Considering the phenomenal growth of call center companies, the high attrition rate is the huge problem that these companies are facing. It is the greatest challenge that the Human Resource (HR) Department is encountering and that they need to instill desirability among agents to balance the attrition rate. The HR manager should not only fulfill this responsibility but also find the right kind of people who can keep up the pace with the unique work patterns to this type of industry. This should be given much attention by the management because it gives out wrong impression that the call center is not a stable industry to work for.

The increasing rate of attrition prompted the call center industries' management to take a closer look at the root causes to this problem to ensure the industries' long-term sustainability and growth. According to a survey by the Incoming Calls Management Institute or ICMI, the three major reasons for call center turnover are: better opportunities elsewhere, lack of career development, and repetitive work. In addition to having to work at night, agents experience a fair amount of abuse and racist remarks from overseas customers.

Solutions and strategies have been made since these industries depend heavily on worker supply for the continuing growth of the business. Call center agents are as important as doctors, teachers, or bankers. Without these agents, no one would take the calls at emergency call center lines and save lives, no one would answer the help desk support 24/7 to answer customer's concerns and complaints, or nobody would respond to the live web chat services from the visitors of your website.

Companies should focus more on how to keep their employees happy and satisfied with their work in order to retain them. Good compensation package and benefits are not always the answer to attract applicants to work for your company. Most job seekers look for the sense of stability and security in the company that they are going to work for. When they start building their career, they look for self-improvement, development, and growth within the company. Companies should avoid fast tracked trainings, and instead, offer constant training to help ensure that the employees are fully equipped to do the tasks that are assigned to them. Aside from the high salary rate and constant training, a good and safe working environment should be more than enough to ensure that employees would see a long career in the company. This is very beneficial to the company in the long run.

Successful companies work with their employees to find out what motivates them and then offer incentives to make them aware that their work is being valued. It maybe monetary rewards for achieving set goals, it maybe as simple as verbal recognition for a job well done, gift checks or certificates for hitting the quotas, or by means of developing a skill or career path either within the call center or the organization as a whole. A career in a call center should not just be limited only as an agent but they should also be encouraged to apply for other positions within the company especially for those who have high educational attainment particularly in Information Technology field.

The Call Center industry has been earmarked as the Sunshine industry due to its rapid expansion within the last few years employing hundreds of thousands of people. It is the most looked after company because they offer attractive compensation and good benefits to their employees. The sudden rise of employment rate from these industries help in booming the economy especially in countries like India and Philippines. It also helps in providing a good life to thousands of families. Without the call center industry, there will be no agents who would answer the help desk support 24/7, no one would take the calls at emergency call center lines, or no one would provide customer service to all of the customer's queries and complaints.

Since the emergence of call center industries, the attrition rate is a huge problem that these industries are facing and is increasing every year. Why? Because in the real world, employees leave their jobs because they want a higher salary rate, want a change or better opportunities, hate the working conditions, hate their colleagues, or their spouse gets a better job in another place or country. In call centers the high percentage of females in the workforce adds to the high attrition rate due to the reason that most women leave their job after marriage or because of social pressures caused by irregular working hours in the industry. The fast turnover is very costly and causes huge losses for the company that invested a lot of money upon hiring and during training.

According to some research, the attrition rate in the United States is 50%, nearly 35% in the United Kingdom, 19% in the Philippines, and a whopping 80% in India. The rate continues to grow considering the fast growth of these industries every year. According to a survey by the Incoming Calls Management Institute or ICMI, the biggest reasons for the turnover are:

• Better opportunities outside the organization
• Better opportunities inside the organization
• Repetitive work
• Low pay
• Dislike handling complaints and problems

However, the common reasons are long working hours and monotony of the jobs. These agents are being paid to sit at a desk and talk on the phone all day reading a pre-scripted conversation from the computer, which actually is a fairly stressful job because they are dealing with the public and customer service on a daily basis. These agents receive a fair amount of abuse over the phone and they also have to hit quotas. In India, young people said it is no longer worthwhile going through sleepless nights serving customers halfway around the world because of this stressful job that offers few career advancement. Thus, making them as the country with the highest attrition rate.

In this world of advanced technology, a lot of computer-related works were introduced. These made the jobs easier and accessible even across the country. Hence, many schools and universities are now specializing computer education and information technology since these are the demands of most businesses nowadays.

