2007 dissartation-1

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RECRUITMENTAND RETENTION

OFTALENTS ITES INDIA

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

0625046MSc Management

Brunel Business School

Supervisor: ProfessorRuth Simpson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7th September

2007

DEDICATION

This dissertation is dedicated to my brother.

Thank you for everything.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to take this opportunity to thank:

My family, especially my brother, who always takes more interest and

sponsored my study in Brunel University and my supervisor, Professor

Ruth Simpson who took special interest and gave all the necessary support

for this research. They have all guided me, given me support. All the

lecturers who have taught and inspired me over the academic years at Brunel

University and I would also like to thank Sutherland Global Services

Chennai for their cooperation. Thank you.

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DECLARATION

I confirm that this report is wholly my own work. The dissertation does not incorporate,

without proper acknowledgement, any material previously submitted for a degree or

diploma at any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, no material is

included that has been previously published or written by another without full and proper

citation being made in the text (Harvard method) or exceptionally as a footnote. Standardconventions of referencing from the main text to the bibliography have been adopted.

I accept that on submission that this report becomes the property of Brunel University

who may reproduce it in whole or in part for educational and research purposes without

further consent being required from me.

SIGNED AND DATED:

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CONTENTS

Page:

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

DECLARATION

CONTENTS

ABSTRACT

IIIIIIIV

VII

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction 91.2 Aims and objectives 91.3 Over view of ITES 101.4 The Development Of HRM 131.5 What is Talent Retention? 17

CHAPTER 2: CASECONTEXT

2.1 Introduction 202.2 Over view of Sutherland 202.3 Sutherland Mission & Vision 212.4 Sutherland Chennai 25

CHAPTER 3: LITERATUREREVIEW

3.1 Introduction 263.2 Recruitment & Selection Procedure 263.3 Retention Strategy 30

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3.4 Performance Management 313.5 Motivation & Rewards 353.6 Organization Culture 383.7 Work Life Balance 393.8 Challenges for HR in ITES Industry 40

3.9 SWOT analysis for ITES 41

CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGY

4.1 Introduction 424.2 The Case Study Design 424.3 Deductive & Inductive Theory 424.4 Process of Collection 434.5 Data Collection Methods 444.6 Primary Research Methodology 44

4.7 Questionnaire 444.8 The Structured Interview 484.9 Exit-Interview 505.0 Hypotheses & Indicators 52

CHAPTER 5: FINDINGS& DISCUSSION

5.1 Introduction 535.2 Questionnaire & Interview: Findings and Discussion 53

CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION

6.1 Introduction 576.2 Considerations Of The Research Findings 576.3 Recommendations 586.4 Limitations and Future Research 62

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

APPENDIXA 67

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APPENDIXB 71

LISTOFABBREVIATIONS:ITES: INFORMATIONTECHNOLOGYENABLEDSERVICES

ABSTRACT

Retention of employees, especially in the field of Information Technology support

services like BPO, contact centers, documentation centers have become very crucial for

supporting their clients for achieve its organization goal and remain competitive in the

industry. The concepts for retention in any organization is more or less the same and

there are a wide rang of literature supporting this which are more than two decade old.

The research will aim in the retention of talents in the ITES industries, where there are

less satisfactory factors for employees to continue in the organization.

The study is a case-based and focused on Sutherland Global Services Chennai. The

research undertaken at Sutherland was through collection of primary data via

questionnaire sent through the company mail address to the technical support engineers,

structured interview with the team leader and program manager and the exit interview.

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Questions were framed which aimed to establish a picture of the Sutherlands retention

strategy.

Data showed the flaws in the Sutherland retention strategy, recommendations were given

to help Sutherland Global Services Chennai to alter the existing retention strategy

which may help the organization to stay competitive. Finally, future research directions

are also given.

CHAPTER1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION:

The introduction gives an outline of the study. The aims and objectives of the research

question are recognized and the case study will allow a foundation for the chosen area.

Finally the formation of the study is described.

1.2 AIM & OBJECTIVE:

The aim of this section is to demonstrate the main reason for undertaking the research

and the explanation behind them. The aim will be focused on the research question that

will be addressed by the investigation and the objectives hope to provide more detail as to

how this will be achieved.

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The research is case based and concentrates on Sutherland Global Services Chennai,

India. Having four years of work experience in the company there is an easy access of

information and gather participant data.

AIMS

1. Can the talents working in the ITES industries like Sutherland Global Services be

retained.

2. Will the ITES industry be able to sustain in the current open IT market, where the

clients are taking back their contact centers back to their country?

OBJECTIVES

The overall objective of the research is to investigate how ITES industries can become

sustainable by retaining their talents

1. To establish a retention strategy, showing ways to retain the talent in the ITES

industry.

2. To draw an action plan which will help Sutherland to sustain its competitive

advantage, mainly focusing in the quality of the service.

1.3 OVERVIEWOF ITES

The perception of outsourcing started with Ross Perot when he founded Electronic Data

Systems in 1962. EDS would tell a potential 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 for the

service. (www.teamframe.com white paper)

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1960S In the earlier years, outsourcing used to be known as time-sharing

1970S This decade actually saw trend of data processing which can be applied to any

process that converts data from one format to another.

1980S

1980S

saw entire IT operations like application development and maintenance,desktop support and helpdesk support.

1990S This decade saw era of alliance/tie-ups of different major companies.

2000S The early 2000S heralded collaboration of IT enabled services across regional

boundaries.

[Jain, P (December 2006)]

ITES is the acronym of Information Technology Enabled Services. To enhance

organizations competitiveness, many organizations are transferring the labor intensive

activities to offshore locations at a lower cost achieving the same or better quality levels.

The one that is substantial and growing in the global market is ITES. From transaction

processing to contact centers to application development, there is a wide range of

business processes that can be outsourced to third parties offering reduced cost, greater

flexibility or improved functionality.


In todays business world there cannot be any dispute that ITES has had a tremendous

impact on the performance of business. Contact centers for selling services, goods and

offering technical support for software application to many of todays generation gadgets

(computer, ipod etc) is becoming a part of the business life of almost every person. Most

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TimeSharing

DataProcessing

Entire ITOperations

SharedBusinessServices

Offshore B2BAlliance Process

Outsourcing

1960S 1970S 1980S 1990S 2000S


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of the outsourced workforce in Asian countries and most of the outsourcing firms are

either based in USA or in United Kingdom, some in Australia and a very small percent

from Europe.


A wide range of strategic business goals are provided by a very powerful and useful

approach of ITES:

Obtaining expert support

Boosting competitiveness by focusing on core business

Developing centralization and standardization

Cost cutting on business operations

Flexible capability of expansion Accessing new technology easier and faster

Improving reaction speed

[Jain, P (December 2006)]ITES in India

In todays scenario India is appear as the nucleus of outsourcing, with almost all of

outsourcing contracts moving to India. In Indian business market ITES is in the top place

of attraction. The IT- programming service companies are entering into ITES sector at a

fast pace due to an impressive setoff clients. The main reason behind this migration and

focus on the ITES sector in India may be due to massive skilled labor at aggressive rates

along with the availability of a large pool of young IT and engineering talents. It is also a

fact that India has the largest English-speaking population after USA. The government of

India has also recognized the prospective future behind IT-enabled services and has

repeatedly taken optimistic steps to develop the ITES sector.

