India is today a proven and credible offshore destination for any global 1000
company. But before going for outsourcing, potential outsourcers have to
consider some major issues. There is no quick fix while migrating diverse and
multifarious processes. They are moved offshore through a carefully crafted
path, with deep involvement of transition managers from both the client and BPO
vendor.
Typically, the engagement commences with a pilot phase. Once some preset
operational parameters are achieved, the teams are ready to be expanded. Indian
BPO providers have amply demonstrated ability to handle complex processes. For
example, ICICI OneSource has a US telecom client for whom our associates handle
billing query settlements for small business and residential customers. That
these limits are higher for our associates than the client’s employees in its
own call centres, testifies to our abilities.
Such examples abound. A GE Capital BPO centre does top-end work like risk
analysis, strategic planning and forecasting for its financial services business
and ABN Amro Bank’s facility handles letter of credit issuance.
To build scale, BPO providers need to consolidate on the learning from the
pilot phase, carefully lay down skill requirements for new employees, provide
extensive training and build close working relationships with client teams and
managers. This model was successfully tested by us for a British retail group.
We increased the team processing orders and handling customer care from 160
associates to 900 over six months across two locations, while ensuring quality
was at par or better than eight client-owned call centers in the UK.
Cost savings of about 40–60 percent do provide a compelling reason for
global corporations to outsource. But, that is only half the story. Companies
who offshored only for cost savings have been pleasantly surprised with the
quality benefits that they achieved. This has also started influencing
offshoring initiatives. In the instance of one of our top American clients (a
credit-card provider), we consistently outperformed vendors from the US. For
another UK Internet banking client, we enhanced one process quality to Six Sigma
from 3.9 Sigma over a five-month period.
Complying with regulatory requirements of the home countries of clients—especially,
in banking, insurance and telemarketing is a prerequisite for undertaking such
assignments.
Business continuity concerns started with the need for redundant power supply
and telecom network. These concerns have now accentuated with increased scale of
operations. The concerns of clients with large-scale requirements will be much
more pronounced in terms of location, redundancy and mobility compared to
clients with fewer seat requirements. Multi-city and multi-country operations
will form business continuity solutions.
Most clients, while outsourcing processes such as customer interfacing
activities (voice and data) are apprehensive about losing control over quality—understandable
given the long decades spent in building brand equity.
You can have two solutions here. One, active involvement by client in
migration, training, technology decisions, recruitment, posting client
representatives in offshored locations and periodic review meetings.
Or, have partnership models that provide adequate comfort and safeguard on
every facet of their concerns. Either way, flexibility is highly recommended.
Finally, how does an outsourcing company handle fears of job loss? A key
lesson here is never to sweep such a decision under the carpet. It helps to
start with an approach that has a minimal impact on existing jobs. These can be
as follows
- Increasing volumes or new processes without adding headcounts
- Retirements are not replaced
- New investments enabling growth for existing employees and moving their
current jobs offshore
In any case, clients may need to bite the bullet and build communication
bridges with employees and explain the business imperative to offshore.
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