Daksh eServices, the fastest growing business process outsourcing services provider in India, was adjudged the most satisfying employer in the BPO sector.

A survey conducted by Dataquest-IDC found that the satisfaction level of the BPO industry workers rose nine per cent in 2004 compared to 2003 despite a 45 per cent growth in employee base.

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The survey, which was based on interviews with 462 workers, also found that 'salary' replaced 'higher education' as the top reason for attrition.

The work timings and commute time were found to be the top stress factors, according to the BPO E-Sat (employees satisfaction) Survey 2004.

It also found that "BPO agents continue to be happier that IT professionals."

High growth in business and employee base is often accompanied by workers' dissatisfaction, "but the $4 billion BPO services industry in India has managed to defy this equation," the survey said.

The industry averaged an E-Sat score of 80.7, a growth of nine per cent over the previous year.

Daksh with E-Sat score of 91.6 emerged as the top employer in terms of overall employee satisfaction, followed by ISeva (88.8), ICICI OneSource (88.6), Efunds (88.0), and Hinduja TMT (86.3). Daksh was ranked fifth in 2003.

The five largest companies in the survey averaged a satisfaction score of 85, versus the industry average of 81, while the smaller companies stayed in the 70s.

The size of the companies does matter as large firms have shown higher growth and also managed to keep employees happier, the survey showed.

The survey found that Daksh eServices, recently acquired by IBM, emerged at the top in terms of employees' cost to company, and yet it ranked low on employee satisfaction with salaries.

Despite that, the employees showed a very high overall satisfaction level because the company scored well in parameters like training, appraisal methods, company culture and company image.