(www.bpoindia.com)India in the lead:

NASSCOM-McKinsey Report 2006 sates that following five main advantages made

India to attain leadership position in the global offshore IT and ITES industries:

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(1) Copious Talentamong the 28 low cost countries, India now account for 28 per cent of

IT and ITES talents.

(2)Availability Urban Infrastructure that has promoted several IT centres in the country;

(3) Equipped excellence that has distributed cost and quality leadership in offshore

service centres;

(4) Favorable Business Environment including policy interventions such as telecom

development

(5) Continued growth in the family of ITES sector that enabled the development of

infrastructure.

(NASSCOM-McKinsey Report)

Reports by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy show that over the last four to five

years, Indias ITES industries are proven to be the economic growth engines. They have

grown approximately three times between 2000 and 2004, from US$4 billion in 2000 to

US$12.8 billion in 2004. And approximately 95 percent of growth in foreign exchange &

six percent increase in the GDP are resulted by the growth of theses ITES industries.

Today, the ITES industries directly employ nearly 700,000 people and provide indirect

employment to approximately 2.5 million workers.

(NASSCOM-McKinsey Report)

1.4 THEDEVELOPMENTOF HRM:

Human Resource Management is derived from the industrial relations and personalmanagement. It is a process that will help the organization to accomplish its objectives by

managing their people.

The position of the HRM in related to the organizations other actions is illustrated

below.

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(Cushway, B 1999)

(Cushway, B 1999)

Origins of the Human Resource Function:

Due to the rapid expansion of the business such as the General Motors (started in 1908),

Bethlehem Steel (1899), Ford Motor Company (1916) and the other industrial giants, the

requirement of the workers to increase its manufacturing capacity was very high. Forexample Ford expanded its manufacturing to 9,109 cars per day by 1925 from 800 cars

per day in 1910, which resulted in the increase of its workforce from less than 200

workers to several thousand workers. The same situation existed in the other businesses

during this industrial development era. In these periods, the new workers were generally

hired by the first line man or the foreman; the office managers hired the clerks and

secretaries.

As a cause of the industrial expansion the first line managers and the office managers feltit as a difficult task to hire new employees and it became too time consuming. For

example Ford in 1913 was paying $2.34 per nine hours shift, because of the low pay and

monotonous & tiring work the company had turnover rate of 400 percent a year. This

situation lead too replacement of average workers four times each year. The first step for

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OrganizationCulture

StrategicObjectives

Environment

HrStrategy

OrganizationalStructure

Job analysisRecruitment

Outputs

PerformanceManagement

Training &Development

RewardManagement

EmployeeRelations


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the origination of the Human Resource management is called as the Employment

Department, Ford created this specialized unit for hiring their new employees.

Human Resource Management Today:

The way of managing the human resource changed dramatically along with the

development of technology, social and market dynamics. In recent years the popularity of

the internet has provided a huge support to the development of the human resource

management. The development and the widespread of the internet has not affected the

basic factors to how the human resource factors are managed, but it has made a big

impact on the way of human resource management is delivered.

It is been argued by Denisi / Griffin that the communication between the managementand the Human Resource Managers are made easier because of the development of the

internet technology. These new changes in the technology has not only made the

communication with the managers easier but also given a lead for tracking the

employees performance through remote monitoring system.

Goals of the Human Resource Management:

It is very crucial to identify and discuss exclusively the basic goals of the human resource

management in a modern organization. The four basic goals of the human resource

management are illustrated in the figure:

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14

The humanresource functionin contemporary

organization

Enhancingproductivity and

quality

Facilitatingorganizational

competitiveness

Promoting individualgrowth & development

Complying with legal& social obligations

Goals of the Human Resource Management


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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . (Cornelius N, 2001)

Facilitating Organizational Competitiveness:The common a goal for all the human resource management in the organizations that they

try to achieve, they generally tend to promote the organizations ability to be competitive

in fulfilling its mission. The Human Resource Management functions in an contemporary

organization playing the central role in the development process, needs to employ thecandidates with high level of motivation and knowledge willing to help the organization

achieve its organization goal and remain competitive in the industry.

Enhancing Productivity and Quality:The efficiency of an organization, industry or an individual is summarized and reflected

by an economic measuring system called as productivity. Quality is a total set of

features and characteristics that bears on its ability to satisfy or implied needs. (Denisi /Griffin, 2005). In order to stay competitive and survive in the industry it is very important

to produce qualitative goods and service all the time.

Developing the quality and the productivity takes a major step which relies heavily on the

human resource management. It is very important to alter the selection system while

recruiting from a diverse pool of talents, in order to be more focused in the productivity

and the quality. It is very important for the organization to invest more in training and

development to give the talents the necessary skill and ability to generate high quality

products and services.

Researches have proved that the Human Resource Management takes the major part in

the development of an organization helping to enhance productivity and quality through

different activities and tasks.

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Complying with Legal & Social Obligations:It is the third fundamental goal of the human resource management function to ensure

that the organization is complying with and meeting its legal and social obligations.

These days organizations have taken a step forward in the social obligation programswhich includes outreach programs to help individuals who may lack in basic skills to

perform meaningful job. As the financial management firms offer investment funds that

concentrate in socially responsible organization, and corporate social performance is now

considered to be the new dimension for the organizations.

Promoting Individual Growth & Development:The important and the final goal for the human resource management are to help promote

the personal growth and development of its employee. This goal basically involves

training and development activates. But as the development of the information

technology it is going far beyond basic skills training. Organization is also focusing in the

individuals growth and development in the area that do not relate directly to job

responsibility. For example some organization proves stress management programs in

which individuals cope with anxieties and tension mode of life.

(Garrick J, 1998)

1.5 TALENT RETENTION:

Kaufman, 1998 stated that: It is not astonishing that there is a substantial current and

estimate scarcity in qualified IT specialists. Computerworld (1998), for example, in the

USA there were 350,000 vacant IT jobs in 1998, with a forecast of 1.3 million more IT

worker needed in the next decade. Added to the skills shortage, is an average annual

turnover rate of 13 percent or higher (Computerworld, 1997/1998). Since the cost of

turnover in term of recruiting dollars and lost project continuity are high, thosecompanies that manage to not only recruit but also retain scare IT talent have a

competitive advantage.

Studies using focus group relived some of the valuable information on how to recruit the

best and retain those talents in the ITES industries. But before trying to identify the best

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way to recruit and retain the talents, we must know what the current ITES employees are

expecting from an employer. Research carried by Diane Lockwood of Seattle University,

Seattle, Washington, USA, explained the key difference in old and new recruits.

Following factors were identified as important for the old recruits in the past (1990):

1. Money (base salary);

2. Job security (based on longevity of the organization);

3. Interesting/challenging work;

4. Training

5. Benefits package (retirement plan, health insurance including dependent

coverage).

