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Friday, March 28, 2014

Confessions of a Call Center Agent

by: Silver

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.

Monday, March 12, 2012

EBusiness BPO: Agents goes TEAM BUILDING

March 3, 2012 at 8:45am. Some of my agents were roaming around the production floor. It was as if they are waiting for a child to be born. Excitement and the boredom of waiting causes tension. I can feel it. People who were still taking calls were pressured. The rest of the team are waiting for them. An agent was announcing every minute that passed by. I was jumpy already. Our GL, was going through the calls as fast as he can but as detailed as possible. He wished, he was not doing the Q.A. for the calls that day. It was a dreadful fifteen minutes. We cannot do anything. We have to wait until nine in the morning.

I handle up to forty people. Our Team is called the Individual accounts. These are accounts with three to five agents assembled to a macro team of forty agents. I am the Supervisor, tasked to maintain, organize, discipline and make this multi-LOB productive. Nine in the morning was our departure time. Eight fifty nine, sixty seconds before we logged out. Everyone was on their toes - I was!

Team Buildings, have been a traditional yearly or biyearly events for call center agents and their respective teams. A time to bond. A time to travel as a group and get to know each other apart from the daily routine of taking calls/work. An event wherein agents and the supervisor walk on the same level. An event to open doors leading to better communication and understanding.

Twelve noon - March 3, 2012. Our team arrived at Hidden valley in Pinamungahan Cebu. We reached the place after an hour an a half on the road. Preparation for the departure took a bit longer. The reason? Ninety percent of my agents are female. Figure it out!

The place is called Hidden Valley. Well, you really have to have that intention to go there because it is hidden. Let's just say the road going there is not that admirable. It is a country side. However, once you reach the resort every inconvenience would melt away. The staff is very friendly (especially the front desk staff Ate Nin). The place being on top of the mountain gives you an unlimited view of green scenery. The air is so fresh. It is so amazing. I did not have to wait for instruction nor a guide. I immediately went to the pool and tried the water. Guess what? It's spring water - fresh and very cold. Ahhh... Heaven! At night you can only hear the sound of nature. The nasty sound of the city cannot reach this place. You would really feel privacy within the bosom of Mother Nature herself.

So enough with the place and start with the results. The activity indeed gave the team a time to talk. An open forum was held at night wherein everybody was asked to expressed their opinion about the team. I gave the people that I was handling an opportunity to tell me who I am to them. I learned about my strong points and weak points. Also, the event gave me the time to talk to them about company expectations and demands that are necessary for the team to move forward and be more productive. Things like over breaks were given a degree of attention that agents realized they need to commit themselves in preventing it. We ended up the three hour forum with promises to fulfill our own tasks so that the team would move and grow.

The event only lasted for twenty four hours. But the bond that the team has became better. We can now in a way understand each other. As their supervisor, I learned things that I will carry throughout my career. I am proud that I have my team. Thank you E-Business for sponsoring such an event.