BPO and DX: Reasons why DX Doesn’t Work without BPO

Pasona Group CPU Headquarters 

Task Force Manager 
Mariko Yamamoto

While engaging in the dispatch/BPO business for about 10 years, she is　focusing on proposing total solutions that meet the challenges of our customers. In addition to experience in each phase such as business survey, business design, operations and support, she also has experience in introducing RPA to major companies.  

Pasona Group Growth Strategy Headquarters 

Digital Innovation Department Manager 
Nobuyuki Yamada 
For the past 12 years, he has been engaged in proposals around BPO, business research, design construction and operation support departments. In recent years he has dealt with many projects related to BPO and DX. He has extensive experience in setting up an office center with a capacity of 200 people, operating to achieve efficiency through automation and more.  

We Cannot Improve Efficiency by Only Relying on Certain Services 

• What does Pasona Group really mean when they say that DX would not work unless it is BPOxDX?  

Yamada: Digital transformation (DX) is advancing across the world. It has solved many things, but the current situation is that it is not possible to  solely rely on DX to optimize the entire company.  

• Why isn't company-wide optimization possible?

Yamada: No matter how much DX is promoted, if we only use DX for certain services, then it is not  proper DX. The goal was mistakenly considered to introduce the service, and it did not lead   to true efficiency. Tools are not all-purpose, so there are always some parts that you have to rely on people.  

• If efficiency is improved by relying on people, is BPO alone not a solution?

Yamada: Even if you do BPO, you cannot just give what you have been doing to outside company. To simply outsource work without solving in-house issues at the base, your merit would be only temporary savings in labor costs. 

• I see, so that's why it's “BPO x DX”?  

Yamada: That's right. Instead of solving with either DX or BPO, you should think about combining the two of them. While doing both in parallel, we will promote DX conversion. While digitizing the way we work, we will outsource parts of the work done by people. By doing both at the same time, we can increase our operational efficiency and cost reduction. 

• So what kind of issues do your customers actually have?  

Yamamoto: Recently, the number of companies that have been ordered by the top management to achieve "business reform," "efficiency," and "standardization" within the company has increased significantly.  

Only Pasona Group Can Propose Solutions That Cover All the Major topics.

• It seems that people often say "let's reform the way we do business!" but then do not know where to start. Are you involved in this initial stage?

Yamamoto: Yes, Pasona Group can help from there. At present, many companies rely on one-off tools even if they say "DX."  

• What kind of situation is that, for example?  

Yamamoto: For example, one tried using an assessment tool to check the current status of operations. Then he  he understands the bad points, but he doesn’t know exactly where to improve. Or because there are various tools, each department has its own completely different way of doing things. 
  

• If it is Pasona Group, then you can handle it in its entirety? 

Yamamoto: Yes, after diagnosing with an assessment tool about the state of the work, we would evaluate what part is in what state and check the state of the organization. Based on that evaluation, we would show solutions using BPO and various tools.  

• It seems like you can cover everything with the Group's services.  

Yamamoto: That's right. So lately, we have been hearing more and more "I don't know where to start. Pasona Group, can you give us some suggestions?"

Yamada: Pasona Group can respond in all directions, such as supplementing the insufficient parts of DX with BPO and making full use of technology to improve efficiency while operating BPO. Pasona Group can help companies in any situation.

BPO alone is not good enough, and DX alone is not good enough. 

It means that both would be effective only when they are combined. And I hope you understand that Pasona Group can cover everything in this field.  
 

Why Do People Choose Pasona Group 

I have explained how Pasona can cover everything in this field, but let me explain more regarding what kind of comprehensive strengths we have in this field.

The following types of companies  promote operational efficiency through BPO and DX.  

▼Consulting Company 
▼ SIer (system integrator)  
▼ BPO companies in specialized fields 
▼ Simple work type BPO companies (specializing in data entry, etc.)  
▼ General HR service companies

The figure below illustrates the positions of these companies and Pasona Group's "business design/construction capabilities" and "business operation/execution capabilities."  

▼Consulting Company 
Consulting companies help their client to draw up a roadmap, but in most cases the end user is responsible for executing the roadmap. Consulting companies are usually not strongt in operations and do not work together with their client to reach the goal of the roadmap.

▼ SIer 
Since it is strong in the system, it is possible to reduce the cost of the system and man-hours. But in most cases, it is not possible to deal with the problem of efficiency improvement by people other than the system.  

▼ Specialized field type BPO 
There are BPO companies that specialize in payroll, and BPO companies that only handle general affairs. They are proud of their extensive support system for specialized fields, but of course they cannot cover a wide range of fields.  

▼ Simple work type BPO 
Because it specializes in simple tasks, it can be operated at low cost. However, it becomes difficult to deal with when the problems are intertwined with one another or when it is related to a wide range of fields.  

▼ Pasona Group

Unlike general HR service companies, we have a specialized consulting unit, and we have a big HR supply capacity and an operational support system. Since we educate our human resources mostly in education, it is possible to provide "total support" in a wide range of work.  

Because of this position, Pasona Group is receiving an increasing number of requests from clients saying, "I don't know where to start, so I'd like to leave it all to you."  

Pasona Group Service Implementation Process

Now, let's assume a situation where you actually do not know where to start. The flow of grasping the situation and solving the problem is as follows:  

▼ Key points at each step 

・ In business surveys, it is possible not only to visualize but also to judge the suitability of RPA 
・ It is possible to determine HR requirements based on the amount and content of the work and build a coherent unit system 
  
・ We will continue to carry out planned handover of work while conducting education 
・ We will improve the accuracy of business operations by using PDCA in trial operation 
・ It is possible to operate by dispatching units that support compliance so that you can give commands smoothly 
 

After listening to our explanations, we hope you have a deeper understanding why DX and BPO should be used in combination. In addition, we briefly explained the "total support" and introduction process we offer in implementing BPOxDX.  

If you have any problems with DX promotion or BPO, please feel free to contact Pasona Group.