The monthly disco night had become a predictable event at Bangalore-based medical transcription firm Spheris. The cafeteria turned into a dance floor and a few people came to shake a leg.

Last month, Manoj Kumar, head of Spheris’ fun team, decided to add a twist to it. He brought in the best disc jockey and organised lights and smoke machines. Also, the invitation sent to employees didn’t read the same. “We sent a mail inviting employees to a Dard-e-disco night,” says Kumar. The evening was a runaway hit, with 500 people attending the event.

Kumar takes his job of being a fun officer seriously. He always tries to add out-of-the-box twists to recreational activities at Spheris. “Being a fun officer needs creativity and confidence to conduct impromptu events on the floor,” he says.

With high stress levels becoming common in India’s business process outsourcing (BPO) firms, a fun officer is becoming a much needed stress doctor at the work place. “BPO companies have a high stress work environment. Employees have to work 9-10 hours a day, maintain quality and meet production deadlines. So a fun officer is brought in to introduce stress busters in office,” says Surya V. Ciryam, head, human resources (HR), Spheris. The company created the role of a chief fun officer (CFO) seven years ago.

Hiring fun officers has become a fad in the call centre industry, says an executive at a Bangalore-based BPO recruitment agency. “Almost every BPO company in India has a fun officer, a fun team or has a part of its HR team looking after the recreational interests of employees,” says the recruitment executive. Fun officers are in big demand, he adds.

The job of the fun officer is to ensure that tomorrow is not just another day at work. Spheris has dispensed with the CFO and has a full-fledged fun team, with five members, working on keeping the office environment enjoyable. To select the head of the fun team, the company floated an internal advertisement three years ago, seeking a suitable fun officer. Manoj Kumar, who was working as a recruitment officer at Spheris, decided to apply for the job. “Being a fun officer needs co-ordination, creativity and communication skills. I felt I had a knack for the job,” says Kumar. He bagged the post.

Having fun in office

Kumar says he’s put his creativity to full use. “I’ve organised dumb charades and quiz competitions. I’ve also initiated an in-house Indian Idol contest, organised disco nights and started dart games and putting (golf) in office,” he says.

Fun is serious business. “The company’s fun-at-work quotient is measured every month. Points are given for each event, based on employee feedback,” says Kumar. To meet a monthly target of 275 points, the Spheris fun team has to organise a minimum of three events, and ensure that attendance is high in each.

Sreejith K.G., CFO, Infosys BPO, feels an event management background helps make one good at this job. The Infosys CFO is currently in the thick of organising the company’s Family Day event, with 4,000 guests expected to attend.

Fun is high on the agenda at Infosys BPO. Two mega events are held every month. “Besides, every Friday there is a fun-on-the-floor event, comprising interesting games,” says Sreejith. The Infosys CFO feels a fun officer should “have good interpersonal skills as he has to work with people”.

While hiring a fun officer, companies look for a PG degree in human resources. Besides, during the interview, the prospective fun officer’s ability to conduct events, speaking skills, impromptu fun quotient and ability to build a tempo among people around him is judged.

At Hyderabad-based Nipuna Services Limited — the BPO arm of software firm Satyam — the CFO is in charge of keeping the work place lively. “He just has to keep the employees happy,” says Kulwinder Singh, head, global marketing and communications. “The qualities we look for in a CFO are an ability to motivate employees, organise fun activities and possess event management skills,” says Singh.

Handling the fun department in a BPO gives HR executives an extra skill-set. Spheris’ Manoj Kumar says, “The fun officer is always in the limelight because he is involved in attrition control. Companies try to keep the fun officer happy.” A fun officer’s salary is equivalent to that of an HR manager in a BPO, which is around Rs 6-7 lakh per annum.

Chennai-based BPO Ajuba Solutions has formed a special team, Icon — short for Internal Communications Network — to keep the company’s fun quotient high. “The team has people from HR, corporate communications and marketing working on it,” says Smita Venkataraman, senior manager, HR, Ajuba Solutions. Besides the regular activities, the team has helped Ajuba employees participate in reality shows on Chennai’s local Vijay TV channel.

Clearly, the role of a CFO has become a key to keeping BPO employees happy. “Most BPO employees work at night, which means they don’t have a life outside work. So companies also have in-house recreation,” says Spheris’ Kumar.

Also, with high attrition levels in the BPO industry, companies are going all out to keep employees on board. He adds that with the average employee age in BPOs being 25-26 years, the work place has to become an extension of the college campus.