOURCES OF DATA:
 Kalam Software Technonology = 50 respondents
 Absolute BPO = 10 respondents
 Slash support = 27 respondents
 Zealous call center = 13 respondents
OBJECTIVES
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 To have detailed study on Human issues in Bpo Industry. .Doing it under constant
pressure to keep call volumes up, with no time between calls to "recover from an
awkward call or from 'customer rejection'" is even more difficult.
 “very little authority or autonomy to rectify problems" that arise is perhaps the most
difficult of all. Many studies report agents as wanting to 'just get off the phones'.
 To gain knowledge on the work of Call Centre and BPO.
 To find out the fact on why Human Relation Manager not playing vital role in BPO and
Call Centre.
 To know on the sentence “Universal consensus that Call Centre work is stressful”.
 To find out the reason for more rates of absenteeism.
 To get to know why official work disturbs the personal life.
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PROBLEM OF STUDY
Call centres are rooted in contradictory tensions and structural paradoxes, and confront a number
of trades-offs on that basis. These set a context for attitudes towards the organization and can
impose conflicting role requirements on agents. A core example is that of the pressure for
quantity versus the aspiration for quality, the guiding logic of which is the conundrum of trying
to get closer to the customer while routinising, centralizing, reducing costs and prescribing
standards. The dichotomy is not completely straightforward, it is important to note. Part of
providing quality service from a management perspective is making sure customers do not wait
too long for their calls to be answered, even though the push to keep queue waiting times short is
typically categorized as part of the pressure towards quantity. As Bain points out, "efforts to
attain what is perceived to be the desired balance between the quantity and the quality of calls
presents a perennial challenge".
LIMITATIONS
• The respondents were very busy. Hence, no sufficient co-operation from respondents.
• Most of the respondents were reluctant to answer the questions.
• It is therefore subjected to respondent’s bias as well as sampling bias.
• The result of the study depends upon the information furnished by the respondents.
• The result of intense, stressful work may be an effect on workers' health.
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• There are often high rates of absenteeism and sick leave reported in the literature,
although there is relatively little exploration of these issues, particularly when
compared to turnover. Most often, authors provide a brief list of known health issues.
CHAPTER 2
CONCEPT OF THE
STUDY
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INDUSTRY PROFILE
There has been some dispute amongst researchers as to whether it is appropriate to refer to such
a thing as the "call center industry". As Bain and Taylor point out, "despite similarities in the
integration of computer and telephone technologies, centers differ in relation to a number of
important variables-size, industrial sector and market, complexity and length of call cycle time,
nature of operations (inbound, outbound or combined), the nature and effectiveness of
representative institutions including trade unions, and management styles and priorities". To this
list of variables, Callaghan and Thompson would add the "degree of product complexity and
variability and the depth of knowledge required to deal with the service interaction". Bain and
Taylor argue that it is more appropriate to use the term "sector", as call Centers are found across
a wide range of industries and may be similar primarily in terms of their core technologies. They
do note, however, that there is a professional literature and a collective identity that is maintained
and developed through conferences and forums. Belt, Richardson and Webster (2000) agree that
call centers are not an 'industry' as the term is generally defined, but rather represent certain ways
of delivering various services using the telephone and computer technologies across traditional
industry boundaries. However, these authors provide three strong reasons defending the practice
of referring to call centers as an industry:
First, the call center community often defines itself as an industry, with numerous national and
international call center conferences and workshops taking place each year, industry journals and
call center forums organized at local levels. Second, the labor force requirements of call centers
are often the same across sectors. This means that many, though not all, call centers share a
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common labour pool. Third, the organizational templates and technologies used tend to be very
similar, regardless of the sector.
To this one might add the remarkable similarities that international researchers have found
between technologies used, work practices and key issues including monitoring, control,
training, and labour demographics for workers in countries as diverse as Germany, Japan,
Australia, Greece, Canada, the US, the UK and the Netherlands.
HUMAN ISSUES IN CALL-CENTER INDUSTRY
STRESS
For many employed in the call center sector, "the daily experience is of repetitive,
intensive and stressful work, based upon Taylorist principles, which frequently results in
employee "burnout". Brown, more vividly, characterizes the work as "repetitive brain strain".
These descriptions are hardly surprising, in a way, given that call centers are established by
organizations to "create an environment in which work can be standardized to create relatively
uniform and repetitious activities so as to achieve economies of scale and consistent quality of
customer service". This means, in other words, that workplaces are organized in ways that
weaken employee autonomy and enhance the potential for management control, and "a loss of
control is generally understood to be an important indicator of work-related stress".
There is almost universal consensus that call center work is stressful. Even in studies that
report the observation that some staff actually enjoys their work, mention of stress is still the
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norm, and a significant portion of the call center literature is devoted to detailing the sources of
stress in call center work.
FOUR KEY STRESSORS
'Can we get off the phone for a while?'
The primary source of stress reported is inherent to the nature of the job: spending all day
on the phone dealing with people one after another, day after day, is difficult. Doing it under
constant pressure to keep call volumes up, with no time between calls to "recover from an
awkward call or from 'customer rejection'" is even more difficult. And doing it with "very little
authority or autonomy to rectify problems" that arise is perhaps the most difficult of all. Many
studies report agents as wanting to 'just get off the phones'. For example, Belt and colleagues
note "agents in all three sectors [financial services, IT, and third-party services] spoke of the
phenomenon of 'burnout', caused by the pressure of working exclusively 'on the phones'". In the
same study, the authors mention that the issue of 'burnout' was also recognized by some
managers: "It was pointed out that managers face an inherent conflict between the need to
reduce staff boredom and labor turnover, and the pressure to concentrate staff energies on
telephone based work".
"The question of how call center employees deal with stress is an important one,
particularly in view of evidence that a build-up of stress leads to illness, absenteeism and
turnover," writes Houlihan. Many authors agree, and there are a variety of individual coping
mechanisms described in the literature. Tricks to circumvent control mechanisms, such as those
discussed above are sometimes mentioned as attempts at stress reduction, although they are
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unreliable in this role as they may also increase stress. Others mention social interaction
squeezed into brief moments--Callaghan and Thompson describe agents using humorous (or
rude) gestures towards the phone, or making faces at colleagues to defuse stress over angry or
abusive callers, and making jokes to combat the tedium of the day. Lankshear and Mason
describe a similarly social approach to reducing tension in one of the sites they observed, where
staff often laughed and joked with one another in intervals between calls, with management's
approval. More formally, some call centers include stress management as a component in
training programs, and many have, or claim to have, team de-briefings which permit staff to vent
frustrations while discussing difficult calls or dissatisfactions with elements of work.
Knights and McCabe takes a different approach to stress in the workplace. They note
that although much organizational analysis and most of the call center literature tends to
conceptualize stress as an individual problem, it is actually located within "a framework that
emphasizes the interrelationships between structural relations of power and the subjective
interpretations and actions of employees". This more nuance positioning may provide more
insight into call center conditions, as it allows a researcher to consider the response of employees
"forced to interpret the often contradictory demands management place upon them" including
"contradictions…over service quality versus the quantity of work output". "Clearly," these
authors write, "staffs face some fundamental contradictions over unity versus conflict,
uncertainty versus certainty, quality versus quantity and these are at the heart of the reproduction
of stress, resistance and control". This focus on the "contradictory" nature of demands strikes at
the heart of the second inherent sources of stress in (primarily inbound) call center works: the
quality/quantity conflict.
QUALITY/QUANTITY CONFLICT
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Typically, organizational rhetoric in inbound call centers is concerned with 'customer
care', or 'keeping customers happy' (providing quality service), yet these goals are juxtaposed
with an ongoing pressure to keep call times down and call volumes up. Houlihan describes the
difficulty concisely:
Call centers are rooted in contradictory tensions and structural paradoxes, and confront a
number of trades-offs on that basis. These set a context for attitudes towards the organization and
can impose conflicting role requirements on agents. A core example is that of the pressure for
quantity versus the aspiration for quality, the guiding logic of which is the conundrum of trying
to get closer to the customer while routinising, centralizing, reducing costs and prescribing
standards.
The dichotomy is not completely straightforward, it is important to note. Part of
providing quality service from a management perspective is making sure customers do not wait
too long for their calls to be answered, even though the push to keep queue waiting times short is
typically categorized as part of the pressure towards quantity. As Bain points out, "efforts to
attain what is perceived to be the desired balance between the quantity and the quality of calls
presents a perennial challenge".
The practice of ongoing work practice modification and target revision as management
swings from one side to another of the quality/quantity debate is a major source of stress for call
center agents. As Houlihan notes: "The practice of putting a 'drive' on particular targets for
improvement (for example, the collection of renewal dates, the up-selling or cross-selling of
products, the quality of data input, or the intensity of sales push) and continual reprioritisation
means that the 'goalposts' are constantly shifting". Virtually all of the call center authors who
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write about work conditions mention the difficulty of dealing with these competing goals.
Korczynski and colleagues suggest that this dilemma is particularly difficult for front-line
workers because they may be likely "to identify with embodied individual customers, for
interactions with specific customers may be an important arena for meaning and satisfaction
within the work". They contrast this customer-as-individual orientation to the managerial goal of
balancing customer orientation with efficiency, which they suggest leads management to prefer
workers to identify with a generic category, 'the customer', since "such a disembodied image of
the customer will encourage workers to deal with individual customers efficiently because they
will be conscious of the concerns of other customers waiting in a queue".
INTENSITY
The third central stressor in call center work is its intensity. As Bain (2001) argues, "far
from being either in terminal decline or on the wane, Taylorism-in conjunction with a range of
other control mechanisms-is not only alive, well and deeply embedded in the call center labour
process, but its malevolent influence appears to be spreading to previously uncharted territory".
There is widespread consensus that "call centers are a new, and particularly effective,
manifestation of the increasingly capital intensive 'industrialization' of service sector work, and
work performed in them is highly intensive and routine".
Buchanan and Koch-Schulte quote one call center worker who describes the constant
pressure graphically: Ellen: It's almost like the army. It's much regimented. You punch in with a
time clock.
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You come in and you sit down, and the numbers are all computerized. As soon as you
finish a call, the minute you hang up another call comes up just this constant, all day,
repetitious… constant sort of like beating on a drum, but day after day.
The pace of work is determined by the combination of technologies that deliver calls to
the headset and account details to the screen, and workers often have no control over this
process.
Descriptions such as "exhausting," "robotic," "controlled," and agents discussing the
nature of their work often use "machine-like". Houlihan expands on the idea of controlled,
machine-like agents by suggesting that this is in fact exactly the way that the organization
conceives of them:
Call centers are information handling organizations. As currently characterized, the job of
the agent is to be the voice of the organization, interfacing with the client or customer. The
organization rehearses the things it wants said and feeds them through the agent. The agent is
largely constructed as a mouthpiece rather than as a brain.
Buchanan and Koch-Schulte spoke with a call-center worker who articulated her feelings
about the organization's expectations of its agents in very similar terms: Rosa: You are standing
waiting to be used by the technology, and it's a physical embodiment of that. You are standing,
waiting until that call comes in to use you to make money. And you are simply another part of
that machine. When this feeling of being a cog in a machine which never stops as it grinds on,
repeating the same actions over and over again, is combined with "the cumulative emotional
demands presented by the interpersonal nature of the work", stress is inevitable.
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TARGETS
There is a fourth feature of some call center work that may engender stress: performance
targets. There are various types of targets, which may vary between inbound and outbound
centers. Inbound centers typically have targets for call duration, 'wrap time', and daily call
volume. Outbound centers often also have sales or 'completion' targets, which are closely
monitored and upon which pay may be partially based. In addition, in some sectors, inbound call
centers are attempting to introduce the practice of cross selling, where agents attempt to sell
additional products to the customers who call in for another purpose. In these centers, sales
targets similar to those in outbound centers are often in place.
Taylor and Bain argue that particularly in the financial services industry in the UK,
targets are a significant source of stress for workers as more and more importance is placed
upon meeting them in an increasingly competitive business environment. Sales targets, in
particular, are difficult to accept, or meet, for staff who often consider themselves as service
personnel, particularly when they are set centrally and implemented locally: "Cross-selling is
seen by employees, not as an opportunity to engage in creative work, but as an additional and
acute source of pressure". This is especially the case when sales targets are parachuted in on top
of service targets set originally when there was no pressure to produce sales.
As a CSR in Taylor and Bain's study emphasizes: "When somebody phones in for a
balance you have to try to get a sale or get them interested as well as turning the call round in
155 seconds".
Even in centers that claim not to prioritize targets, researchers have found that staff often
feels significant pressure. Targets simply intensify the stress produced by the quantity/quality
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debate, or, as one agent is quoted as saying, "They say that they're not really interested in
numbers. They say that they are more into quality. Well, that's a lie. They're usually more into
numbers than anything". It is important not to over generalize however. While most call centers
do have some targets, they are a source of stress that is directly under management control. Some
call centers are managed in such a way that targets are set to realistically reflect local conditions,
are interpreted in light of other, more subjective information, and are not used punitively or to
intensify work. In some they are even used effectively to motivate and encourage staff. For
example, Lankshear and Mason describe a series of conversations with managers in their call
center site where management consistently conceptualized their performance reports (for
example, one commented that it's 'human nature' for productivity to drop before and after a
holiday), and used their status as an excuse to praise good performance and coach those who
consistently had difficulty meeting targets: "Our best bet is to develop the people we have got"
one manager is quoted as saying.
OTHER HEALTH ISSUES
The result of intense, stressful work may be an effect on workers' health. There are often
high rates of absenteeism and sick leave reported in the literature, although there is relatively
little exploration of these issues, particularly when compared to turnover. Most often, authors
provide a brief list of known health issues. For example, Richardson, Belt and Marshall write
that "Health concerns have been expressed, including tension, sleeplessness, headaches, eye-
strain, repetitive strain injury (RSI), voice loss, hearing problems and burn-out", but they do not
develop the point. More detailed descriptions of the causes and effects of these ailments can be
found in industry and trades union reports. For example, the Trades Union Council (TUC) in its
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brochure targeted at call center workers, cites the main illnesses to which call center staff are
prone: "back strain and RSI, stress, eyestrain, and voice and hearing loss".
Also in the UK, regulators have been proactive in their examination of the industry, with
the Health and Safety Executive issuing a bulletin on call center regulations, health risks and best
practices in December 2001. They looked specifically at health issues including stress, noise
levels, musculoskeletal disorders (such as back problems) and voice loss, and also at display
screen issues, working environments, requirements for work stations, daily work routines,
training, organizational working practices and shifts.
SLEEPING DISORDERS
No prizes for guessing the most severe ailment afflicting people working in Indian call
centers. Since this is a unique Indian problem, again, no solution appears in sight. Obviously this
affects first timers more severely, as they take time to acclimatize their biological clocks, but
even experienced people or managers are not able to completely escape from it. Some call
centers are looking at devising innovative mechanisms like flexible shifts with sleeping
arrangements in the office premises as possible solutions.
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM RELATED DISORDERS
Working long and odd hours without any sleep, and eating food supplied by external
caterers every day, has led to 41.9% of the respondents suffering from digestive problems.
Especially for the large number of girls working in the industry, the problem is even more
severe. Many call centers are now taking additional care to ensure their caterers supply hygienic
food; besides stipulating strict conditions to maintain the quality of the food they serve.
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DEPRESSION
In last year's survey, this was not among the top disorders, but this year it has climbed up
the chart, affecting nearly one-fourth of the respondents. Not surprising, since, as the industry
matures, the initial glitz and glamour wears away and the real problems come to the fore. Not
only are there several health related issues, but, on top of that, the gradual realization that there is
limited scope in developing a career owing to fewer growth opportunities is increasing the
frustration levels. Coupled with growing mental fatigue and increasingly punishing physical
environments, depression is the obvious end result. Some call centers have now devised different
stress management programs mainly to counter depression.
SEVERE STOMACH RELATED PROBLEMS
Continuing digestive problems lead to severe stomach disorders like gastroenteritis, as
endorsed by more than 24% of the respondents. Even doctors in major cities agree-in recent
times many of the patients with various stomach ailments are from call centers.
EYESIGHT PROBLEMS
Globally call center industry employees are considered a high-risk group for eye-related
problems. While the quality of monitors might impact these disorders, sitting continually without
adequate breaks seems to be the truer reason. The number of people affected seems to be on the
rise-last year only 19% complained; this year it has gone up to 23%. At some point of time, this
problem might also afflict the IT services industry, but for the call center industry, no remedy
seems to be in sight.
EAR PROBLEMS
27

