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TRANSCRIPT
The 2016 benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business
Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry in
South Africa.
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Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
The 2016 benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business
Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry in
South Africa.
First published October 2016
• Insightsintosalariesadvertisedacrossvariousmediaversus
actual salaries, paid in the South African BPO and Contact
Centre industries.
• Insightsintosalariesandbenefitsincaptiveandnon-captive
contact centres in South Africa (Quest research).
• ArticlesonmattersofinteresttotheBPOandcontactcentre
industries covering topics such as attrition and coping with
night shift work.
The Quest 2016 benchmark salaries & general insights for
the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre
industry in South Africa report provides:
Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
Preface
Table of Contents
Contributors 2
Preface 3
1 Introduction 5
A. Salary Insights 2016: Actual reported salaries vs advertised salaries 6
2 Results/Findings in detail (desk top research) 9
2.1 AGENTSALARIES 9
2.1.1 Table 1: Permanently Employed Agent Salaries: Fieldwork Surveys 9
2.1.2 Table 2: Permanently Employed Agent Salaries: Job Spec & Advert Surveys 10
2.1.3 Table 3: Temporary Employed Agent Salaries: Fieldwork Surveys 11
2.2 SUPERVISORANDSUPPORTSTAFFSALARIES 12
2.2.1 Table 4: Permanently Employed Supervisor & Support Salaries: Fieldwork Surveys 12
2.2.2 Table 5: Permanently Employed Supervisor & Support Salaries: Job Spec &
Advert Surveys 13
2.3 AVIEWONFINANCESECTORSALARIES 14
2.3.1 Table 6: Permanently Employed Agent Salaries: Fieldwork Surveys 14
2.3.2 Table 7: Temporary Employed Agent Salaries: Fieldwork Surveys 15
B. Overview of the captive & BPO contract specifications, benefits, incentives,
rate of pay and salaries (Quest research) 16
GeneralSurveyInsights 16
Insightsonsalaries 17
Table 8. Permanently employed entry level Agents 17
InsightsonBenefits 17
Survey Findings in detail (Quest Survey) 18
Table 9. Customer Service Agents – Gauteng 18
Table 10. Team Leaders/Supervisors – Gauteng 18
Table11.CustomerServiceAgents:WesternCape 19
Table12.CustomerServiceAgents:WesternCape(continued) 19
Table13.TeamManagers:WesternCape 20
C. Focus on BPO & Contact Centre 21
FactsaboutSouthAfrica’sBPOandOutsourcingIndustry 21
BPO&ContactCentreIndustrytrendsinSouthAfrica 22
Combating Attrition in Contact Centres 23
Maintaining work life balance while working night shift 25
References 27
About Quest Staffing Solutions 28
Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
Introduction
Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
In South Africa, conventional full scale salary surveys are done every two
to three years with many overlapping. In the interim, an aggregation of the
overlapping surveys may present a more or less accurate representation
of prevailing salary trends at any one point in time. To this end, Quest
Staffing Solutions conducted a Contact Centre and BPO Salary Insights
Survey in August 2016.
TheQuestContactCentreandBPOSalaryInsightsSurveyisbasedondatafromreportedsurveysover
theperiod2014to2016.Itincludesanaggregationofmediansalariesacrossvariouspositionsinthe
SouthAfricanContactCentreandBPOandindustries-exclusiveofbenefitsandincentives.
The data is collated and aggregated by region with a distinction made between permanently and
temporarily employed staff as well as the Finance & BPO sectors in as far as the data permits. National
averages are also provided.
Presented in Part A of this report is a series of tables depicting the median salary level for various
jobfunctionsacrossthreeprovinces,namelyGauteng,theWesternCapeandKwaZuluNatal.Inthe
analysis, a distinction is also made between salaries from surveys based on advertisements & job specs
andthosebasedonactualsalariespaidasreportedinavailabledata.Insights,asprovidedinthe
sourced data, are also presented for interest and added context.
Part Bofthisreportincludesacomparisonbetweencaptiveandnon-captivecontactcentres
highlighting salaries, requisite qualifications and benefits offered in the three main regions.
Wehopethatthisreportwillproveusefultorecruitersandmanagementasthedataincluded
provides a valid and easily accessible reference tool to benchmark Contact Centre and BPO salary
levels across the country until the next comprehensive survey is released.
Section A (below) presents the results of the desktop survey and analysis.
