Human Resource Challenges at BigPond - Case Study Example

Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : xxxxxxxxxxx Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx @2015 Executive summary BigPond is an Australian company offering broadband services to consumers within this market. In the recent past, it has noted a drastic increase the in its operational costs. Various attempts to trim these costs have not been successful. As a result, it has embarked upon a mission to set up an offshore help desk for its clients in India. This country has lower wages in comparison to Australia and is a prefer destination by other companies faced with similar problems. It hopes the resulting cost savings in wages will finally address the issue. However, this report has identified various challenges that could accompany this strategy. They include diversity, connectivity issues, low customer satisfaction levels, job exportation, labor malpractices, and language barriers. However, this should not deter the company from undertaking this strategy as the benefits more than outweigh the disadvantages. The report makes recommendations that can address these issues. They include diversity studies, effective employee training, corporate social responsibility, and compliance with labor regulations in both markets. Table of Contents Executive summary 2 Introduction 3 Cultural conflict 4 Mother tongue influence 4 Low levels of customer satisfaction 5 Exporting jobs 5 Sweatshops 6 Increased costs and inconveniences 7 Recommendations 7 Diversity studies 7 Extensive training 8 Reliable support companies 9 Compliance with labor regulations 9 Aggressive awareness campaign and social responsibility 9 Conclusion 10 Bibliography 11 Introduction Most companies in Australia among other developed economies now prefer to set up or outsource operations to emerging economies. These emerging countries, especially those in Asia, have comparatively lower wage rates and could provide the much needed cost savings on operations. BigPond has decided to follow in the footsteps of the pioneers of this trend. It aims at setting up an offshore help desk for the consumers of its broadband service. After deliberations, the top executives settled upon India as the best destination for the offshore help desk. In addition to its low wage rate, most citizens have remarkable familiarity of English despite the fact that it is not their first language. This report seeks to highlight the possible human resource challenges it could experience before passing recommendations on how they can be addressed. Cultural conflict Setting up operations in a foreign country requires more than the possession of huge financial resources. It places an organization in a tricky situation where it has to operate in a totally different environment. Therefore, an organization needs to have familiarity of the domestic situation. It will require an in-depth awareness of the social and cultural factors that could influence employee behavior (Ross-Gordon & Brooks, 2004). In the absence of this conflicts will always emerge at the workplace as various employees from Australia and India interact with one another. Employees from either background could clash with colleagues as a result of differences in their intuitions. This could be deliberate or innocent depending how well the employees understand each other’s backgrounds. In such a workplace, organization unity is severely hampered and it could lead to a situation where conflicts stand in way of attaining goals and objectives. Mother tongue influence The help desks will be addressing customer queries in English either online or via telephone. Problems could arise when mother tongue influences or accents come into play in the course of undertaking this task. Even though they communicate fairly well in English, it does not help the fact that English is mainly a second language for most Indians. As a result, customers could experience difficulties in understanding the employees in the case of telephone conversations. The first language influence or foreign accents could come in the way from time to time (Sridhar, 1989). In the case of online written interactions, problems could arise due to differences in the meanings of certain words. An English word in Australia could have a totally different meaning in India. Low levels of customer satisfaction Help desks are in place to assist customers in the course of utilizing a company's product or service. In most cases, the problems customers face will result mainly from unique issues that are beyond ordinary comprehension (Bennett and Rundle-Tiele, 2004). Some of these issues are ones which only an Australian can understand. Their solutions extend beyond the laid down procedures. That is why employees to be dispatched to the help desks need to be in touch with the reality of the customers’ situations. A foreign employee stands very little chances in understanding such unique issues. They will be relying strictly on the manual for addressing consumer queries. As result, there will be prescribing solutions as directed in the manual which fail to incorporate these unique problems. The end result could be low levels of customer satisfaction. Exporting jobs In the past, very few consumers were aware that companies in the developed world all across the world outsourced some of their operations. The companies made them believe they were interacting with officials based in Australia. However, this changed drastically when the information leaked. Most consumers now understand that some of the help desk employees are located in third world countries. Such a strategy could paint the company in bad light with customers. This is especially due to the growing concerns that companies are exporting jobs that locals can undertake to growing economies mostly in Asia. Developed countries such as Australia face problems with increasing levels of youth unemployment. They have attained economic saturation which implies a small rate of creation of new jobs in the economy (Nam et al, 2014). In fact, there has been an increase in the number of activists out to convince companies not to engage in such outsourcing initiatives to address this problem. Some even go to the extent of engaging in campaigns aimed at soiling the reputation of companies that refuse to do away with the practice. As a result, BigPond risks its reputation. Consumers could identify it as among the culprits. They could follow the directive from activists urging consumers to boycott products from such companies. Sweatshops India is an attractive destination for outsourcing due to its low wage rate. This factor augurs well for the trimming of operational costs which is every company's dream. However, these companies outsourcing operations to Asia have recently gained the reputation of abusing the hospitality of such nations. They take advantage of the laxity of labor laws in India to engage in malpractices that they normally would not have back in Australia. Some opt to underpay the workers or make them work longer than the stipulated hours in unsuitable environments (Bartley & Child, 2014). Such offshore outfits have been termed sweatshops to symbolize the exploitation of foreign workers. BigPond could also be tempted to do so since it can easily get away with such practices in India. While such practices may afford the company the much desired cost savings, it could put it in collision with labor regulations in Australia. The government requires organizations to fully comply with labor regulations even in foreign lands. As a result, it could receive hefty fines or worse see its certificate withdrawn. Furthermore, the foreign employees could identify the company as an irresponsible entity out to maximize its interests at their own expense. They could grudgingly undertake their allocated roles which is a recipe for low productivity. Increased costs and inconveniences The offshore help desk will rely on international connections between networks to facilitate interactions between the customers and employees. Normally, this costs more as compared to connections in the domestic networks. BigPond could experience a situation where it makes savings on the wage rates but incur more costs in the interconnectivity. What is more, the international networks are not as reliable as those in Australia. It could experience constant disruption of services especially from the domestic network in India (Adriaan & Roelfsema, 2013). The offshore help desk could be out of service during such cases leaving the customers unattended. Furthermore, increased costs could be as result of extensive training required to accustom the foreign employees to customers. This is in relation to the Australia employees who need little or no training at all beyond the functions of the help desks. Recommendations Diversity studies The decision to set up operations in India will present challenges that come with a diverse workforce. However, this should not be allowed to interfere with organization unity. The world is fast transforming into a global village where employees from diverse backgrounds work side by side as a result of globalization. In order to address this issue requires organizations to undertake diversity studies. These studies will equip all employees with skills to get along with one another. The aim of the study will be to shed light on the cultural and social factors that determine the behavior of employees (McMahon, 2010). With this information at their fingertips, the employees will be in a position to acknowledge the differences witnessed in the behavior of others from different backgrounds. Extensive training The offshore help desk comprises of tasks that address problems in the Australian market situation. As a result, the training o employees will have to be thorough. In addition to imparting technical skills, it must incorporate initiatives to accustom the Indian employees to the Australian situation. The training must seek to familiarize the employees with factors that influence consumer behavior which the procedures cannot capture fully. In fact, there is need to have exchange programs. However, it might not be possible or economical to have all the Indian employees travel Australia. A more practical approach would be to relocate few Indian employees to work at the head office in Australia for a short duration. At the expiry of this period, they will be required to educate their Indian peers on lessons learnt during their stay in Australia. Should this not be possible, there are always options to have a considerable number of Australia employees working in India for a limited duration to impart necessary knowledge on their colleagues. Reliable support companies The possible interconnection problems should not stand in the way of efficient services. The company needs to weigh on the available options before picking most suitable. In case it chooses to rely on its individual company network, it must make sure to upgrade capacity to support the international connections. If not, it should stick to a reliable service provider with extensive coverage in both India and Australia. However, it should not part with more while relying on the third party service provider. It could go ahead to undertake a cost-benefit analysis to select the economical option in the long run (O'sullivan & McCallig, 2012). Compliance with labor regulations BigPond should not fall the temptation to exploit the foreign workers. It should desist from taking advantage of the laxity of labor laws in India and instead choose to comply like it has done back home (Frank & Frank, 2011). Towards this quest, it needs to fully understand the Indian labor regulations, taking note of the points of divergence from the Australia’s. Care must be exercised to ensure full compliance with the Indian laws. In the event of inconsistencies between the two laws, the company should stick to the Australian regulations. However, it is always free to make enquiries at the Australian diplomatic mission in India to determine the way forward. Aggressive awareness campaign and social responsibility The company will be operating against the backdrop of grumbling Australians offended by companies exporting jobs to foreign markets. Addressing this issue is not going to be an easy task. The only way out is to try and convince leading opinion leaders of the benefits that accompany such strategies. Its point of emphasis should be the cost savings the company will make that will go a long way to keep it afloat in respect to the tough competitive situations back home. These savings will put the company in a better financial position to pay its Australia workforce. It should also argue that the cost savings will keep the company operational. The consumers should not look at the handful jobs it is exporting. They should focus their attention on the bigger picture. This is in terms of the numerous Australians it employs back home whose jobs will be lost in the event it encounters financial challenges and be forced to shut down. Furthermore, it should mount more aggressive social responsibility initiatives (Bong et al, 2015). It should focus on empowering the surrounding community in Australia to salvage its image. This strategy should aim at quelling fears of job loss in the domestic market. Conclusion The decision to set up an offshore help desk in India augurs well for the company's future. It will go a long way to minimize the operational costs for a better financial performance. However, this is not without challenges. It is bound to experience problems resulting diversity, language barriers, connectivity issues, and low customer satisfaction. But this will only occur if does not implement the recommendations. It should make sure to follow the propositions to the letter. Satisfactory implementations of the recommendations will put the company in a better position to enjoy the highlighted benefits. 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Ross-Gordon, J. & Brooks, A., 2004, “Diversity in Human Resource Development and Continuing Professional Education: What Does It Mean for the Workforce, Clients, and Professionals?” Advances in Developing Human Resources, 6(1), pp. 69-85. Read More