eTelecare's RP head quits, moves to rival Accenture

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine head of Arizona-based eTelecare has quit, taking up a new job at a rival company. eTelecare Global Solutions has confirmed the departure of Benedict Hernandez, the company said in a statement dated June 16. Hernandez, whose employment at eTelecare will end in July, will move to Accenture Philippines to become of its global delivery center heads in the country. “My role with my new employer will concern mainly with non-voice services. This will help in my education in the BPO business since I’ve already handled voice services at eTelecare," Hernandez said. Although he did not identify Accenture as his new employer, the company confirmed his employment. Moreover, he failed to clarify whether he filed a voluntary resignation or was actively courted by Accenture. It so happened that Accenture was looking for someone to fill a new post for its non-voice business, he said. He added that non-voice offers a huge promise for the Philippines’ business process outsourcing industry. Hernandez will be replaced by Gilbert Santa Maria who will now sit as the senior vice president for Philippine operations, managing eTelecare’s 10,000 employees in seven offices. Hernandez was cited to have spent nine “exemplary" years with the company, the eTelecare statement said. Before his stint at eTelecare, Hernandez was vice president for customer care at Nextel Communications Philippines and customer care manager at Smart Communications. He was also a psychology instructor at the University of the Philippines. Santa Maria joined eTelecare in 2004 as vice president in charge of the company’s technical support business unit. While leading this unit, he worked with the eTelecare’s teams in the Philippines and the US to grow programs with several multinational clients by almost four times, the company said. Since 2007, Santa Maria spearheaded the acquisitions of the company’s AOL Clark and South Africa operations, and the start-up of its Nicaragua location, in his capacity as senior vice president for corporate development. Prior to eTelecare, Santa Maria worked as general manager of Pepsi in Manila, chief operating officer of a technology company in Singapore that was acquired by eBay, management consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton in New York, and private equity professional at an Asian affiliate of New York-based private equity firm Warburg Pincus. He holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of the Philippines. - GMANews.TV