GETTING THE RIGHT PRACTICAL WORKPLACE EXPERIENCE

Well done Jack Phoshoko and well done Boston City Campus! You see what a little iniative can do and a little willingness to actually do some work.

How is it that there are thousands of people out there who are desperate to work, thousands of companies out there that are desperate for skilled workers, hundreds of companies out there desperate to train people and hundreds of CSI's available funding to assist and yet we can't all seem to marry up and get together and work together.

Odd, don't you think? The opporunities are boundless!

Getting the right practical workplace experience
Workplace staff
20 September 2007 at 06h00

He never realised how important customer service was until he started working as a call centre agent. And though every industry has its challenges, Jack Phoshoko says the industry offers him the challenge and stimulation he has always wished for. "Every day I learn something new - about the job and about people," says the 28-year-old from Polokwane. Phoshoko is one of 120 learners who recently completed a call centre learnership in Polokwane in Limpopo. Together with 70 of his peers, he went on to be selected as a contract employee. "I have always wanted to further my education,' he says. "After writing matric in 1999, I enrolled for a course in marketing management."In 2002, however, he ran out of funds and was forced to drop out.

Finding a job in Polokwane was tough, he eventually managed to find a position as a security guard. Then, last year his sister heard about a unique opportunity. "My sister was told by the department of labour that there was going to be a learnership project in our home town. They were looking for people to be trained in call centres; I applied immediately."Funded by the National Skills Fund, the learnership project was a joint effort by Boston City Campus and Business College, the Services Seta and Munnik, Basson & DaGama Inc (MBD).

"Polokwane has been identified by government as an area that needs economic stimulation," explains Jeannette Campbell, learnerships manager at Boston. "The aim of the project was to train a pool of call centre agents who could possibly be employed in a call centre based in the area. The dilemma was that we could not find a call centre in Polokwane able to provide the appropriate practical workplace experience. Accordingly, Boston together with Services Seta approached MBD to establish one. "Premises were hired and transformed into an operational call centre; while Boston was responsible for the training, MBD provided the relevant hardware and software as well as a call centre manager to mentor the learners.

The Services Seta provided invaluable guidance and then closely monitored the entire process, ensuring that the correct procedures were are followed at all times. As MBD is a law firm specialising in the collection of outstanding accounts, the learners' training focused on call centre skills in a debt recovery environment. "There was complete integration between training and real life operations," says Services Seta CEO Ivor Blumenthal. "The group was split into two and combined the theoretical training with workplace experiential training while being supervised and mentored by qualified staff from MBD and Boston."The project exceeding all expectations," says Campbell. "Not only did we create a pool of skilled call centre agents for Polokwane, but MBD's fully fledged call centre is now part of their national operations - our training partners stayed on in the premises and offered contracts to 70 of the learners."

According to Charisse Zerf, group training manager at MBD, they decided to stay in Polokwane as an independent debt recovery call centre as the company saw potential for growth in the area. "We had invested resources into the project in terms of software, management and training, so we decided to continue contributing to the community," says Zerf. "We are committed to helping create jobs for the youth in Polokwane. We were impressed with the performance of the local learners, as well as the service provided by the Boston and the Services Seta partnership." The learners, she says, showed the tenacity and diligence needed to succeed in a debt recovery call centre. "Debt recovery call centres are specialised in nature and are a highly pressurised environment," she elaborates. "The learners did well with all their tasks and demonstrated a steady increase in performance month on month. "Phoshoko has already been promoted to call centre supervisor for MBD. In the meantime dreams of growing his career in the MBD call centre in Polokwane. Since officially becoming an employee in March this year, he has already been promoted to call centre supervisor. "I hope I will to become an operational manager one day."

For more information, contact Boston City Campus and Business College on 011-551-2000.