And for the current generation of the ITES recruits, they found the following factors

important for them:1. Money (base salary plus bonuses and stock options);

2. Chance to learn new skills (i.e. those that the market values);

3. Reputation of the company in technology innovations;

4. Flexible work environment (e.g. flexi-time, shortened ``4/10'' workweek,

telecommuting);

5. Working conditions (e.g. physical, overtime, colleagues and boss, casual dress)

Research carried by Diane Lockwood, 1999 - Seattle University, using the methodology

of focus group is been identified as the best way gain in-depth insights into various

recruiting and retention strategies, as well as specific examples of successful practices.

Below is a list of criterias which have been developed as a result of the research.

Money

The base salary offered to an employee is termed as money, is still identified by the

experts as being the single most important factor in a decision to join an organization.This are now including stock options in most of the MNC companies, stock option in a

short run seldom return sizable gains. Above all investments in leading edge technologies

and offering the opportunity to learn new knowledge is also give more important.

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Training

Survey carried by Diane Lockwood proved that training and the opportunity to learn new

skills are much valued. Lifelong training is a part of the implanted technology culture and

work challenges, it is considered as a way of making oneself more marketable for a

higher salary in the market. Todays talents have recognized that real job security comeswith the acquisition of new, market-valued skills and not just able to stay in a company

for a long time.

Benefits

It is been indicated by the research that traditional benefit plans (retirement plans and

health insurance) are taken as givens by the employees these days, but their importance

varies with the age of recruits. It is also pointed by one of the participant It's hard to sell

a 25-year old recruit on a retirement plan. . Childcare demands play an increasingly

important role in the employment decisions of today's dual-career family recruits.

(Lockwood D, 1999)

Flexible work schedules

Finally, flexible work schedules were identified by the participants as one of the major

important factor. Flexible work schedules could take many different forms including

flextime, shorted workweeks, job sharing and telecommuting.

(Lockwood D, 1999)

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CHAPTER2: CASE CONTEXT

2.1 INTRODUCTION:

Firstly, this chapter will give an over view of Sutherland Global Services; describe its

functional areas in the outsourcing, mission and vision. Secondly Sutherland Global

Services Chennai operations will be explored; supported process and organizational

structure are considered with reference to organizational charts.

2.2 OVERVIEWOF SUTHERLAND:

Sutherland Global Services is a leading Information Technology Enabled Service (ITES)

company with over twenty years of experience in the customer management space. In

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order to manage various aspects of their customer operations, some of the worlds most

respected companies have depended on Sutherland.

Sutherlands domain knowledge, quality process and global deliver options pilot clients

to remain focused on their core competencies, while improving their sales marketing and

customer support.

Having no fixed contracts Sutherland provides tailored end to end set of contact center

and back office outsourcing processes. Sutherland is a privately held company with

headquarters in United States. It owns and operates across United States, Canada, India

and the Philippines.

(www.suth.com)

2.3 SUTHERLAND MISSION & VISION

Rochester, NY (PRWEB) July 16, 2007 - Sutherland Global Services is a multinational

Information Technology Enabled Service, specializing in Customer Management and

Back-office services for Global 1000 clients. Sutherland is now employing over 17,500

professionals offering an excellent service from its 18 delivery centers in India, the

United States, Philippines, Canada and Mexico. Sutherland collaborates with clients to

help them excel in their industry and maximize their customer lifetime value by

integrating highly trained people with state of art and technology and verified business

technology.

Mission

To help our clients maximize their customer lifetime value and increase their

competitive advantage by helping drive productivity and efficiency while delivering

measurable results.

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Vision

To be the premier and preferred provider of IT Enabled and Business Process

Outsourcing Services in our chosen markets.

Sutherland Global Services core value is further defined

People

We esteem our workers and value their contributions. We believe in team work, and we

make sure all the time our team work is delivering exceptional results to our clients and

their customers. Professional development of each employee of in the Sutherland family

as they progress through their profession is our main commitment.

Integrity

We believe that there is only one way to do business: We persist on open, sincere and fair

associations with each other, our customers and our business partners.

(www.suth.com)Entrepreneurial Spirit

To improve our service offerings we promote innovation and will take personal risks. In

order to sustain our leadership position as the premier provider of outsourced information

technology enabled services we will continuously endeavor to be the best.

Leadership

With the support of our clients, fellow employees and all of our stakeholders, we will

continuously strive to do the right thing. We will pilot by example and set our values

elevated for others to follow.

Clients

We treat our clients goals and objectives as our own, dedicated to providing the highest

quality of service to them. By consistently exceeding expectations we will increase

clients competitive advantage.

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Sutherlands customers range from small businesses to the largest and most prestigious

companies and institutions on the planet from Software giant, health care, government

and business. It operates in six product and service ranges:

Business Transformation

Sutherlands Global Business Transformation Group (GBTG) has developed a pioneering

and objective revolution approach that is focused on collaborating with clients to

methodically extend and accomplish a transformation vision which distributes

measurable step-change in value to their stakeholders.

o Process consulting: comprises the discovery of process effectiveness and

outsourcing opportunities via readiness assessment, mapping and gap analysis.

Business solutions design: we aim globally meshed, multi-geography delivery

models to align with the clients preferred business result. By using our industry

expertise to organize new business models, create new revenue streams and share

business risk with our clients. (www.suth.com)

o Platform development: To reduce clients risk and improve productivity

and develop smart technology components to run our clients business process on a

shared environment we innovate new platform strategies.o Global transition encompasses the planning and execution of the

transition of all functions including project management and service delivery from

contract initialization through steady state implementation.

Enterprise Back-Office

With Sutherland operating centers in high opportunity offshore labor markets along

with onshore and global process management locations, enables companies to achieve

their competitive advantage by lowering their cost of operations while improving the

quality, productivity and revenues.

Functional Services include:

Finance & Accounting

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Order Management

Supply Chain Management

Research and Analytics

Industry Vertical Services include:

Mortgage

Insurance

Healthcare

E-commerce

Technical Support

Worlds leading technology companies obtain technical support from Sutherland Global

Services. By consistently delivering on our commitments and achieving high customer

satisfaction we have recognized a reputation in the high-technology industry as one of the

most credible accomplished and creative providers.

(www.suth.com)

Our technical support experience spans a wide variety of products:

Hardware Desktop, notebook, server Software Operating system, applications, productivity, utilities and

security, web publishing

Broadband Internet services

Networking/telecommunications equipment

Computer peripherals

Consumer electronics

Online software and services

Digital Consumer

With Digital Consumer, the calls are not only resolved, but are done so in a way that

drives brand similarity, builds an incremental revenue stream, increases customer

satisfaction.

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Customer Care

Sutherland builds a customized contact center operation that meets all of clients

requirements to handle customer inquiries and provide the level of service they demand.

Enterprise Help DeskSutherland presents venture help desk solution for companies looking to delegate the

burden of managing an internal help desk. We provide complete support services for the

most common end user problems.

Account Management

Sutherland helps companies increase sales productivity and marketing. Our Account

Management offering includes the following:

Sales

Lead Generation

Cross-Sales/Up-Sales

Service Contract Renewals

(www.suth.com)2.4 SUTHERLAND CHENNAI

Sutherland Chennai is situated in TamilNadu India:Sutherland Global ServicesTidel Park#4, Canal Bank RoadTaramaniChennai - 600 113INDIA

The Sutherland Chennai is a 100,000-square-foot facility that is accommodating 2,500

persons and it came to operate in December 2003. Sutherland Chennai is supporting theneeds of the existing US-based clients who require offshore support along with new

clients recently acquired by the company. Sutherland Chennai was awarded ISO27001

Certification by British Standards Institute (BSI) in May, 2006 and ISO 9001:2000 by

SGS S&SC for processes and quality management across its BPO locations in India.

