This article was written by Yannis Tourcomanis, President – Continental Europe,  Middle-East & Africa.

As COVID-19 continues to threaten business operations throughout Europe, Teleperformance leaders have proactively initiated strategic conversations with all of our clients.  We are also closely monitoring country-by-country developments in an effort to remain well informed, including participation in daily Prevention and Business Continuity Task Force sessions with worldwide TP leaders to exchange updates and best practices.

Currently, Italy, Spain and France have instituted countrywide lockdowns, Portuguese officials are asking citizens to self-isolate, and the European Union has now closed its borders to non-EU citizens. So, as the World Health Organization (WHO) declares Europe the new epicenter of the outbreak and urges European nations to take their boldest actions against the virus, shifting to a new form of “business as usual” must be considered. So, we are taking thorough preventive measures such as social distancing, shift staggering, and enabling work-from-home capabilities.  This hybrid model provides a balanced approach for ensuring business continuity while also prioritizing employee safety.  

This is especially important when we consider that, in many countries throughout Europe and around the world, the support we provide is considered an essential service.  The clients we support represent critical industries like healthcare providers, logistics companies, and government agencies.  So, it’s critical we continue to support these clients, and their customers, during this extraordinary time of need – and no one is more experienced at delivering this essential combination than Teleperformance.

With more than 28,000 interaction experts currently working from home globally, Teleperformance is accustomed to managing remote teams. And we continue to accelerate that deployment schedule to bring even more online, playing a critical role ensuring business continuity for our clients, and maintaining the proper separation and personal distancing for those still working at our centers.

So, we are working closely with each of our Teleperformance clients to determine the right balance between remote and in-office interaction experts. Our blended approach truly offers the most agile and dynamic solution for delivering ongoing support for their customers during this critical time.

We are actively applying key learnings from decades of delivering work-at-home capabilities around the world, and adapting recent best practices from our colleagues in Teleperformance China.  As a result, we’ve been able to outline robust business continuity plans and recommendations. So, we stand ready, able, and willing to help our clients deliver customer support that keeps customers supported and our agents employed.

Typically, when we recommend including work-at-home capabilities is their support “mix”, the strongest objection we hear from clients is around data security. However, with the breadth and depth of Teleperformance’s experience in this area, we’ve established well-defined processes, stringent policies, proactive management methodologies, and cutting-edge technology specifically designed to prevent data breaches. Combined, these elements ensure a company culture that proactively seeks, anticipates, and acts on potential fraud and data breaches before they even happen.

At Teleperformance, we adhere to all security standards and regulations, including Global Essential Compliance Security Policies (GECSPs). This group of policies governs Teleperformance’s approach to security.

We know these are unsettling times. Response and recovery plans are hampered by global and country-by-country decrees and physical restrictions, forcing us to consider new ways to stay connected with customers – while keeping their data secure.

So, as the world’s leader in deploying work-at-home solutions, Teleperformance is uniquely positioned with the right system and tools, at the right time, to help you navigate this global crisis. We were the first in the industry to achieve the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), and more recently, Binding Corporate Rules (BCR) certification for protecting data transfers within multinational companies.

Our culture of data protection and security is second to none. To learn more, read our full white paper, Security in a Work-at-Home Environment.

In the meantime, focus on keeping your families, friends, and employees safe, and let us worry about protecting your data.

Many Teleperformance clients, across all verticals – including highly regulated industries such as healthcare, banking, and financial services -- already trust us to do just that, and our many industry achievements and accolades speak for themselves.