The advancement of technology through outsourcing have helped a lot of entrepreneurs not just in terms of financial matters but in the quality of services as well, and this is the biggest benefit that one can get while outsourcing their services. That is why Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industries emerged to outsource some of the company's services such as outsourcing event registration, research, and development, to help them maximize their revenue and minimize their expenses. It also helps small or big companies to concentrate more on their core competencies.

The fad about online shopping is very rampant. From tiny jewelries to huge buildings for sale, from laundry shop services to construction services, almost all kinds of foods, beverages, transportation, fashion trends, online education, funeral services, and even human trafficking. Name it and you can Google it. And they are instantly delivered at your doorstep.

Despite the easy access of World Wide Web (WWW), still most people think that placing an order online is not reliable specially when they are being asked to fill up for the bank account or credit card details. They prefer to speak to a live person to place for an order. The confidentiality of bank account or credit card details entered into a data base are sometimes not one hundred percent secured and are easily hacked by some computer wizard. Because of this problem, there are outsourcing companies who are offering service to take orders over the phone. Order taking service companies cater to business merchants and establishments, with special packages that are tailored to their own needs.

Order taking service companies help customers place their orders from website or any other means of advertisement. When a tremendous volume of orders are coming in, these order taking service companies help them answer those calls. Hence, it is very important to speak to a live person when placing for an order to process accurately, to record and facilitate all data securely. This service is commonly used by small to medium sized companies who do not have the capabilities to spend for a 24/7 in house staff to facilitate orders, and who do not want to miss an opportunity for an order when they are not available.

When a customer visits your website or catalog and would like to purchase your product or service, a phone call is usually the customer's preferred method of ordering. When a product or service is advertised on televisions, radios, or billboards, you reach a call center agent who would take your order when you call the toll-free customer service number they provide. Whether you just started out your business or you have been in the industry for quite some time, outsourcing your order taking needs is very cost efficient and can help heighten revenue.

It is imperative for every business to provide their customers a toll-free number to accommodate easier communication. It is not just the best thing to do but it can definitely do a lot for your business. It establishes trust between the company and the customers in a business relationship that may eventually result in repeat purchases. It also allows customers to conveniently call at anytime and anywhere.

Furthermore, it is best to talk to a live person when dealing with businesses even with online companies. Even though online business is now the latest fad, yet, these online merchants still must provide a toll-free customer service number included into their website's contact information column. The easy access of World Wide Web (WWW) may not suffice the needs of the online viewers or the clients once huge problems occur in the midst of business transactions. There are some times in a business transaction when voice communication is the mere solution.

Acquiring a toll-free customer service number is affordable and accessible rather than spending your establishment with expensive Private Branch Exchange (PBX) phone system or fax machines. With toll-free customer service number, you can take calls on your cellphone, at the office, at home, or at the vacation hotel. Since your customers always dial the same toll-free number, they would think that you are always in the office as far as they are concerned.

These toll-free numbers provide call hunting, voice mail, or fax services via email at no extra cost, and you can access your messages and faxes from any internet connection. When it comes to marketing, it can be used to track the effectiveness of your ad campaigns or your latest promotions. It can also project a corporate image and offer local numbers that can also project a local image as well.

When a company is growing and expanding such as call center companies, there is a chance of moving the operations to other places or to other countries because it would increase the productivity and profit. Having a toll-free customer service number will keep up the continuity of business relationship with the customers. Most importantly, when a small accident or a major catastrophe occurs, a forwarded toll-free number is simply directed elsewhere and ensures a seamless experience for your customers.

Christmas is the most awaited season for everybody. It is the best time for families to gather, eat luscious foods, and exchange gifts during Christmas eve. But not with those people who are at a great distance from their families because of work or important business trips. Nevertheless, there are always reasons to celebrate Christmas no matter where you are, maybe alone, and far away from home.

People tend to forget the real essence of Christmas. Apart from expensive gifts and sumptuous dinner, there are other ways to observe and celebrate Christmas in its truest sense even when you are far from home. This usually happens with BPO industries specially with call center companies, because these companies operate 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

Most call center industries do not shut down their operations during holidays because they are customer service companies that answer calls at anytime of the day. A live receptionist answers questions or takes messages from customers who might call on a Christmas day, and might have queries and complains about the product they bought or they received as a gift, or a special service they have been offered as a reward from their employer.

If you happen to be away from home this Christmas, plan ahead on what you are going to do. A lot of Christmas traditions will give you an idea on how to enjoy the holiday season.

