India still popular with Lloyds TSB

Financial services giant Lloyds TSB plans to outsource its HR functions to India so that it can focus on enhancing the underlying IT platform.

The bank has signed a five-year business process outsourcing (BPO) deal with technology and outsourcing company Xansa, which will include the development, hosting and support of new recruitment and management information platforms.

It claims the (BPO) move, which also covers administration, training helpdesks and recruitment, will ensure that UK HR staff can focus on other value-added activities such as policy guidance and face-to-face support.

Lloyds TSB already had outsourcing deals with Xansa in a number of other areas and is a firm fan of the offshore model.

"Lloyds TSB Group has a very active onshore outsourcing program, across a range of UK-based vendors and processes," said Richard Stockdale, chief executive of Lloyds TSB Global Services in an interview with Indian communications publication Voice and Data.

"This is an area where we are particularly experienced. As far as offshoring is concerned, India has been our only destination to date. Although, naturally we review all alternatives on an ongoing basis, we currently have no plans outside of the Indian market"

This latest project to transform HR processes will be supported by 150 staff based in Xansa's offshore delivery centres.

Other companies share Lloyds TSB's fondness for offshoring work to India, including Orange. The mobile phone giant's decision last month to close one of its call centres and increase employee headcount in India was blasted by union officials.

Recent research from Booz Allen Hamilton for the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) suggested that India could replicate its current offshore success in the engineering services market.

However, the same report also warned that the country faces hefty competition from its Eastern European counterparts.

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