Startek, an NYSE-listed BPO company, is exploring the possibility of factoring in the personality traits of employees as part of a transition to a hybrid model of both brick-and-mortar offices and work-from-home option. Startek had taken over the operation of Indian BPO firm Aegis in 2018.

Speaking at Infocom 2020, the flagship event of ABP group, Mario Baddour, global chief operating officer, Startek Inc, said though firms have implemented a work-from-home model, not every employee is thriving at the home environment.

“There is an increase in an awareness of where our team members stand in terms of who is an introvert and who is an extrovert. Based on that we are making assessments on whether these types of employees will continue to work from home or come back to a brick-and-mortar offices as we build the hybrid setup. I think introverts are thriving, they are self learners and like to be at home and we are seeing the performance of that group that we have not seen in the past in a brick-and-mortar environment,” Baddour said while speaking at a session in conversation with Ambarish Dasgupta, senior partner and founder, Intueri Consulting LLP.

Baddour said that remote work requires a significant amount of self motivation for individuals accustomed to 8-9 hours of office work, without the social aspects of working in a team and without a manager to prioritise schedules.

“Extroverts are struggling a bit and we are helping them cope in that setup,” he said, adding video sessions on coping mechanisms and split shifts with breaks in routine to help employees socialise are among some of the solutions the company is considering.

The company is also using technology based solutions available to gauge the mood of the employees throughout the day. “One of the things that we use is a sad face, happy face and neutral face and the employee can click on that in the pop-up screen. This gives us feedback on our different centres and leaders can see the level of mood for each team and each employee and can act on that,” said Baddour.

But critics point out that compartmentalisation of employees based on personality may turn out to be effective in the short run, but cannot constitute a sustainable human resource policy.

“This could be a kind of implicit and even explicit branding of employees and sending such a signal to the larger workforce will be detrimental. Sensitive people will react in a manner that might even be a productivity debilitating shock,” KR Shyam Sundar, professor at XLRI, Jamshedpur, told The Telegraph.