• You may visit the nearest church where there are group of people who might be of the same situation as you, and start up a light conversation to see what the evening brings them.
• Ask the people from your office about local Christmas happenings. A colleague might hear about your plight and she or he might invite you over to spend Christmas with them.
• If you love to dine out, ask your friends who are also far from their families and enjoy a sumptuous dinner at a cozy restaurant.
• Visit the local orphanage if there is one and be a volunteer this Christmas. Cheer up the season with less fortunate kids who need families and friends.

Most importantly, stay connected with your family on Christmas eve. Make a call an hour before the clock strikes at 12 midnight, otherwise, the network gets busy when a myriad of people call their love ones on Christmas eve. If not, use the internet and chat with them using the web camera to watch each other as activities are celebrated.

Nov 13, 2010 - marked as another world history for Filipinos on the ring with one of the greatest boxers of the world, Emmanuel Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao. He undoubtedly won his latest fight over Antonio Margarito, a great Mexican boxer as well. It was Manny's eighth-division world championship title. Pacman, as the people fondly call him, is a history maker to win ten world titles in eight different divisions, and to win the lineal championship in four different weight classes. He is currently the World Boxing Council (WBC) -Super Welterweight World Champion and the World Boxing Organization (WBO) – Welterweight World Super Champion. He was named with a lot of titles by athlete critics, famous boxing writers, and several sporting news and boxing websites, for being a phenomenal boxer of all time.

Manny was born and raised from a less fortunate family, whose mother left her husband after finding out that the latter was having an affair with another woman. His mother together with his five siblings had to earn a living, and Manny was working hard selling bread around the neighborhood. He left his family at the age of 14 to seek a better life in another place far away from his hometown because his mother was not making enough money to support all of them. After he left his family, Manny had lived a destitute life and at times he had to sleep on the streets, but he never gave up and continued to work hard to earn a living. It was then he started boxing and made it to the Philippine National Amateur Boxing Team where his room and board were paid for by the government.

Manny completed his elementary education but dropped out of high school due to extreme poverty. Aside from skills and perseverance, poverty is one of the reasons that brought the boxers to the ring. It is a fact that most boxers in the Philippines are not degree holders. Had BPO industries emerged before, these boxers may have been call center agents, because they only need to be proficient in English, and need not to be punched by strong opponents in the ring. If call center companies have not emerged today, there may have been more Filipino boxers, idolizing Manny, how he became famous and a millionaire, from rags to riches.

His fame in boxing brought him to the world of acting and endorsing products. Then he eventually became a recording artist where one of his songs was dedicated to his fellow Filipino people for his triumphant fight with one of the greatest boxing opponents he had. His greatest challenge in life was not in the world of boxing but in public office. He recently ventured into the world of politics and was elected to the House of Representatives in the 15th Congress of the Philippines representing the province of his wife, Jinkee. He is the only professional boxer to become an elected public official and one of the most influential people in the Philippines.

Despite his fame and financial success, Manny still knows how to look back where he came from. During the Christmas season, he personally gives presents to the poor. He also gives over half a million dollars worth of tickets to his childhood friends during his title fights. He simply feels blessed to be able to give back and to help those who were a part of his roots and early suffering.

The cool breeze at night, the sparkling lights everywhere, the bells and mistletoe hanging on the walls, the busy shoppers rushing for holiday sale, the children caroling anywhere, and the music of happy and glee, reminds us that the spirit of Christmas is in the air. For many people, it is the best season of the church year because every family gathers during Christmas eve and exchange their gifts as a traditional way of celebrating the season.

Christmas is a major holiday in most Christian countries. Each of them has their own way of celebrating this season as a part of their culture and tradition. Participating in a religious service plays an important part in the recognition of the season particularly in the Philippines. Even for some countries whose population are mostly non-Christian, they also have a variety of Christmas celebration that is not associated with religion.

In the Philippines, Christmas is the most awaited season of the year. This is because some employed people receive extra remuneration apart from the additional one month pay after a whole year round which is obligatory for all companies. For some companies, they give a basket of goods or a sack of rice as a sign of being thankful to their employees after successful years of working with them. It is common for every Philippine company to administer an annual Christmas party for their employees to enjoy and exchange gifts from one another.

The same thing is true with other companies abroad. They celebrate a delightful Yuletide season as much as the Philippines do. Because gift-giving and many other aspects of the Yuletide season involve economic activity, the season has become a significant event and a key sales period for businesses. This is specially true with telemarketing call centers. The economic impact of this season is a great factor that has substantially grown over the past few centuries.

