Program to boost call center skills

A solution to the prevalent problem of call center recruiters involving the low hiring percentage of applicants due to their less reliable level of English proficiency is now in sight with the opening of an English communications center catering to the needs of specific call center and business processing firms on their business English requirements.

Called FuturePerfect, the new company touts itself as a high-quality, highly specialized business communi-cation center offering tailored prog-rams to tertiary-level graduates who wish to work in the business processing industry.

The center does not provide a standard general English training such as grammar drills, but works closely with specific call center and business processing companies and tailor-makes courses based on their assessments of their specific English language needs.

According to Dr. Jane Lockwood, FuturePerfect director for education, its program will help reassure call center clients that their English language and communi-cations skills are good enough to handle native-speaking customers as well as their concerns in the different industry segments they service.

Lockwood expressed hope that the FuturePerfect program will contribute in boosting the growing reputation of the Philippines as a preferred hub of the international call center industry.

"The response of the business processing industry to FuturePerfect has been extremely positive because of the support it can extend to their recruitment processes and to the design of effective workplace language training programs," Lockwood said.

Lockwood, who headed the Center for Professional and Business English at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University until she moved to the Philippines in 2003, has worked extensively with various companies in Asia designing tailored communication courses for a range of industries, including banks, hotel chains, airlines and government agencies.

She is currently supervising the development of language assess-ment tools and curricula that will ensure call center candidates get the right program at the right level.

The program, which takes from two to 24 weeks, can successfully result in the immediate hiring and employment of a student-applicant in the fastest growing industry in the country, she said.

FuturePerfect is now accepting applications for its full- and part-time study options. For more details, call 850-4563 or 842-6006.