Tag Archive: Business Outsourcing

1. Relationship and Talent Acquisition: Keys to Future Sustainability of Outsourcing?

   April 25, 2013 10:01 am Leave a Comment

   

   With the much-praised bullish growth prospects cast over the Philippine Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry, it is hard not to get excited. It’s as if there’s nothing more that the Philippines must do to prove that it’s the best destination to outsource any kind of services.

   The business of outsourcing is still young in a country like ours. What we have achieved thus far speak only of few services that we can offer, particularly the ones which are non-strategic business functions like contact center, technical support, IT and back-office functions.

   Yet if there have been growth in higher-value works in the value chain local companies are getting, our share out of the bigger picture remain dismally marginal. And most obviously for outsourcing companies around the county, it’s not yet the right time to celebrate because there’s so much work to do.

   In the past years that we’re into the business of outsourcing as provider of high-value virtual talent and value chain-based services, we are deeply looking into the key challenges that would limit further growth to our business. We have seen a lot of risks, threats and many impediments to deliver a really satisfying outsourcing experience to a partner.

   Let us focus on two key challenges as well as how we could bring out the most out the resources at our disposal.

   Partner relationship. An outsourcing partnership does not stop the moment the buyer and provider signed the contract for engagement. It’s the starting point of busy times ahead any outsourcing partnership to ensure they maintain their cooperation, collaboration, and co-developments to achieve their goals. Competitive advantage that is sustainable is achieved when the partnership are mindful of their short- and long-term relationship. When trust and commitment is established, both parties will benefit from improved performance. Hence, as Alessio Ishizaka and Rebecca Blakiston posit in their article, Look After Your Outsourcing Relationship to Make It Successful, the partnership between an outsourcing buyer and the provider of outsourcing service to be successful lies in just how much they give serious and continuous attention to their relationship. One proven solution is maintaining and establishing personal contacts and open communications between both companies.

   Efficient talent acquisition

   Engaging the best talents boost your organization’s competitive advantage. Yet finding, attracting and finally hiring high-value talent will also need to be sustainable in the long-term. As volumes of jobs continue to increase, the demand for high-level, skilled and expert talents will surely surge. While there may be many candidates, but the key remains to be in quality not quantity. Talent acquisition processes must be efficient to bring out the better from the merely better. It will also be uniformly necessary that the engagement of new hires contribute to the overall value of the company. According to Ochre House director Paul Dalley, proactive sourcing must be ensured. The future demand for talent acquisition speaks of shifting the gears from being reactive to creating a proactive talent sourcing. This means in part partnering with specialist consultancies to deliver this capability.

   Conclusion

   While many literatures abound offering answers to questions around how to stay relevant, competitive and sustainable, for the time being, we can simplify our problems by focusing only to relationship and talent acquisition. There is no denying that the strength of the service buyer and provider’s relationship will propel their business from short to long-term growths. Talent acquisition is also a challenging new field that would create public conversations in the future.

   At Big Outsource, it is our motto to always go beyond delivering the most appropriate in order to satisfy our client partners. If outsourcing companies will commit, they will invest in making sure that partnership with clients last and that the processes in acquiring talents do not merely end at supplying the demand, it is the role of the provider to enterprises to engage them as well in sharing their goals that would encourage the development and deployment of strategic skills among their staff.

    

   Source:

   Look After Your Outsourcing Relationship To Make It Successful
   http://www.outsourcemagazine.co.uk/look-after-your-outsourcing-relationship-to-make-it-successful/

   Recruitment challenges in Asia Pacific: the sustainability of talent acquisition?

   http://outsourcemagazine.co.uk/recruitment-challenges-in-asia-pacific-the-sustainability-of-talent-acquisition/

2. More Investment in Talent is Key to Achieve High Performance in Outsourcing

   April 23, 2013 2:57 pm Leave a Comment

   

   Both the business process outsourcing firms and the buyers can get the full potential of the business strategy if they will increase investment on developing their talent pool. This was the result of a survey made by HfS research study about the emergence of a phenomenon called “talent paradox.”

   The report is 32 pages long, conducted among executives of 282 organizations, and I will try to squeeze in only the gist and the recommendations from HfS geared to provide the lessons learned that will be beneficial to the outsourcing industry in general.

   According to HfS, there is a marked failure from both the outsourcing providers and buyers in realizing the importance of investing in the key drive of value creation – people – which has created a “talent paradox.”

   What’s alarming is the neglect that’s supposed to be a priority “as outsourcing moves from the back office to the middle and front office, where value creation is paramount, and as buyers seek more sustainable business outcomes beyond merely cost reduction,” said HfS in the report sponsored by Accenture entitled “Is Good Enough Really Good Enough? The Great Talent Paradox in Outsourcing.”

   HfS cited many benefits that both outsourcing provider firms and client organizations can derive out of a well-invested talent resources of both the service provider and the buyer, such as improved productivity, efficiency and access to critical data.

