- Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Tutorial – What Is BPO?
- Key Elements of BPO
- Benefits of BPO
- Benefits of BPO Continued
- Making a Career in BPO and Outsourcing
- Skills required for BPO and Outsourcing Careers
- Managing Indian Resources from outside
- BPO/ITES/Offshore Outsourcing Methodologies
- Why Do Companies Outsource?
- BPO Processes and BPO Best Practices
- BPO Outsourcing Delivery Models
Skills required for BPO and Outsourcing Careers
- Quality and metrics experts – The most effective way to control any operational activity is to measure it on various parameters. Most outsourcing companies take this very seriously. They have sophisticated measuring, metrics and reporting functions that enable the management and client to track performance accurately. Quality and metrics experts typically have a statistics background, or have considerable expertise in the operational area.
- Risk and Business Continuity Planning (BCP) experts – Outsourcing an operation is also an effective way to reduce business continuity risks. However, outsourcing companies also have to manage their own business continuity risks, as clients want to ensure continuity of operations. People involved in the Operational risk and BCP areas play this role. They create, test and manage detailed plans to ensure continuity of operations in the event of a disaster.
- Training and development experts – The single most important element in a successful migration is the training of people who will be performing the function from the offshore location. On-going training is also very important to ensure service quality. Training and development experts wear many hats – oversee the process training, train on soft skills like communication, team work, team leadership, etc.
- Administration experts – Running an outsourcing centre isn’t just about hiring employees and buying PC’s. It takes a complex logistical and administrative department to keep it running. This is because the demands of an office of an outsourcing company are very different – transportation arrangements for night shift, 24 hour cafeteria, frequent travel arrangements, and many ad-hoc tasks. An administration expert takes care of these things, and it can be a rewarding experience for someone with background and interest in this area.
Roles and Skills needed
| Role | Key skills |
| Transition manager | Project Management |
| Relation manager | Client management skills, RM experience |
| Six Sigma and Process re-engineering experts | Six sigma certification, process consulting experience |
| Quality and metrics professional | Process knowledge, statistical expertise |
| Risk and BCP experts | Risk management/ BCP experience |
| Training and development experts | Degree in HR, Training experience |
| Administration experts | Administration experience, including event management, event logistics. |
Outsourcing is a rapidly expanding industry, and it offers several exciting opportunities. And with the various services being outsourced now, choices are no longer limited to customer support – one can choose the industry and field of choice to work in. As the industry matures, there will also be ample opportunity of growth, and to play a management role in an outsourcing company. The time to take the leap is now!