| BPOs feed the cricket fever among staff |
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| The Economic Times 17/03/2007 |
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From Cut-Outs To Intra-Company Matches, They're Going The Whole Mile,
With Team-Building In Mind
AS INDIA'S Men in Blue prepare to take guard against the rest of the world on Saturday, BPOs are going the extra mile to enable their employees watch India play in the biggest cricketing extravaganza.
With most matches beginning around 7 pm or later, the World Cup would mean a fight for leave among employees. Or a steep rise in sick leave. While the rest those who end up working on match days, would be glued to the common TV sets in the offices, resulting in scattered work. A late kick off to matches also means match timings end up dashing with the UK and US shifts. To counter all this, the sector is going all out to ensure their employees don't feel left out of the action in the Caribbean even when they work.
Most BPOs have decorated their workplaces with lifesize cut-outs of cricketers and flags in addition to all the cricket paraphernalia. And if that's not enough, there are ones like WNS, for instance, that have planned to install huge 10 x 10 ft screens in its offices in Mumbai, Pune, Nasik and Gurgaon. Says a company spokesperson, "Yes, the worldcup fever is all over WNS too. In addition to the screens, we are running a virtual betting system and on the spot prizes. Virtual betting is on who will get the maximum runs, wickets in each match and of course who will win the match."
Not to be left behind, another Mumbai-based BPO, Integreon, even has plans to have intra-company cricket matches during the World Cup period. Says Lokendra Tomar, senior vice president, Integreon, "LCDs across all departments are the obvious way to go. But in addition, we also have a tie-up with a local club, where our employees can avail of special discounts packages if they are to view the cricket matches on the projection screen there." And for those who are swamped with work, there would also be regular score announcements on the internal announcement system.
Then there is Infosys BPO which is resorting to a time table that allows people to get a piece of the action in small batches. "During the World Cup 2007. There will be TV screens in the common areas (outside the floors) where employees can get a quick update on the scores during their coffee/tea breaks, "says Nandita Gurjar, VP, HR, Infosys BPO. And for those BPOs like Intelenet, they are waiting for the championship to enter the interesting phases, that is, the Super 8s.
Most HR managers, agree that such activities are not just fun and games for the employees. They also view them a potential team-building exercise and improve productivity. Says Mr. Tomar, "With such measures we not only cut down on potential heap of sick leave applications, but they also allow for employees' minds not to wander away thinking about the cricket matches. Agrees Sanjay Kamlani, co-CEO, Pangea 3 - a Mumbai based LPO. "When you create such an activity based environment in the campus itself, employees would then want to come to office and watch the matches."
But not many have a fun-and-games approach. In recent times, the BPO industry has become very conscious about its public image. The industry is in the process of re-branding itself as a 'serious' industry, a reason why a few of the industry players are staying away from the ruccus of the World Cup. Players like FirstSource are not gung-ho on World Cup celebrations. |
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