Financial Services Provider, Talksure in partnership with Crossroads KZN, joined the learners at Redcliffe Educare Centre for a fun Mandela Day last Thursday.

The Educare centre caters to the needs of children from the Redcliffe community. Kamhal Pillay, Talksure’s Employee Engagement Officer, said that Talksure wanted to bring smiles and tasty meals and treats to the children on Mandela Day. “We want to honour Tata Madiba’s legacy. He was a man that loved children and children loved him, so this was a fitting way to pay tribute to the Father of our Nation”, she added.

Talksure’s employees together with the company, contributed money which was used to prepare lunch packs, goodie bags as well as materials and supplies to improve the centre’s vegetable garden. A group of employees visited the school, where they provided fun activities such as face-painting and crafts. All the children participated in hand print painting a massive South African flag - a representation of the role that our youth have to play in building our nation into the future.

“The Educare Centre started 13 years ago and is in partnership with Redcliffe Primary. To date, 250 children have moved from pre –grade R into the school programme. We would like to thank Talksure for everything they have done, not only this Mandela day but for previous initiatives they have supported at the centre,” said Mahendra Singh of Crossroads KZN.

The centre was filled with the chatter of small voices as they waited their turn to get involved in the activities and interacted with the Talksure employees. “The time spent with these kids was just heart-warming and was a small contribution on our part, however the smiles on the kids’ faces was the real magic of Mandela Day,” said Zameer Asmal, Marketing Coordinator at Talksure.

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About Talksure

Talksure is an award-winning, BPO contact centre based in Umhlanga, KZN, which provides direct marketing, financial services and outsource sales. As a financial services provider, Talksure specialises outbound operations striving to deliver a service that offers its clients a unique value proposition. Since 2010, Talksure has been delivering the highest quality of service to hundreds of thousands of customers in South Africa. As an outsource partner, Talksure is often the brand ‘behind' many large Blue Chip companies in South Africa. With an ever-growing employee complement of over 700, it illustrates that Talksure is a people business- employees, clients and partners are its number one focus. For more information, visit www.talksuresa.co.za

In 2007 South Africa was identified as one of the world’s upcoming Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) destinations of choice. Now, 12 years’ on, does this still ring true?Jacques de Beer, CEO of Talksure, an international contact centre located in Umhlanga, says, “South Africa has continually been recognised as a leading BPO destination and have received numerous international awards to prove it.”In fact, he adds that South Africa was named ‘Global Destination of the Year’ by the Global Sourcing Association, high praise for South Africa’s credibility within the industry. Furthermore, growing infrastructure, government incentives, cost competitiveness and first-class customer service, make for a booming South African Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry that is expected to grow even more over the next few years.De

Beer unpacks why South Africa remains top of the BPO pops:

1. Top talentFor years, the world has recognised that our workforce has the ability to deliver first class service to off-shore clients. This fact has not changed. Specifically, South African agents have an ability to develop greater empathy with customers than those in other offshore locations and are naturally skilled in handling complex calls and negotiations.According to an analysis report by Business Process Enabling South Africa (BPESA), global businesses like Amazon are ramping up its customer service from South Africa and is recruiting ‘free-thinking’ agents. They are unscripted, which is typical of South African contact centre services, and are authorised to take whatever action they feel is appropriate to solve the customer’s problem. These are critical skills in ensuring high-quality customer service and revenue generation.

2. Neutral accentEnglish native speaking markets such as the UK, Australia, and the USA continue to account for the majority of South Africa’s offshore market.  The fact that South African agents have a cultural affinity with these countries and coupled with a neutral English accent, makes South Africa a perfect offshore BPO choice.  Interestingly, Germany and French-speaking agents are also increasing in South Africa.

3. Cost-effectiveWith a favourable exchange rate, South Africa currently ranks as the 3rd largest offshore location for UK and Australian companies who experience significant cost-savings of up to 70% compared to onshore service delivery. Business costs are under increasing scrutiny and lower costs are attractive, especially with a comparable (or better) quality of service.

4. Skills DevelopmentFor the high number of young, job-hungry individuals, South Africa’s government-supported BPO industry provides low-barrier entry to employment.  The 2016 BPESA Key Indicator Report revealed that the BPO sector had created 222 500 jobs at the time.Even more encouraging is the fact that the industry is being recognised for its growth and job-creation potential. As a result, South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) provides an incentive scheme, enabling sales and broker training and employment of agent.  

5. First-World ExperienceThe global contact centre standard (ISO 18295) was led by and is based on South African standards. South Africa is a prime business destination with international airports, located in its leading BPO cities Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg, that provide direct international flights. Modern transportation networks, sophisticated telecommunications, and internationally recognised tourism attractions have also positioned it as a prime business destination.“

The truth is that South Africa’s value proposition has not changed much since 2007 with one major difference – it is no long up and coming – it is the world leader!” de Beer concludes. 