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(www.suth.com)

The branch serves mainly the US based customers and its core business lies in the:

1. Technical support

2. Enterprise helpdesk

3. Customer care.

Sutherland Chennai has a current total number of 2000 employees from different process

under different branch. And it operates 24/7/365. It is been explained with a help of an

organization chart how the organization is structured and organized.

CHAPTER

3: LITERATURE

REVIEW

3.1 INTRODUCTION

The relevant literature for this study is been reviewed in this chapter. Firstly a brief

introduction on recruitment, retention and the strategies for them will be discussed.

Secondly the various aspects like performance management, rewards, recognition,

organization culture and work life balance will be explained. This chapter will also focus

on the human resource department of the ITES company and the challenges faced by

them in order to retain the talents performing mostly repeated task. Finally the research

question will be revisited.

3.2 Recruitment & Selection Procedure

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Recruiting and selecting the right people is paramount to the success of an organization

and its ability to retain a workforce of the highest quality. The process recruitment and

selection involves mutual decision making. It is been decided by the organization

whether or not to make a job offer and how attractive the offer should be. In turn it is

been decided by the candidate whether the organization and the job offer will fulfill his

goals. It is very crucial for any organization to develop an employee selection system to

avoid hiring the wrong candidate.

The recruitment and selection procedures will set out how to ensure as far as possible,

that the best talents are recruited on merit. Further more the procedure will make sure that

the process of recruitment is free from bias and discrimination.

(Price A, 2005)a) Legal requirements

The recruitment and selection procedure must comply with the countries

recruitment polices. These procedures will compliance with the following

legislation:

The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 The Disability Discrimination Act 1995

The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) regulations 2003

The employment equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003

The Race Relations Act 1976

The Data Protection Act 1998

b) Recruitment & Selection Framework: - Overview of Process

26

Identifying the need to recruit

Analyze the requirements

Define the selection criteria

Determine the reward

Advertise the vacancy

Select the right personInduct the new starter

Measure, review, evaluate

12

3

4

5

67

8

Source: (Cornelius N, 1999)


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companys needs and practices and are expected to recommend applicants who will be to

satisfactory co-worker.

Newspaper advertisement: This is the most simple and commonly used method. The

main disadvantage is that it provides little or no screening of the applicants: There maybe a very few numbers of talents in the large pool of applicants.

Private employment agencies: Employment agencies often know how to find good

candidates with special skills matching the clients requirements, they provide screening.

The upper level management and the professional candidates who are in short supply can

also be recruited by the executive search.

Public employment agencies: Most states uphold this service, particularly for jobsrequiring basic skills. There are no charges for this service, and training may be imparted

under certain circumstances.

Educational Institutions (campus recruitment): universities, colleges, vocational schools

and high schools are also good source of young talents. Many firms often send recruiters

to colleges, for example, to recruit applicants for professional and entry level

management positions.

(Russo G, Rietveld P, Nijkamp P and Gorter C, 1995)

iii) Candidate Assessment

Launching the system that will generate the information about job candidates needed to

make personal decisions. Job applicant presents some of the information through the use

of interviews, psychological test, work stimulation, and other procedures. These steps

will make sure whether a particular candidate fit the job specification or not.

iv) The Reference Checks

One of the tricky tasks in the process of recruiting is the reference check, it is very vital

to see that this step is performed perfectly. This will ensure that the information given by

the applicant is free from bias.

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(Roberts G, 1999)

v) Job Previews

The other important pre-selection strategy that can help in getting the right person in tothe right job is job preview. This involves presentation of information about the job to the

candidate. Printed materials, video tapes and stimulations can be used.

This strategy may cause some of the applicants who were undecided in the first place to

drop out. This step will also make sure, candidate who decide to join after the job

preview are more likely to stay in the job.

(Yei- Fang Lin & Brian H. Kleiner, 1999)

3.3 Retention Strategy

One of the most important human resource functions in an organization is staffing

positions. Recruitment and selection is the main focus on matching the potential and

inclinations of prospective applicant against the market demands and rewards

fundamental in a given job (Herriot, 1989; Montgomery, 1996; Plumbley, 1985).It has been argued that profitability and the sustainability of a business usually depend

upon the caliber of workforce recruited. It is also been proved that ineffective recruitment

and selection methods can lead to costs of ineffectual commercial viability.

Plumbley (1985) suggests that the profitability and even the survival of an enterprise

usually depends upon the caliber of the workforce and it has been argued that the costs of

ineffectual commercial viability can often be attributed to decades of ineffectiverecruitment and selection methods.

The changing perspective of recruitment and selection verdict:

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The recent literature on personnel management has put emphasis on the specification for

the recruitment and selection of employees, who are important for achieving

organizations goal. Increasingly, many organizations structure are being altered from

structures that are built on functions and jobs to self directed work teams comprising of

empowered individuals from diverse backgrounds, are replacing traditional specialized

workers. (O'Reilly, C. and Chatman, J (1991))

It is been argued by Terpstra (1996) that the current trend of recruitment is shapely

focused on identifying the recruiting sources that most likely to yield high quality

employees and the selection techniques that best predict future performance. As

companies downsize, trying to increase the productivity and companys profitability with

fewer employees loaded with more task, roles and responsibility.

3.4 Performance Management:

Performance management is a broad term describing a process in which employees

participate with their managers in setting their own performance targets. These objectives

will be directly allied with the organizational goals.(Cornelius N, 2001)

o Well developed performance management system will usually integrate thefollowing:

o A statement outlining the organizations values;

o A statement of organizations objective;

o Individual goals which are linked to the organizations goals;

o Yearly performance review;

o Performance related pay;

o Training and counseling.

There are four main stages in the introduction of a comprehensive performancemanagement process.

i. Planning performance

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ii. Managing performance

iii. Reviewing performance

iv. Rewarding performance

Planning performance:

The first step in performance management is that there should be clarity about the

primary reason for introducing performance management and the expected results. There

should be a strong commitment from the higher management in the process of

introduction, without this commitment the lower level may not perform well and

insufficient resources may be allocated to achieve the desired results.

(Cornelius N, 2001)

Setting the objective is the next logical step in designing a performance management. The

objectives are derived from the organizations goals. To ensure that the organizations

perform well and grow where ever possible, the objectives have to be stretchable.

Priorities should be made clear as some objective will be more important than others.

Objectives which have the significant impact on the organization and give the greatest

competitive advantage should be given the greatest priority.

Managing Performance:

Once the objectives are set and the action plans agreed, the next stage of the performance

management process is to check whether the required results are produced by acting on

those action plans. It is very important for the management to provide employees the

adequate support and creating the proper conditions for them to be able to deliver the

results.

Taking responsibility of once own performance is an important part of managing

performance. This requirement equally applies to managers and subordinates; in

particular it is very important for managers to lead by example. The aim of the effectively

managing performance should be to adopt a style which gives coaching and support in

employees development.

