This snapshot taken on 26/07/2008, shows web content selected for preservation by The National Archives. External links, forms and search boxes may not work in archived websites.
Stephen Timms MPWinning Strategies |
 |
|
| (Click picture for biography) | |
Adrian, thank you for your introduction. I very much welcome the chance to address the Call & Contact Centre Association's (CCA) 8th convention with its theme of 'Winning Strategies' Importance of Call Centres to UK economy My speech has been billed as giving the Government's viewpoint on the importance of Contact Centres to the UK economy. This is almost self evident from the statistics. Contact centres now provide jobs for over 500,000 people - over 2% of the UK's working population. What is more - many of these jobs have been created in areas of high unemployment. The growth in Contact Centres has been extraordinary. It is not an exaggeration to say that this has transformed the economic fortunes of some of our most deprived areas. But the importance of Contact Centres to the economy is not just about the jobs they provide. One of the top priorities for my department is to work with employees, businesses and consumers to drive up productivity and competitiveness across the economy to deliver prosperity for all. Contact centres can make a fundamental difference to our competitiveness and our productivity. Successful organisations are those that know their customers and that respond to their customers needs. Contact centres are a powerful mechanism for business to manage the customer relationship. They can focus and improve delivery. They can inform business strategy and operation. They can improve profits. They can provide added value - differentiating their businesses from the competition. It is this that makes them so important to the economy. Two striking features of the Contact Centre profession are its diversity, and its rapid growth. The way that it is impacting across all sectors from banking and insurance, through to manufacturing, IT and Telecoms, Tourism and the leisure industry. The public sector is already a major user of Contact Centres. The modernising government agenda and the drive to get all government services on-line means we will make greater use of them in future. The public sector has much to learn from you about building customer relationships into the heart of service delivery. The number of people employed in the profession and its contribution to our economy is expected to continue to grow as the business and the public sector increasingly realise the real gains that effective use of Contact Centres can bring. Contribution of the CCA However if the profession is to continue to thrive it needs to meet current and future challenges. It needs a unified voice to raise its profile and to influence Government policy towards it, a voice to promote the profession's interests and positive image. The profession needs a forum and mechanisms to spread best practice and strategies that will continue to raise standards, competitiveness and productivity. I would like to pay tribute to the exceptional contribution that the Call and Contact Centre Association has already made in these areas. It has been actively working with the profession, the DTI, on others on its initiatives to raise standards, to promote best practice, and on benchmarking. The Association has promoted positive and informed debate, and provides a vital resource for its members through the range of services it provides. I am impressed by both the depth and scope of issues that are being addressed in the 8th convention under the theme of Winning Strategies. Globalisation - Threat or Opportunity I believe the theme is both appropriate and timely. The UK is the leading location for Contact Centres in Europe. Our open and competitive markets, our flexible labour laws, our relatively low costs, our advanced telecommunications infrastructure, and our business and management expertise have encouraged this success. However with growing globalisation and ever more sophisticated international communications and technology, the UK is facing increasing competition from overseas. We are competing in a global market against countries such as India. I visited India in October and saw at first hand the dynamism, and competitiveness, of its economy. It has a highly educated, IT literate workforce, and costs of up to 40% lower than in the UK. We have seen plenty of press and media reports recently about decisions to locate Contact Centres overseas. Some of these have had a very high profile such as the Prudential's recent announcement that it would be locating 850 jobs in Bombay. There are also plenty of consultants and analysts quoted in the media predicting that thousands more jobs will go or new jobs located overseas rather than the UK. The motivations of these consultants are not always clear-cut - they sometimes have a vested interest in talking up the benefits of locating overseas. In areas such as financial services where increasing competition is putting them under intense pressure to reduce margins, costs savings will be a significant factor. But costs will be only one of the factors that influence companies in deciding where to locate. We are continuing to attract international investment. 16 new international customer Contact Centre projects came to the UK in the last financial year. However there is no doubt that companies are being tempted overseas. The challenge to the profession and to Government is to ensure the UK remains the location of choice. The Government has a vital role in maintaining the attractiveness of the UK as an investment location though its economic and social policies. However if the Contact Centre profession is to compete for internationally mobile business, it must differentiate itself from the competition. It must deliver added value and services better than anywhere else. Skills Issues There are a number of deep-seated skills related issues that are affecting the profession's output and ability to compete. It did not get much publicity, but the Prudential cited difficulties in recruiting and retaining skilled staff as a factor in their decision to locate in India. Only 30% of Contact Centres are meeting their current service level targets. The profession has suffered from a reputation for poor working conditions - often unjustly in my view. There are many centres of excellence within the profession. However retention is a problem with an average attrition rate of over 18%, and 1 in 10 centres suffering from 49% or more. To stem this loss a new approach is essential, which incorporates effective training, development pathways, and career progression. Individuals need easy access to quality training - an appropriate qualifications structure - and the pride that comes from being part of a valued profession delivering a quality service. It is not just existing skills that need to be improved. There is an extraordinary revolution going on in communications. What we do with information technology will determine our success industrially and as a society for years to come. Advances in technology and the move to broadband are bringing new ways of working and communicating. E-business processes are becoming increasingly integrated into the fabric of business. E-commerce is growing rapidly. Our society is communicating in new ways using email, mobile, web based services and other multimedia technologies. As Minister for E-commerce and Competitiveness these issues are all very much on my agenda. These dramatic technology advances are changing the environment in which Contact Centres operate. Customers increasingly want to conduct business at any time, from any place, using all communication channels. The Contact Centre profession needs new levels of skills and expertise to meet these challenges. There is now a real recognition across Government of the need to invest in improving the depth and range of our skills base. Improving our skills base will be a fundamental factor in meeting our objectives to drive up competitiveness and productivity across industry. It is only the employers that can truly define current and future skills that meet their needs, and implement real change. If we are effectively deliver improved skills across the economy we need a partnership between employers, government and educators - all aligned to a clear employer-led strategy. This is why the Government has launched the Sector Skills Councils initiative. EskillsUK, responsible for addressing skills needs in the ITEC sector, has established "Call2 Contact" to work with employers, educators and Government, and the professional bodies to understand, to articulate, and to act on the skills needs for the Contact Centre profession. Call2Contact Framework On 18 September they launched the Contact Centre career and skills Framework. The Framework has been developed with the help of a wide variety of employers, industry experts, professional bodies and government agencies. It has been reviewed, tested and validated by over 50 employers and stakeholders including the CCA. It presents a compelling case for concerted action. Action focused on attracting new recruits to quality work and careers in Contact Centres, addressing skills supply and training quality issues and increased investment in workforce development. If we don't tackle these issues, companies will locate globally mobile operations elsewhere in the world, to the loss of our sector and the UK economy. The Call2Contact Framework sets out a clear plan for action. The CCA and its members will have a vital role in making this happen and delivering the vision set out in the plan. Your profession has come a very long way in a very short time. You make a vital and significant contribution to the economy. Contact centres have transformed the costs of service and customers expectations of service. You can justifiably claim to have changed the industrial landscape. The profession is still growing and has potential for enormous growth in future. However we all need to tackle the skills issues, to raise standards across the board, and to meet the challenges of international competition and changing technologies. This will require a partnership between the profession, the government and educators. However only the profession can define its skills needs and bring about real change. There is much to win and much to lose, but I am greatly encouraged by the professionalism and the commitment of the CCA and its members. Thank you for listening. I hope that you have a productive but also enjoyable convention. |
|
|
|
|
Other speeches by Stephen Timms MP
(the following are available from the archive) |
|