South Africa has clinched 8th place as a top global offshore location for finance and accounting outsourcing (FAO) further augmenting its position as the top Offshoring Destination of 2016 by the Global Sourcing Association. This was one of the key findings in the 2017-2018 Global FAO Market Intelligence Survey published by research firm, Knowledge Executive.

A total of 126 large enterprises in Australia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States participated in the survey and disclosed their finance and accounting (F&A) investment plans; pain points and challenges; skills, technology and service provider requirements; and favourite offshore locations.

South Africa’s significant rise is due in part to its high-end, specialised F&A skills and its ability to deploy the latest finance and accounting technology such as Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). 

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

The survey noted that RPA is being utilised to optimise and push through repetitive F&A processes. While there is uncertainty around RPA, 12% of respondents indicated that they would use RPA to replace mundane, repetitive F&A tasks while 25% will use RPA to automate entire end-to-end F&A processes. When looking at general technology deployment, up to 16% of respondents said that they would boost the deployment of RPA in the next year.

Deloitte says RPA is already saving companies substantial amounts of time and money. “In some instances, we have found that RPA is 15 times more efficient than humans and offers a 15% to 90% cost reduction opportunity depending on the characteristics of the function to which it is being applied,” says Francois Burger, Finance & Accounting Outsourcing Leader at Deloitte who was one of the associate sponsors of the survey. “However RPA is not a ‘once-off’ technology implementation but a capability that needs to be continuously managed. It is about redeploying human talent and letting the robots do what they do so well, which can free up finance talent to address activities that are less repetitive and add more value.

”Robotics, says WNS, offers more accuracy at faster speeds; companies can scale with more volume-based transactions and with little increase in cost. “We foresee more companies investing in robotics and using it as a key differentiator for routine-based tasks. But you need a short to medium RPA plan in order to be effective,” says Alicia Kistan, Senior General Manager: Shared Services at WNS that was also an associate sponsor of the survey.

“Technology is and must, be seen as an enabler, and there are so many repetitive and transactional-based F&A functions that can be automated. These include invoice processing, accounts receivables, journals and general ledgers. This can evolve into business analytics that are rules based and generate better insights and accurate outputs.” Accounting-as-a-Service (AaaS)The survey also revealed that advancements in Business-Process-as-a-Service (BPaaS) and Accounting-as-a-Service (AaaS) would drive greater outsourcing opportunities and investment plans. “Companies are looking at innovation and how to utilise new technologies and cloud-based services from their F&A providers to drive efficiencies and quality of service. As-a-service and subscription-based F&A solutions are rapidly gaining momentum,” says Deloitte.

WNS concurs, saying that the big theme is around transformation. “CFO’s are looking for value creations from their outsourced partners. They want to streamline F&A services by investing in technology to make them more seamless and efficient. Ultimately, the focus is on improving productivity and unlocking business insights through data analytics and incorporating the use of intelligent tools or robots.”

For more insights on Robotics Process Automation:  https://www.wns.co.za/insights/articles/articledetail/361/doing-the-robot

Inaugural Contact Centre / Business Process Outsourcing Leadership Graduation Ceremony in Cape Town  

On 23rd May 2017 the inaugural TULA graduation ceremony for young leaders in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)/ Contact Centre sector was held in Cape Town.  59 students from 4 companies have attended the TULA leadership course over the past 18 months.

TULA Founder and CEO, Gareth Pritchard, explained the relevance of the new leadership programme: “TULA works with OnTrac, an Indian based training and consulting company. The programme aims to give students the tools to develop their leadership skills and improve their respective company’s operational efficiency. More than 60,000 students worldwide have participated in the programme. The programme is unique in that it is able to measure the impact of learning activities against each company’s individual business goals.” 

Executive Mayor Patricia de Lille commended the students who had taken part in the programme: “I would like to congratulate each and every student who successfully completed their course and graduated in the first graduation ceremony of the TULA leadership programme. The BPO / Contact Centre sector is contributing significantly to the development of our economy, with over 4,500 new jobs created in the last year alone. This growth will only continue if we ensure that our leaders are equipped with globally recognised skills.” 

Lufthansa InTouch was one of the participating companies. Their Site Operations Manager, Ian Ohlson commented: “Not only does this program unleash the individual’s leadership potential, it also works towards achieving your organisational goals by allowing employees to take control and influence the bottom-line through individual and group work.”  