Reviewing performance:

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Performance review is a part of the process of managing performance. The performance

review is based on an interview conducted once or twice a year, between the team

members and the managers. IN some cases the outcome of this interview can have a

direct impact on the pay and promotion, whereas in other cases the emphasis is on

training and development.

The process that will give advice that can help the individual improve and develop is

ideally required in this step. To achieve constructive criticism there are certain principles

that are needed to be followed:

There should not be any surprise in the appraisal interview. On the basis of the

managers regular feedback, the appraise should be well aware of his or her level of

performance before the interview. It is a duty on the part of management to let the employees know how well he or she

is doing. And the process should be applied to every employee.

(Cornelius N, 2001)

The managers should encourage the employees to review their own performance and

give their opinion about their progress.

There should be a clear focus on the target that have been set and the achievements

against those targets.

Performance Rating:

It is been argued that the crucial part of the performance appraisal is judging how well an

individual has identified the targets and performed against it. The judgment should be

done on the overall objective. Being objective about the individual while the performance

rating is the greatest difficulties for the managers. Taking in to account of the individual

performance, importance should be placed on the objectives that have more priorities.

Rewarding Performance:

It is a very crucial element of the performance management process which seeks to give

employees some kind of return for achieving their target. Researches have proved that

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there is a greater opportunities for training, development and promotion; which is wider

than financial recompense. Often the most essential element which is required by an

employee is reorganization, that a employee is doing a good job, for example, this is

expressed in terms of a bonus, it is the reorganization and not the cash that matters.

It is widely seen in many organization that the performance management is considered as

performance related pay. To improve performance when there is a business pressure the

managers will commonly pay for the result even though the organization may not have a

comprehensive system of performance management.

(Armstrong & Michael 1998)

Process of performance management in a typical Organization:

33

Establish jobduties

Establish & communicateperformance standards

Inspect/observe

performance

Document/recordobserved performance

Rate performance

Set up meeting withemployee

Set up meeting withemployee

Provide feedback &coaching or counseling

as needed

Is performanceimproving?

Recognize/rewardperformance Foster furtherdevelopment Implement performanceimprovement plans

Performance managed(repeat performance cycle)

Has performanceimproved?

Transfer/demote/terminateemployee

Y

N

O

N

OY

The performanceappraisal process


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(Denisi & Griffin, 2005)3.5 Motivation & Rewards:

Reward management aims to improve the performance of employees, which requires

positive steps to ensure high level of motivation. Alan Cowling, 1998 argues that

financial rewards alone are generally not sufficient to create sustained level ofmotivation. It has been a common practice that the organizations are trying to motivate

employees by offering financial rewards for their skills, time and effort.

Evidence points that there is a major change in the employees satisfaction and the

organization growth when the employees are paid a satisfactory pay, job security,

satisfying work, good working conditions, opportunity to maintain and improve skill

levels, status and good social relationship in the work place.

Motivation: Motivation is a psychological perception linked to strength and direction ofhuman behavior. Mitchell, 1998 explains motivation as the degree to which an

individual wants and chooses to engage in certain specified behavior. There are three

theories of motivation which are directly relevant to motivating employees at work. They

are: Two-factor theory, expectancy theory and the goal setting theory.

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Two-Factor Theory:

The two-factor theory was developed by Frederick Herzberg, he found that job

satisfaction and job dissatisfaction acted independently of each other. Two Factor Theory

states that there are certain factors in the workplace that cause job satisfaction, while a

separate set of factors cause dissatisfaction. (Herzberg, Mausner & Snyderman 1959.

Herzberg's two factor theory was based on the results obtained by investigating 203

American accountants & engineers. The 203 professionals were asked to relate times

when they felt exceptionally good or bad about their previous job or present job, and to

provide reasons, and to provide the description of the events causing the positive and

negative feelings.

Typically the former list included thejob enrichment factor: wisdom of accomplishment,

promotion, reorganization by supervisors, responsibility inbuilt in the job, job

satisfaction. The negative factors which lead the employees to dissatisfaction in the job:

the administration and the company policy, physical working environment and the

relationship with the supervisor and the peers these are termed as the hygiene factors.

Expectancy Theory:

As the name implies, this theory is based on the expectations which employees havewhen they are at work, and the situation and the manner in which these expectations are

satisfied. This theory may not assume a static range of expectations common to all the

employees, but each with a different set of expectations. The basic model is illustrated

below.

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(Daly D, Brian H. Kleiner 1995)

This model stress that high levels of performance require precision about the work roles,

the range of employees possessing the appropriate aptitudes and abilities, and successive

training and job knowledge. Expectancy theory challenges management to illustrate to

employees that extra effort will obtain appropriate rewards.

Goal setting theory:

There is strong evidence proving that setting goals for employees leads to higher

performance, provided the goals are acceptable and relevant to the participants. The goal

setting theory enforces to be clear about their individual and group goals, contribute in

the setting of these goals.

Goal choice is a purpose of:

a) What the individual anticipates can be accomplished

b) What the individual would preferably like to completec) What the individual considers is the minimum that should be achieved

It is been argued that difficult goals lead to high performance only when individual is

committed to them. If the employees participate in the goal setting process, there will be

an improvement in the committed goals. Certainly, research point out that the goal set

36

Perception that effort willresult in performance

Perception of whatrewards will result from

that performance

Perception that goodrewards are available

Effort Performance Rewards

Knowledge individual

characteristics

Role perception

FEEDBACK

PERSONAL

SATISFACTION

Expectancy theory of motivation Applied model


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and pass on by the other serves as a disincentive. If the goals are to be fully effective,

feedbacks must be provided on the performance of the employees.

(Daly D, Brian H. Kleiner 1995)Rewards:

The challenging job for the line managers is always been raising the productivity

performance. Rewarding for performance is concerned with rewarding the talents who

have taken some initiatives to take the business forward. Rewards are a critical element

for improving a qualitative productivity where an employee can see a direct relationship

between the reward and effort; this is managing performance through reward. Therefore

reward is disturbed with total remuneration which includes basic pay rates, performance

related pay and fringe benefits.

(Armstrong & Michael 1998)The expectations of the employees in respect of the way in which an organization treats

them and the way organization reward them have changed because of the changing social

values, increased education and increased diversity in the workforce. These changes in

the individual needs and changes in organization have corresponded with increased

involvement in reward management for the managers. It is solely the line managers

liability to manage the teams performance in achieving their objectives. Reward is no

longer a tool which is used by the Personal Manager or the Human Resource manager; it

is absolutely a line managers tool. Line managers can use this tool to increase motivation

and commitment and reward employees who have contributed to the achievement of

objectives. (Armstrong & Michael 1998)

3.6 Organization Culture:

The main reason for considering organizational culture as an element for this research is

because it has proven results for the success of change in the organization. By the

research on organization culture we should be able to decide the impact of the

organization culture on the ITES industries, and conclude what type of organization

culture Sutherland is following.

