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BPESA NEWSLETTER – SEPTEMBER 2018

CEO WELCOME  The second Quarter (June to August) of the 2018 Financial Year has come to an end.

I’d like to congratulate you on the successes achieved to date and thank you for your support and contributions to building the Sector Body and Trade Association and developing the sector further. This newsletter provides you with some of the highlights of the Quarter and flags key events for the third Quarter (September to November).

Growth in international jobs

2977 new jobs were created (serving the offshore markets). 465 of these were created by captive operators and 2512 by outsource operators. 90% of these jobs were for youth (between the ages of 18 and 35). 502 of these jobs were hired inclusively in Quarter Two, with a clear indication of growing willingness and ability amongst BPO operators to hire inclusively.

The breakdown of these jobs is available in the Jobs Report and on the BPESA website.

Marketing and events during Quarter Two

The South African BPO Value Proposition, developed by the Everest Group, was completed in June and formally launched at a dti /BPESA stakeholder event in Johannesburg on the 5th July 2018. It was published on the BPESA website, shared on social media, circulated amongst the BPESA analyst / broker and influencer network in the target source markets, shared with all domestic role players that BPESA engages with.

A marketing framework was developed in Quarter Two which will be presented and debated at the EXCO meeting on the 19th September with a view to adopting it as the strategic framework moving forward.

The marketing calendar, available on-line on the BPESA website, is being updated on a regular basis with inputs from the Marketing Committee and the regional representatives.

Joint marketing meetings were held in Gauteng, KZN and the Western Cape during Quarter Two to continue to align marketing initiatives amongst the role players, where possible.

Privately arranged trips by potential investors and existing investors (looking to expand operations in SA) have taken place together with visits by analysts and brokers to South Africa in Quarter Two of 2018.

The dti sent a small team to Melbourne and Sydney, in Australia, from the 1st to the 13th June 2018 for one-one investor engagements. The team met with a number of companies and left with the potential for South Africa to attract at least two (2) investment projects and four (4) project leads in the current financial year. Two companies subsequently requested information on South African BPO operators which was sent to them and one company, undertook to conduct a due diligence in South Africa in August or September 2018.

BPESA, jointly (with ICCCA), sent Traci Freeman to accompany 5 BPESA members who attended the CX Outsourcers Mindshare Group in Las Vegas on the 18th and 19th of June, together with 24 international companies and organizations. The event was organised by Knowledge Executive and Ryan Strategic Advisory.

Skills development

Much work was done by the BPESA team and the skills forum participants to define a “future skills framework” which was presented at the stakeholder forum on the 5th July in Johannesburg. This future skills framework has subsequently been shared with members who are using it to inform their own skills strategies while it has been at the heart of the BPO proposal for the Jobs Summit, to be held in October this year.

The third round of skills forums will be scheduled for all three regions in September and October 2018. These forums will start with the process of formulating the next five years BPO skills strategy.

The following skills projects were mobilized or continued with implementation in Quarter Two:

KZN – Phase Two of the EThekwini Skills Development Programme

Training of 360 young unemployed work-seekers to prepare them for access to the BPO Sector

WC – Phase One of the City of Cape Town Skills Development Programme

Targeted at 175 previously disadvantaged and unemployed youth to prepare them for access to the BPO Sector

WC – CoCT Leadership pilot program

In an effort to address the entry level management skills challenges our sector is facing, BPESA is conducting a pilot programme to train 20 candidates to build individual knowledge and competence related to operational efficiency and to positively effect change within the environment through managing team performance.

Reports

The annual BPESA Key Indicator Report is in final production stages and will be published in time for the GSA summit on the 1st and 2nd October 2018.

The BPO case studies compendium has been updated with the 1st draft submitted internally for review. This will be published on the website during September.

Membership

Involvement with BPESA through membership has grown well since the 1st April with a good spread across the regions and representation of all stakeholder groups making up the Business Process Services sector (International Outsourcers; International Captive; Domestic Outsourcers; Domestic Captives; Vendors, NPCs, and Government Partners). We have a strong and well qualified pipeline of potential new members in all regions and hope that you will be great advocates for your Industry Body BPESA as we encourage them to join in this journey to develop the sector to its full potential for the benefit of everyone.

Marketing and events planned for Quarter Three and Four

BPESA is finalizing preparations to co-host the GSA Summit in Cape Town on 1 – 4 October, with the event set to attract 20 buyers from the UK and Australia. This is the focal marketing event for South Africa for 2018 attracting support from Industry and Government at National, Provincial and City level. Please follow the link to read more about the event and to register as a delegate.

Planning is also underway by the dti and /or BPESA for the following road shows to the target source markets, although some dates and details are still to be finalized:

BPESA / dti trip with emerging exporters to London for the OSX Conference on the 17th and 18th October 2018 19 South African companies, categorised as emerging exporters, will be exhibiting at this event. They will be joined by approximately 5 larger companies who are covering their own costs, and BPESA. The emerging exporters will share one exhibition area which will be coordinated by BPESA.

BPESA trip to Melbourne and Sydney, Australia, for the Contact Centre Summit from the 23rd to 25th October This self-funded trip was initially commissioned by the Western Cape and then extended to a National event but is limited to five platinum member companies, across the country, on a first come first serve basis, as it has a priority focus on meetings with analyst and buyers in both cities.

The dti and BPESA trip to London and to New York (dates to be confirmed – possibly in early December otherwise in the New Year) to launch the new value proposition and incentives These two trips will be led by the Minister of Trade and Investment SA; BPESA will send a representative to join the delegation which will also be open to other members and non-members to join at their own cost.

The dti and BPESA trip to Brisbane, Australia, for the Contact Centre Week conference from the 28 February – 1 March 2019 This will trip will double as a conference and investment promotion / marketing trip with BPESA and the dti to schedule meetings with prospective buyers on the leads list and any new ones with whom prior arrangements can be made, together with analysts in the country. Invitations have been sent to BPESA members to apply for the (SSAS) funding for the emerging exporters and to larger companies to apply for the Individual Participation Scheme Funding.

BPESA will also be sending a representative from Gauteng to join TEDA on their investment promotion trip to the USA and Canada in October 2018.

Partnerships and collaboration

Building on relationships established in Quarter One, BPESA has been collaborating with Harambee and the dti to jointly formulate a strategic proposal to rapidly increase demand for outsourced and off-shored services from South Africa and for accelerating youth employment and skills development to support and sustain growth behind this demand. This proposal was tabled at Nedlac as one of the economic sector-specific proposals for the Jobs Summit and has been supported by Government, Labour and Community constituencies. The Jobs Summit takes place on the 4th and 5th of October.

The proposal underpins the current strategy, growth plan and five year roadmap of BPESA and complements programmes already underway including the dti incentives for BPO and the Monyetla Work Readiness Programme. It includes proposals for changes in policies and procedures for VISAs and for a number of elements within the QCTO skills environment.

Engagements with members

There were many events and activities in the past Quarter in which members could engage with each other, meet other stakeholders, and share, learn and grow. These included: CEO dinners in the Western Cape and Gauteng; Summits (Genesys Summit; Future of HR Summit); Expos such as the CTEX Career Expo; and knowledge share sessions including the Industry People Compliance session in Cape Town and the Data Centre and Shared Data Services Centres: “Key stakeholder workshop” in Durban.

In closing

The BPS Sector stands out in its job creation success and continues to gain positive attention and support from all the key stakeholder groups in the sector.

I leave you with the following quote from Henry Ford – “Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.”

 

Andy Searle

On behalf of the BPESA Team

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