Capfin Business Operations Manager, Jacques Loubser agreed: “We see such a positive shift in team and individual performance, purely because the learnings imparted during the leadership programme speak to the cornerstones that make up a successful contact centre and in turn our people are able to positively influence the customer value proposition.” 

Leading global customer experience and business process outsourcing company, Webhelp, who employs over four thousand people in South Africa, also participated in the programme. Chief operating officer for South Africa, Simon Garabette, commented: “The quality and expertise of our people are extremely important to Webhelp. Engaging in training of this nature highlights our commitment to developing our people, which benefits them and our clients.” 

EXL Service is a global provider of decision analytics, operations management, outsourcing, business transformation and IT services. Their country head, Pratap Rao, welcomed the invitation to participate in the programme: “As we continue to grow our teams and to solidify our presence in the industry, the TULA program played a huge role in not just helping the participants understand the importance of building winning teams, but how to build them as well. I can see a program like TULA becoming integral to growth in this industry in any geography. 

TULA has also formed a partnership with the Zoe Incubation Centre in Delft to help establish a skills pipeline in Delft to enable access for township communities into the contact centre sector. 7 of Zoe’s students will also be present at the graduation ceremony. The graduation ceremony was held on 23rd May at 14:00 in Cape Town’s entrepreneurial hub, Workshop17, at the V & A Waterfront where TULA has its offices. 

TULA provides consulting services and training in the area of Operations Management for the Contact Centre / BPO sector.  CEO and founder is Gareth Pritchard email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; cell: 0837030822; website www.tulasa.co.za; Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garethmpritchard Twitter @BPESACT      

On 23rd May 2017 the inaugural TULA graduation ceremony for young leaders in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)/ Contact Centre sector will take place in Cape Town.

The ceremony will be attended by Cape Town Executive Mayor Patricia de Lille who will also award the graduation certificates to the students. 59 students from 4 companies have attended the TULA leadership course over the past 18 months. TULA Founder and CEO, Gareth Pritchard, explained the relevance of the new leadership programme: “TULA works with OnTrac , an Indian based training and consulting company. The programme aims to give students the tools to develop their leadership skills and improve their respective company’s operational efficiency. More than 60,000 students worldwide have participated in the programme. The programme is unique in that it is able to measure the impact of learning activities against each company’s individual business goals.” 

Executive Mayor Patricia de Lille commended the students who had taken part in the programme: “I would like to congratulate each and every student who successfully completed their course and graduated in the first graduation ceremony of the TULA leadership programme. The BPO / Contact Centre sector is contributing significantly to the development of our economy, with over 4,500 new jobs created in the last year alone. This growth will only continue if we ensure that our leaders are equipped with globally recognised skills.” 

Lufthansa InTouch was one of the participating companies. Their Site Operations Manager, Ian Ohlson commented: “Not only does this program unleash the individual’s leadership potential, it also works towards achieving your organisational goals by allowing employees to take control and influence the bottom-line through individual and group work.”  

Capfin Business Operations Manager, Jacques Loubser agreed: “We see such a positive shift in team and individual performance, purely because the learnings imparted during the leadership programme speak to the cornerstones that make up a successful contact centre and in turn our people are able to positively influence the customer value proposition.” 

Leading global customer experience and business process outsourcing company, Webhelp, who employs over four thousand people in South Africa, also participated in the programme. Chief operating officer for South Africa, Simon Garabette, commented: “The quality and expertise of our people are extremely important to Webhelp. Our people are our biggest asset and it is crucial for us to be able to offer our best people rewarding and meaningful careers. Engaging in training of this nature highlights our commitment to developing our people, which benefits them and our clients through the enhanced levels of customer experience we can deliver to their customers.” 

EXL Service is a global provider of decision analytics, operations management, outsourcing, business transformation and IT services. Their country head, Pratap Rao, welcomed the invitation to participate in the programme: “As we continue to grow our teams and to solidify our presence in the industry, the TULA program played a huge role in not just helping the participants understand the importance of building winning teams, but how to build them as well. I can see a program like TULA becoming integral to growth in this industry in any geography. 

TULA has also formed a partnership with the Zoe Incubation Centre in Delft to help establish a skills pipeline in Delft to enable access for township communities into the contact centre sector. 7 of Zoe’s students will also be present at the graduation ceremony. 

The graduation ceremony will be held on 23rd May at 14:00 in Cape Town’s entrepreneurial hub, Workshop17, at the V & A Waterfront where TULA has its offices.    

TULA provides consulting services and training in the area of Operations Management for the Contact Centre / BPO sector.  CEO and founder is Gareth Pritchard

email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; cell: 0837030822; website www.tulasa.co.za; Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garethmpritchard Twitter @BPESACT