In an industry where hopping from one company to another is a subculture that's natural, working in one company is something that is admired, adored, amused and all the good words that goes along with it. I used to ask my mentors for reasons as to why they stay longer. Whatever the reasons were, it did not make an impact that time. It did not make sense. I mean, who wants to stay longer in a company for a long time. I just could not imagine it. Perhaps it was the millennial character in me that was kicking in. It diluted my appreciation of tenure and being anchored into a single place. Loyalty was not a word rubbing into me.
Here's my career summary. I started working right after graduation and that was 2007. So it has been 7 seven years since then. Seven years and I have been with seven companies. My shortest stay was three months and the longest is with the current company that I work for. I have been Claims Handler, Customer Service Rep, Hybrid Tech Support, Travel Specialist, Trainer, Team Lead, Universal Agent and a teacher.
So what made me stay?
The environment! Working in big call centers meant that you are a dot. Being able to mingle with the owners or the top executives of the companies is impossible. The distance between you and them is bigger than the pacific ocean. In eBusiness, you normally see the CEO going around and talking to employees. It's an everyday sight to see him asking the agents about their challenges. Sometimes if you did good you will find a note on your station from him with praises like: "Nice work king of sales!" eBusiness and the leadership team can mix the pressure and leisure of working.
The company! I know that I mentioned beforehand that the company looked small. With 70 FTE mostly doing telemarketing, it was small back then. That experience was humbling considering that I have not worked as a telemarketer. I was a good seller but for people who called in to inquire not me calling them and asking if they would want to buy something that they don't need. So I asked for them to let me start as an agent. I needed to get my bearings straight. Interacting with the agents that I will lead was worth it. Knowing their pain was something that numbers can't describe. But what really helped me was knowing that I did not belong to a team. I was part of a family who cared for each other. Everybody knows everybody. It was in here that I felt human. I was not a seat filler with an 034276 employee number. I felt my individuality amidst the conglomeration of everyone. The pain of adjustment that I normally feel when I start with something new was never felt. Having no relatives here in Cebu that time the company became my family.
Being young! Working for a young company meant that I have an environment with newbies from provinces around the Cebu or Mindanao. Other centers might consider this as dreadful. But I actually felt good and as part of the leadership it was better to work with them. Their concepts and ideas of the industry has not been tainted with the practices of veterans. Training and leading them is a challenge but they will always follow. It makes working easy because you know that they trust your every move or decision. Being with young minds also means being in the presence of people whose concept of the world is different. Their idealism and dreams makes leaders like me remember my college days. It challenges me to seek for better ways. Like them I am millennial but it is really helpful to lead characters like this. They learn from you and I learn from them.
My feet brought me one morning to a company located on the 15th floor of a building near Ayala. Their ad was on a corner of the Sunday paper that I borrowed from my friend. I was desperately looking for a job that time. I have to admit. When I saw the production area I was not thinking of staying for six months. I thought of making it as a stepping stone. The company was obviously small. My experience was shouting out so loud that I don't belong. But I wanted a job. Three years later, I'm the Operations Manager of eBusiness BPO. Looking back at my chaotic past I could not wish to change it. My failures were a potter's hands that made me the person that I am today.
Here's my career summary. I started working right after graduation and that was 2007. So it has been 7 seven years since then. Seven years and I have been with seven companies. My shortest stay was three months and the longest is with the current company that I work for. I have been Claims Handler, Customer Service Rep, Hybrid Tech Support, Travel Specialist, Trainer, Team Lead, Universal Agent and a teacher.
So what made me stay?
The environment! Working in big call centers meant that you are a dot. Being able to mingle with the owners or the top executives of the companies is impossible. The distance between you and them is bigger than the pacific ocean. In eBusiness, you normally see the CEO going around and talking to employees. It's an everyday sight to see him asking the agents about their challenges. Sometimes if you did good you will find a note on your station from him with praises like: "Nice work king of sales!" eBusiness and the leadership team can mix the pressure and leisure of working.
The company! I know that I mentioned beforehand that the company looked small. With 70 FTE mostly doing telemarketing, it was small back then. That experience was humbling considering that I have not worked as a telemarketer. I was a good seller but for people who called in to inquire not me calling them and asking if they would want to buy something that they don't need. So I asked for them to let me start as an agent. I needed to get my bearings straight. Interacting with the agents that I will lead was worth it. Knowing their pain was something that numbers can't describe. But what really helped me was knowing that I did not belong to a team. I was part of a family who cared for each other. Everybody knows everybody. It was in here that I felt human. I was not a seat filler with an 034276 employee number. I felt my individuality amidst the conglomeration of everyone. The pain of adjustment that I normally feel when I start with something new was never felt. Having no relatives here in Cebu that time the company became my family.
Being young! Working for a young company meant that I have an environment with newbies from provinces around the Cebu or Mindanao. Other centers might consider this as dreadful. But I actually felt good and as part of the leadership it was better to work with them. Their concepts and ideas of the industry has not been tainted with the practices of veterans. Training and leading them is a challenge but they will always follow. It makes working easy because you know that they trust your every move or decision. Being with young minds also means being in the presence of people whose concept of the world is different. Their idealism and dreams makes leaders like me remember my college days. It challenges me to seek for better ways. Like them I am millennial but it is really helpful to lead characters like this. They learn from you and I learn from them.
My feet brought me one morning to a company located on the 15th floor of a building near Ayala. Their ad was on a corner of the Sunday paper that I borrowed from my friend. I was desperately looking for a job that time. I have to admit. When I saw the production area I was not thinking of staying for six months. I thought of making it as a stepping stone. The company was obviously small. My experience was shouting out so loud that I don't belong. But I wanted a job. Three years later, I'm the Operations Manager of eBusiness BPO. Looking back at my chaotic past I could not wish to change it. My failures were a potter's hands that made me the person that I am today.