More than 16% of the respondents inform that they have hearing problems. Again, no
surprises here, since a call center job involves taking calls throughout the shift, sitting with
headphones. While quality of headphones does make a difference, it would not be correct to
completely wish the problem away by thinking that changing headphones will solve it. Some
other Human Issues, in Call-Centers, which need Immediate Attention
PERSONAL HABITS
The young executives are getting more than five figure salaries per month in an early age.
They tend to develop certain bad habits such as alcohol, smoking etc. It is not easy to identify
such individuals. It is also very sensitive to talk to them. The professional counsellors can
conduct group-counselling, workshops, educative film shows in order to create awareness on
effects of bad habits. Such actions will enable individuals to realize the importance of good
habits and they could seek one to one Counselling sessions to solve their problems.
DISCIPLINE AND BEHAVIORAL ISSUES
Call centers provide excellent working environment, free food and transportation. There
is always a situation where individual or group of youngsters tend to commit mistakes and abuse
the freedom. They start behaving like in college campus where they have more freedom.
However, the call center executives have more responsibility and accountability, they need to
follow discipline and do well in the job. The most common behaviour is misuse of food, behave
erratically in vans, and smoke in public places, misuse of telephones and other resources of the
company.
The supervisors always concentrate on performance and achieving targets. They do not
have time or interest to go deep into these matters and find out the reasons for such behaviour.
28