A: Salary Insights 2016: Actual reported salaries vs advertised salaries
Agent Salaries
The survey reflects that permanently employed Agents (regardless of their experience) are paid higher
salariesthanthemedianreportedsalariesinGautengandtheWesternCape.KwaZuluNatal(KZN)is
the lowest paying province, with salaries 10% lower than the National average.
Temporary employed Agents (regardless of their experience) are better paid in Gauteng compared to
theotherprovinces.KZNpaystheleastat11.23%lowerthanthenationalaverageforthosewith
lessthanoneyears’experience.However,thosewithgreaterthanoneyears’experienceinKZNare
almost on par with the National average (just 0.08% below).
Permanent Agents, regardless of experience, earn more than their counterparts who are temporarily
employed (up to 36.8% more for those with more than one years’ experience).
Salaries advertised for Agents are more all less on par with the national average across all provinces.
However, there is an indication that actual salaries paid are far less than those advertised.
Key Findings
Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
AGENT SALARIES
National Average
GAUTENG WESTERN CAPE KZN
+-
+->1
<1
>1
<1
>1 Permanent Agents (more than 1 year experience)
Temporary Agents (more than 1 year experience)
Permanent Agents (less than 1 year experience)
Temporary Agents (less than 1 year experience)
Permanent Agents (regardless of experience)
Temporary Agents (regardless of experience)
<1
<1
<1
>1>1
>1
Supervisory & Support Staff Salaries
ThesurveyreflectsthatpermanentlyemployedsupervisoryandsupportstaffinGautengandKZN
earnlessthanthenationalaverageregardlessofexperience.ThoseinKZNare,however,thelowest
paidregardingstaffwithlessthantwoyears’experience-earningasmuchas29%lessthanthe
national average salary.
PermanentlyemployedsupervisoryandsupportstaffintheWesternCapearethebestpaidearning
slightly above the national average salary at +5% across all reported experience levels.
Advertised salaries for supervisory and support staff are more or less on par across all provinces.
Reportedly staff with greater than five years’ experience earn 50% more than their counterparts with
less than five years’ experience. This suggests that the salaries of supervisory and support staff tend to
double after five years.
The above, while seemingly inflated, corresponds with the findings of actual surveys which suggest
that permanently employed supervisory and support staff with more than two years’ experience earn
just over 20% more than their counterparts with less than two years’ experience.
The overall indication is that supervisory and support staff are paid less than what is reflected in job
specs and advertisements. Job specs and advertisements are therefore arguably not a true indicator of
actual salaries paid.
Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
SUPERVISORY & SUPPORT STAFF SALARIES
National Average
GAUTENG WESTERN CAPE KZN
+-
+-
<2
>1
<1
>1 Permanent Agents (more than 1 year experience)
Temporary Agents (more than 1 year experience)
Permanent Agents (less than 1 year experience)
Temporary Agents (less than 1 year experience)
Permanent Agents (regardless of experience)
Temporary Agents (regardless of experience)
<1
<2
<2
<2
>5 >5
>2
>2
>2
>5
Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
A view on Financial Sector - Agents
Nationally, permanently employed Agents in the Financial sector with less than one years’ experience
(Table 6 a) earn 7.14% less than their counterparts with more than one years’ experience (Table 6 b).
Nationally, temporary Agents in the Financial sector with more than one years’ experience earn 3.7 %
more than those with less than one years’ experience.
InterestinglypermanentlyemployedAgentsonanationalscalewithlessthanoneyears’experience
earn 3.5% more than temporary Agents with the equivalent experience.
Inaddition,permanentlyemployedAgentswithmorethanoneyears’experienceearnapproximately
8% more than temporary Agents with the equivalent experience.
