Just a Call Center? HELL NO!
Liesl Jacobs-Smith
Vice President | Talent Acquisition | HR | Comp & Bens | CapeBPO Advisory Board | Ambassador at BossBabes of South Africa
When people ask me what I do, my go to answer is that I enable, youth in our country to get a meaningful employment opportunity with an amazing organisation in one of the most phenomenal industries across the globe.
This then usually leads to the question “What industry”. When I say BPO or Offshoring, there is a lot of confusion around what this means until I say “Call Centre” - then a bulb goes on. So in light of this, I thought that it would be great to give a little insight into this phenomenal sector that I am so proud to be a part of….
(Grab a cuppa or a glass of wine and enjoy)
BPO stands for Business Process Outsourcing. It generally is the process of subcontracting or outsourcing business operations to a third party. As the name indicates, this is a way for other businesses to outsource tasks to make their processes more efficient. It consists of customer related. The BPO sector has a broad scope and is gaining significance day by day. When organisations outsource to South Africa, they gain access to a highly qualified and affordable workforce talent. People in South Africa are often overqualified and cannot find work, which means that there is direct access to a highly skilled workforce, who are educated and ambitious to succeed in a career, for a fraction of the cost.
The BPO sector has emerged as a leading global destination for English-speaking (and bilingual) call center services. For more than a decade, South Africa’s outsourcing sector has earned prestigious awards and recognition year after year for high-quality talent with exceptional language skills and emotional intelligence, so important for handling the increasingly complex customer service and support transactions that we experience these days as a result of technology, a global pandemic, customer needs changing as a result of adapting to a new “savvy” culture, to mention but a few.
BPO organisations are investing in technology that implores and embeds process improvement, customer satisfaction and business continuity to their offshore clients, which is aiding and supporting the element of trust with these entities. In turn the more trust in the BPO, the more growth will be allocated and this is great news for us as a Nation to address some of our unemployment issues and economic development.
The support and resource available in this sector by organisations such as CapeBPO , BPESA , @DTI, Local and National government, have enabled the creation of a perfect blend of job creation for our country, growth for the sector and the economy, improvement in skills development and competent Talent availability (not only for this sector but others too) as well as investment in the development of infrastructure and capability to further grow and enable this sector to keep creating exceptional customer service and improvement for our offshore clients.
Why SA and more specifically the beautiful Mother City?
Environment
We boast a fun and vibrant workplace, definitely one of the perks.
Reasons to hire Call Centre staff in Cape Town:
o A large talent pool of talented and competent outsourced skills
o Large population of native-level English speakers
o Cultural alignment
o High-quality talent
o Productive and well-performing employees
o Competitive costs of hiring
o Affordable cost of living
o Convenient time zone
Highly competent Talent
Significant advantages of hiring staff from South Africa include:
o complete English fluency
o highly skilled talent
o cultural similarities
o cost-effectiveness
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o time zone alignment
o The large talent pool of potential outsourced staff
When hiring in South Africa, partners won’t have problems finding competent talent. The labour market is huge with over 22 million new job seekers and the high unemployment rate of 63,9% (aged 15-24) and 42,1% (aged 25-34), while the current official national rate stands at 34,5% provides a ready access to job seekers who are motivated and readily available. This includes 200,000 university graduates yearning for career opportunities.
This offers partners a wide pool of potential employees that are eager to enter the working world and hold down a stable career, with a desire for promotional opportunity within an organisation.
English speaking talent
English is one of the 11 official languages in South Africa. This is by far the highest-ranking benefit of talent acquisition in SA. The ubiquity of spoken English makes international outsourcing an easy task.
For a fraction of the cost, outsourcing partners will get competent, reliable English-speaking talent, which is great news considering the majority of markets serviced include; UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand to name but a few.
Cultural Alliance
Us South Africans, love our international TV shows, movies and pop culture (Netflix is life!!) This impact of western culture is hugely beneficial for partners looking to outsource, we just adapt so easily in her sunny SA.
South Africans also tend to be good at understanding American and British speech and the nuances of these cultural elements. This all helps to flawlessly match outsourced South African staff and the partners culture.
Productive and well-performing employees
Studies have shown that the SA workforce display better results in productivity and performance than staff in traditional outsourcing destinations like India and the Philippines.
Productivity KPIs are higher in South Africa for the following:
o Average handling time
o Average response time
o Net Promoter Score
o First Call resolution
o Call Transfer rate
o Adherence to procedures
With South Africa, you will not only get a well-qualified employee, but you’ll also get a very engaged and committed team member. Upskilling and Impact sourcing initiates like those run by Shadow Careers , Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator , Youth Employment Service (YES) South Africa to name but a few, and enabling our unskilled, disadvantaged youth to become upskilled and work ready by providing incredible bridging training to support then in attaining meaningful employment within the BPO and other sectors.
Competitive costs of hiring
This is the biggie and by far the most significant reason outsourcing from South Africa is recommended. Offshore outsourcers pay a fraction of the cost for a qualified South African candidate compared to what would be allocated or an American or British employee with the same or similar qualifications.
So now you know what I do, how I do it and why I am so passionate about this sector that has delivered such incredible experiences and services to many many people around the world. Not only do I live in a beautiful city, but I am part of a sector that is making a difference in peoples lives in so many ways. Its not “just a call center” it’s a vibrant community of diverse talent, rich in culture, soft in nature and creating an exceptional experience for the many customers around the world, to the clients that trust and believe in us.
CEO at Sigma Connected Group
2yWell said Liesl, it is an amazing sector operating out of an amazing country with just the most amazing people, I share your passion :-)