   So what needs to be done to remedy the talent paradox? Here are the key recommendations given by the report –

   Invest on programs that will enhance talent’s core business skills. Focus your investment on experts whose skills go beyond merely leaned in operations management, procurement, and service-level skills. Doing so will produce a good number of operations manager in-house and will allow the companies to invest on skills that improve their core business.

   Access high-value strategic talent of service providers. For organizations who are keen in making the most out of the talent from service providers, it is high time the focus of your investment shift from operational capabilities to developing methodologies, analytics, and talent. And we are not only talking here of just anyone from the talent pool. These talent are the ones who are instrumental in creating value beyond lowering the costs. The learned buyers need to consider these capabilities parameter as gauge when evaluating a potential provider.

   Redesign skills expectations for the existing team.  The job competency models used in looking for individuals managing service providers in the past must be revamped to focus on strategic skills available or possessed by candidates.

   Establish shared ‘stretch’ goals. As well as the purpose to encourage skills development and usage, this solution will prevent outsourcing relationships from getting flat cold. Both enterprises and outsourcing providers must establish shared stretch goals together in reviewing goals, metrics, and objectives on a regular basis. If needed, solutions that need to be repositioned must be put in place to meet business goals.

   Source:

   “Talent Paradox of Outsourcing” Research Finds Lack of Investments in Talent Limiting High Performance in Outsourcing

   http://www.hfsresearch.com/Is-Good-Enough-Really-Good-Enough

3. Philippine Call Center Sector Reaches 20% Revenue Growth

   March 27, 2013 9:25 am Leave a Comment

   

   The year 2012 proved to be an upbeat year for the call center industry after the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) reported that the sector grew about 20 percent against the growth target of 15 percent.

   Despite the appreciation of the peso, the strong performance was considered a big news to an industry that is highly dependent to currency fluctuations. According to CCAP executive director Jojo Uligan, should the peso currency and dollar exchange will fall below P40, the call center industry will be hurt the most.

   “We exceed our target last year. We’ve projected conservatively a 15-percent growth last year, [but] we did end 2012 [with] about 20 percent,” revealed Uligan, adding that CCAP will maintain its conservative forecast of 15-percent growth for the next three to four years.

   Last year, it was $8.4 billion in revenues and 500,000 jobs that the industry were aiming last year. Uligan expressed his satisfaction to the accomplishment thus far, including the opportunities that are coming from areas that the Philippines don’t presently have a strong presence like in Europe, United Kingdom and some Asian countries. The growth drivers last year include healthcare, gaming, banking and the financial sectors.

   For the overall business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, Uligan announced that the industry exceeded its growth target of $13 billion and jobs of 722,000 last year. Based on 2011 figures, the BPO industry posted more than $11 billion in revenues and employed almost 640,000 workforce.

   Under the medium-term roadmap for the BPO sector, it is projected that the industry will register up to $25 billion in revenues and employ 1.3 million by 2016. Out of this target, the call center industry is expecting to post $14.7 billion and 816,000 of the total jobs to be created by 2016.

   In recent years, many American and Australian companies are outsourcing their call center operations in Asia, particularly in India, China and the Philippines. Recently, Manila was named the call center capital in the world with the continued rise of this industry due to various factors that include low cost of embarking on call center outsourcing, English-speaking agents and the flexibility to adapt to Western country’s timezones.

   Source: (http://www.interaksyon.com/business/56941/call-center-industry-surpasses-2012-revenue-goal-despite-strong-peso)

    

4. Fortune 100 firm eyes Philippines for expansion plans

   March 12, 2013 10:40 am 1 Comment

   

   Safeway, one of the largest food and drug retailers based on sales in the United States is eyeing the Philippines as a strategic destination to expand its global operations, according to the Department of Trade and Industry.

   The opportunities in the business outsourcing industry sector that can add significant value to the global operation of Safeway was also cited as reason of the expansion plans.

   Safeway’s top-rank executives are said to be bullish about their investments in the country, following a due diligence conducted in February in connection to their plans of expanding its business and operatiosn in the Philippines.

   Safeway is a Fortune 100 company that operates 1,641 stores in North America and Canada. Part of its strategy is to provide a unique shopping experience with a wide selection of high quality products at low prices.

   The DTI statement added: “In support of its stores, Safeway maintains an extensive network of distribution, manufacturing, and food processing facilities. It also has business interests in the online internet grocer, prepaid gift cards, and financial services.”

   The company entered the country since 2003 through an affiliate, the Safeway Philtech, which serves as its captive technology center. Its affiliate provides services such as application support and maintenance, application development and enhancements, technology and infrastructure support.

   According to the Trade Department, Safeway Philtech has partnered with the Board of Investments and leaders of the BPO sector in organizing the visit of the top company executives to the Philippines.

   Source: http://business.inquirer.net/109887/fortune-100-firm-to-expand-ph-operations