Dear Colleague, Seasons greetings from the Kenya BPO & Contact Centre Society. As 2008Draws to an end, we want to take this opportunity to recap on the progress the Society has made during the 2008 year. 1. Marketing and PR. · The marketing and PR Committee drafted a 3 year marketing and PR strategy that will aim at positioning Kenya as a preferred outsourcing destination. Aware of the fact that as a country we face stiff competition from Mauritius, S. Africa and Egypt, the strategy aims to give Kenya a competition edge over these countries. · KBPOCCS also launched the “Outsource2Kenya” Brand on the Month of October which will be used in marketing communications, provide an online platform for outsourcers to place their tenders, Bid for outsourcing tenders and get information on latest industry news. Log on to www.outsource2kenya.co.ke · KBPOCCS played an integral role in organizing Kenya's participation at the recently concluded Call Centre Expo in Birmingham. There was keen interest in offshoring to Kenya, by several large UK corporations such as; Cisco, Barclays UK, Capital Finance among others . The BPO Society is following up on these. The Society also referred interested outsourcers to our website where all our corporate members are listed, so they can get in contact with BPO's in Kenya whom they can discuss the possibilities of outsourcing. · The Marketing Committee has identified some key events for marketing Kenya over the next twelve months. · The Society is developing initiatives to kick start the Domestic Outsourcing industry in Kenya. · Organized one to one meetings with two potential outsourcers who had a chance to visit some of the Local BPO’s and Call Centres. Planned activities for the coming year that will actively involve raising International and Local awareness of Kenya as an offshore call centre destination will consist of; 1. Organizing and Attending International Exhibitions, Conferences and Workshops in regards to BPO and Contact Centre 2. One to One meetings with potential outsourcers 3. Advertising in international trade press 4. Media publicity in both local and international media 5. Knowledge series seminars targeted at various decision makers in the Kenyan Corporate scene. 6. Organizing and facilitating events such as; Entrepreneurship seminars, Training workshops etc. 7. Lobbying Government agencies and Ministries. 8. Joint Venture partnerships with international firms interested in outsourcing deals with Kenya. 2. 2. Training. * The Training Committee of the KBPOCCS has completed developing a Training Competency Framework in order to establish and enforce internationally recognized certifications and skills in the industry. It will be officially launched in the first quarter of 2009. * This will not only be a selling point for Kenya, both among local and international players, but will position the society as the first stop for information concerning accredited training institutions and human resource capacity in this sector. The Training Competency Framework has been aligned with existing International competency frameworks. To achieve this objective, the Training Committee plans to carry out the following activities: 1) Develop a draft TCF for Kenya adapted from internationally recognized certifying bodies 2) Hold a 3-day retreat to review the draft TCF and provide input 3) Review the curriculum currently being offered by BPO/CC training institutions in Kenya and attempt to align this with the draft Kenya Competency Framework; 4) Launch of the TCF 5) Develop a strategy for marketing the TCF to the industry stakeholders 6) Develop a TCF enforcement strategy in conjunction with the Ministry of Higher Education and conduct impact assessments 7) Conduct an assessment of Kenyan organizations to find out the skills/knowledge required for employees to excel in this industry 8) Hold 2 public forums targeting the youth (seeking training) and employers, to educate them of the TCF and present a list of institutions offering certified courses 9) Develop a database of certified personnel, in conjunction with accredited institutions 3. 3. Standards & Ethics. · The KBPOCCS officially launched the Standards and Ethics Draft document in July 2008 with an aim of establishing high standards of ethical business practices. · These standards will ensure that the Country builds a highly skilled workforce for delivering superior customer experiences that will reinforce the brand value. The Society is collaborating with various government agencies as well as strategic international partnerships to ensure that Kenya develops world class standards. · With the above in mind, strict follow up procedures and processes will have to be put in place to monitor the progress of the above mentioned. 4. Other Notable Developments · KBPOCCS successfully lobbied The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) to reduce the BPO lincense fee from Kshs. 100,000 to Kshs. 10,000. · The KBPOCCS, through constant lobbying to the Government, Kenya ICT Board managed to secure Bandwidth subsidy support that will aim at cushioning the cost of Bandwidth in the country until the fibre optic cable project is complete. THANK YOU for a wonderful and very exciting year. We hope you will to continue being active participants in this growing industry. On behalf of the Chair of the Kenya BPO & Contact Centre Society and the Executive Board, we wish you all HAPPY HOLIDAYS and a WONDERFUL & PROSPEROUS 2009 Kind Regards, Joseph Ochola Executive Officer Kenya BPO & Contact Centre Society. Studio House, along Argwings Kodhek road, 2nd floor E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.kenyabposociety.or.ke Tel. No. /020-2391301/ 0722-663176/ 0733-917518