A man of diverse interests, Gopinath Prabhu has a rather varied career profile. Initially he wanted to be a part of the design and construction space, then his interest veered towards electronics, especially computers and related peripherals, and now he works as vice-president, quality and knowledge services with Reliance BPO (RBPO), part of the ADA Group.
He obtained a B.Tech. in instrumentation and then joined the Tandon Group, a leader in floppy drives, instead of opting for a career in the process industry as was the norm. Thereafter, he worked with HCL Peripherals for about a year and then with TVS Electronics for over 10 years. ?After working for almost 20 years in manufacturing, I wanted to change over to the service sector. My next stint was at SSI, and Aptech Training and Education Company, as general manager, quality management,? he says.
For the past seven years, he has been working with RBPO. ?In this stint, the most valuable skill I have acquired is the execution of mega projects within aggressive timelines and at costs that fall well within the allocated budget,? he says.
He relies on a fact-based, informal style of management to meet everyday targets. ?I believe in delegating work and encouraging everyone in the team to participate fully,? he says.
The most important challenge before him is providing quality services at low costs, a task made more difficult by the sector?s falling ARPUs. ?To meet this challenge, we are working on a combined strategy of handling high-value processes and customers from in-house centres along with other processes sourced from partners in tier 2 and tier 3 cities in each of the four regions. A good partner management programme is the key to success,? he explains.
When asked about his most memorable assignment, he recalls the time RBPO decided to acquire customer operations performance centre (COPC) certification for its BPO operations. It was a challenging assignment, as RCOM?s customer base was expanding rapidly and RBPO was involved in ramping up its customer service centre at the same pace. Another task was to align its operations to COPC standards while hiring, training and deploying manpower.
For Prabhu, relaxing at the end of a workday means listening to music, reading and watching the Discovery and National Geographic channels. After a particularly tough day, he enjoys unwinding by watching cartoons. A nature lover, he goes trekking with friends during the monsoons. His family comprises his wife and daughter.
