1. When Did a Leader Stop Being a Boss?
In the fast-paced world of BPO, leadership is no longer about control, it’s about understanding. What does modern leadership look like when you’re leading teams made up of Millennials and Gen Z?
A leader stopped being a boss the moment we realized that “control” without understanding leads to turnover, not results.
In our team – Division 2 – we are spending more time listening than giving orders.
Our job is not just to understand what needs to be done, but why it matters to the young professionals we work with. Today’s leadership in the BPO sector is about unlocking potential, not locking down procedures. We believe that a true leader creates space for others to grow, speak, and shine. We are trying to lead with empathy, not authority, because we have seen that the best outcomes come when people feel heard, not commanded.
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2. If Salary isn’t Enough… What is?
Young professionals aren’t showing up just for a paycheck. They’re looking for purpose, growth, and recognition. What truly motivates people to stay, especially when things get tough?
Salary is just the entry ticket. What truly keeps young people engaged is purpose. When you show them that their ideas don’t just land in a suggestion box, but actually get implemented the next day – that’s when you win them over.
Motivation in outsourcing industry comes from recognition, a supportive team, a healthy work environment, and a sense of belonging. We value healthy competition and we believe that every meaningful idea deserves space to be tested.
In essence, Gen Z in our team doesn’t have to choose between their job and identity as they’re encouraged to build both. We also offer flexible employee benefits, tailored training programs, and space for personal projects, because there is no universal recipe for growth.
3. The Kind of Training You Remember
Most training sessions are forgotten by the next morning. And then there are the ones that change your perspective. How do you design training that feels like real experiences?
The best BPO training program we ever created looked more like an escape room than a training session. No slides – just a challenge, a team, and a time limit. They learned through play, through mistakes, through laughter. People don’t learn when watching PowerPoint, they learn when they feel part of a story.
Candidates are spending a full live day with future teammates so they can experience the energy, the challenges, and the real faces behind the job. It’s one of our strongest employer branding strategies.
4. From Headset to Leadership Seat
There’s always that one person who makes a leap in a year that others wait five for. Can you share a story like that?
My story is one of the many. This is my first job since moving to Belgrade from Slovenia. I didn’t expect much, just a paycheck and a way to survive. But what I got was the experience of a lifetime. After 8 and a half years, I’m in one of the company’s leading roles.
And most of our BPO leadership team shared the same story. The secret? Hard work, persistence, discipline, a bit of talent, some luck, and above all – love for what you do. Leadership development in the BPO industry isn’t handed over. It’s earned. And if you work genuinely, your path will reveal itself 100%.
5. When People Stay for Meaning, not Contracts
Internal promotions can be the strongest tool for loyalty, but only if they’re real. How do you balance between creating real opportunities and managing the team’s expectations?
In Silver Bell Group career advancement in BPO doesn’t happen to ‘fill a gap.’ If someone gets a new opportunity, it’s because we’ve recognized their growth. We always make it clear: ‘This isn’t just a title. This is trust, and it comes with responsibility.’ When people see their ideas get recognition, when they feel their input matters, they stay not for the contract, but for the meaning.
That’s why we hold monthly performance evaluations – not just to track results, but to highlight individuals who consistently stand out. It’s through those evaluations that we identify talent and make informed decisions when choosing future leaders.
6. When Growth Moves Faster Than Support
What happens when the team scales quickly, but leaders don’t have time to grow with it? How do you lead in moments when expectations are high, but the tools aren’t fully there yet?
Rapid growth can be managed but only with intentional planning and structured support. My team and I don’t believe in reactive leadership. We stay several steps ahead by identifying emerging BPO leaders early on and tracking their progress through regular performance evaluations and hands-on experience.
We monitor patterns, not just results. Through monthly evaluations, we’re able to spot not only current high performers, but also those showing consistent growth and leadership potential. This gives us time to prepare them, support them, and give them the tools they’ll need before they step into new roles.
We treat leadership development the same way we treat client growth, with forecasting, scenario planning, and even case studies from past promotions. You’re only as strong as your Plan B.
7. The Burnout We Don’t Notice in Time
Ambition can build a team, but it can also quietly drain it. How do you spot the moment when even your strongest people start to burn out?
The first sign of burnout? When your most engaged people go silent. Literally. Burnout in the BPO workplace doesn’t show in performance – it shows in attitude.
Solution: Regular 1:1s, not just when something goes wrong, but even when everything seems ‘fine’. Because ‘fine’ can be the calm before the storm. We strongly encourage using vacation days, and reward-based time off is part of our recognition system.
Dedicated work without dedicated rest isn’t sustainable. I don’t believe in overtime, but I do believe in 8 fully focused hours a day, balanced with 8 hours of true rest.
8. The Conversation That Changed you
Sometimes, the biggest lessons don’t come from those who stay but from those who leave. Is there a “goodbye” conversation that changed the way you think about leadership?
One colleague once told me during his resignation: ‘Nikola, I didn’t leave because of the salary. I left because I no longer knew where I was going here.’
That moment changed me. It taught me that people don’t stay too long in the same chair – they stay too long without a clear map. Since then, I make sure everyone knows not just where they are, but where they could be in six months.
As Marcus Aurelius wrote in Meditations: “A man’s worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions.” That stayed with me – because leadership isn’t just about managing the present, but about helping others imagine and reach their future.
9. The Future You’re Building
The BPO world will keep evolving. AI will change workflows. Expectations will keep rising. Young people will keep asking for more. As someone shaping the next generation of leaders, what kind of workplace do you hope they inherit from you? And what are you doing today to make that future possible?
I want the young leaders coming after me to never have to fight for a voice. It should be given to them from the start. I want them to build teams with heart, not just with KPIs.
My team and I, we are building a culture where feedback is welcomed, mistakes are part of the process, and AI in BPO operations is a tool, not a judge. I want to leave behind a place where people don’t work for the company, but with it. Motivation in outsourcing industry depends on trust, autonomy, and a shared mission – and that’s exactly what we’re committed to shaping.
