But what sets apart Intellicom from a plethora of other players in the space is its highly educated workforce and their loyalty to the organisation. It is to the credit of its well-defined, mature and employee-centric HR practices that in this age of attrition, nearly 75 per cent of its middle and senior management has grown from within, leading to a high degree of talent retention and stability in the company.
When asked how the company has managed this near impossible feat, N. P. S. Sethi, Vice President, HR and Administration, says, “We have a unique blend of HR practices that is also our differentiating factor.” No wonder, as he brings in over 25 years of rich professional expertise in HRD, training, quality finance, credit appraisal, investments and administration, as also his vast experience of life to HR practices of the company. “We believe in work-life balance,” he says, and before you can smirk at it as the usual HR jargon used for weekly parties and drinking binges that most BPOs are famous for, he sets the record straight. “Instead of the usual weekend parties to unwind, we promote a healthy outdoor and sports culture.” The company holds regular cricket matches and has table tennis and badminton courts. “We also have an Elite Club,” says Sethi. “Every month top performers form a group called the Elite Club and are invited to rub shoulders with the CEO and vice presidents at luncheons and dinners. Apart from this honour, the club also has special activities organised for it like paint ball shooting, bowling, pool, valley crossing and picnics, which are the high spots of entertainment for them.”
Incentives apart, even on a day to day basis Intellicom believes in making its employees' lives comfortable. It has one of the shortest travel times of 30-40 minutes for its staff compared to other BPOs where it takes two-three hours to commute. Moreover, it does not believe in crowding and herding. It has smaller AC cabs and only four employees can travel in it at one time instead of eight or nine packed like sardines. “Comfort of employees is a priority with us,” says Sethi.
Intellicom has a spacious 2.5 acre campus and Sethi says, “Employee welfare is a continuous process here.” In keeping with its ideal, the company believes in providing fresh and nutritious well-balanced food to its employees. So no shady caterers here. “The company has a 24x7 in-house kitchen and food is prepared fresh and under stringent hygienic condition,” says Sethi.
Apart from this, Intellicom promotes 'walking culture' as a stress buster for its staff. Workers are encouraged to take short strolls around the secured campus walkways as a way to beat stress and get fresh air. It also has a well-equipped gym and a rooftop cafeteria. The walled campus has round the clock security providing a secure environment within. There are CCTV cameras to detect any intruder as also strict verification at the entry points to keep unwanted visitors at bay. The company policy also ensures that female workers are not the first to be picked up or the last to be dropped off home.
Apart from these physical facilities to promote healthy environment, the company takes considerable measures to ensure good health of the employees. Frequent health check-up camps are organised and medical insurance cover including an accidental insurance policy for all employees are provided by the company. “Because of the odd hours there is a considerable amount of stress involved in BPO sector that affects the health and well-being of workers,” says Sethi explaining these precautionary measures.
“We have a unique R&R policy,” says Sethi. Elaborating further he adds, “Our small size and professional management allows us to be very innovative in our employee reward and recognition (R&R) programmes. Our R&R programmes are different from the industry”.
At Intellicom, all senior level positions are filled through internal recruitment, thus providing opportunities for growth to the employees. “More than 80 per cent of team leaders and managers are recruited internally, 90 per cent of HR positions and overall over 70 per cent of positions including managerial posts are filled internally,” claims Sethi. “We groom our new recruits to be potential team leaders and managers as a matter of policy,” Sethi adds.
“Festivals are celebration time for Intellicom and in keeping with the spirit, events are organised on Holi, Diwali, Eid, Christmas and all other major festivals”, says Sethi. They break the monotony of work and help in bonding, he opines.
Talking about training and development programmes at Intellicom, Sethi says, “All new employees undergo mandatory two-four week training programme whereby they are imparted training in soft skills, culture orientation, voice and accent and product and process.”
Intellicom also has coaches and mentors. “They are seasoned agents trained to support new hirelings on a one to one basis and track their progress for the initial few weeks,” explains Sethi.
There is another innovative programme called Launch Pad. “Here team leaders nominate agents for monthly training aimed at grooming potential leaders,” says Sethi. Another programme called Core Training is a two week mandatory training focusing on team leaders and managers before they take up assigned responsibilities. “This includes apprising team leaders and managers about company policy and procedure, honing their leadership skills, data interpretation training and tips on managing SLAs among others,” informs Sethi.
“There is a also a monthly workshop entitled Skill Development Programme for team leaders and managers for training in advanced skills required for role fulfillment,” Sethi says.
But to top it all is the company's 'high value work engagement' policy. “We ensure that we do not take up low value work engagements as they are not only low profit but also create a lot of stress in the workplace,” Sethi reasons.
With such HR workplace policies and practices in place in favour of the employee, Jindal Intellicom is reaping the benefits. Mr Sethi has established the right blend of policies and perquisites for the multidisciplinary team Intellicom, thus ensuring the 'best in class' services for the company's clientèle.
-- By Sangita Thakur Varma |
