India's NASSCOM has begun piloting a competence program for the business process outsourcing market.
NASSCOM, the public body that represents outsourcing organizations located in India, has announced the pilot launch of its NASSCOM Assessment of Competence (NAC) program for the potential employees in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. The NAC scheme aims to create a talent-pool within the BPO industry, indicating NASSCOM's commitment to raising standards within this area.
Included in the aims of the NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Service Companies) initiative are the provision of a national standard for recruitment of entry-level talent for BPO, and also the enablement of offshoring organizations to develop the ability to cut costs through a more rapid recruitment phase.News of this initiative comes hot on the heels of a report that the UK's AA has decided not to offshore some of its operations, despite potential savings in excess of GBP20 million. The AA stated that it would keep its call center operations in the UK in an attempt to differentiate itself from its competitors, and also because it appears to believe that the quality of service is better in the UK than overseas.Nevertheless, the BPO marketplace in India is expected to continue its tremendous growth over the next few years, and the new certification standard has been developed by NASSCOM in order to improve the quality of service the industry can offer its western customers. According to the NASSCOM website, candidates will be assessed in the areas of listening and keyboard skills, verbal ability, spoken English, comprehension and writing ability, office software usage, numerical and analytical skills, and concentration and accuracy. NASSCOM is also encouraging state governments to commit to the NAC to improve their recruitment schemes, attract investors for the BPO sector and forge a link between education and employability.Bearing in mind that the vast majority of BPO employees in India are graduates, NASSCOM's program demonstrates further commitment to raising standards for BPO. The development is well considered and should be welcomed, and is likely be widely adopted by the Indian offshoring industry, by potential employees and employers alike.
The article sponsored by A-1 Technology Inc, dealing in software development outsourcing and offshore software outsourcing IT.
