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Playing the BPO game

By Ilva Pieterse, ITWeb contributor
Johannesburg, 02 Dec 2014

The Rockefeller Foundation has provided local business process outsourcing (BPO) association, BPeSA, with a grant of R3.7 million to help address the local skills shortage in the BPO industry.

If the industry keeps growing at its current rate, there could potentially be a shortage of staff, which would have a serious impact on new investment coming into the country.

Gareth Pritchard, CEO, BPeSA

The initiative, known as Gaming Environment for Online Recruitment and Career Empowerment in South Africa (GEFORCE SA), uses game mechanics as a key motivator for promoting learning content. Formula D Interactive, a specialised design consultancy, is producing the interactive learning tool's gaming environment.

Says Gareth Pritchard, BPeSA CEO: "The idea is for the game to be downloadable by anyone, be it students or employees. The game will also be cross-sectoral, although the focus will be on teaching customer service and other BPO-related skills."

The BPO industry in SA boasts over 210 000 people and is one of the major sources of employment for the country's youth market. The project aims to reach about 15% of the total talent pool locally.

A pool of talent

"Skills development is a major focus area for the BPO industry," says Pritchard. "If the industry keeps growing at its current rate, there could potentially be a shortage of staff, which would have a serious impact on new investment coming into the country. Gamification consists of a platform that can help us reach thousands of learners in a relatively short space of time, which is what we aim to capitalise on."

Marco Rosa, MD of Formula D, adds: "We intend on reaching the target market through a number of different channels and employing various methods, such as incentivised sharing. "It's a popular way of promoting the spread of a game, but also encouraging social interaction, which is something that today's youth thrives on."

The aim of the initiative is to showcase the industry, create awareness and develop a pool of potential BPO employees that will be able to effectively function in the industry.

As far as we're aware, says Pritchard, this is a first for the BPO industry in SA. "However, gamification has gained more traction internationally and has huge potential to address skills challenges locally."

GEFORCE SA will be launched in 2015 and will be rolled out across SA, with a long-term strategy to expand into Africa.

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