Results/Findings in detail (desk top research)
2.1.1 Table 1: Permanently Employed Agent Salaries: Fieldwork Surveys
2.1 AGENT SALARIES
Customer Service Inbound
Customer Service Outbound
Sales Inbound
Sales Outbound
Collections
IT Help Desk
Job Description Gauteng GautengWestern Cape Western CapeKZN KZNNational National
R RR RR RR R
8 750
8 250
6 700
5 700
6 250
10 750
6 250
7 500
5 000
5 000
4 400
9 500
10 250
8 750
8 250
6 500
8 250
11 750
7 750
8 500
5 100
4 200
5 400
10 500
Fieldwork based surveys
0 - 1 years’ experience (A)
Median Salaries
Fieldwork based surveys
Greater than 1 years’ experience (B)
Median Salaries
*nd: no data available *Exclusive of benefits *Data is all inclusive for general Contact Centre and BPO
7 467
7 800
6 183
5 216
6 800
9 500
7 489
7 850
5 961
5 305
5 817
9 917
9 167
9 1670
7 544
5 844
7 250
9 500
9 056
8 806
6 965
5 515
6 967
10 583
Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
2.1.1 Table 1: Insights
2.1.2 Table 2: Permanently Employed Agent Salaries: Job Spec & Advert Surveys
Customer Service Inbound
Customer Service Outbound
Sales Inbound
Sales Outbound
Collections
IT Help Desk
Job Description Gauteng GautengWestern Cape Western CapeKZN KZNNational National
R RR RR RR R
8 000
nd
nd
7 500
8 200
8 000
nd
nd
7 400
8 200
14 000
nd
nd
12 200
12 200
14 200
nd
nd
11 500
11 500
Job spec and advert based surveys
less than five years’ experience (A)
Median Salaries
Job spec and advert based surveys
Greater than 5 years’ experience (B)
Median Salaries
*nd: no data available *Exclusive of benefits *Data is all inclusive for general Contact Centre and BPO
8 000
nd
nd
8 000
8 200
8 000
nd
nd
7 633,33
8 200
14 000
nd
nd
13 000
13 500
14 067
nd
nd
12 233
12 400
Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
2.1.2 Table 2: Insights
Customer Service Inbound
Customer Service Outbound
Sales Inbound
Sales Outbound
Collections
Job Description Gauteng GautengWestern Cape Western CapeKZN KZNNational National
R RR RR RR R
7 563
6 813
6 750
5 813
7 250
6 125
5 125
5 375
3 875
nd
6 063
6 938
5 563
5 188
6 688
6 125
5 125
4 875
5 375
nd
Fieldwork based surveys
0 - 1 years’ experience (A)
Median Salaries
Fieldwork based surveys
Greater than 1 years’ experience (B)
Median Salaries
*nd: no data available *Exclusive of benefits *Data is all inclusive for general Contact Centre and BPO
6 875
8 500
5 125
4 625
4 125
6 854
6 813
5 750
4 771
5 688
6 125
8 500
4 625
6 375
4 375
6 104
6 854
5 021
5 646
5 531
2.1.3 Table 3: Temporary Employed Agent Salaries: Fieldwork Surveys
Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
2.1.3 Table 3: Insights
Supervisor Team Leader
Manager
Quality Assessor
Quality Manager
Trainer
Training Manager
HR Consultant
MIS
Workforce Management
IT
Job Description Gauteng GautengWestern Cape Western CapeKZN KZNNational National
R RR RR RR R
13 750
25 250
14 750
nd
17 250
nd
18 750
16 750
16 750
14 750
12 750
25 500
9 300
nd
12 150
nd
14 750
11 250
5 700
12 250
16 750
29 750
16 250
nd
19 250
nd
21 250
22 250
21 750
19 250
16 500
32 500
11 850
nd
17 750
nd
18 750
18 250
17 500
18 250
*nd: no data available
*Exclusive of benefits
*Data is all inclusive for general Contact Centre and BPO
14 500
22 500
9 500
27 555
14 433
32 055
12 258
14 250
24 848
15 250
13 667
24 417
11 183
27 555
14 611
32 055
15 253
14 083
15 766
14 083
16 500
27 500
14 041
31 112
18 099
34 140
18 622
19 250
27 195
20 250
16 583
29 917
14 047
31 112
18 366
34 140
19 541
19 917
22 148
19 250
Fieldwork based surveys
0 - 2 years’ experience (A)
Median Salaries
Fieldwork based surveys
Greater than 2 years’ Experience (B)
Median Salaries
2.2.1 Table 4: Permanently Employed Supervisor & Support Salaries: Fieldwork Surveys
Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
2.2 SUPERVISOR AND SUPPORT STAFF SALARIES
2.2.1 Table 4: Insights
2.2.2 Table 5: Permanently Employed Supervisor & Support Salaries: Job Spec & Advert Surveys
Supervisor /Team Leader
Manager
Job Description Gauteng GautengWestern Cape Western CapeKZN KZNNational National
R RR RR RR R
17 913
32 900
17 175
32 000
23 750
53 000
22 300
52 100
*nd: no data available
*Exclusive of benefits
*Data is all inclusive for general Contact Centre and BPO
17 250
32 000
17 445
32 300
24 098
52 100
23 383
52 400
Job spec and advert based surveys
less than five years’ experience (A)
Median Salaries
Job spec and advert based surveys
Greater than 5 years’ experience (B)
Median Salaries
Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
2.2.2 Table 5: Insights
Customer Service Inbound
Customer Service Outbound
Sales Inbound
Sales Outbound
Collections
* Exclusive of benefits* Data is all inclusive for general Contact Centre and BPO
Fieldwork based surveys
Median Salaries
0 - 1 years’ experience (A)
Fieldwork based surveys
Median Salaries
Greater than 1 years’ experience (B)
Job Description Finance
R
7 000
7 000
9 000
7 000
5 000
Finance
R
9 000
7 000
9 000
7 000
6 000
2.3.1 Table 6: Permanently Employed Agent Salaries: Fieldwork Surveys
Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
2.3 A VIEW ON FINANCE SECTOR SALARIES
2.3.1 Table 6: Insights
o Nationally, Financial sector Agents with less than one years’
experience (Table 6 a) earn 7.14% less than their counterparts
wither greater than one years’ experience (Table 6 b).