The professional counsellor can play a major role in educating the youngsters on discipline;
provide advice to erring executives. The counsellors with their wisdom and experience can tackle
such issues tactfully and bring change within the individuals. As said earlier, to majority of them
this is the first employment and they are fresh out of the colleges. Few tend to behave differently
and they have the "do not care" attitude. Such executives will not take their job seriously, they
indulge in teasing, and joking, talking over mobile phones, have friction within the team. These
aspects may go noticed or unnoticed by the supervisors.
The fact remains that such unacceptable behaviours will cause disturbance to others and overall
it affects the productivity. Sleeping while on duty, reading novels and playing games on the
computer during working hours brings down productivity and quality suffers. The HR
representatives and professional counsellors jointly have a role to bring behavioural change
starting from the training days. Continuous education and Counselling will help to mitigate such
problems and it is possible to prevent serious problems.
INTER-PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP AND FRIENDSHIP
Executives develop friendship quickly and sometime the friendship breaks and there will
be misunderstanding among the team members and naturally affects the team performance. The
supervisors and counsellors can play a major role to sort out the interpersonal relationship and
develop team spirit. Healthy relationship among the team members has always helped the team
to outperform. When the relationship fails the individuals will also break down mentally. They
either absent for duties or fall ill or the performance will come down. It is also true that due to
misunderstanding and break in friendship they change jobs quickly.
LOVE AFFAIR AND MARRIAGES
29

Few of the boys and girls fall in love quickly. They maintain the healthy relationship, behave in a
matured manner, plan the future course of action and such persons have got married with the
consent of their parents. They work together in the same organization for longer duration. There
are instances, where lovers fall apart, start disliking, creating troubles to each other and vitiating
the atmosphere. They are immature, take instant decisions to break or unite and sometimes go to
an extent of damaging others reputation. The professional counsellors can play an important role
in explaining the importance of marriage, preparation required for marriage, how to enter the
institution of marriage, which is acceptable to both parents and society and about the new role
and responsibility after getting married. Counselling services can definitely give emotional
support to individuals.
ABSENTEEISM
Absenteeism is very high in calls centers. Employees tend to be very irregular to the duty
due to various reasons. The professional counselling services to such irregular employees on one
to one basis will help to bring down the absenteeism. The counsellor can educate and explain the
importance of attending duties to earn the salary and also to meet the organizational goals. Each
individual are unique and the problem they face are also different in nature. Only the
professional counsellors can understand, analyze and provide long lasting solutions for the
individuals.
HIGHER EDUCATION AND PART TIME JOBS
It is possible to do higher education while working in BPO units. Few organizations
encourage and offer support services to pursue higher education. However, the time management
by the executives is crucial to go forward in education as well as to maintain the performance
30

and career growth. Programmes on time management, tips to study, tips to keep fit and such
other programmes can be offered. These steps would help to seek the loyalty of employees to the
organizations and helps greatly for the retention of employees.
Organizations do not grant permission to pursue part time jobs while working in BPO
units. In order to make quick money and to have options open to change the jobs in future will
drive the employees to do part time work. Human body does not permit to stretch beyond one's
capacity.
The executives need to take sufficient rest in the daytime so that energy levels are
maintained. Either due to lack of experience or due to compulsions, the executives keep their one
foot in call center and another in part time jobs. In the long run this would affect individual’s
health. The HR executives must identify such persons and offer professional Counselling
services to them.
REMEDIAL MEASURES FOR STRESS MANAGEMENT
Understanding that the "Stress" is a major concern for all Call-Center Employees, it is a
duty of HR-heads of Call-Centers to address it properly. Some of the common signs and
symptoms of stress although we all experience stress in different ways, there are certain signs
that are most frequently reported. These signs fall into two major categories;
physical/behavioural signs and emotional signs. If we become aware of our own stress
symptoms, we will be more effective in dealing with them sooner rather than later. What follows
is a list of some of the most experienced symptoms of stress. The physical/behavioural
symptoms include; muscular tension, muscle spasms and tics, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath
and high blood pressure, cold hands and feet, backaches, headaches and neck aches, stomach
31

