Date:15/09/2004 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2004/09/15/stories/2004091501820700.htm

Back MeriTrac hiring process for BPOs `to reduce cost'

Anjali Prayag

Bangalore , Sept. 14

IN the BPO sector that is witnessing 45 to 60 per cent attrition rate and a 4-per cent conversion rate in the hiring process, there is a need for a more stringent way of hiring talent.

Mr Madan Padaki, Director, Business Development, MeriTrac Services, believes the answer lies in Recruitment Process Outsourcing. "This not only gives a better candidate-company fit but also reduces the hiring cost by more than 20 per cent," according to Mr Padaki.

Explaining the process of RPO, Mr Padaki says MeriTrac is in a space hitherto non-existent. "We are a skills assessment organisation and offer the entire suite of services in the area." Currently, Bangalore-based MeriTrac is offering this service to over 75 IT and BPO companies for recruitment of employees in the 0-5 years' experience category.

The benefits of RPO is that it helps companies replace the fixed recruitment costs with a flexible `pay-for-performance' model that employs recruitment rupees more efficiently. Apart from this it gives them better quality of employees because MeriTrac's tests are standardised and endorsed across the IT and ITES industries, says Mr Padaki.

"We internalised a lot and developed our own battery of tests as none of the existing tests are suited for the Indian marketplace," adds Mr Padaki. MeriTrac has over a 100 tests in its repertoire now. Explaining the different areas where RPO can give company an edge, Mr Padaki says this standardised process ensures consistency of quality, does scientific testing of the candidates' abilities (communication skills, cognitive skills, domain skills, technical knowledge) and does all this in the budgeted time frame.

MeriTrac is a four-year-old company, with offices in 60 locations and has assessed about four lakh candidates. "And as the IT/ITES industry is booming now, we need to have checks and balances in place when it comes to recruitment," cautions Mr Padaki.