What Are the Toughest HR Challenges in BPO Night Shifts? Share Your Experiences

Folks, I want to know the challenges of HR Management in the BPO industry. Experts, please share your thoughts on this. What are the toughest challenges you have faced so far, especially in night shift jobs (IT/ITES professions)?

Dear Mondal,

Challenges to HR in the BPO industry are plentiful. Although I have not worked in BPO, let me share some insights based on my general knowledge.

The BPO industry places disproportionate emphasis on verbal communication skills, which are often superficial. However, beyond a certain point, these skills may not be sufficient. It is crucial to start training your staff in analytical tools as ultimately, what truly matters is analytical thinking. Unfortunately, many BPO managers fail to implement such tools effectively.

Another critical aspect is the ability to foster positive conflict within the company. Despite the BPO industry typically employing graduates, this essential task is often neglected. Managers tend to focus on avoiding negative conflict, yet the next step should be to encourage positive conflict resolution, which is frequently overlooked.

There are several other challenges to address as well.

Best regards,

Dinesh V Divekar

Hi Mondal,

I work for a KPO with a staff strength (headcount) of 1450. We have centers across Bangalore and Shimoga. All HR-related activities need to be standardized across the centers. This itself is a challenge. Whether recruiting new talents, training them, appraising them, or managing them, everything involves lots of discussions and brainstorming.

Among all, the most challenging activity where we end up spending most of our time is managing employee performance. Since KPOs/BPOs involve processes that are simple to very complex in nature, designing the KRAs (Key Result Areas) and setting up the target metrics itself involves a lot of effort. Our appraisal system works on a bell curve mechanism where in each appraisal cycle, we categorize the appraisees under excellent, very good, good, and satisfactory (bad) performance based on the weights assigned to each KRA (scores are calculated for each quarter) and the scores achieved in that quarter. Doing justice to all the employees from all the verticals becomes a bit tough in this case (not impossible though). Still, it's challenging.

Other challenges could be managing transportation, voluntary compliances, night shift allowance, willingness to work in shifts (especially for ladies in night shifts), attrition rate, and retention strategies. All are very sensitive points that need more attention in a KPO/BPO setup than in other setups.

Let me know if you have any specific questions, and I will be happy to assist you.

Regards,

Jay Nair

What kind of frustration do you find among the young generation in the BPO/KPO industry (especially night shift employees)? How do you solve that or try to solve it in your way?

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In the BPO/KPO industry, especially among night shift employees, various frustrations often arise. These may include challenges related to work-life balance, health issues due to irregular working hours, communication gaps, career growth concerns, and stress levels stemming from high work demands.

To address these issues, it is essential to implement strategies that prioritize employee well-being and engagement. This can involve offering support services such as counseling, promoting a healthy work environment, providing opportunities for career development, and fostering open communication channels within the organization.

By understanding the specific sources of frustration and proactively working towards solutions, employers can create a more positive and supportive work culture for the young generation in the BPO/KPO industry.

Hello Mondal,

I too work for a BPO/KPO company in Mumbai. The biggest challenge I have been facing since I joined this industry is issues related to employee satisfaction. My company has approximately 200-250 employees, and we are located in the industrial area, making it difficult for us to meet all the needs of the employees. Particularly, the availability and quality of food in my location are very poor.

Therefore, I believe that the cafeteria plays one of the most important roles in the BPO/KPO industry.

Regards,
Sachin Subhedar
HR
9930056530

I'm an HR professional in a BPO. Let me answer your first question.

The major challenge that we face is attrition and absenteeism. There could be a lot more reasons for attrition in a BPO, such as demands in the market, more competitors, and as we don't require any basic prerequisites other than good communication skills, more youngsters join BPOs seeking good salaries at a young age, leading them to jump from one company to another. On top of this, it's very difficult to control their absenteeism rate for the same aforementioned reasons. They may not be serious because they know they always have better options available.

As for your second question, their major frustration or grievance must be their working hours. They may have personal tasks in the morning, affecting their rest, hence making it hard to concentrate at night as they tend to sleep. Another issue is that they don't experience the real world working at night and sleeping during the day, causing them to lose touch with friends, family, and even the company's activities.

To address these challenges, we provide them with half or full day off on Saturdays, allowing them to spend time with loved ones on Sundays. I visit the team weekly to update them on the week's proceedings, and we also send daily emails and post events on bulletin boards to keep them informed.

I hope I have provided some information for your questions.

Thank you to all of you.

How do you manage the newcomers in the BPO industry? Because they often face sleeping problems at night due to our different work timings compared to Europeans and Americans. Do you provide any special training to address such issues?