Convergys opens first 'green' contact center in RP

MANILA, Philippines - Convergys opened its first “green” contact center at the Nuvali TechnoHub in Sta. Rosa, Laguna recently with President Arroyo and Convergys president and CEO Dave Dougherty in attendance.

The Nuvali TechnoHub facility is Convergys’ 12th contact center in the Philippines, and when filled to capacity, could employ around 900 people. The new facility brings to 84 the company’s contact centers worldwide, employing 66,000 people.

Andrea Ayers, Convergys president for customer management, disclosed that the company now employs a total of 16,000 in its 12 Philippine facilities — seven in Metro Manila, three in Cebu City, one in Bacolod City and one in Sta. Rosa.

“As we continue to expand our contact centers in the Philippines, we open our newest site in Laguna with the hope that we leave a minimal impact on the environment for the benefit of the whole community,” said Marife Zamora, Convergys vice president and Philippine country manager.

Convergys’ environment-friendly contact center at Nuvali is not only equipped with energy-efficient lighting, materials recovery facility for solid waste disposal, low-flow water fixtures and ergonomic furniture that are standard in most green buildings, it also has internal bike ramps that allow employees to take their bikes up to the higher floors, complementing the master-planned network of bike lanes throughout the Nuvali community.

The building is also fitted with dual piping, which allows the use of recycled water in bathrooms, thus reducing the consumption of clean, potable water. The building itself is beside a man-made lake that can be used for rainwater harvesting or as fire reserve and recycled water reservoir for irrigation and landscaping.

Ayers said the well being of the employees and the community it serves is foremost in the company’s desire to locate the contact center at Nuvali, which is pursuing a green certification for the entire community.

“We remain very committed to our contact centers in the Philippines. We have a very good workforce here that can deliver our clients’ requirements; they are very dedicated, very well educated,” Ayers said.

Convergys, which counts 31 of the Fortune 50 as its clients, admitted that the financial crisis has had an impact, but the good thing is that it is still seeing growth and continues to employ more people.

In March alone, according to Jose Mari Mercado, Convergys director for business development, the company hired 1,400 people because of sustained client demands. He is confident that the demand for more quality workforce will be sustained, not only in Metro Manila but also in the company’s other locations.

For Sta. Rosa, Mercado disclosed that six leading colleges and universities, including St. Scholastica’s College, Ateneo and De La Salle University, are already in the area or have plans to put up a school there. This, he said, will ensure the supply of graduates who can be absorbed into the Convergys global network.

Convergys’ Nuvali TechnoHub facility has a simultaneous grand launch with two other contact centers at the Cebu i3 Asiatown IT Park in Cebu City and the UP-Ayala Land TechnoHub in Quezon City. Two more contact centers are opening within the year, expected to bring Convergys’ total workforce in the country to 20,000, Ayers said.

“Employees who are well-educated, English-proficient and have a strong understanding of US culture are key to Convergys’ success in the Philippines,” Dougherty said in a statement.

Zamora and William Higginbothan, VP and chief operating officer for management receivables, said the Philippines is a much sought-after location for offshoring for companies in Europe and North America.

Mercado added that when clients visit the Philippines and are brought to the contact centers to meet the agents and see the facilities, it is almost always a done deal. The challenge, he said, is to grow the capability of the workforce as business and client demands grow.

Convergys’ agents handle approximately 1.7 million in-bound calls every day for clients in a wide variety of industries, including financial services, telecommunications, information technology, pharmaceuticals, retail and e-commerce and direct response. Agents provide support via telephone, Web-chat and e-mail.

To nurture its talent pool, Convergys is very strong in training, especially in the area of training agents for middle management positions and those who are already managers to be the future leaders of the organization.

Zamora said the training programs also encompass other areas of employee development, including incentives to pursue higher education.