Customer Service Inbound
Customer Service Outbound
Sales Inbound
Sales Outbound
Collections
IT Help Desk
* nd: no data2 Surveys
Fieldwork based surveys
Median Salaries
0 - 1 years’ experience (A)
Fieldwork based surveys
Median Salaries
Greater than 1 years’ experience (B)
Job Description Finance
R
6 000
9 000
nd
nd
5 000
7 000
Finance
R
7 000
9 000
nd
nd
5 000
7 000
2.3.2 Table 7: Temporary Employed Agent Salaries: Fieldwork Surveys
Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
2.3.2 Table 6: Insights
o Nationally, Temporary Agents in the Financial sector with more
than one years’ experience earn 3.7 % more than those with less
than one years’ experience.
2.3 A VIEW ON FINANCE SECTOR SALARIES (cont)
B: Overview of the captive & BPO contract specifications, benefits, incentives, rate of pay and salaries (Quest research)
In2015,QuestStaffingSolutionsconductedasurveyfromitsportfolioofclientstoprovidea
reflection of the salaries and benefits paid to contact centre staff and team managers. The Findings
are presented in the tables and include mention of the nature of requisite skills in both captive and
non-captivecontactcentreenvironments.Belowaregeneralinsightsfromthesurvey.Actualsalaries,
as reported, are also presented in the given tables.
General Survey Insights
• Thefinance/bankingsectorspayshighersalariesthantheBPOsector.Inaddition,thesectorisnot
shifted and staff work normal hours (8am – 5pm).
• MostcontactcentrestaffhaveaminimumqualificationandskillslevelofMatric,verbaland
written communication skills
• Inmostcasesaminimumofsixmonthsexperienceisrequiredforcontactcentrestaffcompared
to an average of two years for team managers.
Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
Insights on salaries
• Generallyspeaking,Agentsworkingincaptivecontactcentresearnmorethanthoseworkingin
outsourced contact centres – up to 36 % more in Gauteng.
• EntrylevelAgentsinGauteng-inbothcaptiveandoutsourcedcontactcentres-earnmorethan
doublethesalariesofAgentsinKwaZuluNatal.
Insights on Benefits
Bonus and Incentives
A bonus is a monetary incentive that is paid for achievements above monthly targets in respect of
target variables such as First Call Resolution. Other types of bonuses and incentives paid in South
African contact centres include:
- Attendancebonuseswherestaffarerewardedfornotmissingwork.
- Quarterlybonusesrelatedtolengthofservice.
- Monthlybonusesfortopagents.
- Mealincentivesformarathonshifts.
• Transport:Inmostcasestransportisnotprovidedfor.
• Parking fees: Just under 50% of surveyed clients provide parking fees for their agents while close
to 100% of clients surveyed provide parking fees for their team managers.