37

Organizational Culture

Strategy

People

Work Process

Vision Values

EconomicForces

SocietalForces

Industry

Forces

Legal

Forces

Leadership

Organizational Culture

Strategy

People

Work Process

Vision Values

EconomicForces

SocietalForces

Industry

Forces

Legal

Forces

Leadership


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(Marilyn M. Helms, 2002)Each person in this earth is features with diverse uniqueness and behavioral style. The

same pattern applies to the organizations too, business organizations also developed withtheir inherit culture to impact the organizational operations. It is been argued by Schein

(1990), that organizational culture is a combination of two layers of concept which are

named as visible and invisible characteristics. The external buildings of the organization,

behavior modes, dress code, regulations of the organization, myths, stories, languages

and rites are the ingredients of the visible layer. The invisible layer consists of common

values, norms, faith and assumptions of business organization members. More over the

organization culture has a strong ability to incorporate daily activities of employees to

achieve their planned goals and helps the organization to adapt well to the external

environment (Daft, 2001).

Most research has interestingly shown that organization culture is nearly universally

communal within organizations. It is very crucial to understand the factors that affect the

consistency of employees observation of organizational culture to organizational

research. It has been a thought that culture is affecting the way in which individuals

understand procedures and the way they react to these procedures; this has a stronginfluence on how employees are likely to act as well as how they understand their own

and other co-workers actions.

(Pheysey D, 1993)

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3.7 Work Life Balance:

The 2007 Deloitte & Touche USA LLP Ethics & workplace survey shows: The quality of

employees personal life is strongly influences job satisfaction. Many of todays

employees take part more in their childrens lives than their own fathers did. Forexample, Praveen Raman, an executive with Sutherland Global Services has adjusted his

work hours to 8:30 and 9:00 AM, rather than at 8:00 AM. He gets his two daughters to

get ready for the school and drop them at their school. As a teacher, his wife has to be

there at the school at 7:00 AM. Praveen says my wife and I act as a team and plan a time

table and take care of our kids, while we still track our careers. This is a good example of

how employees want to take ownership of their life by organizing their time more

effectively but with a flexible working schedule.

Research proves that, 91% of the employees agreed during the interview that they have

ethically at work when they have good balance between their job and their personal life.

Due to the technology innovation breaking down the barriers between work and life and

increasing number of dual-career couples finding time for the family is getting tougher.

(Rannar H, 2007)A list of action plan which can change the current situation leading to

provide a work-life balance is as follows:

o Establishment and Implementation of employees education proposals

concentrating on the significance of the employee wellness through work life

balance programs that are frequently imitated as a part of the organization culture.

o Establishment and implementation of the employee career growth and mentoring

programs that consent supervisors responsibility to provide continuing

improvement of subordinates through he designation practices.

o Reliable evaluation, follow-up and accountability of work life programs to

guarantee programs generate positive results. Then those results are publicized to

educate employees further and reflect corporate support.

3.8 Challenges for HR in ITES Industry:

ITES industries innate strength in India has been the vast pool of talents that is available

in the country. However with the rapid development in the ITES industries, the

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challenges coming for the Human Resource Management is increasing day by day.

Estimates suggest that supply of the skilled IT support workers will short fall of

requirement almost by 22% by the end of 2010. Main challenge for HR professionals lay

in managing a large number of people at a very short time.

(www.bpoindia.com)

Research carried by NASSCOM, 2003 has identified a number of challenges that the

human resource department may face in the ITES industries. Brand Equity: Surveys show

that it is very difficult to attract the best talents for the ITES industries as it is considered

to be the secondary when it comes under the branding. Standard Skill Set Required: Due

to the wide spread of the technology covered by the ITES industry (Technical Support,

Customer Service, Pay roll operations, Marketing), lack of the general guidelines on the

qualification and the skill set required are not clearly defined. Benchmarks: During the

research it is been found that there are hardly any benchmarks for compensation and

benefits, performance or HR policies. Each of the company charting their own track.

(NASSCOM, 2003)

3.9 SWOT analysis for ITES:

STRENGTH WEAKNESSES

*Abundant manpower *A rise in the level of attrition rates*Comparatively cheaper workforce *High cost telecom infrastructure*Lower attrition rates than in the West. *Manpower shortage

*Lower response time *Local infrastructure*Operational excellence *Political conflict of urban countries*Conducive business environment

OPPORTUNITIES THREATS

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*To work closely with associations like Nasscom, *Anti-outsourcing legislationMicrosoft and other computer manufacturinggiants to portray India as the most favored*ITES destination in the world. *Competition with countries like*$69 billion ITES business by 2010 China, Philippines and South Africa

*$97.5 billion IT market by 2010 could have an edge on cost factor *Slowdown of demand

(NASSCOM-Report)

CHAPTER4: METHODOLOGY

4.1 Introduction

This section will focus on the methodology, the most appropriate ways are considered, to

gain the primary and secondary data to answer the research question. Firstly, themethodologys strategy and the primary and secondary research methodology are

described in this chapter.

4.2 The Case-study Design

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Inductive theory:

(www.sbs.utexas.edu)

From the research findings the inductive theory will allow to generate new theories which

may not only help Sutherland Global Services but also the other ITES giants throughout

the world. From the literature review, the deductive process explains the research

findings. With the results from the deductive and inductive process there may be newconclusion and recommendations made to Sutherland Global Services Chennai.

4.4 Process of collection:

Sutherland Global Services Chennai operations participants will be approached on a

personal level as it was the authors previous work place, where he had 4 years of

experience as a senior technical trainer. With the help of the questionnaires, research can

be carried out on the ways to retain the best talents in the industry. The literature review

and findings from the interview of the three Team Leaders and a Program Manager will

generate new ways on how to create a branding for the ITES industry so as to attract the

best talents, the result be reinforced with the same interview questions asked to different

Team Leaders and Program Managers of another two process operating in the Sutherland

Chennai. Above all of these the author conducted an exit interview, which gave really a

very good data for this research. At the time of conducting the interview one of the

managers who are graduated from Cambridge Business School gave a good suggestion to

conduct an exit interview for the employees quitting their job. There were twelve

candidates who were resigning at that time. Two of the candidates did not co-operate for

the interview, they made it as a point they were not interested. The other ten employees

gave an amazing feedback about their experience and reason for leaving the job.

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4.5 Data collection Methods:

A note should be made as to the following contents, before beginning this section. It is

the wish of the author to make it simple to read and understand this research paper for

non-academics as it is for the scholars. The style and the literature used in this researchpaper is made in such a way that even the person who may not be in the field of

management could easily understand without the need of any translation of the terms

used within. As mentioned above, two methods of data collection will be used throughout

the research.

4.6 Primary Research Methodology:

The quantitative research technique is used in the primary research method to gather the

research primary data. Survey carried by questioner through company email and

structured interview with the middle level managers such as Team Leaders and Program

Managers were used to gain the access at Sutherland.

4.7 Questionnaires:

A series of closed questions were put together and sent by email to the Technical Support

Executive, Senior Support Executive & the Customer Service Agents. They are the main

production team of the Sutherland Chennai, so it is vital to know how they would like the

organization they work for would be. This questionnaire will make sure it will answer for

one of the research question that is, retention of employees in ITES industry doing

monotonous task under a high pressure.

The ITES field you are working for is Satisfactory?

