Keeping employees in Indian call centres: How to address poor rates of retention

Abstract

Purpose

Draws on research into attrition in the Indian BPO/ITES sector to suggest how levels of employee engagement and thus retention might be improved.

Design/methodology/approach

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments.

Findings

Over the past decade, India has become a serious resource for outsourced talent for organizations all over the world. Thanks to low costs, language skills, technical education and a supportive government in India, the offshore market is growing by 60 percent per year, with the BPO/ITES sector showing the largest area of growth. With this exponential rise, however, have come HR difficulties.

Practical implications

Points to some useful findings, though also areas for future study. A larger research pool for factor analysis would add depth to the work started here, and further academic interest could lead to development of the theoretical implications for the construct of employee engagement.

Originality/value

Identifies the areas of the Indian BPO/ITES sector that are currently leading to poor employee retention and offers advice on what need to be addressed to increase employee engagement. Offers suggestions for starting points for further research.

Citation

(2008), "Keeping employees in Indian call centres: How to address poor rates of retention", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 17-18. https://doi.org/10.1108/09670730810869501