[kictanet] Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues

[Peres Were]

There is too much emphasis on equipping graduates at the expense of  
neglecting those in tertiary institutions, as mentioned by Lily below.  
If Kenya is aiming at a niche in Call Centre/Data Processing (which  
seems to be the case) then we should look at equipping students even  
in tertiary level institutions.






Quoting lily marusoi <lmarusoi at yahoo.com>:

>
> My take on Q 7&8
>  
> We need to come up with a standardized national curriculum for the   
> BPO sector a "finishing school" for those aspiring to work in the   
> BPO sector.  Having looked at the KBPO society training framework I   
> feel there is a need to customise it to fit our Kenyan  situation as  
>  some skills set were assumed to be obvious. 
>  
> When we talk of equiping the graduates, lets not also forget that we  
>  have so many other youths graduating from tertiary institutions  
> with  certificates and diplomas. 
>  
> Some major industry players have hinted that they prefer non   
> graduates so long as they have the right attitudes, it is easier to   
> train skills but not attitudes which is a major factor in the BPO   
> sector.
>  
> Regards
> Lily
>  
>
> --- On Mon, 6/8/09, Judy Okite <judyokite at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> From: Judy Okite <judyokite at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues
> To: lmarusoi at yahoo.com
> Cc: kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> Date: Monday, June 8, 2009, 11:50 AM
>
>
> to answer both Q 7&8
>
> my suggestion on this.....all graduates,should be equipped to work   
> in a BPO,at the time of their graduation. BPO specifics,should be   
> entrenched,within the curriculum.....with this there will be no   
> descrimination and I believe it will bring in quality to this   
> market  e.g in USIU,I know you have to do a foreign language....at   
> some point in your 2years of your time with them...it doesnt really   
> matter what course your taking and level.
>
> Kind Regards,
>
>
> On Mon, Jun 8, 2009 at 8:06 AM, Walubengo J <jwalu at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> -Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, Human Capacity Issues
>
> Morning all,
>
> I trust you had a refreshing weekend.  Today I want to introduce the  
>  theme on Human Resource Development for the BPO industry.  The   
> Researchers found that India, S.Africa and Mauritius had a   
> comprehensive inventory of their skill-base that was also available   
> for Validation by prospective employers and investors.  Another   
> observation was ofcourse the sheer numbers of Indian graduates   
> (millions) that made it the largest base of highly skilled pool of   
> graduates with strong mathematical/scientific orientation.  Whereas,  
>  Mauritius was producing only 10,000 (university) graduates per year  
>  compared to Kenya's 30,000 per year, Mauritius had the advantage of  
>  properly documenting their national graduates database and  
> marketing  it appropriately to potential clients in Europe/America.  
>  In  addition, the Researchers noted that Mauritius had a government  
>  funded but Private-Sector oriented ICT Academy that produced   
> graduates specificially for the ICT industry.
>
> In Kenya, the Researchers observed that apart from the lack of a   
> national database on the available skills/graduates, some of the BPO  
>  operators were engaged in vicious poaching cycles where Agents   
> trained in-house by one Operater are immediately hired by the   
> Competing Operators. It was noted, that an attempt has been made by   
> the .KE Government to create an Industry-specific University   
> (Multimedia University College of Kenya) to address the HR gap but   
> its success or otherwise will remain to be seen in a few years time.  
>   The Researchers also noted that Kenya's English-speaking labor   
> force had an edge over the Indian one given that the average Kenyan   
> had a "neutral" accent unlike the Indian graduate who tended to have  
>  an "ethnic" accent that often distracted the Euro-American   
> markets/clients.
>
> But this advantage is yet to be exploited - even as the Indians move  
>  up the BPO value chain and concentrate on non-accent related   
> processes such as Software Engineering, Research (Financial,   
> Medicine, etc), Product (e.g. Civil and Architectural) Design   
> amongst others. Which leads us to todays questions.
>
> Qtn 7: How do we develop a national database on the wide-range of   
> available ICT skill in Kenya - specifically which institution should  
>  be mandated to realise this, ensuring that such a database is kept   
> upto date over the years?
>
> Qtn 8: What strategies should the country adopt to ensure a   
> continuous supply of relevant and timely BPO-Specific skills?
>
> Please, lets have your comments flowing,dig yahjwalu starting now...
>
> walu.
>
> Encl: Synthesis 3 - HR Issues
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>      
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> --
> "Each of us is great insofar as we perceive and act on the infinite   
> possibilities which lie undiscovered and unrecognized about us."   
> James Harvey Robinson
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