This was an attempt to get to the basic factor related with the recruitment process. The

outcome from this question will give a lead to may of our research objectives; basicallywill reflect the selection process in the Sutherland Global Services Chennai. It is been

discussed in the literature review that the Human Resource Management plays a vital role

in development and sustainability of company by selecting the right candidates with the

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needed skills and attitude to help the organization to achieve its goal and remain

competitive in the industry.

It is also important to review the other view point of this question. There is a strong

possibility that the employee did not like the branding field they work. It may be causeddue to the fact that the employees in the ITES industry are always treated secondary

when compared to the IT programmers. This may be a solid reason for creating a

negative impact in the employees mind.

The job you are performing is satisfactory?

This question will take a step forward in finding whether the employee has a job

satisfaction; the negative indication may be as a result of the job training given, productknowledge (technicians supporting operating system- their product may be Microsoft

Windows, Linux, Unix, Macintosh Apple; technicians providing technical support to

virus scan software, their product may be McAfee, Norton, PC-Cellin, Microsoft virus

scan), process knowledge (is the procedure how they handle a customer over the phone

and solve the issue effectively) or the other common reason is the job they are performing

is monotonous.

You are satisfied with your existing pay structure?

It is very important to discuss at this point, that the Sutherland Management did not like

this question in the questionnaire. First they strongly opposed to ask this question to their

employee. But after explaining that the main outcome of the research will be based on

this question, as this question address one of the factors for employee retention.

As discussed earlier in the literature review about the motivating factors, in which money

is considered as a crucial element. It is also proved by many scholars that pay is

considered as a cause to retain talents.

Your organization conducts training programs often?

This helps in illustrating how the employee feels about the training and the steps taken by

the organization in developing the skill sets of the employees for the betterment of their

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future. As an ex-employee of Sutherland I would like to bring to notice that the stress

management programs in which individuals cope with anxieties and tension mode of life

was of great use as the ITES industry is known for the work pressure.

Employee participation in management is encouraged here?

In asking the following question it is hoped that an idea of how the company engage and

treat the employees view points. For instance the company is about to introduce a new

catering service, it is a good management practice to get the opinion of the employee

about the carter they wish to serve them.

Your management comes forward when you are facing with critical situation?

By asking about the following question about the company management there may be aclear view about the management perception by the employees. It will also point out the

managements interest on the employee welfare. A simple example would be providing a

baby-sitter when calling the technical agent for training, additional task on the weekends

or when the usual baby-sitter is not available.

Is your physical and mental health is normal working in this industry?

The aim of this question is to know about the employees health issues which relates to

both physical and mental issues. Because of over usage of high powered head phones,

odd working time, work pressure it is good to get the feed back on employees health

which is crucial for performing a good job.

You work over-time very often?

This question will help in understanding the work load given to the employees in

Sutherland. It may also give some hints on the way staffing is done in the company.Mostly the employees work in the ITES industry complain that they are been called for

over time more often during their week off. It is a well known fact that the contact centers

operate night shifts, providing technical support to the US clients. It rises to a health and

safety issue when working over time often.

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Work-life balance is supported by this organization?

As discussed earlier in the chapter 3, work-life balance is one of the four factors which

are governing the talent retention. This question will provide some information on how

far the company is adjustable leading to employees work-life balance. A typical example

may be giving the employees the weekday off as they like, mostly married employees

would like to take their week off on a Saturday and Sunday. Or being flexible in the

holiday booking process.

The welfare facilities provided by this organization are satisfactory?

By asking about the welfare facilities provided by the organization, it is possible to

establish the real tendency of the management towards the employee welfare. It is offcourse a good practice to provide the ITES workers more facilities as they work night

shift thought the year, the welfare facilities may include medi-claim and regular health

check-up.

Work pressure is manageable in Sutherland?

This question will get some relevant information about the pressure the technical agents

facing, it is a very common element in the contact centers as there will a huge number of

calls waiting. From the other end the Team Leaders and the Program managers will be

pushing the agents literally to finish the ongoing call and attend the new call.

You suggest a friend/relative to join this organization?

This is one among the crucial questions in this part of survey; this question will allow

how far the employee values the company. It is a fact that employees recommends their

relatives and friends to join their company when the organizations management is good,creating an image of company of choice.

You like to plan your further career in this organization?

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This question will take a step further in understanding the relation between the technical

executives and the company management, more over it will give the depth of the

valuation of the company by the employees. If the majority of the employees answer

positively for this then we can conclude that Sutherland has a high value in the ITES

industries. It is often the most challenging task for the organization to create a branding

image with the workers to grow along with the company.

The other questions in this survey may be added in the questionnaire to reinforce the real

opinion from the employees of Sutherland.

4.8 The Structured Interview:

The most widely used research method is strongly claimed to be interview, they are ofdifferent types used for different purpose. In order to interview the middle level managers

the structural interview style was used. All the managers interviewed were asked the

same questions in the same order in order to reinforce the result of the interview.

(Wilkinson D & Birminghan P, 2003)

Open and closed questions were used in this structural interview. The main reason for

including the open questions in this structured interview is that, the author felt it is very

important to know from the middle level managers who have a direct contact with the

technical support staff. In this research for finding the best practice for retaining

employees it is very crucial to know the sub conscious mind of the managers. It is also

another reason that the managers who were selected for the survey have more than ten

years of experience in the ITES industry; their experience may give some hint on how to

create a good branding for the ITES industry.

How long have you worked here?

This question asked to the managers can give lead to two answers; firstly this question

can find the managers commitment to the company. Secondly it has been a basic

psychology that if a manager has more experience, then the knowledge he possess in that

field may be stronger than the other new employees. But in our case the author has

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is applicable for Sutherland. From the literature review it may have been clear that with a

good industry branding, the ability to attract talents will be much higher and the

employee retention will be easier.

What do you think is the future of the ITES industry?

This question may highlight what the managers think about the ITES industry and the

industry future. During this conversation the managers may be asked about the shift in

the back office; that is some of the major customer service providing call centers which

have been shifted back to their own country like UK and US. This question may give the

main reason for the shift of the call centers.

4.9 Exit Interview:

How long have you worked for Sutherland?

This question will give an idea about the candidates commitment with the company. It is

very vital to know about the seriousness that the employee had with the company. This

question may provide the necessary direction on whether to consider the feedback given

by the employee or not. For instance an exit interview conducted with a employee who is

leaving the company in the first few days may not be as relevant for this research as that

of the data given by an employee who has worked for more than one or two years.

What is the main reason for leaving?

This question will help the research in finding the factors which the employees find is

important to retain them but not focused by Sutherland as a main constrain. Steps will be

taken in the recommendation section of this research, based on these factors which the

employees pointed out as a reason for leaving the company.

What could have been done early on to prevent the situation developing/provide a basisfor you to stay with Sutherland?

This question may be useful in obtaining the relevant solutions for retaining the talents in

the industry. It is a best idea to ask the employees the ways to make candidates stay

longer in a company.

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How would you have preferred the situation(s) to be handled?

This question will give some support to the above question taking a step forward in

getting the relevant solution from the employees itself. Asking this question will make

the employees think about the situation whether the reason for leaving the company is

practically solvable or it is just blame.

What do you feel about the organization?

