Rank 8 - HCL BPO : The Balancing Dilemma

While the employee first philosophy has definitely paid rich dividends for
the company in the past, it does not seem to have been the approach in FY 09.
This was the first BPO in the world to be appraised at the PCMM Level 3 (for its
Noida center); and it also was one of the first BPOs in India to train its
employees to move into software programming roles; all these guided by its
employee first philosophy.

So one obvious question which one would want to ask is what went wrong in FY
09? In fact, surprisingly, its HR rank has shown a major decline of six
positions vis--vis previous year. While the employee rank has marginally
increased, it still shows a poor performance on important factors like training,
salary and gender inclusivity.

The companys culture also has taken a beating as its employees dont reflect
the work environment to be very positive. Perks and benefits is another factor
on which there is discontent amongst employees. The job content too could not
make the employees happy.

During the year while most of the customers were renegotiating contract
terms, HCL tightened its belts. The working hours were increased from eight to
nine for everybody. Moreover, the companys cost centric approach also reflected
on how HCL controlled transportation, canteen food, and so on. All this of
course, led to unhappiness amongst its workforce.

HCL continued with its two parts of the training modulecultural (voice and
ascent) and process training. Though the company admits that it is possible that
the way they are imparting training may need to be rectified.

Rank 8 - HCL BPO
AP Rao, senior VP, HR
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However, it is the appraisal system that brought some peace. On the
parameters of appraisalbeing well thought out, relevant, fair, and transparentHCL
BPO has scored pretty well.

Besides this, HCL did continue to keep its focus on leadership development.