In the wake of the pandemic, the demand for accounting, tax, and offshoring services has skyrocketed significantly resulting in increasing attrition rates. Over the past three years, we have experienced a tripling of our attrition levels.
We are proactively addressing this challenge by implementing a range of policy initiatives outlined on Page No. 34
The current job market heavily favors employees, which means they are presented with numerous opportunities. Unfortunately, we have experienced a concerning trend where some employees leave without honoring the contract. Staff are required to serve the minimum contract period of two years and a two-month notice period, some disregard this.
Offshoring necessitates communication and collaboration with firms and their staff members, often requiring them to work late hours to match US hours. Unfortunately, this can create a work-life imbalance for our staff in India. In the post-pandemic landscape, we have observed that larger firms and the Big 4 have begun offering more flexible work arrangements, including work-from-home options. This has created a challenge for us to maintain a competitive edge in attracting and retaining talent. We have lost 100+ staff members in the last year to the Big 4, and this is one of the primary reasons.
Given the size of our team, it is common for us to encounter instances where staff members take longer than expected to complete tasks that should otherwise require less time
We have observed that when certain staff members receive recognition and praise from our clients, they may become overly complacent and display unprofessional behavior and start violating policies
We encourage our staff members to plan their leaves in advance and communicate their plans with their managers to minimize any potential disruptions to their work. At the same time, we recognize that family events and cultural celebrations are important, and we strive to accommodate our staff members' needs as much as possible.
To address this, we have implemented a policy initiative where the staff member's leaves will be deducted twice after the first instance of taking an unplanned leave
Since English is a second language in India, it is common for individuals to speak with an accent. If there is difficulty understanding a particular aspect of communication, it is entirely acceptable to request clarification from the speaker.
We conduct annual performance appraisals to ensure our staff members are adequately compensated for their hard work and dedication. In the last appraisal cycle, our average salary revision was 53.69%. This year, due to the high demand for talent post-pandemic, we anticipate a minimum of 50% salary revision to maintain our commitment to providing competitive compensation to our staff. We recognize the importance of acknowledging and rewarding our staff for their contributions and ensuring they are well
We have observed a concerning trend where some staff members accept job offers and fail to show up on the scheduled start date or leave abruptly after only a few days of joining. This behavior was not prevalent two years ago. While this is not frequent, it has become a cause for concern.
It has come to our attention that on some occasions, certain members of our extensive staff have engaged in misconduct or provided inaccurate information to clients regarding their work.
We have observed that some of our clients who have formed offshore teams of more than 3-4 individuals tend to experience internal competition, which can hinder their collaborative efforts. While healthy competition can benefit growth, the team members must work together cohesively towards a common goal.
We have recognized that our staff members working on the same floor are exposed to distracting background noise, which can impede their productivity and interaction with clients.
When a client demands that their offshore team work for 20 hours per week, but they also spend 45 minutes to an hour daily in meetings or via Skype chat, it can be an unreasonable demand because it effectively reduces the team's available work hours
Sometimes offshore staff report to multiple onshore team members, and there is no clear hierarchy in place, so offshore staff do not have accountability in reporting and fail to prioritize the task.
This situation arises when there is a prolonged period of time during which the client does not provide any feedback, share any input, or conduct any review meetings. However, suddenly, the client gives feedback that the work does not meet their expectations.
Just like any onshore staff, offshore staff also require training and handholding during and after the onboarding. They also need to understand role expectations.
Sometimes, clients hire level 1 staff members and expect to complete the level 4 or Level 5 work, which is an undesirable and unfulfillable expectation.
As an unmarried employee, working extended hours may not necessarily present a significant hurdle, particularly if familial obligations are not a factor or if loved ones understand and support one's work schedule. However, for unmarried women, additional societal and cultural factors may inhibit their ability to work late hours. Once an individual begins a family, working late shifts or overnight may present further challenges. It is crucial, therefore, to foster a workplace culture that encourages a 2-3 hour overlap for work schedules and grants flexibility to employees who have served with the company for at least a year. Such an approach can significantly promote a healthy work-life balance for employees juggling work and family responsibilities.
We have encountered situations where the onshore team, for some reason or another, has biases toward their offshore counterparts. This may be due to job insecurity or a lack of getting to know their offshore teammates. To mitigate these concerns, we recommend owners and managers educate their teams about how the offshore team is there to support and help grow the firm, not take their jobs.
Having the onshore team members ‘buddy up’ with an offshore team member will reduce these biases and encourage healthy collaboration.
To effectively manage an offshore team, it's crucial for clients to understand that they can't always rely on their onshore staff to provide accurate feedback on the team's performance. While onshore staff can offer valuable insights, they may have a different level of understanding of the offshore team's day-to-day operations. That's why it's important for clients to occasionally get on the ground and personally review the offshore team's performance.
A lack of workflow and tracking creates a lot of blind spots. Workflow and tracking do not mean that you have to have an application to track. In fact, a simple spreadsheet can effectively track the number of tasks, their status, assignees, deadlines, and workflow
Documentation that clarifies which task is assigned to the offshore staff and to track status/progression is good enough
Some of our clients do not revise their fees every few years. If the firm does not revise its fees, it will be impossible for us to revise our staff salaries which will lead to offshore staff attrition
Some clients who have been with us for a long time only give repetitive and monotonous work. The staff member aspires to learn and grow, which they don’t get an opportunity to do because they're limited to completing the same task daily. In fact, one of the primary reasons for attrition is work fatigue
The client hires staff part-time and expects them to work full-time the whole year.
Today, Big 4 and large firms provide four and five weeks of paid vacations and allow work from home. If we do not provide paid time leave, we lose staff members sooner or later.
Some clients limit themselves to just email communication with their offshore team.
One of our clients put forward their requirements, and we provided 23 resumes for consideration. After evaluation, 11 resumes were shortlisted, moving on to the interview stage. However, none succeeded, and the client was still seeking more from the candidate.
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