problems, indigestion, irritable bowel and ulcers, feeling fatigued, irritable, decreased ability to
concentrate, insomnia and changes in eating behaviour. Since these physical symptoms may be
related to physical problems, you should consult with your medical doctor before you assume
that your symptoms are purely stress-related.
The emotional symptoms include; anxiety in a variety of situations not limited to the
stressful situation, depression, hopelessness and a strong urge to cry without specific incident,
withdrawal from social interactions and avoidance of previously enjoyed activities,
powerlessness and decreased self esteem, hostility, anger and resentment, fears, phobias and
unwanted thoughts. Learning to become more aware of your own stress symptoms is the first
major step in the stress management and healing process. It is often helpful to monitor your daily
symptoms in a stress diary where you match the stressful events with the symptom experienced.
For example; you made find that if you are stuck in early morning traffic you may experience
irritability and headaches. In this case it will be important to use these symptoms as a cue that
you have to begin managing that stress more effectively when it happens.
CONSEQUENCES OF UNMANAGED STRESS
We all know that stress is something that doesn't feel good to us physically and
emotionally. What is even more compelling is what happens below the surface each time we
experience stress. Stress researcher Hans Selye, determined what happens internally each time
we experience something as threatening or stressful. According to Selye, when we perceive a
threat in the environment the thinking part of the brain sends an alarm message to the nervous
system via the hypothalamus. The nervous system then makes changes in the body that prepare
32

you to handle the perceived danger ahead. These changes include increases in heart rate and
blood pressure as well as pupil dilation. In addition, there are hormones and chemicals secreted
such as adrenaline that give the body the necessary push to be able to manage the threat ahead.
Although there are situations in which these adrenaline surges are very helpful in helping
us mobilize, the constant adrenaline surges due to repeatedly perceived threats have a toxic effect
on the body. For example, recurrent adrenaline surges inhibit some of the other important
functions in the body including growth and tissue repair, digestion and the immune response.
Just as the thinking part of your brain is responsible for turning the stress response on, you can
turn it off by changing the threatening appraisals you are making. Once you are able to determine
that a threat does not exist or that it can be effectively managed, your thinking brain stops
sending panic messages to the nervous system. As a result of this reappraisal, the hormones and
chemicals cease to be released and the body returns to normal.
Bringing the body back to an "un-stressed" state is very important since almost every
system in the body can be damaged by stress. Although our bodies are adaptive and can recover
from periodic stressors, chronic stress has serious consequences. We experience the
consequences of stress on three important levels; physically, emotionally and behaviourally.
What follows is a description of the specific consequences in these three categories.
Physically, the body is likely to develop a stress-related disease as a result of the stress
toxins that are released. For example, chronic stress can lead to cardiovascular disease by
elevating blood pressure, damaging the heart and arteries and increasing blood sugar. Respiratory
conditions such as asthma and bronchitis can result from stress-triggered changes in the lungs.
When stress inhibits the body's digestive functions, diseases such as ulcers, colitis and chronic
33

diarrhoea can occur. In addition, stress contributes to inhibited growth of tissue and bone which
can lead to decalcification and osteoporosis. The immune system is also inhibited by the reduced
efficiency of the white blood cells, making the body more susceptible to disease. Increased
muscle tension, fatigue and headaches are additional consequences of chronic stress.
The second category of consequences of chronic stress is the emotional consequences.
Depression can result from chronic stress due to the constant release and depletion of
non-epinephrine. What also contributes to the depression is the thought that life is terrible and
that it is never going to get better. What then results is a feeling of helplessness and
ineffectiveness, feeling like a failure and a reduction in self-confidence. Individuals who are
depressed are also likely to withdraw from relationships and isolate themselves which often
increases the intensity of the depression. In addition, anxiety and fearfulness are commonly felt
emotions if someone constantly perceives threats around the corner. In addition, individuals who
are chronically stressed are likely to exhibit increased cynicism, rigidity, sarcasm and irritability
since they believe that their situation is not likely to improve.
Chronic stress also has significant behavioural consequences. The behavioural
consequences often result from the innate survival urge we have to seek relief, to fight or to flee.
Unfortunately, these relief-seeking behaviours eventually become problematic. For example,
"addictive behaviours" can result from the repeated efforts to soothe or escape the painful stress.
Alcohol, drugs, smoking and overeating are often seen as tools to help manage the stress even
though their effects are short lived and the consequences of chronic use are destructive to the
body and mind.
34

Unfortunately the mind's ability to deny the long-term consequences in order to fill the
short-term need to escape perpetuates the problem and increases the excessive use behaviour.
Similarly, procrastination, poor planning, excessive sleeping and the avoidance of responsibility
are examples of behaviours used by stressed individuals to temporarily flee from the pain. What
is most significant about these behaviours is their ability to generate additional problems that are
as severe as the original stressor. For example, procrastination or avoidance of the management
of a stressor only serves to increase anxiety and exacerbate the stress experience.
The stress consequences reviewed above suggest that in addition to being physically and
psychologically distressing, they reduce the likelihood of effective goal reaching. The rationale
for properly managing and coping with the stress is for health protection in the future as well as
making the present more productive and satisfying.
MANAGING STRESS
Since stress is an inevitable fact of life that we can't always prevent, our efforts need to be
focused on coping with stress more effectively. What follows is a description of a three pronged
approach to stress management which includes behavioural/practical techniques, relaxation
techniques and cognitive/thinking techniques.
The behavioural/practical approaches to stress management include exercise and eating a
healthy, balanced diet, which includes selections from the basic food groups. In addition, it is
recommended that one avoid the excessive use of alcohol, caffeine and sugar, which contribute
to fatigue and vulnerability to mood swings. It is also important to allow the body to rest and
replenish to help inoculate the body against future stress. Building this stress resistance also
includes scheduling time for leisure and pleasure, which provides for a more balanced, fulfilling
35

life. Anticipating and preparing for recurrent stressors by managing time, setting priorities and
limits, delegating responsibility, and not procrastinating are helpful stress reducing strategies.
These techniques are effective stress management tools because their utilization is within our
control.
The relaxation approaches to stress management include a variety of techniques designed
to help you effectively manage the body/mind tension. Progressive muscle relaxation is an active
form of relaxation where you individually contract the major muscle groups of your body for
about five seconds and then you relax the individual muscle groups for a five second holds. The
contrast experienced by this exercise relieves muscle tension and relaxes the body. Some of the
more passive relaxation approaches include listening to music, reading and using saunas and hot
tubs to relieve tension. Techniques used to relax the mind include meditation and visual imagery.
Meditation teaches you how to clear the mind of stressful and distracting thoughts by
focusing the mental energy on positive coping thoughts. Visual imagery is designed to help the
individual visualize him or herself coping effectively with a stressor that was previously
experienced as overwhelming. The behavioural and relaxation approaches described above are
necessary but not sufficient conditions for stress management. The third prong to stress
management, the cognitive or thinking approach, is essential to effective coping with stress.
The cognitive or thinking approaches are an integral part of coping effectively with stress
and now the primary focus of many stress management programs. Since it has been determined
that we can turn off the stress response by changing our threatening/dangerous event appraisals
to appraisals that help us view these events as manageable challenges, we have a direct link to
controlling the stress response. The first step in the cognitive approach is to identify our thoughts
36