Knowing about the employees opinion about eh organization at the time of resignation

will quite help the research to find about eh organization culture.

What has been good/enjoyable/satisfying for you in your time with us?This question will get information which makes the employees happy and give them a job

satisfaction. It will be taken as a step to highlight this feedback which the employees

think is important for retention.

What has been frustrating/difficult/upsetting to you in your time with us?

In the addition to the above question, a list of factors will be examined which the

employees think as a barrio to stay with a company. This list will be examined under a

team of managers; recommendations will be given on the basis of meeting with the

managers.

4.10 Hypotheses & Indicators:

A hypothesis is a detailed statement of prediction, which can be tested against the facts,

the truth and validity of the hypotheses can be tested unlike theories. In this research 4

hypotheses were deducted from the literature review, and tested to get the solution for the

research question. Following are the four hypotheses:

(Wall et al, 1996)

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Hypothesis 1: The work life balance at Sutherland Global Services is pronounced to

be impossible, due to the fact of odd working hours (night shift) and no

weekend off.

Indicators: Primary data from questions 7 and 8 from the questionnaires andquestions 4 from the structured interview.

Hypothesis 2: In-spite of having a good working environment & sophisticated tool

usage system, employees find it difficult to manage the work pressure.

Indicators: Primary data from questions 9 and 10 from the questionnaires, question

2 from the structured interview and question 2 from exit interview.

Hypothesis 3: Candidates are not really attracted by the ITES industry branding;

Sutherland has a secondary branding in the market.

Indicators: Primary data from question 1, 10, 11; question 5 from the structured

interview.

Hypothesis 4: Health issues are getting very common at Sutherland; seems no

practical solution for it.

Indicators: Primary data from question 7 and 8 from the questionnaires.

CHAPTER5: FINDINGS & DISCUSSION

5.1 Introduction

This chapter will analyze the research findings with the reference from the reviewed

literature review, questionnaire filled by the employees of the Sutherland, findings from

the interview conducted with the four managers and respond given by conducting the exit

interview.

5.2 Questionnaire & Interview Findings

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Based on the data collected by the research the chart is drawn which indicates the major

reasons for the employees of Sutherland to leave the company.

Poor career development:

Almost 31% of the employees felt there is poor career development in Sutherland

Research shows this factor has a major impact for employees to leave the company.

Almost all the employees are under the age group of 19 to 28, they wish to focus on their

career as main criteria rather than other opportunities in the market, peers conflict, and

this was highlighted by most of the employees during the exit interview. Findings fromthe interview also show that the management does not take adequate steps to develop the

career of their employees.

Poor pay structure:

It is an interesting fact to know that the majority of the employees quit the job because

the management does not give the proper compensation for the work pressure they have

in the odd working hours. First question in the exit interview supported this fact strongly,

while discussing with the technical agents during the interview it was awful to know

about their targets and boundaries. For example the company provides quality incentives

based on several criterias put to gather, so an agent will be applicable for the quality

incentive only if he achieves all the given hard targets. Failing in one leads to a loss of

25% in his salary. More over the company does not provide any compensation for the

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night shift. Most of the IT companies in India provide 5% of their salary as a night shift

allowance.

Poor Management:

About 16% of the employees leave Sutherland because of the unfortunate management;

this includes the Team Leader who acts as a line manager in the company, and the Project

Manager who is responsible for taking the necessary decisions for the smooth running of

the project. Even the administrator who is responsible for providing the necessary

facilities such as providing cab on time, dealing with the work bay requirements will also

come under this factor.

Work Life Balance:It is interesting fact proved by the research that about 13% of the employees quit the job

in Sutherland due to the imbalance between their work and life. It is been noted by the

author that most of this population are either married or engaged in love with some one.

It is very crucial for an organization to give employees flexibility for maintaining their

work life balance, as it has a direct impact over the work life of an employee. But it is not

only the case for Sutherland, almost all the ITES industry having odd working hours face

this issue of work life balance. A part of the interview conversation about the work life

balance with the Sutherland employees is given below:

Author: How long have you been working here?

Employee: umm. . . . for about two years.

Author: Do you take part in your family routine?

Employee 1: What do you mean by family routine?

Employee 2: It is hardly impossible to drop my children to school as I do night shift and

sleep all the day, in order to get ready for the next days work. And during my week off

we find it difficult to change the timing cycle to normal in one day. My wife discusses

family issues over the phone when I am at my 30 minutes break.

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Employee 3: This employee literally cries (exit interview), he is newly married and there

is always quarrel between them from the days he has re-joined from break. Now, he is

been forced to resign the job as it does not fit his life.

Author: What do you think can be done to the agents for their work life balance?

Manager 1: Laughs . . . we can not change the time zone; our clients are in U.S and U.K

it has been made very clear to candidates at he time of interview about the working hours

and the night shift. But in the case of the Employee 3 I would have suggested to him to

join the email support which has a regular working hours. And more over we should be

able to take the night shift as a challenge as a part of the work.

Manager 2: It is possible for the work life balance while working in the night shift. Thereare two night shift here one start at 17:30 and end by 3:30, other starting at 3:30 to 12:30.

So, there has to be a clear plan in the family umm may be a time table may help. A

person working in the first shift will be able to drop the kids school while partner should

pick them up. In the other solid 15 hours there should be a clear schedule which may

have a 10 hours sleep and two hours of spending with the family like talking and

discussing the family issues. So I strongly feel that work life balance is possible.

Better opportunity elsewhere:It is been noted during the turnover of employees, specially the early leavers (3 to 6

months after joining the process) resigning Sutherland as they get better opportunity

elsewhere. As discussed above in the literature review, the ITES industries are branded as

secondary by the society (India). When considering in the aspect of carrier development

employees of Sutherland are not satisfied continuing their carrier with the organization.

Work pressure & Nature of job:

The work pressure and the nature of the job show less significant impact for employees

of Sutherland quitting their job. About 4% of the employees resign Sutherland due to

high work pressure, handling compliance and issues all the day. During the exit interview

one of the employees pointed that the organization should be a bit liberal in setting their

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targets and regulations as it is very hard task to solve an issue in the given short time with

a strict script. More over when handling compliance and issues all the day it is a basic

psychology for a person to get disappointed with himself.

Office politics:

This is another factor which is making employees quit their job. Due to an unhealthy

relation within the other employees or with the Team Managers had caused 2% of

employee turnover in Sutherland.

(www.bpoindia.com)

CHAPTER6: CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION

6.0 Introduction

This chapter will bring the literature discussed above and the research findings together

which may help in answering the research question. Recommendations on the study will

also be made which may be useful not only for Sutherland Global Services but also the

other ITES facing the issue of employee retention.

6.1 Considerations Of The Research Findings

The conclusion will reflect on the research question raised, the aim and objectives set at

the beginning and evaluate the hypothesis for its association with the research.

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6.3 Recommendations:

Competitive Compensation Packages:

Sutherland may provide employees a competitive compensation based on their

performance, not just through a base pay but by a variable pay plan which may include

night shift allowance, food coupons, quality incentives and other benefits:

Following is a sample of an effective compensation package which can be implemented.

Base pay

Variable pay plan- this may include quality incentive, Employee referral incentive

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