What are the common challenges and solutions for HR in BPO?
The business process outsourcing (BPO) sector is one of the industries with the fastest growth rates. With this growth also comes the need for faster payroll and overall human resource management. This is where payroll solutions and services come in.
Usually, outsourcing entails contracting out your company’s operations to a foreign or domestic third party. This risk mitigation and cost advantage is especially helpful for the BPO industry’s fast development.
However, the intense competition in this field and the market’s rapid growth present specific challenges for HR BPO management. Highly demanding customers, limited budgets, erratic work schedules, and satisfaction are just a few of the challenges this industry must deal with.
Below, we’ve outlined a few of the usual challenges and their respective solutions for the BPO or human resource outsourcing industry.
What are the most challenging tasks of HR in BPO?
HRs in the business process outsourcing industry must overcome many challenges and think of solutions daily. Here is an overview of some typical issues that HRs in the BPO industry encounter:
Surpassing client expectations
Ensuring 100% satisfaction has always been a challenge for all HR business process outsourcing organizations. Customer expectations have risen dramatically due to social media platforms and improved market competition, which presents a significant challenge for the HR BPO sector.
Budget limitations
Budget is one of the biggest problems that HRs in BPO companies face. Customers often want outsourcing companies to deliver the most remarkable results at the lowest possible expense. As such, HRs are compelled to make the most of these scarce resources.
Health issues
The majority of HR in outsourcing firms are dispersed across many time zones. In this case, most of them have to work in graveyard shifts so that their resources could be accessible at all hours. In this case, employees may experience serious health issues, which would significantly lower their productivity.
Client attrition
HRs could get an agreement at any time throughout the project only for them to hand over the work to another company for various reasons. The price of such an abrupt business termination can be extremely high and can impact most HR BPO companies.
Talent shortage
Finding the correct talented people to work in the sector is one of the biggest hurdles in HR business process outsourcing recruitment. Based on a recent survey, only a small percentage of graduates are genuinely qualified and prepared to work in the BPO industry.
Brand equity
The HR professional has a vital job to do: brand building. One of the typical problems facing HR managers is this.
When they leave the company, they are the ambassadors since they are supposed to give proper training and a pleasant working environment. If employees are dissatisfied, it is simple for this to result in lousy word-of-mouth, which lowers brand equity.
Frequent interruptions
Interruptions to the various processes could be caused by call traffic management, a bad internet connection, slurred phone lines, power outages, etc.
HR BPO companies typically operate on a round-the-clock schedule and are required to be accessible at all times. Such disruptions can be costly for businesses and difficult for the sector.
Communication channels
Over the years, significant growth in the number of communication channels has occurred. In addition to the typical calls and emails, people now use social media platforms to communicate.
Choosing which channel to focus on when communicating with their clients proves to be pretty tricky for HR BPO companies.
Related: How automated HR can help Philippine SMEs
How to overcome these HR business process outsourcing challenges?
Using precise definition of work areas
Try these strategies to go above and beyond clients’ expectations:
- Know the reasons customers contact you
Knowing why customers contact you in the first place is essential when attempting to go above and beyond their expectations. Give consumers options like guiding them to website FAQs or creating training materials so they can quickly find the answers independently, saving time and money for both parties.
- Be proactive rather than reactive.
The most effective way to stand out from the competition is to contact your clients before they can complain. It develops not just loyalty but also trust over many years.
- Taking unexpected action
Making your customers feel valued by doing the unexpected is a great strategy. Always strive to perform better and complete more jobs in less time.
- Educate customers about your technology.
It can be challenging to convey the technology to customers because they want things done quickly and smoothly. Which approach is the most effective in this situation? Make sure clients comprehend the first time, and they’ll leave feeling content because you won’t need to repeat yourself or your company’s regulations.
- Develop uniformity throughout the channels.
Once remote or in-house teams can access complex workflows, they can provide clients with exceptional customer support.
Provide success-driven prices
Budgetary limitations may force HR staff to reduce hiring and increase productivity incentives. Doing so allows you to use fewer resources while paying your current employees reasonably effectively.
To guarantee that employees’ requirements are met, the HR department may sometimes need to suggest budget changes.
Create a health-conscious environment
BPO workers face several health concerns due to the demanding nature of their work. Graveyard shifts disrupt their work-life balance.
Time zone differences can impact their psychological health. It forces individuals to adopt bad habits that, over time, may seriously harm their health.
Headaches, weariness, eye strain, back discomfort, and voice issues are prevalent for call center employees. However, most agents are unaware that these could be signs of more serious health problems.
Encouragement of healthy literacy among employees is crucial for this reason. Encourage appropriate eating habits to improve well-being and health.
Improve client experience
One of the most crucial considerations when selecting a BPO is the customer experience. The top BPO providers can boost first-call resolutions, lower onsite service calls, and increase repeat business.
Improve talent management
- Develop initiatives to enhance strengths
Employees can be given more productive and satisfying jobs when HR is aware of their strengths. This knowledge can improve performance and foster productive workplaces where employees like coming to work.
- Increasing the applicants’ diversity
Although some individuals might believe that diversity is solely important for the creative industries, diversity has many advantages.
Because they will have a wide range of experiences with varied backgrounds at work every day, a diverse workforce can result in better business decisions. Diversity in the workforce also provides HR with new ideas and perspectives.
- Recognize talent in the workforce.
There is a reason why many businesses invest so much time and energy in finding and nurturing their top workers. Better managerial careers and more detailed succession planning are the results when those executives retire or opt to leave the company entirely.
Create problem-focused, data-driven, and customer-driven strategies
With new technologies being developed daily, the business world is always changing. As a result, HR BPO companies must be receptive to technological advances to thrive and expand in this constantly shifting industry.
The following are the leading technology trends now assisting BPO companies:
- Cloud Communication
- Artificial Intelligence
- Vocal Recognition
- Consumer Journey Mapping
- Data Analysis and Management
- Social Media Tools
Choose the best communication channels that suit your company’s needs
Digital communication channels have become much more common and used in the workplace.
Companies must develop innovative strategies to keep their remote and non-wired employees informed, connected, and productive as more and more employees are physically dispersed and separated. Most of them understand, though, that email is not sufficient for communication.
Employers must instead adopt more contemporary communication tools and channels that are intuitive, user-friendly, and mobile-first and that resemble the apps that employees frequently use in their personal life.
Here are the most popular communication channels to take into account:
- Project management tools
- Private messaging software
- Video conferencing software
- Internal social media
Take Away
HR professionals are among the most essential employees of a BPO outsourcing company. They play a crucial role in a long-lasting and successful activity and the required workforce.
However, the BPO industry has some distinct HR outsourcing challenges. The high staff turnover rates, enhancing the work environment, assessing productivity, and compliance are a few of these issues.
With the abovementioned information, BPO firms and HR professionals can better understand and address challenges immediately.
Sick of the challenges and want to streamline your BPO work?
Simplify your business processes in one dashboard! eezi Analytics collects real-time data and delivers it intuitively and user-friendly. This helps you with the payroll and benefits administration, tax administration, performance management, and other HR administration work in one dashboard while tracking real-time attendance.