The Key to Success in Latin American Outsourcing

This past May, the IAOP hosted their first Latin American Outsourcing Summit in beautiful [and hot!] Cartagena, Colombia. For those that couldn’t make it, the event saw over 400 leaders from the Latin American business community come together to discuss the latest issues in outsourcing. Softtek had two proud moments at the IAOP: 1) the induction of our President & CEO Blanca Treviño into IAOP’s Hall of Fame and 2) a terrific presentation made by Luis Revilla, Softtek’s Global VP of Human Capital, on the importance of developing globally competitive talent in the IT services industry in Latin America.

In an economic region where services make up more than 60% of worldwide GDP—one in which culture and knowledge management practices separate winners from losers—talent strategy is a make-or-break practice for globally competitive companies. In his presentation, Luis described how Softtek’s own talent strategy focuses on a highly customized, multi-generational and multi-regional approach. Each generation has different needs; for example, Generation Y is satisfied,  culturally and emotionally, in a slightly (and sometimes very) different way than the Baby Boomers. Recognizing those distinctions is important for managing a successful work environment.

 In addition to outlining the basic building blocks to strategically develop the right talent in the IT services industry, Luis presented an insider’s view into the business and technology landscape. He discussed a viewpoint echoed by many others at the Summit: that LatAm countries and industries must work together more as a unified block of interests as opposed to as individual entities. He emphasized the importance of countries working together to create a clear, unified discourse on economic markets, growth and talent generation and to create better integration and trade opportunities for the exchange of products, services and talent in the region.

At the same time as countries need to work together, Luis stated there is a pressing need in Latin America for each country to develop its own brand in terms of the expertise, development and unique cultural attributes it can offer the rest of the world. He highlighted Colombia as a model example in turning around the brand of the country, as evidenced by number of tourists visiting the region, security reforms and foreign investments, over the last decade. Before long, Colombia will be a key player in the outsourcing sector—and likewise another hot spot for global IT.