or internal dialog that is negative, perfectionist, black and white, rigid and demanding. In other
words, you are more likely to experience stress if you believe that you, the world and other
people "should or must" behave in a manner consistent with your demands and standards. For
example, you are likely to experience stress if you believe that the world and your life should be
stress free and that you do not have the resources to handle stress if it does occur. In addition,
demands of perfection on yourself and on others important to you, increases the chance of
feeling stressed since these expectations are unrealistic and rigid. After identifying your stress
producing thoughts you are then able to move onto the second step in the cognitive approach;
recognizing the consequences of this negative, rigid dialog.
The motivation to change the stress-producing dialog comes from the determination that
there are serious consequences that result from these negative, rigid thoughts. When you talk to
yourself in a defeated, pessimistic or rigid way, you deny your ability to cope and are not likely
to manage situations effectively or meet goals you set. In addition, perfectionist demands are
experienced as appropriately unrealistic and contribute to a "why bother" attitude. This attitude
reduces the likelihood that you will address these demands since it is a realistic fact that no one
or nothing is ever perfect. Once you are convinced that the dialog is negative and
counterproductive, you are ready to move on to the third step in the cognitive approach;
challenging and replacing the negative internal dialog with a healthier, more productive internal
dialog.
This important step in the reappraisal process requires that you challenge your rigid
dialog by asking yourself a series of questions about that rigid dialog. For example, "Why must I
perform perfectly in order to believe I am a valuable human being?" In addition, "Does that
demand for perfection increase my anxiety and reduce the likelihood that I perform well at all?"
37

"What would I feel like and would I be more motivated if I changed my demand for perfection to
a desire to do well?" Another example of this reappraisal process can be seen in the area of
criticism and rejection. A negative internal dialog that would create stress in this area is "I am
worthless because I was rejected and this proves that no one will ever love me." A healthy
challenge to this belief would be, "How does the opinion of this person reflect my personal
worth?' "How does it follow that this rejection will lead to future rejections?" It is also important
to add, " Even if I were to get rejected repeatedly, could I work to make desired changes in my
personality without condemning myself or feeling worthless?" By replacing the negative, rigid
dialog with more realistic, flexible dialog, you are more likely to feel healthier emotionally and
behave more rationally and productively.
The behavioural, relaxation and cognitive techniques described above have been
determined to be effective ways to manage and cope more effectively with stress. The techniques
give the control back to the individual and empower him/her to manage the inevitable stressors
that will occur in life.
38

• Solid history in software development.
• English proficiency
• Government Support
• Cost advantage
• Strong tertiary education
• Process quality focus
• Skilled workforce
• Expertise in new technologies
• Entrepreneurship
• Reasonable technical innovations
• Reverse brain drain
• Existing long term relationships
• Positioning & Brand management
• Infrastructure
• Cultural differences
• Sales & marketing
• Leverage expertise for higher-value
education
• Business process experience
• Distance from US
• Fear/Uncertainty from Pakistan
• Legal system
• Poor globalization skis
OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
• Creation of global brands
• BPO & Call center offerings
• Expansion of existing relationships
• Chinese domestic & export market
• Leverage relationships in West to
access APAC/Middle East markets
• Indian domestic-market growth
• Internal competition for resources
• Over-promise / Under-deliver
• Regional geopolitical uncertainty
• Rising labour costs
• Competition from other countries
• Sometime blinding nationalism
• Government blocking reform/deals
40

• Corruption/piracy/trust
• Political & religious instability –war
CHAPTER 3
REVIEW OF
LITERATURE
41

HUMAN ISSUES IN BPO AND CALL CENTER PROCESS
Carrying out transactions over the telephone has a long history, beginning with operator
services and later, reservations lines, particularly for airlines. But in the last 15 to 20 years, the
introduction of information technologies and telecommunications advances has expanded the
types of work it is possible to undertake, while reducing costs. Concurrently, ideas of 'service'
and service relationships continue to be redefined as technology becomes increasingly
ubiquitous, rendering the public more receptive to mediated service interactions.
There are a variety of factors, which have led to the increase of telephone services,
suggest Richardson and Marshall, including the transformation of telephony by "the
development of digital exchanges, intelligent telephone networks and their integration with
computer data bases"; falling telephony costs and the introduction of toll-free numbers; the high
degree of penetration and familiarity of telephone technology; and the ability to communicate
complex information by phone in real time. In addition to technological progress and social
advantages, another likely reason for the burgeoning of the call center industry in the early 1990s
was a significant period of retrenchment in a number of business sectors, including a drive
towards reducing costs and cutting staff-both of which can be accomplished by centralizing
services, reducing branch offices close to the customer, and taking advantage of lower cost real
estate and labour costs in locations outside main business centers. Call centers, of course, permit
all of these activities.
The US was in the forefront of the call center movement, yet Nadji Tehrani, editor of
the first trade publication devoted to the telemarketing and call center industries, writes that
when Telemarketing Magazine was launched in 1982 in the United States, there were "only a
42

handful" of companies conducting market research or handling customer service by phone. He
describes the rapidity of technological development during the ensuing years: "We have seen the
use of 3 x 5 cards and rotary dial phones, evolve to push-button telephones to integrated contact
management software and automated dialing to Web-enabled call centers".
Outsourcing centers that specialize in providing call center services for other companies
are also expanding. Although most call centers in the UK are currently nationally oriented, there
is a move towards pan-European call centers in areas such as hotels, travel, and computing. Still,
despite its rapid rate of growth, the call center industry is relatively new. The "vast majority" of
call centers in the UK have "existed for less than ten years" claims Cameron, while Michel notes
that in Germany, 25% of call centers in the country were established before 1991, and 41%
during what he terms the "call center boom" after 1995. A boom is perhaps an accurate term.
One estimate suggests a rate of growth between 20%-25% a year in Canada, while a 1996
Datamonitor report gave a figure of 40% for call center market growth in Europe, a number
anticipated to hold until the turn of the century. Similarly, as mentioned above, academic interest
in call centers is also quite recent, with the bulk of reported research beginning in the late 1990s
and beginning to accumulate in the last two years.
CALL CENTER
As a first step, it is useful to establish a definition of a call center. This is not a
completely straightforward task, as there are considerable variations between types of call
centers, which are spread across several sectors of the economy, and which perform different
functions for different organizations, both within and across sectors.
43

The broadest definition in the call center literature is that provided by Norling, who
states "a call center is any communications platform from which firms deliver services to
customers via remote, real-time contact". Callaghan and Thompson apply a similarly inclusive
definition, stating that call centers may be "broadly defined as workplaces that integrate
telephone and computer technologies". While these definitions usefully highlight the centrality
of communication technology integration in the call center field, it leaves the boundaries of the
industry somewhat ambiguous.
Taylor and Bain narrow the definition by specifying the types of technologies used:
"we define a call center as a dedicated operation in which computer-utilising employees
receive inbound-or make outbound-telephone calls, with those calls processed and controlled
either by an Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) or predictive dialing system. The call center is
thus characterized by the integration of telephone and VDU technologies." Other authors narrow
their definitions by focusing on the types of services which these integrated technologies are
designed to provide. For example, in an early definition, Richardson states "telephone call
centers are specialist technology-intensive offices that are established by organizations in order
to deliver services to customers over the telephone, replacing or complementing face-to-face
interaction with the public”. Similarly, Kinnie, Purcell and Hutchinson provide a tripartite
definition incorporating technology, technological control, and tasks:
We define call centers in the following way
• Their work is controlled by automatic systems which virtually simultaneously distribute
work, control the pace of that work and monitor their performance;
44

