Are BPOs Worth It? | Dan Piper

WFM Unfiltered | Workforce Management Podcast

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Is your BPO partner a strategic asset—or an operational liability? In this explosive episode of WFM Unfiltered, Irina pulls no punches and brings in transformation heavyweight Dan Piper to dissect the real state of Business Process Outsourcing in today’s contact centre chaos.
Dan’s 20-year career in operations and BPOs—from team manager to Global VP of Continuous Improvement—makes him uniquely qualified to expose what works, what doesn’t, and what’s quietly killing performance behind the scenes. From scaling lies to recruitment delays, offshore horror stories to crumbling leadership pipelines—nothing is off-limits.
You’ll hear exactly why some clients unknowingly set their BPOs up to fail, and how legacy inefficiencies get baked into outsourcing relationships. We challenge the obsession with language skills, break down why flexible shift expectations are fantasy, and shine a spotlight on the industry-wide attrition crisis that no one wants to talk about.
And of course, we tackle the biggest elephant in the room—why so many ops leaders throw the mess downhill for WFM and recruitment to fix, instead of taking ownership themselves. Spoiler alert: it’s not a tech problem, it’s a leadership problem.
If you’re a senior manager, ops lead, or WFM pro working with BPOs (or thinking about it), this episode might sting—but it’s the wake-up call your strategy needs.
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Show Links:
RightWFM website: www.rightwfm.com
Email: [email protected]
Podcast email: [email protected]
Podcast Directory: www.wfmunfiltered.buzzsprout.com/share
Guest Website: www.setekh.co.uk
Guest LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/piperdaniel

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