Gauteng
Western Cape
KZN
*Averages for domestic and international contact centres* Averages exclusive of benefits
Captive Contact Centers
Outsourced Contact Centers
R
10 208
7 900
4 375
R
6 433
5 500
2 938
Table 8: Permanently employed entry level Agents
Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
Survey Findings in detail (Quest Survey)
Gauteng - Agents
Captive Captive Captive Captive Captive Captive Captive Outsourcing Outsourcing Outsourcing Outsourcing
Skill Sets: Customer Service
Customer Service
Customer Service
Customer Service
Customer Service
Customer Service
Customer Service
Customer Service
Customer Service
Customer Service
Customer Service
Matric Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Verbal Communication Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Written Communication No No No No No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Call Centre Experience
Customer Service Experience
Rate per hour
Parking for staff (Paid / Provided by client)
Temp Monthly potential Basic Salary based on hourly rate (Live)
Sales Experience No No No No No No No No No No No
Transport (Paid by Client) No No No No No No Yes No No No No
Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
Benefits No No No No No No No No No No No
Staff Model Temp Temp Temp Temp Temp Temp Temp Temp Temp Temp Temp
Shifted Environment Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Bonuses / Incentives Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No Yes No No
Monthly paid/Hourly paid Hourly Hourly Hourly Hourly Hourly Hourly Hourly Hourly Hourly Hourly Hourly
R 5 280 R 3 780 R 5 610 R 5 775 R 5 775 R 5 775 R 5 363 R 4 401 R 3 190 R 4 890 R 5 216
6 - 12 months
R32 p/h
2 years
6 - 12 months
R35 p/h
Yes until 7pm
Yes until 7pm
1 - 2 years
R35 p/h
1 year 1 year No No 3 months 6 months 6 months
R27 p/h after 9 months R32 p/h
R35 p/h R32.50 p/h R27 p/h R22 p/h R30 p/h R32 p/h
6 - 12 months 6 - 12 monthsNo NoNo No 3 months6 months 6 months 6 months
6 - 12 months
R34 p/h
Source: Quest Staffing Solutions research 2015
Table 9: Customer Service Agents – Gauteng
Table 10: Team Leaders/Supervisors – Gauteng
Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
Source: Quest Staffing Solutions research 2015
Gauteng - Team Managers
BPO BPO BPO BPO BPO BPO Captive Captive Captive
Matric Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
2 years 2 years 1 year 2 years 6 - 12 months 1 year
Transport (Paid by Client) Yes Yes Yes No Subsidised Subsidised No No No
Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Benefits
Staff Model Perm Perm Perm Perm FTC Perm Perm Perm Perm
Shifted Environment Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Bonuses / Incentives Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Monthly cost to company
Minimum team management experience
Parking for staff (Paid / Provided by client)
R9 500 – R14 000
R11 000 –R14 000
R11 000 –R14 000
R8 000 –R14 000
R8 000 –R14 000
R13 000 –R25 000
R17 000 –R25 000
R15 000 –R25 000R16 600.00
Medical Aid/ Pension
Medical Aid/ Pension Pension Medical Aid/
PensionMedical Aid/
PensionMedical Aid/
PensionMedical Aid/
PensionMedical Aid/
PensionMedical Aid
Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
Table 11: CustomerServiceAgents:WesternCape
Table 12: CustomerServiceAgents:WesternCape(continued)
Western Cape - Agents
BPO BPO BPO BPO BPO Captive BPO Captive Captive Captive Captive
Skill Sets: Customer Service
Customer Service
Customer Service
Customer Service
Customer Service
Customer Service
Customer Service
Customer Service
Customer Service
Customer Service
Matric No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Verbal Communication Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Written Communication No Yes No No No No Yes Yes No No No
Call Centre Experience No No Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes No
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No YesCustomer Service Experience
Parking for staff (Paid / Provided by client)
Sales Experience No No No Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes No
Transport (Paid by Client) Subsidised Yes Yes Yes Yes Subsidised Yes No No No Yes
Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Benefits No No No Yes No No No Medical Aid
Staff Model FTC FTC Perm Perm Perm FTC FTC Temp FTC Perm
Shifted Environment Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Source: Quest Staffing Solutions research 2015
6 month temp then perm
Free parking behind the
client
Yes (fixed shifts)
Medical Aid/ Pension
Medical Aid/ Pension
Medical Aid/ Pension
Customer Service &
Retentions
Western Cape - Agents (continued)
BPO BPO BPO BPO BPO Captive BPO Captive Captive Captive Captive
Customer Service
Customer Service
Customer Service &
Retentions
Customer Service
Customer Service
Customer Service
Customer Service Sales Sales Customer
Service Customer
Service
Bonuses / Incentives
Monthly paid/Hourly paid
Rate per hour
Temp Monthly potential Basic Salary based on hourly rate (Live)
No
Yes Performance bonus R580
monthly
Yes
Yes Performance bonus R500
monthly
Yes Performance bonus R500
monthly. Guaranteed
Tenure Bonuses of R1000 in month 7 and 10. Automatic basic salary increase of R500 after 6 and 12 months.
