Sitel Bolsters People Development Programs During COVID-19

Global BPO continues to provide learning and leadership development

The Enhanced Community Quarantine and the current COVID-19 pandemic have had a tremendous impact on the business community. However, for leading global customer experience provider Sitel, the sudden change in business operations and protocols did not mean a shift in priorities when it came to Learning and Development programs.

“At Sitel, we believe in investing in our people through continuous opportunities for growth and learning,” explained Francis Biagan, Leadership and Development Director, Sitel Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand. “We strive to help our associates grow their skills within the company and prepare them for expanded roles, more responsibilities, and eventual leadership opportunities.”

To this end, Sitel offers several leadership and development programs, which were previously conducted through a mix of face-to-face classes and online learning. When the quarantine was implemented, Sitel moved quickly to enhance online learning tools and refresh content to address the changing times. They updated their learning tools: MyAcademy and Empower Center and opened these to all associates.

“It’s been a challenging time for everyone,” Biagan said. “But there is also an opportunity for growth. We’ve seen everyone look for online learning opportunities and we wanted to be able to provide our associates with timely and relevant material that will help them right now.”

The Max Learn campaign was launched in April and was kicked off by courses such as “A shift to Virtual Leadership”, “Managing your Social Media Brand”, and “SitelBarkadas at Home”. These virtual learning experiences opened up new ways for Sitel associates to learn and hone their skills to adapt to the current business landscape.

The Sitel Max (My Associate Experience) program was also strengthened to encourage leveraging the company’s collective genius and the sharing of new innovative ideas. “Associates can tell us what they want to learn to help them navigate this new work environment and we develop the content based on their feedback,” explained Biagan.