By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas
IT all started with five millennials in a small room with cracked walls, broken electricity lines and no furniture, three floors above a vulcanizing shop in Cavite.
For millennials Bryce and Jaspar, they only had one thing in mind after surveying their digs: Do something.
“We didn’t really know what we were going to do. We just knew were going to do something. It was all about Inertia: we just have to do something,” Jasper Weir said.
And so they did.
They surfed the online market for cheap office materials, eventually ending with some, at least: a set of office chairs from a recently closed business; some ragged carpets bought from a hotel; old, bulky computer monitors given away by a university and a couple of drawing tables donated by an architect, all secondhand.
“We spent around $350 in total, but at least it was [something to be called] ours,” Weir said.
Seven years later that small room has turned into a 2,500-square-feet three-floor work area capable of housing at least 400 employees. Smacked right on a business hub in Metro Manila, their current office is a far cry from the Cavite origins as it’s fully equipped with office amenities: a gym, a gaming area, a canteen and nap area.
“This is ours—all ours. This is made possible by each and everyone here,” Weir said in front of hundred employees at the launch of their $4-million regional headquarters in the Bonifacio Global City.
What started as a “virtual personal assistant” for few professional now serve as a back office and customer support for at least a hundred companies in Silicon Valley such as Tinder, Uber and Autodesk. The five-man millennials team back then is now a 3,500 work force, 75 percent of which or least 2,625 are millennials.
Growth secret
THE latter is our growth’s secret, according to Bryce Maddock, CEO and cofounder of TaskUS.
“Millennials give us everything. Millennials have different perspective with what “work” means. Millennials want to do many different jobs. They look for opportunities that allow them to grow and be challenged. They also want to work in a team that cares about them as individuals,” Maddock told the BusinessMirror.
“Their attitude is a mix of creativity and fun.”
The millennials make up 53 percent of the country’s population or at least 53 million, according to documents provided by TaskUS.
The three-floor work area that they call “Lizard Bear Lair” (LBL), the third office of TaskUS, is inspired by Silicon Valley offices. According to Weir, it’s like that of Google’s, giving an egalitarian workplace environment.
“We challenge the traditional business-process outsourcing [BPO] set-up. Here team leaders don’t have their own offices with amenities. Here they have a centralize desk in the same area as their team.”
The “employee-first” approach has earned them the title “ridiculously good outsourcing” company, according to documents provided by TaskUS.
“By putting the employee first we have been able to consistently deliver incredible results to our client’s and their customers,” Maddock said. For Rhons Baradad, who has been with TaskUS for a month, she feels the “employee-focused” environment.
“It’s not stressful here compared to other BPOs I used to work for. My favorite part of LBL is the production area where my teammates are. They always made my day and we have good communication,” the 24-year-old document approver and e-mail support staff said.
“We are basically looking for ridiculous millennials,” Maddock said.
Big plans
MADDOCK said they are confident the company would exceed its 2015 target revenue of $45 million.
“We are reaching [our target] and I think we will exceed it. It will be closer to $50 million.”
If TaskUS exceeds their revenue target, it would be more than a 300-percent growth from their last year’s $15 million.
According to Maddock, the company grew 300 percent last year and will grow another 300 percent this year, “because today’s most innovative business are tired of traditional BPO companies.” “The first generation of outsourcing was all about cutting costs. As a result call-center workers were treated like a commodity. When you neglect your employees, your employees will neglect your customers.”
Maddock added that “the next generation of businesses differentiate themselves by creating amazing customer experiences.”
“To do so you have to care [for] your employees.”
Maddock said that they plan to have 10,000 employees at the end of 2016.
The company’s growth is seen in their expansion as Maddock said they will build their fourth office in Pampanga.
Earlier, TaskUS has announced their expansion plans from a 15-million dollar funding from Navegar Private Equity: an $8 million office in Pampanga, a $2-million and $3-million offices Cavite and Quezon city, respectively.
Maddock said they have yet to identify sites for their Cavite and Quezon City offices.
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Image credits: Nonie Reyes