How to go places
S. NAGARAJAN
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The BPO sector offers challenges at the very beginning of one’s career
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Deepa Krishnan, in her mid-twenties, has grown from an officer to senior manager in a span of just 5-6 years. Today she heads a team of over 150 people.
At 27, Padmanabha Rao heads the operations at the 24/7 Customer Guatemala centre. A commerce graduate, he started his career with 24/7 Customer as an agent taking calls. In his seven years of work experience, he has taken up various leadership roles &
#8212; supervisor, member of the operations management team and global leadership positions. As Head of Programme, he was responsible for four different processes and managed a team of over 200 people. He is a certified Six Sigma green belt. He gained his master’s degree in business administration while working with 24/7 Customer.
They are among the lakhs of youngsters in the BPO sector who manage integral operations for their global clients. They take decisions that have a direct impact on their client’s business and provide inputs that add value to their client’s end-customer. The BPO sector offers challenges, including exposure to a global business environment and taking on large mandates, at the very beginning of one’s career.
The Indian IT-BPO industry has contributed significantly to the Indian economy and generates revenues in excess of $ 100 billion. It has been clocking a growth rate of 40-45 per cent every year.
This huge demand is not only for customer service-related functions, but also in areas such as finance and accounting, medical transcription, research and analysis, human resource management, and legal services.
For an entry-level job in a BPO, the personal skills of an individual are more valuable than academic qualifications. Majority of the leading BPO companies prefer to recruit graduates from any stream (science/commerce/arts or engineering) for these entry-level positions.
Since the Indian BPO industry predominantly caters to the U.S. and European markets, it is imperative for a BPO aspirant to have good verbal and written communications skills in English. Good interpersonal skills are also invaluable while interacting with customers.
For work profiles involving research and analysis, qualities such as an eye for detail, ability for number crunching and analysis are important. Depending on one’s aptitude, there are ample opportunities in training and business development as well.
This industry also provides the opportunity to get trained and work in a global business environment. BPO professionals gain knowledge about international products, business transactions in varied industries, and know the pulse of consumer behaviour in different geographies.
Training
Once an aspirant joins a BPO, the organisation provides him various levels of training. The nature of training evolves with the employee’s career growth in the organisation.
The first step is the foundation level training. New recruits are trained in business communication, computing and typing, customer service, telemarketing, trouble shooting, accent neutralisation (in case of voice-based processes) and culture sensitisation. On completion of the training, their skill-sets are assessed and they are deployed to different profiles, based on their strengths and capabilities.
Career path
From the time the individual joins as a trainee, his/her performance is constantly reviewed. For example, in a voice-based process, calls handled by the customer service representative are regularly monitored and feedback is given on a daily basis. Each process also has an individual assessment and appraisal at fixed intervals.
Generally, if a customer service representative consistently out-performs on the job for more than a year, he/she is eligible for promotion to become a team-leader. In this capacity, he/she will need to mentor and lead a team of 10-25 members and manage the process as well as assume responsibility for key deliverables, client satisfaction and profit & loss.
After proving oneself as an able team leader, the next step in the career growth ladder would be the manager of a process or training or quality, or any other support function. Typically, a top-performing individual who continues to grow in the company could be promoted as head of process and then as head of the overall operations, over a period. The individual’s personal aspirations and emotional intelligence are also taken into consideration while chalking out the long-term career path of the individual.
In case an employee wants to change his/her job profile, opportunities are available for lateral movement within programmes or departments. Based on aspiration and availability, the employee can work in departments such as marketing, human resources, training and administration or even in a different process/programme.
(The author is co-founder and Chief People Officer, 24/7 Customer)
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