No Not sure No No No
Yes Performance bonus R2000
monthly
Source: Quest Staffing Solutions research 2015
R29ph R42ph R45ph R47ph R32ph R38ph R43ph R39ph R25ph R23ph R46ph
Hourly Hourly Hourly Hourly Hourly Hourly Hourly Hourly Hourly Hourly Hourly
R 5 000 R 7 200 R 7 864 R 8 085 R 5 500 R 6 600 R 7 425 R 6 800 R4300 + R4000 + R 8 000Comm Comm
Table 13: TeamManagers:WesternCape
Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
Western Cape - Team Managers
BPO BPO BPO Captive BPO Captive Captive
Matric
Minimum team management experience
Transport (Paid by Client)
Parking for staff (Paid / Provided by client)
Benefits
Staff Model
Shifted Environment
Bonuses / Incentives
Yes
2 years
Yes
Free parking behind the client
Perm
Yes
No
Medical Aid/ Pension
Yes
2 years
Yes
Yes
Perm
Yes
No
Medical Aid/ Pension
Yes
1 year
Yes
No
Perm
Yes
KPI bonus of up to R1000 per
month. R1800 NPS incentive
scheme
Yes
2 years
No
Yes
Perm
Yes
No
Medical Aid/ Pension
Yes
6 - 12 months
Subsidised
Yes
FTC
Yes
NPS incentive up to R3 000 per
month
Medical Aid
Yes
1 year
Subsidised
No
Perm
Yes
KPI bonuses up to R1500 per
month.
Medical Aid/ Pension
Yes
3 years
Yes
No
Perm
Shifted
Monthly cost to company R19 000 R19 000 R17 000 R18 760 R16 600 R18 000R18 -
R20 000
KPI bonus of R2 000
Medical Aid/ Pension
Source: Quest Staffing Solutions research 2015
Pension
Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
C: Focus on BPO & Contact Centre
Facts about South Africa’s BPO and Outsourcing Industry
South Africa is categorised as a primary location within the EMEA region for outsourced
solutions based on overall value, cost and risk (Gartner, 2016).1Globally, South Africa has been ranked third in terms of serving clients in the English medium
(BPOindustrygrowthinSouthAfrica,2016,Deloitte).2South Africa has favourable customer oriented legislation such as The Protection of Personal
InformationAct(POPI)whichrequiresthatcompaniessecuretheircustomersinformation.
Thisisparticularlyattractiveforoff-shoreoperationsassecurityofinformationisofconcern
to their customers.3
The South African BPO industry accounts for 1 % of the BPO revenue in 2014 and is expected to
account for 4 % of global revenues by 2030 (South Africa’s big five – Bold priorities for inclusive
growth,McKinsey).4Three South African cities feature in the top 100 global sourcing destinations with Johannesburg
atnumber20,CapeTownnumber56andDurbanrankedatnumber100(Tholons2016Top100
OutsourcingDestinations).5
Duetothehighqualityoftalentbothavailableandinthepipeline,SouthAfricaisadestination
forhigh-endBPOservicessuchasLegalprocessOutsourcing(LPO),BackOfficeFinanceProcessing,
OutsourcedProcurementFunctionsetc.(BPOindustrygrowthinSouthAfrica,2016,Deloitte).7
6 TheSouthAfricanBPOsectorcontributesR50milliontothenationalGDPandprovides
employment for approximately 215 000 people (BPeSA).
8 Approximately 410 000 graduates are eligible to join the BPO workforce every year (BPeSA).
Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
BPO & Contact Centre Industry trends in South Africa
ITisincreasinglyprocuredasaserviceratherthanhostedin-housebothforcostcutting
purposesaswellasforprovidingthebestsoftware-leaveittotheexperts!Callcentre
managersspendlesstimeworryingaboutITissuesandmoretimeconsideringthepeople
driving the success of the business.
Outsourced IT
Reportedly, as much as 5% of South Africa’s Agents are home based. Home based Agents
provide an expanded talent pool of homemakers and other individuals who may not have
entered the market. Home based agents also help reduce carbon footprint and lower
operating costs such as rent.
Trend towards home based Agents
Rapidly evolving clients: The prominence of social media and the technological revolution
has resulted in the need for a new breed of Agents capable of keeping up with client
demandsandwhorequiremulti-channelinteraction.Specialtrainingisrequiredtokeepthe
Agents motivated and ‘on the ball’.
Rapidly evolving clients
Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
Combating Attrition in Contact Centres
Call centre jobs are one of the most demanding because employees have to constantly interact with
customers.Thislevelofcustomerinteractionoftenleadstohigh-tensionsituations,andovertime,
employees tend to buckle down under this intense stress. This is why attrition rates are often highest
in call centre businesses.
