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The descent of the accent

As the BPO industry booms, NANDINI NAIR finds out how Indians are learning to speak in a global voice

PHOTO: SHAJU JOHN

VOICE CULTURE BPOs are adopting specialised training methodologies to help employees deal with international clients

Assimilation, and not imitation, is prompting Indian BPO workers to discard their disguises. Indian call centre and BPO workers used to hide behind foreign accents, undisclosed locations and anglicised names. But today `global' English or `neutral' accents are the norm. And when foreign callers discover the agent is Indian, they are often more interested than incensed.

A lady from America asks how she can send money for tsunami relief. A man from Canada speaks for two hours on everything from rajma-chawal to the sari. Kalpagam will still become Kay. Urvashi might become Hazel, but clients have started to accept Indian agents. They want a service and we know how to deliver.

Training

Yet with communication skills, language and exposure remaining the keys to success in this business, specialised training methodologies are necessary to meet the demand.

It is urban knowledge that employees at call centres often receive racist and profane comments. But BPO employers and employees find the problem is decreasing.

Atul Mehrotra, President, Baxy Infosol (a leading BPO), says, "It was a big issue, but today it is fading."

Gopal, who worked with Allsec Technologies, says, "Five out of a hundred callers might be rude." Alex of WIPRO Spectramind puts it at five calls in a week.

Urvashi, formerly with GE, found she could allay initial suspicions. "People in the U.K. have the mindset that we in India are less educated, but we know this and can convince them of a different picture."

Uma K. Raman, DGM, Corporate Training of HCL says the hostility "is more individual specific and not country specific."

The decreasing hostility might be because of enhanced training. American twangs or British twists are now passé. Today all schools and BPOs focus on `accent neutralisation', which can be universally understood. Corruptions in tense and grammar and mother-tongue inflections are corrected. Trainees are told to reduce the rate of their speech from the Indian rate of around 180 words a minute to the standard U.S. rate of 120 words a minute.

Raman explains some of the methodologies used to teach English. The different learning styles are visual, auditory and kinaesthetic, where trainees learn by actually performing an activity rather than merely listening to it. HCL also follows the Dale's Cone of experience. According to this, learners retain 90 per cent of what they `do' as opposed to what is heard, read or observed.

Formulae

Ritu Verma, Assistant Manager - HR and Training at Akiko Sherman Infotech (a BPO training Institute), says she teaches English the "scientific way", jotting down a formula. "Subject plus 1st form of verb plus Object". She makes her class memorise 48 such "sentence formulae".

Hero Mindmine is a premier call centre training company with 60 centres nationally. Asheesh Gupta, Business Head of the company, says the "methodology is experimental," using "sophisticated speech recognition-based programs."

But it's not all dry theory. Gopal says, "Training is the best period of one's career."

Games include deciphering words and conversations over blaring music and raucous disturbances.

Kirti Seth, COO of Evolv, a communication and soft skills training company, explains, "Cultural training is very fundamental, as language is the most visible manifestation of culture."

All BPOs and training institutes have cultural modules. At HCL, trainees are taught international cultural values, which include business values, personal values, and geography. Raman says at HCL they are told not to address clients as `Sir', since "most Westerners find this subservient." It also refers to knighthood in the U.K., "so when used inappropriately can be offensive."

Jyoti Balakrishnan, Senior Trainer at Evolv, however warns, "Americans are very professional," and one risks offending them with, "Sam you are late with your payments." She advises that clients always be addressed by their surnames.

Common bloopers

Despite the enhanced training, confusions still arise. Seth says a common "cultural boo-boo" is when American callers say, "My mother kicked the bucket recently," and instead of conveying their condolences, Indian agents reply, "Oh my god, I hope she didn't hurt her foot."

Vinod of Sutherland Global Services says Americans are often insulted when told, "Mr. Smith, look at the `backside' of the computer."

`Values in U.K.', a module taught at Akiko, cautions students that "British Christians drink" and that this should be accepted as a cultural difference rather than a moral failing.

The reason aspirants and trainees need to be taught the culture of various countries is, as Seth says, "language is so culture-dependent. Only through culture can we understand the nuances and concepts of language."

Trainees need to know the geography of America to understand that it has three time zones. Different tax rates will make sense only if trainees know the federal structure of the U.S.

As Mehrotra of Baxy Infosol says, "The person at a call centre is replicating the client (its business partner)."

This `replication' is more successful today not through cloning but through a cultivated confidence and a deeper understanding.

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