Introduction

PETER RYAN
Ryan Strategic Advisory

Peter is a globally recognised BPO/GBS industry strategist, analyst, commentator and sector research specialist. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Peter travelled extensively, as a highly sought-after thought leader, conference keynote speaker and trusted advisor to major BPO/GBS operators, industry bodies and associations and government entities. Peter has visited South Africa in his professional capacity on 14 separate occasions and as such he as gained an intimate knowledge and understanding of the South African industry and the unique operating environment.

Recorded: 28 April 2020
Duration: 21 minutes

MARK HILLARY

Mark Hillary is a writer and analyst with an extensive track record of contributing to business media and opinion all over the world. He has written for the BBC, Financial Times, and Huffington Post with a focus on CX, technology, and the future of work. He edits the podcast and online magazine CX Files, focused entirely on best practice in customer experience. Mark has published 17 books on technology and has experience teaching MBAs in London and speaking at major conferences on five continents. In this interview, Mark shares his views on the impact of Covid-19 on the Customer Experience sector in various global geographies.

Recorded: 28 April 2020
Duration:  14.5 minutes

STEVE WESTON
CEO SK Weston & Co

Based in Washington DC, Steve is a 30+ year BPO industry leader with executive experience with leading BPO companies and on transformational client solutions. His company SKWeston & Company, LLC. provides global consulting in developing Operational Strategic Plans to Fortune 100/500 companies along with BPOs. 

Particularly at this time of the disastrous Covid-19 pandemic, Steve’s intimate knowledge and understanding of the global BPO/GBS landscape puts him in the unique position to offer extremely valuable insights in the current realities and the possible future scenarios for the global industry.

Recorded: 18 May 2020
Duration: 22 minutes

DUNCAN WALLACE
Principal

Veteran contact centre / BPO/GBS strategic advisor, consultant and business broker Duncan Wallace is now located in Melbourne, Australia. He has spent a great deal of time in South Africa where he worked extensively between 1995 and 2006. He has been a frequent visitor back to South Africa where he has clients and business partnerships. He will be remembered in his role as COO of Merchants, pioneers in the large-scale international BPO sector.

In this interview, Duncan shares his perspectives on how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted his clients and operations. He also shares his views of how South Africa may well be poised to take advantage of the post-Covid-19 global BPO/GBS recovery cycle.

Recorded: 29 April 2020
Duration: 18.5 Minutes

DAVE RUMBLE
CEO ON CONSULTANCY

Internationally recognised as a BPO/GBS industry thought leader, UK-based Dave Rumble, managing partner of On Consulting, leverages his many years of specialised industry experience on providing consulting and strategic advisory services to his global clients. His focus is on developing and implementing CX strategies, organisational transformation, and digitisation.

In this interview Dave shares his valuable views and insights on diverse topics relating current and post Covid-19 scenarios for the outsourcing and BPO/GBS global industry. His passions for impact sourcing, socially invested BPO and the ‘humanisation of the customer experience’ are well worth hearing.

Recorded: Thursday 21 May 2020
Duration: 31 minutes

SIMON DANCZUK
Chairman
Downtown in Business: London

Simon Danczuk is a former UK member of parliament with extensive experience in contact centre-based research (CATI). He is also a social, political and economics strategist; a business networker and analyst and chairman of the London chapter of Downtown in Business, a powerful business networking organisation linking individual and organisations with key decision-makers, opinion formers and influencers.

Simon’s intimate knowledge of the current UK realties in the context of COVID-19 pandemic, and his knowledge of the global outsourcing, BPO/GBS industry gives him deep insights into the industry. In this interview Simon also shares his views on the post covid-19 recovery period.

Recorded: Thursday 21 May 2020
Duration: 17 minutes

ANDY SEARLE
CEO BPeSA

In his role as CEO Of BPeSA, South Africa’s national body for BPO/GBS and contact centres, Andy with the tremendous support of his Board and EXCO has led his team to build the organisation into what has now become a vital and truly representative industry body; driving the continuity of essential services contact centres and BPO/GBS operations in South Africa during this time of the Covid-19 crisis. In this interview, Andy shares his views on how BPeSA and its partners are engaging with government and private sector stakeholders to address the sector’s day-to-day regulatory and operational challenges.
On a more positive note, Andy discusses the implications of South Africa having been awarded 2nd place in the annual CXOutsourcers Top 5 Most Preferred Offshore Cx Delivery Locations and how this prestigious award will assist BPeSA to drive sector recovery and growth going forward into the post-Covid-19 era.

Recorded: Friday 8th May 2020
Duration: 29 minutes

BRANDON AITKEN
Webhelp

From its origins in France over 20 years ago, Webhelp has grown its global operations and currently employs over 55,000 people focussing on delivering high-touch/high-care BPO services. Brandon Aitken holds the position of Chief Commercial Officer for Webhelp’s extensive Indian and South African operations; the latter comprising of four sites; these located in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria.
In this interview, Brandon discusses how Webhelp has adapted to the realities of the global Covid-19 pandemic, and specifically, how the South African operation continues to ‘roll with the punches’, by being extremely agile and applying outside-of-the-box thinking and methods to ensure continuity of high quality services, whilst first and foremost placing the wellbeing of the company’s people as paramount importance.

Recorded: Friday 8th MAy 2020
Duration: 23 minutes

EVAN JONES
Chairman: BPESA

BPeSA as the South African national body for contact centres, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Global Business Services serves a community of 2000+ operators employing an estimated 250,000 individuals. In this interview, Evan describes the role that BPeSA plays in supporting the sector pre and post COVID-19. Of particular interst, Evan speaks about, BPeSA’s evolving strategies for sector’s post COVID-19 recovery.

Recorded: 17 April 2020
Duration: 17 minutes

HENRIETTE POTGIETER

With over 20 years of contact centre operational experience, in her current role as a consultant to several operators, Henriette has a number of strong views about working with the current realities of the COVIT-19 remote workforce. and how the sector may evolve in its recovery.

Recorded: 17 April 2020
Duration:  11 minutes

ROZ BROOM
COO

Despite having a Disaster Recovery / Business Continuity Plan in place, Roz and the CapabilityBPO management team had to think on their feet and become remarkably creative to successful deploy almost 200 work-from-home agents. The transition has worked so well that CapabilityBPO has in fact won and deployed a new, large-scale international client, all in the space of less than a week. A fine example of good planning, agility, creativity and passion!

Recorded: 18 April 2020
Duration:  14 minutes

TANYA PHILLIPS
COO

Starting out as a call centre agent in 1994, Tanya has accumulated over 25 years of hard-won operational experience and evolved expertise. She has held a number of executive-level leadership roles in both corporate-captive and the BPO/GBS sector. More recently Tanya has been at the forefront of contact centre analytics and now, more recently, focusing on contact centre optimisation and service excellence.

Tanya has a passion for developing new leadership styles and more refined operating models. She has certainly found a highly receptive audience in the shadow of the COVID-19 lockdown. Hear her views about Leadership and Trust being the foundation for the remote and work-from-home workforce.

Recorded: 19 April
Duration: 17 Minutes

NATASHA TERLECKI
GM Emerging Markets

Learning and development, as a critical component of delivering a high-quality customer experience through call centres, contact centres and BPO/GBS operations, has had to rapidly evolve in terms of strategies, processes, procedures and technologies as consequences of the impact of COVID-19. In this interview, Natasha Terlecki, General Manager: Emerging Markets at People Solutions, shares the company’s current operational realities and explores concepts for skills development looking forward into the unknown ‘new tomorrow’.

Recorded: 14 May 2020
Duration: 18 minutes