• They are in direct contact with the customer through dealing with in-bound calls, making
out-bound calls or a combination of the two.
Houlihan also includes the types of operations typically performed in a call center within her
definition. She lists the tasks most effectively performed by call centers: "Call centers are
centralized, specialized operations for both inbound and outbound communication handling. Call
center operations are especially suited to information delivery, customer services and sales
operations".
Buchanan and Koch-Schulte go one step further and include in their description the
organizational rationale for establishing call centers. Call centers are a relatively recent
phenomenon made possible by the dissemination of telecommunications and information
technologies. The technology enables telephone service representatives to deal quickly and
remotely with customer needs by connecting the representative to the customer's account
information on his/her computer as the call is relayed to the headset. As call centers can be
centralized in locations far from the customers of a business, they allow firms to cut costs by
reducing the number of local service outlets.
In reviewing these definitions and descriptions, it becomes clear that although there are
variations in stress placed on different elements, there is general agreement about which
elements are key. Borrowing from this accumulation, we might, therefore, define a call center as
a specialized office where agents remotely provide information, deliver services, and/or conduct
sales, using some combination of integrated telephone and information technologies, typically
with an aim to enhancing customer service while reducing organizational costs.
45

CHAPTER 4
ANALYSIS AND
INTERPRETATION
INTRODUCTION
46

In this chapter the data collected from the respondents by using questionnaire were sort
out and are used for analysis. Percentage analysis method, Rank correlation, Chi-square and
Weighted Average method are used for calculation. This will help to find out the position of the
company in different areas where the analysis is made, and also help to provide proper
suggestions if necessary.
TOOLS OF ANALYSIS
The data collected were classified, analyzed, tabulated and interpreted. Percentage
analysis and other statistical tools like Weighted Average, Rank Correlation and Chi-square
were applied for processing the data.
Table: 1
Age
47

S.No Age No. of
respondents
Percentage of
respondents
1 18 to 28 Years 42 42
2 29 to 38 Years 20 20
3 39 to 48 21 21
4 49 Years and
Above
17 17
Total 100 100
Inference:
From Table 1, it is inferred that 42 percent of the respondent’s age are between 18 to 28 years.
Table: 2
Gender
S.No Gender No. of Percentage of
48

respondents respondents
1 Male 54 54
2 Female 46 46
Total 100 100
Inference:
From Table 2, it is inferred that 54 percent of the respondents are male.
Table 3
Designation
S.No Designation No. of
respondents
Percentage of
respondents
1 Operational Level
Management
73 73
49

2 Middle Level
Management
21 21
3 Top Level
Management
6 6
Total 100 100
Inference:
From Table 3, it is inferred that 73 percent of the respondents are from operational level
management.
Table: 4
Years of Experience
S.No Experience No. of
respondents
Percentage of
respondents
1 0 to 3 Years 59 59
2 4 to 6 Years 22 22
3 7 to 9 Years 11 11
4 10 Years and 8 8
50

Above
Total 100 100
Inference:
From Table 4, it is inferred that 52 percent of the respondents are have experience between 0 to
3.
Table: 5
Annual Salary Income
S.No Income/Annum No. of
respondents
Percentage of
respondents
1 Less than Rs.60,000 5 5
2 Rs.60,000 to
Rs.1,50,000
60 60
3 Rs.1,50,000 to
Rs.2,40,000
24 24
4 Above Rs.2,40,000 11 11
51

Total 100 100
Inference:
From Table 5, it is inferred that 60 percent of the respondents are get annual salary between 60k
to 1.5L.
Table 6:
No. of years of Service in this Organization
S.No Years of
Service
No. of
respondents
Percentage of
respondents
1 1 to 3 Years 68 68
2 4 to 6 Years 17 17
3 7 to 9 Years 10 10
4 10 Years and
Above
5 5
Total 100 100
52

Inference:
From Table 6, it is inferred that 68 percent of the respondents are have 1 to 3 years services.
Table 7:
Reasons for Joining:
S.No Reasons No. of
respondents
Percentage of
respondents
1 Opportunity for
Growth
35 35
2 Good
Remuneration
27 27
3 Job Security 17 17
4 Job Suited for
specialization
21 21
Total 100 100
53

Inference:
from Table 7, it is inferred that 35 percent of the respondents are join in BPO because of
opportunity for growth.
Table: 8
Used potential by the organization:
S.No Percentage No. of
respondents
Percentage of
respondents
1 100% 5 5
2 90% 37 37
3 80% 21 21
4 70% 16 16
5 Below 70% 21 21
Total 100 100
54

Inference:
From Table 8, it is inferred that 37 percent of the respondents are response they used 90 % of
potential by the organization
Table 9:
Active participation level in the assignment:
S.No Level No. of respondents Percentage of
respondents
1 Greater
Extent
72 72
2 Some
Extent
25 25
3 Not at all 3 3
Total 100 100
55

Inference:
From Table 9, it is inferred that 72 percent of the respondents are response great extent for active
participation level in the assignment.
Table 10:
Factors considered for Total Employee Involvement:
S.No Factor No. of
respondents
Percentage of
respondents
1 Group Cohesiveness 20 20
2 Recognition 13 13
3 Role Clarity 17 17
4 Job Rotation 25 25
5 Job Enrichment 10 10
6 Challenging Work 15 15
Total 100 100
56

Inference:
From Table 10, it is inferred that 25 percent of the respondents are response as employee are
involve in job by job rotation.
Table: 11
Job important:
S.No Response No. of
respondents
Percentage of
respondents
1 Greater Extent 38 38
2 Considerable
Extent
27 27
3 Some Extent 24 24
4 Not at all 11 11
Total 100 100
57

Inference:
From Table 11, it is inferred that 38 percent of the respondents are response great extent for job
important.
Table: 12
Affection of job by problems in family
respondents
Percentage of
respondents
1 Always 5 5
2 Sometimes 46 46
3 Never 49 49
Total 100 100
58

Inference:
From Table 12, it is inferred that 72 percent of the respondents are response never for affection
of job by problems in family.
Table: 13
Affection of job by problems from colleagues
respondents
Percentage of
respondents
1 Always 7 7
2 Sometimes 25 25
3 Never 68 68
Total 100 100
59

Inference:
From Table 13, it is inferred that 68 percent of the respondents are response never for affection
of job by problems from colleagues.
Table: 14
Satisfied level of superior’s approach
S.No Level No. of
respondents
Percentage of
respondents
1 Always 20 20
2 Sometimes 32 32
3 Never 48 48
Total 100 100
60

Inference:
From Table 14, it is inferred that 48 percent of the respondents are response never Satisfied
level of superior’s approach.
Table: 15
Organization receptive of new ideas:
S.No Level No. of
respondents
Percentage of
respondents
1 Always
Receptive
23 23
2 Often
Receptive
42 42
3 Neither 31 31
4 Never 4 4
Total 100 100
61

Inference:
From Table 15, it is inferred that 42 percent of the respondents are response often receptive
for organization receptive of new ideas.
Table 16:
Affection of performance level:
S.No Kinds No. of
respondents
Percentage of
respondents
1 Pay Perks 20 20
2 Work
Burden
40 40
3 Peer
Relationship
21 21
4 Work
Environment
19 19
Total 100 100
62

