” However he believes that the KPOs on the other hand offers a non voice, high pay and a good long term career to youngsters.

But the industry as a whole is waking up to the idea of the need to educate the media and the people about the value addition that a BPO employee is doing to the client and attracting the right talent. BPO is probably the only industry that can offer you 50 different roles during a 10 year career - it pays well - gives you rapid growth and learning - and yet it is not marketed as a dream job.

However, BPOs are not all about fun and cool cafeterias and funky parties. Indian BPO's have the toughest performance management standards and this adds to the pressure. An 85 % utilization to a layman looks achievable, but what this means is that a person needs to be on a phone for 51 out of 60 minutes in a hour and to do that for 8 hours is humanly impossibleBut this is what is expected. So in such high stress jobs parties prove to be the quick fix stress busters. But what companies are waking up to now is not to confuse employee satisfaction with fun and parties.

“We invite parents and spouse of first time BPO employees to come and see where there family member is working and to sensitize them to the cause and high pressures of a BPO job,” says Ramakrishna. It also helps that Steria India works for clients in Europe only and hence has no graveyard shift“Following a dress policy and guidelines on behavior are some of the areas that we focus on,” he adds

Cambridge Solutions, that handles financial services and back office operations for clients, focuses on core values and work culture to give direction to the freshers“The formal business dress code, work discipline, a through induction program, rules of conduct, etiquette and walking the talk by seniors sets them on track as far as socially acceptable behaviors is concerned,” says Chand

But foremost is the need for positive media and brand building. There is a need for change in management attitude and better treatment of employees with an emphasis on managing their aspirations and expectations. Also, a balanced approach to tackling common problems to retain talent and yet be competitive and rationalizing salaries is imperative. If the industry takes no action now, it may not be long before things get tougher for the Indian BPO industry with increased competition for talent in industries like hospitality, retail and aviation.