Neutral accent

A recent article from the India Times reports on how business outsourcing companies in India are training their staff in accent neutralisation.

When companies first started outsourcing to India, representatives were asked to speak in an American accent. But when clients began to realise the mismatch in accent, many companies changed to a neutral accent, which could be understood by everyone.

“With increased globalisation of clients and customers, accent training in Indian BPOs is moving toward accent neutralisation as opposed to acquiring new accents. We believe there is a clear global business language emerging and we have adopted this philosophy for our accent training programmes,” says Aniruddha Limaye, chief people officer, WNS Global Services.

Over to you

How important is accent to you in your business? Do you prefer US, UK or "international" English accents?