“The English usage in the Philippines is in a sorry state: it only enjoys a proficiency rate of 1 to 3 per cent among college graduates—the primary reason for low acceptance rates in call centers—and while it is recognized as the medium of instruction in most colleges and universities, it is equally acceptable to use Filipino in other subjects. Moreover, English usage rarely finds itself outside of the classroom.”
- Paul Catiang, John Clements
I interview applicants in our center quite often for different positions. I walk the floor and do spot checks and today, we have our own campaign to ensure that everybody in the center speaks English. We reward teams and departments for “catching” someone speaking our native language.
Though this is successful, I believe that we should show Sesame Street in our break rooms and play English shows instead. It worked for a lot of our pioneers in the industry; it should work beautifully for the rest of the pack.
Some may view this as “losing our national identity”, but I look at it as an extra skill to be more competitive in the international market. We not only learn another language, we get the chance to communicate to a wider audience and expand our thinking process.
Let's turn up the volume and learn more!
I guess its a fact of life that call center activities, especially for larger companies like Dell, Gateway, or IBM, are being outsourced overseas and will continue to be outsourced based on the price.
It is quite funny that these employees that are managing calls for multi-billion dollar blue chip companies need to hear Sesame Street in the break room to increase their proficiency in English.
Posted by: Live Answering Service | February 15, 2006 10:38 AM | Permalink to Comment