Outsourcing has become so synonymous with ‘huge potentials’ that it is quickly outgrowing its industry acronym. BPO or business process outsourcing is apparently more than just friendly people working in call centers answering customer service enquiries for companies thousands of miles away.
“Spectrums” of possibilities was how Outsource Fiji executive director Sagufta Janif described it, as she explained the need to train people who are already working in or will work in this nascent industry.
As the industry’s government agency, Outsource Fiji is the interface between BPO operators, who are its members, and the government, who has thrown its support behind them.
“There are many spectrums when we talk about BPO because there are multiple processes within a business organization and a business can decide which process they want to outsource,” said Ms Janif.
“Call and contact center operations are of course predominantly the major ones but now we’re seeing an increase in other kinds of services.
“If you look at established markets, apart from call and contact center, they have expertise in software development, expertise in programing, in cyber security, data collection, data analysis.
“Those are some of the key areas of training that we would like to develop so that we become the hub for outsourcing services, especially in the Pacific region.”
Early this week, Outsource Fiji signed a memorandum of understanding with Higher Education Commission Fiji (HECF), paving the way for the availability in Fiji’s higher learning institutions of industry specific courses designed for BPO.
“We have already worked with our members. They’ve identified some key areas that we have incorporated into the Call and Contact Center Programme with the Fiji National University. And there are some other spectrums that we will be working on with other institutions and of course with the Higher Education Commission to deliver more nuanced technical programs,” said Ms Janif.
Since the establishment of Mindpearl, one of the industry pioneers, in the late 1990s, there are now over 8000 people working in the BPO industry and the prospects are high for that number to grow exponentially, given Fiji’s growing popularity as an emerging BPO destination.
Training the workforce has become a key component in efforts to development the industry further.
In her speech at the MoU signing, Ms Janif revealed Outsource Fiji’s next step in that direction.
“At this juncture, I wish to announce that through this MoU, Outsource Fiji marks an essential transition for the industry body. While we have predominantly been an advocacy and a membership organisation, through this partnership with the commission, we now plan to venture into developing and delivering training programs as well,” she said.
“Of course, with our deep industry knowledge and understanding, we are confident to be able to immensely contribute to the education sector by offering specialised training programs tailored to meet the specific requirements of the outsourcing industry. This transition will not only enhance the capabilities of our workforce but also establish Fiji as a hub for outsourcing education and training in the Pacific region.”
The initiative is being developed in partnership with LearningPlanet, Skills New Zealand, APTC, Toastmasters International and the Knowledge Academy, according to Ms Janif.
The outcome will be the delivery of customised training programs in the areas of customer services, cyber security, train the trainer, and other soft skills. For its part, Higher Education Commission Fiji will play a facilitative role.
Given that more courses are going to be made available, either through higher education institutions or through Outsource Fiji, HECF will be instrumental in the endorsement of these courses.
“If (Outsource Fiji) identifies the product that they want, say an international organization makes a request for a particular product.
“And then from that they will identify what sort of human resource needs to be developed, what program needs to be developed to educate people so that they can deliver that product.
“That’s where we’ll come in and identify, as the government agent, which institute would be best suited to develop that program. We don’t develop programs. The institutions develop them. But we can guide them and assist them and play a facilitative role,” said HECF chief executive officer Dr Rohit Kishore.
“BPO is a different type of business and it needs to develop a different type of HR to carry out that work. There’s less face to face contact and work is done more through telephones and other forms of media technology.
“So technology is highly utilised in this and you have to train people to have certain knowledge to be able to work through those systems,” Dr Kishore added.
HECF is the government registry for all higher education institutions in Fiji. According to information on its website, “all providers of post-secondary education in Fiji that are delivering and awarding award conferring courses (Certificates, Diplomas and Degrees) are deemed higher education institutions and must undergo an Institutional Accreditation process to become fully registered with us in order to practice.”