Inference:
From Table 16, it is inferred that 40 percent of the respondents are said work burden for
affection of performance level.
Table: 17
Awareness of higher level management
S.No Aware No. of
respondents
Percentage of
respondents
1 Greater Extent 31 31
2 Considerable
Extent
44 44
3 Some Extent 18 18
4 Not at all 7 7
Total 100 100
63

Inference:
From Table 17, it is inferred that 44 percent of the respondents are response considerable
extent for awareness of higher level management.
Table: 18
Work design aspects more stress
S.No Aspects No. of
respondents
Percentage of
respondents
1 Heavy Work Load 20 20
2 Infrequent Rest Breaks 11 11
3 Long Work Hours 10 10
4 Routine Tasks 28 28
5 Under Utilization of Skills 31 31
Total 100 100
64

Inference:
From Table 18, it is inferred that 31 percent of the respondents are response under
utilization of skills for work design aspects more stress.
Table: 19
Lagging by management:
S.No Aspects No. of
respondents
Percentage of
respondents
1 Worker Participation 36 36
2 Proper
Communication
46 46
3 family –
Friendly Policies
18 18
Total 100 100
65

Inference:
From Table 19, it is inferred that 46 percent of the respondents are response proper
communication for lagging by management.
Table: 20
Response for stress in work roles
S.No Kinds No. of
respondents
Percentage of
respondents
1 Conflicts 30 30
2 Uncertain Job
Expectation
41 41
3 Too Many
Responsibilities
29 29
Total 100 100
66

Inference:
From Table 20, it is inferred that 41 percent of the respondents are response Uncertain
Job Expectation for stress in work roles.
Table: 21
Kind of concern gives more stress
S.No Kinds No. of
respondents
Percentage of
respondents
1 Job Insecurity 39 39
2 Lack of Opportunity
for Growth
40 40
3 Rapid Change of
Work Nature
21 21
Total 100 100
67

Inference:
From Table 21, it is inferred that 41 percent of the respondents are response lack of
opportunity for growth for concern gives more stress.
Table: 22
Work place uncomforted
respondents
Percentage of
respondents
1 Great Extent 31 31
2 Some Extent 64 64
3 No Extent 5 5
Total 100 100
68

Inference:
From Table 22, it is inferred that 41 percent of the respondents are response some extent
for work place uncomforted.
Table: 23
Influence of Health by job stress
respondents
Percentage of
respondents
2 Some Extent 54 54
3 No Extent 25 25
Total 100 100
69

Inference:
for influence of health by job stress.
Table: 24
Job stress hinders the organizational productivity
respondents
Percentage of
respondents
2 Some Extent 71 71
3 No Extent 8 8
Total 100 100
70

Inference:
for job stress hinders the organizational productivity.
Table: 25
Changes in organization from preventing the job stress
S.No Kinds No. of
respondents
Percentage of
respondents
1 Ensuring Work Load 21 21
2 Job Design 26 26
3 Role Clarity 19 19
4 Proper Communication 14 14
5 Providing Opportunity
for Growth
20 20
Total 100 100
71

Inference:
From Table 25, it is inferred that 26 percent of the respondents are response job design
for changes in organization from preventing the job stress
.
Table: 26
Reducing Job stress
S.No Types Important Neither Not- Important
1 Recognition 45 50 5
2 Appreciation 60 48 2
3 Remuneration 37 59 4
4 Supportive
Colleagues
59 38 3
5 Work
Environment
83 15 2
6 Promotion 84 10 6
7 Involving in
Decision Making
59 26 15
8 Team Sprit 74 21 5
72

SUGGESTIONS &
CONCLUSIONS
FINDINGS
• 42 percent of the respondent’s age is between 18 to 28 years.
• 54 percent of the respondents are male.
• 73 percent of the respondents are from operational level management.
• 52 percent of the respondents are having experience between 0 to 3.
• 60 percent of the respondents are getting annual salary between 60k to 1.5L.
• 68 percent of the respondents are having 1 to 3 years services.
• 35 percent of the respondents are joining in BPO because of opportunity for growth.
• 37 percent of the respondents are response they used 90 % of potential by the
organization
74

• 72 percent of the respondents are response great extent for active participation level in the
assignment.
• 25 percent of the respondents are response as employee is involved in job by job rotation.
• 38 percent of the respondents are response great extent for job important.
• 72 percent of the respondents are response never for affection of job by problems in
family.
• 68 percent of the respondents are response never for affection of job by problems from
colleagues.
• 48 percent of the respondents are response never Satisfied level of superior’s approach.
• 42 percent of the respondents are response often receptive for organization receptive of
new ideas.
• 40 percent of the respondents are said work burden for affection of performance level.
• 44 percent of the respondents are response considerable extent for awareness of higher
level management.
• 31 percent of the respondents are response under utilization of skills for work design
aspects more stress.
• 46 percent of the respondents are response proper communication for lagging by
management.
• 41 percent of the respondents are response Uncertain Job Expectation for stress in work
roles.
• 41 percent of the respondents are response lack of opportunity for growth for concern
gives more stress.
• 41 percent of the respondents are response some extent for work place uncomforted.
• 54 percent of the respondents are response some extent for influence of health by job
stress.
• 71 percent of the respondents are response some extent for job stress hinders the
organizational productivity.
75

• 26 percent of the respondents are response job design for changes in organization from
preventing the job stress
SUGGESTIONS
Experts point out that continued high growth in an industry can be an issue because it strains
systems and governance processes that need time to mature and to be institutionalized. Indian
BPO industry is currently facing the challenges arising out of its stupendous growth. The major
challenges being faced by the ITES or BPO industry in India can be classified into internal and
external challenges. The internal challenges include shortage of competent managers for the
middle and senior management and the high attrition rates. The external challenge is in the form
of opposition from the US politicians and the UK labor unions against shifting of the BPO
operations by local companies to India. We suggest to do physiological analyse in bpo sector by
Hr and do steps accordingly. For this company need to give training in specialised sector.
CONCLUSION
76

It is desirable to employ professional HR Professionals with knowledge of Human
Psychology in BPO units/call centers. The services offered by professionals may not be felt in
the initial stages. Companies like Tata, L&T, MICO and few others have employed professionals
in their factories. The professionals can do wonders in BPO sectors as well. People are the
backbone of BPO industry and it is certain that professional HR or Human Psychologist can
make inroad in this emerging organization and facilitate the growth of organization in an
immense way.
BIBILOGRAPHY
Journal References:
• The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, OAU Doc. CAB/LEG/67/3/Rev.5
(1981), reprinted in 21 I.L.M. 58 (1982), entered into force Oct. 21, 1986.
• Documents of the Organization of African Unity (Gino J. Naldi ed., 1992).[London; New
York: Mansell, 246 pp. Contains several important human rights documents including the
1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa,
1982 African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, 1988 Rules of Procedure of the
African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, and 1990 African Charter on the
Rights and Welfare of the Child.]
• The International Law of Human Rights in Africa: Basic Documents and Annotated
Bibliography (compiled by M. Hamalengwa et al., 1988).[Dordrecht; Boston: Martinus
Nijhoff, 427 pp.]
77

