SYKES' OneHOME courses upskill employees to enhance remote work capabilities

POSTED BY: Lionell Go Macahilig
2020-09-01 09:43:04 PHT

Amid the rapid shift to remote working, call center pioneer SYKES Philippines has set the bar high with one home, a one-stop-shop online portal where employees can learn how to easily transition to the work-from-home arrangement. SYKES Global developed OneHOME in response to the social distancing restrictions and to guide employees during the transition period. The training platform was then deployed across regions affected by the health crisis, including all its sites in Manila and Cebu.

SYKES Global has long recognized the potential of remote working as the business model of the future and thus made the work-at-home setup a global practice even before the pandemic. The one home portal leverages the insights and experience of established SYKES work-at-home organizations in its North America and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) markets. Accessible and free to use for all SYKESers, OneHOME offers master classes on how to effectively teach, work, and learn at home, how to manage a work-at-home team, documents on systems, and platforms for telecommuting, documents needed when transitioning to the new work environment, and more. In addition to the technical, OneHOME also provides insights on other work aspects skills such as managing client expectations, helping family members adapt to the setup, and gaining operational insights, among others.

“We understand that the quick transition to the work-from-home scheme in time of a global health crisis might be difficult for our employees to adjust to. More than its capability to assist the workforce, one home was built in such a way that learning comes trouble-free for users, tackling it in a holistic approach while presenting information and ideas that our employees can easily consume. The portal offers micro-learning courses that can be finished in just around 10 minutes and in-depth discussions that only last for a couple of hours at most,” said Shane Baetz, Senior Director, Support Services, APAC.

Due to quarantine restrictions that are still currently in place, over 10,000 SYKESers from Manila and Cebu offices were mobilized to adopt the work-from-home arrangement.  OneHOME continuously helps them grasp the fundamentals of the remote work setup, teaching them what to expect, how to prepare for the issues that may arise, and how to be able to successfully overcome them. The courses encompass a wide spectrum covering technology, security, and management in a work-at-home setting.

“Collective effort from all members of the organization, with the assistance of the one home portal, has enabled SYKES to maintain business success amid the quarantine. Our leaders were able to manage their teams and enable each one to adapt and perform well during this challenging period. Because of this, we strongly feel that SYKESers are fully prepared to embrace the future of work,” said  Baetz.

At present, SYKES Philippines’ work-from-home setup is still maintained for employees that don’t require being physically present in the office. Meanwhile, for the rest of the organization who were not adaptable to the remote work arrangement, SYKES provides necessary support including temporary accommodation, food provisions, free shuttle service or transport allowance,  and other additional incentives.

SYKES is the first multinational call center to operate in the country and the first one to venture out of Manila to Cebu in 2003. It is an organization that is grounded on providing exceptional support for clients and employees, one caring interaction at a time. At present, it has employed around 17,000 SYKESers and is continuously growing in the Philippines. More information can be found at its website <https://www.sykes.com/ philippines/> and official Facebook page <https://www.facebook.com/ SYKESPHofficial>.