Fri, 30 July 2010  16:03:12
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02 Jul, 2009 15:33:09
Sri Lanka unit productivity low, says India's Quatrro
July 02, 2009 (LBO) - Raman Roy, chairman of India's Quatrro BPO Solutions, said their Sri Lanka business process outsourcing unit, a tie-up with John Keells Holdings, is not doing as well as anticipated.
Roy said the ability of employees to get trained so that they could do their work efficiently was critical to the success of BPO work.

"The single most important aspect is trainability," Roy said in response to a question at a forum organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce on the island's economic revival after the end of the ethnic war.

"We've been in Sri Lanka for about three years and it is a big challenge," Roy said.

"We tried the tricks we tried in India but I'm distressed to report: it didn’t work."

He said the average time taken by their Sri Lankan staff to carry out a task was over 200 percent of what it takes in India.

"At this point in time, it is a big challenge to bring (the business) up to speed," Roy said. "If an employee is not revenue generating, we lose money."

Quatrro's joint venture with the John Keells Holdings conglomerate provides BPO operations in both India and Sri Lanka.

Quatrro's services cover traditional BPO areas such as finance and accounting, mortgage and technical support, as well as newer areas such as legal outsourcing, risk management services, and interactive entertainment services.

JKH in its latest annual report said the group's information technology business made a loss of 167 million rupees last year mainly as a result of losses in the BPO sector being higher than planned.

Revenues had fallen as the US recession took its toll on the auto and restaurant businesses which comprised the bulk of its customers but that the number of clients was growing, JKH said.

Roy also said it was important for Sri Lanka to expand higher education and technology training institutions to ensure the supply of trained people if the country wants to attract more BPO business.

He said Sri Lanka had the highest number of British-qualified accountants outside Britain and should capitalise on its own strengths instead of trying to compete with India.

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READER COMMENT(S)
3. S. Muralidharen Jul 09
I totally agree with Mel G. Roy may be the father of BPO in India, from his statement clearly shows, he has failed in Sri Lanka.

He is known has father of BPO in india because of his initiative in bringing back office work to India. There are enough companies and individuals who have succeed in this industry and way ahead of Raman Roy.

I personally know his local company recruit all freshers just paying Rs. 5000 (My messenger's basic is more) and expect them to be 100% productive within short period.

You better to re-visit your business model.

2. G D Perera Jul 08
Mr Roy states that 'trainability' is the single most important aspect for BPO staff. I beg to differ ... The single most important aspect is 'recruitment'. If this is done right the pain of 'trainability' is taken away.

His statement about HIS employees in Srilanka being 200% slower reiterates this and in no way should be attributed to employees in the BPO industry across other successful organisations in the industry, some of which have operations in India and other countries

1. Mel Gunawardena Jul 04
I am very disappointed with Lanka Business Online on publishing this article with an inaccurate heading and negative publicity to Sri Lanka's BPO industry. The title should have stated that "Quatro Pro's Sri Lanka unit productivity low" instead of "Sri Lanka Unit productivity low."

Clearly, this is an internal business unit issue and not a general reflection of Sri Lanka's BPO industry. Mr. Rao may be the father of Inida's BPO industry and we appreciate his foray to Sri Lanka. However, his statement saying that Sri Lanka should focus on the accounting BPO market and not compete with India in other markets is ludicrous and unsubstantiated.

Sri Lanka may not have a mature BPO industry as yet, but will make massive strides in the years to come will be a threat India’sBPO market very soon. I am a Sri Lankan born US Citizen and the CEO of a US Based Healthcare BPO. Our operations in Sri Lanka has over 180 highly productive employees.

If LBO wishes to provide a more realistic view of the BPO productivity in Sri Lanka, please contact me or any of the other CEO’s of successfully run Sri Lanka based BPO’s and publish their comments.