To avoid high attrition rates, it is important for managers to provide the right working environment
for their call centre teams through increasing levels of employee engagement, ensuring employees
feel a greater connection with the organisation and feel as though they can approach management
with any questions and / or concerns.
Quest notes a few suggestions to help employees feel more connected with their organisation and
minimise staff turnover.
Flexible work options
Whenemployeesaregiventheoptiontoworkfromhome,orotherflexiblechoices,thereisagreater
chanceforthemtostickwithacompany.Intoday’scallcentreindustry,notmanycompaniesprovide
employees with flexible options, this could therefore act as the motivator for employees to stay with a
specific company or employer.
Learning and training environment
Itisimportanttoprovideagentswithanenvironmentthatisconducivetolearning.Whenemployees
have something new to learn or look forward to, they tend to enjoy coming to work – lessening the
chances of them leaving for other opportunities.
The average attrition rate for agents in South Africa is 30.9%.
Attrition rates are highest among international outsourcers:
46.4% in Gauteng,
50.8% in the Western Cape and
54.5% in KwaZulu-Natal.
Attrition among international outsourcers in the
Western Cape increased by 4% in 2015 to 50.8%
(BEPESA BPM Indicator Report 2015 p3).
Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
Handling call centre agents in the ‘right’ way
Itiscrucialtounderstandthatcallcentreagentsarehumanbeingstooandhavealifeoutsideof
work.AsIvannaGranelliofBizcommunity.comsays,companiesshouldnothandletheiragentsasthey
wouldrunamilitaryoperation.Doingso,wouldburnthemoutquicklyleadingthemtoeventually
quit. Managers should rather be considerate and understanding of their employees and should choose
the right reward programs to show their appreciation for the work that they do.
Such measures can reduce attrition rates and, in turn, lower a company’s operational costs and
increase morale for both employees and the customers they deal with on a daily basis.
Getting it right from the start
Itisessential,whenrecruiting,thatthecorrectcompetenciesandbehavioursaredefinedinorder
to deliver on call centre requirements. A call centre employer should test and screen the potential
applicant’s personality, skills and capabilities before hiring.
Implement an employee satisfaction survey
An employee satisfaction survey generates information about employees’ perceived recognition over
the years and has been used effectively to help businesses shape reward and incentive programmes.
These surveys can also be useful in identifying why certain employees are happy or unhappy in their
current roles.
Reward staff for good work
Oneofthemostoftenoverlookedaspectsofhelpingtoreduceattritionisreward.Implementing
rewardincentivessuchasaweekendawayforthetop-performerorateam-buildingeventtwicea
year can help encourage employees to remain with an organisation.
Companies should not handle their agents as they would run a military operation. Doing so, would burn them out quickly leading them to eventually quit.
“
”Ivanna Granelli
Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
Maintaining work-life balance while working night shift
The multitude of feelings experienced by night shift workers includes loss of appetite, inadequate
planning, no social life, no time for family, irregular sleep timings, losing track of time and so on.
Workingnights,however,doesn’tmeanyouhavetolosetouchwithyourfamilyandfriends.Witha
little planning, night shift workers can still spend time and feel close to the people they care about.
Belowareseveraltipstoassistnightshiftworkinginmaintainingwork-lifebalance.
Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
Maintaining work-life balance while working night shift
Workingeveninghourscanputstressonfamilylifeandrelationshipsandknowinghowtocopewiththe
challenges is key. Through communicating, dealing with problems sooner rather than later, prioritising,
socialising and making time for recreation, shift work can have less of an impact on the lives of staff.
• Setasidetimetotalkwithyourpartnereveryday.Evenafewminutesspenttogetherover coffee will help you stay in touch.
• Planatleastoneactivitywithfamilyandfriendseachweek.
• Ifyou’reaparent,arrangeyourschedulesoyoucanattendafewspecialeventswithyour children each year: e.g. holiday dinners, school activities, etc. Let your child help pick the events you’ll attend.
• Videorecordthespecialeventsyou’llhavetomiss,suchasbirthdays,schoolsportsevents, dancerecitals,etc.Watchthemtogether.
• Setupafamilybulletinboardwhereyouandyourfamilymemberscanleaveschoolwork, notes, drawings, photographs, cartoons, etc.
• Makesureyourpartnercanreachyoubytelephoneorcellphoneatwork.Ifyoucan’t receive calls, arrange a time for you to call home each day.
• Postacalendarinahighlyvisiblespotandmarkyourshiftscheduleassoonas it’s assigned.
