Nasscom unveils BPO certification project

Plagued by a shortage of manpower, rising hiring costs and a series of 8216;sting8217; operations that sought to undermine the BPO industr...

Plagued by a shortage of manpower, rising hiring costs and a series of 8216;sting8217; operations that sought to undermine the BPO industry8217;s image, industry association Nasscom has launched a three-city pilot project to assess potential BPO workers.

The Nasscom Assessment of Competence NAC programme will assess and certify students in the National Capital Region, Mumbai and Bangalore on the basis of their employability.

A sound rating from Nasscom will make a BPO job-seeker a more worthy candidate, than someone with an indifferent rating.

The pilot, which starts with a three-month first phase and 36 BPO units, is being seen as one way to cut hiring costs and ensure that BPOs get access to a ready pool of 8216;trainable,8217; 8216;employable8217; talent.

In the first phase, the pilot will run for 3 months in 3 cities 8212; NCR, Mumbai and Bangalore. Around 36 key ITeS-BPO companies and nearly 15,000 graduates will participate in the pilot.

It will also give BPOs a national standard for recruitment of entry-level talent, adding up to 50 per cent cost savings in the sector8217;s sourcing cost. The savings will also result from shortened recruitment processes and reduced training hours for ITeS-BPO companies.

Nasscom said in a statement that India is increasingly acknowledged as an emerging services hub due to the availability of skilled manpower. 8216;8216;The ITeS-BPO industry is growing at a tremendous pace, employing 348,000 people and is expected to generate employment for around one million people by 2009,8217;8217; the statement said on Wednesday.

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With this system of proactive workforce development, BPO employees will also benefit, by not having to go through the same recruitment process at different companies. They will also be able to identify their strengths and weaknesses, and assess their training needs right from the start.

An online examination will determine opportunities for graduates in both Tier I and Tier II cities under the programme, whereas the scheme offers an opportunity for them to get certified on a national level too.

Nasscom will run the NAC in conjunction with Hewitt Associates and industry players. It starts with an aptitude test on listening and keyboard skills, verbal ability, spoken English, comprehension and writing ability, office software usage, numerical and analytical skills, and concentration and accuracy.

After completion of the pilot program, Nasscom plans to roll out NAC on an all-India basis.

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8216;8216;Nasscom is also encouraging state governments to commit to the NAC to improve their employment generation, attract serious investors for the ITES-BPO sector and build a link between education and employability,8217;8217; the association said on Monday.