With over a million South Africans already online, the Internet is a burgeoning future market that is expected to turn into a R47bn industry by the year 2002. While this phenomenal growth has the potential to create massive job opportunities, SA's information technology (IT) skills shortage is already hampering this fast growing medium.
An area that has been particularly affected by the lack of trained staff is that of SA's call centre operations. Andrew Milne, general manager of M-Web Connect, says: "Since first launching the M-Web support centre, we have become increasingly aware of the lack of trained staff and today we know that it is an industry-wide problem. This knowledge led M-Web to introduce a specially developed empowerment programme that transforms people from previously disadvantaged communities into skilled support centre professionals."
Lynette Kruger, manager of M-Web's technical support call centre, was directly involved in M-Web's first training programme. She says: "M-Web's call centre is the hub of our business and is used by tens of thousands of customers for IT advice, assistance and support. A great deal is expected of the call centre representatives who deliver a measure of IT and Internet education each time they assist a caller to get connected to the World Wide Web. For this reason the candidates selected for M-Web's skills transfer programme had to show potential and a great deal of enthusiasm and willingness to learn. To this we added intensive computer, Internet and communications training to transform them into support centre experts."
Together with the Integrated Technologies Institute (ITI), M-Web developed a course including the following modules: PC Fundamentals; DOS Fundamentals; Windows 3.1; Windows 95; The Internet; Modems and Communications. The M-Web skills / two final ITI course, which ran for six weeks, was followed by four weeks of in-house training to familiarise the candidates with the call centre environment and "real life" scenarios.
Kruger continues: "We were delighted with the progress achieved and while we know that the course was tough, all the candidates remained enthusiastic and optimistic throughout. A key factor to their success was a positive approach. They met the challenge as a committed team and helped each other to learn and grow. A sure indicator of their success is the fact that we immediately employed all participating candidates as fully fledged call centre representatives on completion of the course. I can also confidently say that none of them will have difficulty in finding employment in a local call centre operation in future."
The M-Web support centre empowerment programme is ongoing and forms part of the company's commitment to upgrading local IT skills.
Call M-Web's customer support centre on 08600 3 2000, if your require further information on how to get connected to the Internet.
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M-Web
M-Web is the Internet company which was unbundled from the MIH Group last year, thereafter listed in March on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange as a linked unit with MIH. The company focuses on delivering superior, infotainment-based content. It has invested in leading edge network and service infrastructure to ensure it provides subscribers with a fast and reliable service. Headquartered in Cape Town, M-Web owns Computicket, has sister operations in Johannesburg and Durban and a national staff count in excess of 800.
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