Since this season is critical to telemarketing call centers, most Philippines call centers do not observe this special holiday because they operate 24/7 and 365 days a year. The Yuletide season is the perfect time for telemarketing call centers to launch their new products and services, or to offer special price for their products or services because of bulk orders. It is a peak season for call center industries and most of their employees celebrate Christmas eve at work because they usually operate in the evening. Unless you are scheduled on a rest day, you are lucky enough to celebrate Christmas eve with your family.

Call center industries are trying to compensate more than what their employees earn with those who are scheduled to work on a Christmas eve. They provide bountiful foods, drinks, and giveaways for free. These companies are somehow breaking the traditional way of celebrating Christmas in the Philippines because they do not observe this holiday but definitely, they are not spoiling the celebration as the whole nation enjoys.

Philippines is one of the largest archipelagos in the world located in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. A country comprising 7,107 islands with Manila as its capital city. The country is categorized broadly into 3 main geographical divisions namely, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. These geographical divisions are comprised of small and large islands with Mindanao as the largest among them. Its population was estimated about 92 million people, making the Philippines as the world's 12th most populous country.

The country contains a myriad of different cultures and influences from the western world rather than from its nearby Asian cultures. Most of these influences are the products of previous colonization from Spain and USA, a little from Japan, and with other influences from Chinese people who migrated to the country.

Philippines is a famous tourism destination for foreigners because of its amazing natural wonders, beautiful beaches, and warm people. The country is known for its glorious beaches, some of which are now preserved for luxury resorts catering world class businessmen and famous people. This helps the Philippine tourism further strengthen its competitive edge not just in the Asia-Pacific region but globally.

The Filipinos are worldly known for their hospitality, for being talented people and hard-working. They are also very courteous specially to the elderly people. It is only in the Philippines where you can hear younger people use special names as a sign of respect to elder people even if they are not closely related by blood.

Philippine tourism started to flourish in the 1970's to the 1980's but somehow started to slow down in the middle of 1980's. One of the major reasons was that the average length of stay of tourists in 1988 decreased because it was at this time when Marcos Administration declared Martial Law. It started in 1990's when signs of faster growth showed up and it is still increasing up to the present time. This gave the Department of Tourism a reason to forecast an affirmative perspective for the future years.

Tourism is one of the engines of economic development in the Philippines. At the start of the 21st century, the net income of tourism in the Philippines totaled to $2.1 billion. The emergence of Business Process Outsourcing or BPO industries, as well as the arising call center industries have also played a fundamental role in the improvement of tourism in the country. Foreign investors from big countries such as USA, UK, Canada, and Australia contributed a huge positive effect in the economy. These foreign businessmen together with their families brought a lot of tourism to the Philippines and employed a lot of Filipino people.

Many of us are not aware of the repercussions of working in a call center company. Being a call center agent is not a simple job. Some people took it lightly as the easiest job nowadays because a bachelor's degree is not a requirement. Nevertheless, if you take a deep look into the real entity of a call center agent, you would realize how arduous and challenging their work can be. Not to mention the health risk that one gets from this nocturnal job and the danger of traveling to the office at night or at wee hours in the dawn.

This type of career is a good opportunity specially for the young professionals. It helped a lot of people in the Philippines, employing 372,000 jobs and contributed $6 billion to the national revenue in the year 2008. However, these companies do not want to admit that employee retention is now a common problem in the call center industry. The commencing salary of the newly hired agents today is getting low, the incentives of a regular agent is disappearing, and the poor mentoring of the basic telecommunication skills to novices, are just some of the issues that these companies are facing. In fact, these companies have gained an attrition rate of 19% according to the Call Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP). This attrition rate indicates that there is a demand of these agents for an increase in the cash component of their remuneration.

The parameters of providing a high salary rate for these agents should be administered by the human resource department, and they should implement necessary measures of setting up a high standard rate. The necessary benefits should be provided by every company in order to avoid future mass resignation and tardiness, and most importantly, to maintain complete daily head counts. The number of agents in a team per day would greatly affect the workforce specially for the commission based projects.

Working at night shuts down the body system of an agent during day time and keeps them alive during sundown. This extraordinary work hours can cause various health problems such as eye strain, voice strain, hearing problems, and musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). The drastic change of one's natural biological clock can also contribute to some health problems such as insomnia and anemia. To compensate for this common health problems the management should provide health care coverage through Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) once these agents become regular employees or when they have tenured for at least 3 months. It is also best to have nurses on duty for 24 hours since these companies operate 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, and a doctor for a regular consultation at least once a week. A daily dose of vitamins maybe supplied and healthy meals should be given rather than cups of coffee to keep them physically fit.