To stop their revolving door, call centres roll out the carpet for the family

But the first mover advantage is not GE’s. In Mumbai, Delhi and Gurgaon, companies such as ICICI OneSource, Infowavz, Transworks and Global Vantage have been at it for a while.

Caroline SA and Abigail K joined ICICI OneSource’s call centre in Bangalore a few days apart. Team leaders both, they work in different functions, though their shifts coincide at times.

Caroline and Abigail are a mother-daughter pair, just one among the many related staff employed by BPOs in India.

Couples working together are old hat at call centres. After bringing in alternate and ample employment opportunities and causing a huge shift in lifestyles, BPO firms are turning traditional recruitment practices on their head and bringing together siblings, parents and progeny and even taking a shot at hiring retired people.

Process associate Gururaj, 26, and Neelima Pai, 28, a trainer, are among the many siblings working at Infowavz in Mumbai. Says Gururaj, ‘‘While at work, it’s totally professional. Though when things go wrong sometimes, having a sister around helps a lot.’’

According to Zia Shiekh, CEO, Infowavz, “Working together and at the same hours helps, since family members get to spend more time together and also tend to have the same call centre-centric social circle.”

“We are open to taking in family members as long as they meet the requisite criteria,” says Aashu Calapa, vice president, human resources, ICICI OneSource, which has over 100 ‘related’ employees.

Gurgaon-based Global Vantage employees Pooja and Anshul Sindhi, both in their early 20s, are a sister-in-law-brother combo. Says Pooja: ‘‘My family is not worried about night shifts as we go and return at the same time.” While family members get to share some working hours together, companies benefit in terms of lower attrition. That’s a huge boon in an industry afflicted by a 30-50 per cent attrition rate.

Says Calapa, “While we are yet to observe a major dip, more family members working together could be a solution to check attrition.”

Ditto with Aditya Birla group company Transworks, where relatives make up 8-10 per cent of the total workforce. Says Baljit Ahluwalia, senior vice president, training, “Call centres are grappling with attrition, and having family members around is another of the ways being tried to address the issue.”

The family connection goes hand in hand with the referral practice of recruitment, which call centres have been experimenting with. It looks like paying dividends in terms of curtailing attrition.

Says Swapnil Coelho, 24, who works in the migration department at Infowavz, and who has a co-employee in sibling and process associate Shashanka Coelho, 22: “I’ve been here for three years and know the environment, which helped Shashank get an inkling of what lay in store.”

According to Calapa, employee referrals ‘‘help develop harmonious teams and make the work environment a lot better.’’ ‘‘Also, it is a cost-effective way to hire,’’ Calapa adds.