• Bringupproblemsearlyandresolvethem–beforetheythreatenrelationships.
• Whenyoufeelirritable,makesureyourfamilyandfriendsunderstandthatit’sbecause you’re tired, not because you’re angry with them. This is especially important if you have young children.
• Getinvolvedwithactivitiesthatdon’trequireasetschedulesuchassportsoryoga.
• Workoutatagym.
• Attendworkshopsorhobbyclubsthatinterestyou.You’llhavesomethingincommon with those you meet.
• Developacircleoffriendswhounderstandyourworkscheduleandarewillingtobe flexible in order to spend time with you.
• Organiseco-workersorfriendswhoshareyourscheduleandplanactivitieswiththem.
Maintainingwork-lifebalancewhileworkingnightshift(Tips from night shift workers)
References
• (BEPESABPMIndicatorReport2015:http://www.bpesa.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/KIR.pdf
• ExploringCallCenterTurnoverNumbers:http://www.qatc.org/winter-2015-connection/exploring-
call-center-turnover-numbers/
• TheUSContactCenterDecision-MakersGuide2014:http://www.contactbabel.com/pdfs/apr2014/-
The%20US%20Contact%20Center%20Decision-Makers%20Guide%202014.pdf
• Employeeturnoverandretention:http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/factsheets/employee-
turnover-retention.aspx
• WaystoReduceCallCenterAttritionRate:http://call-center-services.tmcnet.com/topics/call-center-
services/articles/391494-ways-reduce-call-center-attrition-rate.htm
• HowtoKeepEmployeesHappy:CombatAttrition:http://blog.adeccousa.com/keep-employees-
happy-combat-attrition/
• CombatingAttritionthroughEffectiveRetention.SurviveandThrive.Online.Available.http://www.
surviveandthrive.co.uk/downloads/newsFile_18_newsFile_18_Whitepaper_Combating_Attrition.pdf
• India–companieswillingtopaytokeepbestperformers.StaffingIndustryAnalysts.Online.
Availablehttp://www.staffingindustry.com/row/Research-Publications/Daily-News/India-Companies-
willing-to-pay-to-keep-best-performers-33674
• WaystoCombatContactCenterAttrition.Online.Available
• http://www.customerexperiencereport.com/tactics-and-operations/ways-combat-contact-center-
attrition/http://www.ccmg.org.za/news-events/call-centre-news/36595-callforce-salary-survey-results
• http://ccmg.org.za/news-events/call-centre-news/37061-the-salary-survey-results-part-1-a-focus-on-
contact-centre-Agents
• http://www.salaryexplorer.com/salary-survey.php?loc=201&loctype=1&jobtype=1&job=19
• https://candidate.manpower.com/wps/wcm/connect/bf3338f2-a39b-443b-88d8-d15c0847309d/-
Salary+Survey+2015.pdf?MOD=AJPERES
• http://www.quest.co.za/upload/QuestSalarySurvey2014-15.pdf
• http://mybroadband.co.za/news/business/138464-it-salaries-in-south-africa-in-2015.html
• http://www.payscale.com/research/ZA/Industry=Business_Process_Outsourcing/Salary
• http://www.statusstaffing.com/bpo-industry-salary-survey-2015-ops-support-salary-bands/
Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
About Quest
Benchmark salaries & general insights for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / Contact Centre industry
Enabling Business through Talent TM
Quest Staffing Solutions (Pty) Ltd is South Africa’s leader in customised staffing
solutions-withinthewhite-collarrecruitment
industry. Established in 1974, Quest has over 41
years’ experience in the South African staffing
industry, specialising in the recruitment and
managementofwhite-collarstaff.Aspartof
Adcorp Holdings Limited, South Africa’s leading
provider of staffing, human capital management
and business process outsourcing services, Quest
hasaccesstofinancialresources,leadingIT
and information systems and sound corporate
governance.
Quest is now a Level 2 BBBEE Contributor with
100% black ownership and 69.89% % black
female ownership and therefore has the leading
gender empowerment ownership structure in the
staffing industry. Quest has a proud history of
firsts in the South African staffing industry. First
to offer optimised staffing model, first to set up
a specialised call centre staffing solution, first to
successfully implement learnership programmes
and more.
Quest is a Full Circle Staffing Solutions Company
(FCS² ™) with the most comprehensive service
offering in the industry that includes; Bulk
Recruitment Solutions, Field Marketing,
Human Resource Outsourcing (HRO) Solutions,
Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO),
Staff Optimisation Solutions.
For more information visit www.quest.co.za