Being a large organization and one of India’s fastest growing technology companies does not deter Intelenet Global Services from providing facilities to its employees and supporting work-life balance. The company has not only made efforts to harness a family spirit and create a team culture but also offers ample opportunities for individual and professional growth. Ranked #20 in the Great Place to Work® Institute’s Study, Intelenet also #2 in the Industry Category of the ITeS sector, and three as the Best Company in Large Organisations (with more than 10,000 employees). Says Susir Kumar, CEO & MD, Intelenet India, “Our competitive edge is our people. In a business environment where most companies in our Industry offer similar products, processes, capabilities and even delivering services at the same price, the only differentiator is the ‘client comfort factor’. The client will look at who is the partner I can trust, I like to work with, I find responsive and aligned to understand my problems.”

Given the socio economic and cultural factors prevalent in India, it is a challenge to attract and retain talent in this industry. Elaborates Manuel D’souza, Chief Human Resources Officer, “In our industry, talent acquisition is always a challenge even though we have built a very strong employer brand over the years. The challenge is to break several myths that surround the BPO industry.” The organization manages retention issues dauntingly. Explains D’souza, “It is a myth that companies chose employees; today, it is clear that employees chose companies. An organization can satisfy employees by listening. In Intelenet, we have many channels to ensure that we satisfy our employees. For example, initiatives like ‘i-care’, where HR connects with people for direct feedback, and ‘speak your mind’, where employees can leave their suggestions for the management team.”

Commenting on Intelenet being recognized as one of the companies excelling in striking a work life balance, Kumar says with modesty, “For us work-life balance is a part of the culture of trust, empowerment and fairness. We do not really have a formal strategy behind it”.

How important is this recognition from a business perspective?
Susir Kumar: From the business point of view, there are only two things that can sustain an organization in the long run, one is a great brand and the other one is a strong culture. Brand and culture are very difficult to replicate. Our business is highly human intensive, so it is a business imperative to have a great workplace. The experience that our customers receive of pro-activity, transparency and trust is consistent across the organization, regardless of teams and locations.

What are the key ingredients that make Intelenet a great workplace?
Susir Kumar: There are three main aspects that contribute to making Intelenet a great workplace. First is the trust that the organization gives to employees; secondly, on the back of this trust goes the empowerment that employees receive to perform their responsibilities and finally, the fairness to ensure that employees are trained to perform tasks. The role of the leader is to demonstrate the culture and cascade it down to every level of the management team. The HR team plays a role of a facilitator in providing a common definition on all these elements of culture and in creating channels of communication and feedback.

What challenges do you face in attracting talent?
Manuel D'Souza: First and foremost there is a perception that a BPO does not offer a career but just a job without a future, or the feeling that working in shifts, especially nights, can be detrimental to health, or that you need to be fluent in English to obtain a job in a BPO. The truth is that BPOs offer a wide range of careers to choose from in Sales, Technology, Operations Management, Client Servicing, Process Improvements, Quality, Finance, and Infrastructure management. A candidate does not necessarily need to speak in English to join a BPO, there are jobs that require other languages and there are non-voice based jobs as well.