Leadership Style as an Internal Marketing Tool: Combating High Attrition rate in Indian ITES -BPO Industry

Abstract

The term 'ITES' which is synonymous to 'BPO' or Business process Outsourcing has emerged as one of the key driver of growth for the Indian economy. This industry is now more than a decade and a half old. The place of India is commendable in this industry and growth prospects are optimistic both in the exports as well the domestic markets despite the hot competition and continuous global recession. But the success story of this Industry also has its flip side. It is suffering from very high rate of attrition which has become a menace and is threatening its very existence. This is particularly true at the middle and lower management levels. This results in not only loss of talent, but also includes the cost of hiring & training the employees.. The attrition rate in the industry has been hovering around 35%, which is quite high from Industry standards. There are numerous reasons behind this such as Steep Industry growth, high stress levels, monotonous nature of the job, lack of career avenues & growth potential on professional front etc. It has become a biggest Challenge as well as a cynosure for the Industry experts to bring down the Attrition Level. The role of Top Management becomes crucial in this as they are the Custodians of the organization and main policy planners and resource providers. Their leadership style can come up in a new avatar as an ‘Internal Marketing Tool’ to handle this menace. This can be done through proper communication of their ideas and business philosophy to the subordinates and by treating them as Internal Customers using soft skills and shedding the Autocratic behaviour while dealing with them. This research paper has discussed the present status of leadership and the type of Leadership styles being followed at different management Levels in these ITES (BPO) industries (Firms). The industries chosen for study includes Customer interaction services, health care, Human Resource, Accounting & Finance & Translation/Transcription. This study will help gain an insight to tackle this problem and explore new dimensions for improvement so as to produce more effective leaders in future.