Cedfit initiates training program for BPO mid-management pool

CEBU, Philippines - In its bid to address the shortage of mid-management supply in Cebu, the Cebu Educational Development Foundation for Information Technology (Cedfit) partners with John Clements Consultancy Inc., and Harvard Business Publishing to introduce the “New Manager Program” in Cebu.

According to Cedfit managing director and chief executive officer Bonifacio Belen, the program is expected to provide 3000 middle management manpower in Cebu in the next two years.

The program aims at equipping new managers with management and leadership skills, develop critical thinking and decision making skills, and transforms managers into a team player for an individual contributor—thus enhancing their skills for practical, day-to-day applications.

Belen said this program is meant to aid Cebu’s weakness in providing middle-management skill, while industry players, especially in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), and IT businesses are complaining for the lack of supply for middle-management skill here.

The “New Manager Program” will initially train 20 people once a week and will run for eight weeks. However, due to the strong demand for mid-management skills, Belen said Cedfit is looking at introducing a daily training in different batches to immediately produce a certain number of qualified managers in the next one or two years.

Each batch will only accommodate 20 people. If this will be done in a daily basis instead of once a week, Belen said Cedfit and its partners can easily produce at least 100 graduates in eight weeks’ time. In this way, Cebu can easily produce at least three thousand skilled managers in a maximum of two years.

This distinctive course for middle managers is specifically directed to mid-to-executive level leaders belonging to the IT, IT-enabled and other services, and manufacturing industry.

Some BPO multinationals have already expressed some of their concerns in the local level, like the scarcity of mid-management manpower supply that will need a strong support from the local academe sector, and other support industries.

This problem, among others will be easily solved, if BPO firms will have its own Business Support Organization (BSO) that will work closely with concerned government agencies in the local level, as well as other business groups and multi-sectoral organizations.

Australian BPO firm Tech Growth Solutions Cebu Inc., chairman and director for finance Michael Burdette said that one of the issues that will need an immediate intervention in order for Cebu to take off as a preferred BPO destination in the world, is to provide ample supply of mid-management manpower.

Likewise, Wipro BPO Philippines Ltd. Inc., country head Romit Gupta echoed Burdette’s sentiment, saying Wipro is having difficulties in hiring managers, senior managers and supervisors, although hiring entry-level employees is much easier because of ample supply. —Ehda M. Dagooc