• U.N. Centre for Human Rights, The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights,
U.N. Doc. HR/PUB/90/1 (1990).[New York: U.N. Centre for Hum. Rts., 51 pp. Contains
the Charter and Rules of Procedure of the African Commission on Human and Peoples'
Rights. An annex contains a list of countries that have signed, ratified, or acceded to the
Charter.]
• Africa, Human Rights, and the Global System (Eileen McCarthy-Arnolds et al. eds.,
1994).
[Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 272 pp. Discusses briefly human rights philosophy,
introduces historical background concerning the evolution of human rights in pre-colonial
and colonial Africa, and covers extensively national and international efforts to address
human rights issues in Africa.]
• T. Akinola Aguda, Human Rights and the Right to Development in Africa (1989).[Lagos:
Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, 34 pp.]
• Richard Carver & Paul Hunt, National Human Rights Institutions in Africa, Occasional
Paper No. 1 (1991).[The Gambia: Afr. Centre for Democracy & Hum. Rts. Stud., 45 pp.
Discussion of national human rights organizations in the Gambia, Tanzania, Togo,
Uganda, and Zaire, and analysis of emerging efforts to address human rights issues in
Africa. Appendix contains a directory of African national human rights institutions.]
• Emerging Human Rights: The African Political Economy Context, Studies in Human
Rights, Number 8 (George W. Shepherd, Jr. & Mark O.C. Anikpo eds., 1990).
[New York: Greenwood Press, 244 pp. Published under the auspices of the Consortium
on Human Rights Development. Scholarly articles in part one discuss theories of human
rights in the African context, dealing with such issues as the universality of human rights,
underdevelopment, and theological perspectives on African human rights. Articles in part
two discuss the link between human rights violations and several issues including
development, equality, and justice, militarization, refugees, feminism, and self-reliance.]
78

• Osita C. Eze, Human Rights in Africa: Some Selected Problems (1984).[Lagos:
Published by the Nigerian Inst. of Int'l Affairs in cooperation with Macmillan Nigeria
Publishers, 314 pp. Treats human rights theory and examines human rights situations in
pre-colonial and colonial Africa, and in independent African states. Discusses self-
determination, racial discrimination and apartheid, women's rights, refugee issues, and
regional promotion and protection of human rights. Appendices include OAU
Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, Monrovia
Proposal for the Setting Up of an African Commission on Human Rights, and the African
Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.]
• Rhoda E. Howard, Human Rights in Commonwealth Africa (1986).[Totowa, N.J.:
Rowman & Littlefield, 250 pp. Discusses various aspects of African human rights,
including economic, communal, political, civil, and women's rights.]
• Human Rights and Development in Africa 152-76 (Claude E. Welch, Jr. & Ronald I.
Meltzer eds., 1984).[Albany, N.Y.: State University of N.Y. Press, 349 pp. Discusses
general human rights issues in contemporary Africa, regional responses including the
work of NGOs and the Banjul Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, and presents
several views on the "right to development" and self-determination. Appendices contain
the Banjul Charter, a summary of basic human rights guaranteed in the Charter and other
major human rights treaties, and a list of major African human rights conferences held
between 1961-81. Bibliography also included.]
• Human Rights and Governance in Africa (Ronald Cohen et al. eds., 1993)
[Gainesville, Fla.: University Press of Fla., 285 pp. Part I contains scholarly articles that
present several theoretical approaches to human rights in Africa, and Part II contains
scholarly articles that discuss substantive human rights issues including women's rights,
refugees, minority rights, education, and academic freedom.]
• Human Rights in Africa: Cross-Cultural Perspectives (Abdullahi Ahmed An- Na`im &
Francis M. Deng eds., 1990).[Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 399 pp.
Discusses African human rights in the context of various conceptions of international
79

human rights, including traditional "western" perspectives, Christian and Muslim
perspectives, several African cultural perspectives, and cross-cultural perspectives.]
• Human Rights Watch, Academic Freedom and Human Rights Abuses in Africa, An
Africa Watch Report (1991). [New York: Human Rights Watch, 153 pp. Details human
rights abuses committed against members of academic communities in Cameroon,
Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania,
Togo, Uganda, Zaire, and Zimbabwe. Also presents recommendations for African
governments, academics, organizations of academics, NGOs, donor governments, and
UNESCO to take action that will "encourage the independence and autonomy of
academic institutions and academic pursuits." An appendix lists detained African
academics.]
Website:
• www.forbes.com
• www.wilsonlearning.com
• www.custominsight.com
80

QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Age :
18 to 28 29 to 38 39 to 48 49 & above
2. Gender :
o Male
o Female
3. Designation:
o Operational Level Management
o Middle Level Management
o Top Level Management
4. Years of Experience:
o 0 to 3 Years
o 4 to 6 Years
o 7 to 9 Years
o 10 Years and Above
5. Your Annual Salary Income
o Less than Rs.60,000
o Rs.60,000 to Rs.1,50,000
o Rs.1,50,000 to Rs.2,40,000
o Above Rs.2,40,000
82

6. Your Years of Service in this Organisation
o 1 to 3 Years
o 4 to 6 Years
o 7 to 9 Years
o 10 Years and Above
7. Reasons for Joining in this organization
o Opportunity for Growth
o Good Remuneration
o Job Security
o Job Suited for Specialization
8. In your view how much your potential is used by the organisation
100% 90% 80% 70% Below 70%
9. Your active participation level in the assignment given to you
o Greater Extent
o Some Extent
o Not at all
10. Rank the factors to be considered for Total Employee Involvement
o Group Cohesiveness
o Recognition
o Role Clarity
o Job Rotation
o Job Enrichment
o Challenging Work
83

11. How much is your job important in this organisation.
o Greater Extent
o Considerable Extent
o Some Extent
o Not at all
12. How often problems in your family make you absent from the job
o Always Sometimes
o Never
13. . How often problems from your colleagues make you absent from the job
o Always
o Sometimes
o Never
14. Are you satisfied with your superior’s approach
o Always
o Sometimes
o Never
15. Is the organisation receptive of new ideas?
o Always Receptive
o Often Receptive
o Neither
o Never
16. Which of the following affect your Performance level
o Pay Perks
o Work Burden
o Peer Relationship
o Work Environment
84

17. To what extent the higher level management is aware of the work difficulties
o Greater Extent
o Considerable Extent
o Some Extent
o Not at all
18. Which of the following work design aspects gives you more stress
o Heavy Work Load
o Infrequent Rest Breaks
o Long Work Hours
o Routine Tasks
o Under Utilization of Skills
19. Which of aspects gives you more stress when management is lagging behind
o Worker Participation
o Proper Communication
o family –Friendly Policies
20. Due to which of the following work roles you get more stress
o Conflicts
o Uncertain Job Expectation
o Too Many Responsibilities
21. On Career concern aspects which of the following gives you more stress
o Job Insecurity
o Lack of Opportunity for Growth
o Rapid Change of Work Nature
22. To what extent you get disturbed by the work place un comfort
o Great Extent
85

o Some Extent
o No Extent
23. To what extent you feel that the job stress influence the Health conditions
o Great Extent
o Some Extent
o No Extent
24. On your view to what extent job stress hinders the organizational productivity
o Great Extent
o Some Extent
o No Extent
25. Rate the changes to be carried out in the organization for preventing the job stress.
Ensuring Work Load
Job Design
Role Clarity
Proper Communication
Providing Opportunity for Growth
26. On your view which of the Following factors are considered to be important for
Reducing Job stress
Important Neither Not- Important
Recognition
Appreciation
Remuneration
Supportive Colleagues
Work Environment
Promotion
Involving in Decision
86

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