autogenerated
May 26, 2007, 09:26 PM
Lack of managers, not English, plagues RP call centers
First posted 19:15:02 (Mla time) May 22, 2007
Lawrence Casiraya
INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines -- The lack of efficient managers, not English-speaking agents, is a more crucial issue the local call center industry needs to address, according to the head of a local recruitment firm.
Carol Dominguez, president and CEO of John Clements Consultants Inc., believes there is a "more pressing" need for management skills in the country's overall business process outsourcing industry.
Over the last five years, the Philippines has built for itself a niche market in voice-based customer services, with some of the world's largest call center operators establishing offshore operations here.
But as the market matures, industry leaders have often raised the need to keep the supply of English-fluent workers steady.
Compounding the problem is the widely acknowledged industry attrition rate as agents hop from one company to another in search of better pay, if not working conditions.
Based on focus group discussions conducted by John Clements, which provides its services to some of the biggest call center operators, more than 50 percent of respondents cited bad management as a reason for leaving a company.
"There is too much focus on the day-to-day operations of a call center," Dominguez said in an interview. "More than English, there is a lack of leadership and management skills."
She acknowledged, though, that most call centers have in-house training programs for managers and supervisors.
"If that's working, then there would not be any issue about attrition in the industry anymore," she noted.
http://archive.inquirer.net/view.php?db=1&story_id=67384
First posted 19:15:02 (Mla time) May 22, 2007
Lawrence Casiraya
INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines -- The lack of efficient managers, not English-speaking agents, is a more crucial issue the local call center industry needs to address, according to the head of a local recruitment firm.
Carol Dominguez, president and CEO of John Clements Consultants Inc., believes there is a "more pressing" need for management skills in the country's overall business process outsourcing industry.
Over the last five years, the Philippines has built for itself a niche market in voice-based customer services, with some of the world's largest call center operators establishing offshore operations here.
But as the market matures, industry leaders have often raised the need to keep the supply of English-fluent workers steady.
Compounding the problem is the widely acknowledged industry attrition rate as agents hop from one company to another in search of better pay, if not working conditions.
Based on focus group discussions conducted by John Clements, which provides its services to some of the biggest call center operators, more than 50 percent of respondents cited bad management as a reason for leaving a company.
"There is too much focus on the day-to-day operations of a call center," Dominguez said in an interview. "More than English, there is a lack of leadership and management skills."
She acknowledged, though, that most call centers have in-house training programs for managers and supervisors.
"If that's working, then there would not be any issue about attrition in the industry anymore," she noted.
http://archive.inquirer.net/view.php?db=1&story_id=67384