Dell, India: Refuses to honor job offer
By Sathya Prasad K

As soon as one utters the word Call Centre or Contact Centre in India, the first thing that comes to the mind of most people are high salaries, luxurious offices, sometimes monotonous jobs,   inculcating aspects of the western culture and  Agents switching jobs at the drop of an hat.  Then there is the ugly side of jobs being offered and then pulled back without any notice.

Meet Mr. Bharanidharan from Bangalore whose life has been turned upside down in such an incident. He was working for prestigious HSBC Call centre as Assistant Manager – Operations (AMO) for a solid, stable stint of 7 years.  Like many of his colleagues keen to grow and prosper, Mr. Bharanidharan began to apply for jobs with similar kind of position and started attending interviews with different companies. . It seemed to be one of life’s happiest moments for him one day, when he received a mail from one of the BPO Giants – Dell, India. The Offer letter was sent to him as a soft copy at his e-mail address. He did a number of interviews with the HR Department of Dell, and finally succeeded. Dell, India offered him the position of Senior Team Manager.

When he went to Dell offices in Bangalore, where the position was offered, he learnt that DELL would not take him on board till like other successful candidates he had completed his notice period with his current employer HSBC.  Unfortunately, his current employer HSBC has a strict rule that any resigning employee has to serve a term of 3 months as notice period.  Any HSBC employee can waive this notice period by paying 3 month salary to ensure an early exit.

Like every successful middle-class Indian, Mr. Bharanidharan, had already made several financial commitments towards his family and was not in a position to pay such a huge amount at one shot and quit the HSBC job to join Dell.  And the HR personnel of Dell, Bangalore, advised him to complete his full three months notice period with HSBC and then join Dell, as he was already selected.  Dell assured him that there was nothing to worry about and that they were happy to wait for him for 3 months.  Mr. Bharanidharan breathed a sigh of relief and returned home happily.

Ever since, he was in regular touch with the Dell HR People and had been talking to them over phone and requested them to keep him posted on any changes.  Dell HR told him they appreciated his calls and of being in touch with them.  Finally, the day of his 3 month completion in HSBC arrived. Mr. Bharanidharan, happily said a “cya” to all his HSBC Colleagues, but, what happened later was a real surprise to Mr. Bharni and it was more shocking to his family members.

Mr. Bharanidharan was given an offer letter but no revised joining date by Dell.  Telephonic conversations with Dell gave the impression that his entry day to Dell would be finalized soon.   There was another surprise heading his way.  Dell HR Manager, Lakshmi Toshniwal, who has co-ordinated his job offer, had quit the company and he was not informed or communicated about her leaving Dell.  Every time Mr. Bharanidharan rang,   he was given an impression that Lakshmi Toshniwal was still with Dell.  He was told Lakshmi was on leave, she is on a break or in a meeting. 

It has been more than 5 months now and still he hasn’t heard anything about his job or joining date. Mr. Bharanidharan has been communicating with a number of HR officials like Vinod, Shilpa Chawla, Lakshmi Toshniwal and others since he was meant to join, but in vain.

What worries Mr. Bharanidharan is, the hardships of living in an expensive city like Bangalore, having being unemployed for 5 consecutive months. His personal finances and morale are sinking low.  The run around by Dell has added to his trauma.

Dell is world leader with a reputation for good computers, customer service and professionalism. In India, it has been popular for its employer-friendly policies.  But Dell, India has badly tripped up in this case and should have extended the courtesy of updating Mr. Bharanidharan on any change in the status of his job offer.  In that case,   Mr. Bharanidharan may have extended his notice period with HSBC or he might have even taken back his resignation papers.

What will Dell, India now do to right a wrong?

(For feedback, contact me at sathya@journalist.com)

Techgoss note:  We are in possession of documents that back up the facts in the story.