An engaged learning culture builds bench strength, expertise, and loyalty to the Transparent BPO brand

By Pat Ricken, Director, Leadership Development, Transparent BPO

Many organizations in our industry- in fact, most – are reactive, offering learning solutions only when issues become problems or talent needs become urgent. The dynamic nature of call centers often requires a business to slot a top-performing agent into an immediate opening for a front-line leader without any formal training, expecting they will “learn as they go.” This practice leads to loss of revenue and drives leader and agent turnover.

We’re Different

At Transparent BPO, our dynamic learning culture enables everyone to voluntarily pursue additional self-development opportunities. Our custom online learning portal allows motivated learners to build personal skills and business knowledge. From there, successful agents who invest time in self-development are allowed to enter the leadership pipeline. This enables us to have a deep pipeline of skilled and motivated individuals ready to respond to new opportunities.

It Starts Here

Our Core Values are central to everything we do. These values: Quality, Clients, Community, and Transparency drive our behaviors every day. This is why we place so much importance on investing in programs that help our team members develop personally and professionally, so they stay and grow with us.

Joining us as an agent isn’t just about landing a job – it’s the first step in a career journey. Transparent BPO is a place where someone can build a great future for themselves and their families, make an impact with our clients and their customers, and contribute to the good of the community- – all while building their professional credentials.

We know our continued business growth and success is dependent on developing our leaders of tomorrow. We foster an engaged learning culture from Day 1 to ensure our front-line agents are passionate about the success of the clients’ brands and the TBPO brand. We clearly understand that their success drives our success. To enable that success, we create an open culture of continuous learning to build skills and confidence that leads to loyalty to the Transparent BPO brand.

 Our Path to Leadership

To help us stay ahead of the demand, in 2017 we introduced our Rising Stars program as a standardized way to develop emerging leaders and prepare them to lead before they get the call to action. We sent out a “casting call” across the organization to identify those with the desire to grow and the commitment to lead. Our response was tremendous, and we had to first pick those deemed as “Ready Now” to start on the learning path. They received intensive foundational skills training and a chance for practical application. The curriculum trained agents to take the next step in our internal hierarchy as Team Leaders (TLs), who can then be trained to take the next step to Operations Manager (OM).

The program, while popular and highly successful, was not scalable to support the rapid growth of our business. This inspired us to find a better way to enable a greater number of our team members on this learning journey.

Enter Transparent BPO University

Transparent BPO U is a robust ”university-based” approach to learning, offering skill and theory-based courses for voluntary self-development available to all team members at all levels. The courses, housed on our customized learning portal, are either instructor-led or self-study, and each level includes mandatory course requirements plus elective credits, with checks and balances to confirm completion of each level. Learners earn rewards and recognition for completing each level which automatically unlocks the next level.

Transparent BPO U puts our team members at the helm of their own career and earnings potential. This strategy allows a customized approach that benefits team members by providing them a way to pursue their personal goals- whether that means gaining additional skill at what they do today, expanding their business acumen, or pursuing opportunities to move into roles of increased responsibility. It starts with each individual and our ability to ignite their curiosity and desire for self-development by providing learning options

Leadership Career Paths Training in Transparent BPO U

Following completion of basic University Levels, 1 (Intermediate CS skills) and Level 2 (Advanced CS skills) agents will be able to enter the Career Tracks (Leadership) self-study path, where they will start by immersing themselves in basic leadership theory courses. Once certification is received for the voluntary self-study learning path, those students who have demonstrated the attributes for success as future leaders will be invited to participate in an intense instructor-led Leadership (ILT) Development “Bootcamp”, to first earn their “Rising Stars” (Pre-TL) badge. ILT tracks are offered quarterly and include up to 10 days of intensive training – led virtually by a leadership development team member. It includes hands-on content, role-playing, scenarios, and practical assignments, and content-focused video lessons.

Once the Rising Stars path is achieved, they are eligible to be promoted into the role of Team Leader. Those already in Team Leader roles can elect to start the Career path training for the next level to become an Operations Manager (OM) and OMs can begin their theory course to start the path to Site Director.

From Team Leader to Operations Manager to Site Director, Transparent BPO is committed to developing engaged leaders. The primary job of any leader is to inspire their team to achieve excellence, foster company culture, and create a climate where people are excited to work in a positive environment with unlimited potential. As our Mission states: “Our passion is the success of your brand.”  And all of our training paths are designed to build brands that lead to personal and business success.