Competencies Valued in

the IT-BPM Industry

Session 8

Service Culture
Introduction

Have you ever wondered what it takes to get a job in

the IT-BPM industry?

What are employers looking for?

How can you gain the competitive advantage, get

the employer’s attention, and get hired?
Introduction

A Competency (or competence) is the ability of an

individual to do a job fully according to set
expectations.

The IT-BPM industry includes in it different roles,

functions and responsibilities, which require specific
knowledge, skills and behaviors. These form the IT-
BPM’s valued competencies.
Objectives

• Define what Competency is

• List the competencies

valued in the IT-BPM
Industry

• Explain how each

competency is applied in
the industry

• Find ways to develop these

competencies
Competencies Valued in the Industry

BPOs (Business Process Outsourcer), because of the

nature of the industry, look for the same
competencies in their job applicants although every
company may call these by different names.

• Cognitive Ability • Computer Literacy

• English Proficiency • Perceptual Speed and

Accuracy
Competencies Valued in the Industry

• Communication
• Learning Orientation
• Courtesy
• Empathy
• Reliability
• Responsiveness
Cognitive Ability

Typical situations when you will use this ability

include:

•Understanding and determining the root-

cause of a customer’s problem

•Debugging a software program

•Identifying a product or service that would

perfectly match a customer’s needs
English Proficiency

In this industry, you will typically use English

when:

• Listening/speaking with an English-speaking

customer
• Writing to an English-speaking customer (e-
mail or chat)
• Processing data/documents written in English
• Speaking with the client (the company that
outsourced their business to the BPO)
Computer Literacy

Computer Literacy refers to proficiency in using

and manipulating various computer hardware,
software and Internet applications.

The growth of the IT-BPM industry has been

fuelled by various technological advances. Through
the years, international telecommunication
infrastructure has become more reliable and
dependable, such that communicating with
someone half-way across the globe has become
effortless.
Perpetual Speed and Accuracy

One measure that is often determined and checked

in the IT-BPM industry is how long does it take for a
person to do a particular task?

• How long does it take for a technical support

representative to troubleshoot a technical
issue?

• How long does it take a sales representative to

close a sale?
Perpetual Speed and Accuracy

• How long does it take for a medical

transcriptionist to accurately and completely
transcribe a medical history?

• How long does it take a developer to develop a

simple banner advertisement in a website?
Communication

Common instances when you need to express your

ideas or suggestions through effective
communication includes when:

• Speaking with a customer

• Asking or providing assistance to a team
member
• Asking for your Supervisor’s support or
guidance
Learning Orientation

Your willingness to learn will be valuable when:

• Learning the different products and services you

will support

• Familiarizing processes, procedures and

guidelines when handling customers

• Using the new tools and technologies

Courtesy

Typical situations when you need to be courteous

includes:

• Communicating with a customer either through

the phone, online chat or email
• Putting the customer on hold to search for
information
• Transferring a customer to another department
Empathy

Typical situations when you need to empathize

includes:

• Understanding the root-cause of a technical

problem and troubleshooting the issue
• Understanding the customer’s needs and
selling the right product or service
• Understanding the customer’s billing concerns
and offering the right price plan
Reliability

Here are some of the measurements IT-BPM

use:

For phone representatives

• Customer Satisfaction – how satisfied your

customers are in your interaction with them

• Average Handle Time (AHT) – how long it took

you to complete the call, in average
Reliability

Here are some of the measurements IT-BPM

use:

For non-phone representatives

• Transaction Length – how long it takes you to

complete the entire transaction (e.g. e-mail)
Responsiveness

Typical situations where your responsiveness is

called for includes:

• Making sure all customer concerns are

addressed, not just the primary concern
• Giving that extra mile when assisting
customers
• Performing beyond the set performance
targets or trying to exceed goals
Developing Your Competencies

Here are some of institutions that also have training

initiatives, to name a few:

• IBPAP – Information Technology Business

Processing Association Philippines (
www.Ibpap.org)
• ACPI – Animation Council of the Philippines,
Inc. (www.animationcouncil.org)
• CCAP – Call Center Association of the
Philippines (www.ccaponline.org)
Summary

Congratulations!

You should now be able to:

• Define what Competency is

• List the competencies valued in the IT-BPM
Industry
• Explain how each competency is applied in
the industry
• Find ways to develop these competencies.