Finalist
Services
P.V. Kannan doesn’t mind taking chances. When he founded 24/7 Customer Inc. in Bangalore, the call center industry was a completely alien concept in India. The idea of young graduates actually finding respectable employment and working with Fortune 100 companies was unheard of.
But for customers, it was a unique idea. It would reduce costs to outsource a large chunk of business to a vendor operating in a remote location. So Kannan had to demonstrate that his unproven idea would work.
He did just that, relying on his entrepreneurial skills to grow the business and position it to be ready to overcome challenges. As the company has grown, Kannan has stuck to the core idea of nurturing local talent. Every center has a mix of both local and global talent.
Internal promotions are encouraged and special focus is given to the empowerment of women employees, including 12 percent of the leadership team that is made up of women.
Kannan is a believer in talent identification and leadership development programs, as well as programs that develop mentorship. He encourages employees to seek higher education to bolster their chances of advancing in the company.
Employees are encouraged and empowered to map out their own career paths and plot their own growth in the company.
The company itself works hard to keep the business process simple, but that doesn’t mean Kannan has lost his willingness to take chances and try new things.
The company, which has its U.S. headquarters in Campbell, Calif., has taken a paradigm shift of providing predictive interactive solutions to be an even better resource to its clients. Kannan wants to do what he can to make sure clients stick with his company and want to continue doing business with him for years and years to come.
How to reach: 24/7 Customer Inc., (650) 385-2247 or www.247customer.com
