Sloths as coworkers (career, wage, businesses, benefits)
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Yeah, I don't know what's wrong with some employees, or what's wrong with some managers or companies.
I've witnessed some employees who worked very hard and got more work adding up on them from some manager. And there were some employees who worked very unproductively, and the manager took some duties off from them and added up on the hard and fast working ones.
And there were employees who called in sick all the times, even a few long sick leaves, and they still have their job. I understand that they are protected by the FMLA. And there were employees who rarely or never called in sick and worked hard, and it seemed like the manger thought they were strong and healthy, so they needed to do more, and they never got any bonus or reward.
With all my observations for a long time, I see that it's like the reward for working hard is more work. I expressed that opinion with some of my trusted co-workers, and they said it seemed so true.
That's the management or the employer's problem. They don't want to reward or want to save money from rewarding the good workers, and they cannot do anything with the slow/lazy and sick employees because there's the FMLA.
This is my situation. I work fast once I learned my job duties, know what strings are attached to each file and get work production done very well. Since employer didn't replace a sick person (a sloth) the work load was added on and it affected my health over the three years and now I am off work due to medical reasons. I had to skip my vacation days and this truly reflects how poorly management was running the business.
I have one temp. coworker who work fast, but she always complain, through fits like she is a toddler but she is in her late 50's and get nervous breakdowns. (I am in my 50's but don't behave the same way as her) It is difficult for me to work with her, on top of the heavy work load.
As for that sloth coworker I had, management didn't do enough to light a match under his azz. They should have fired him because he is intelligent and able, but if you gave him more work, he slowed down even more and left me feeling resentful because I continue to work at a very good pace. Eventually I got sick and taking a lot of time off because of this work environment that affected a medical problem because I was working over and beyond. (Basically I worked so much that I would skip going to the washroom and destroyed my body)
I get paid just okay, and have difficult customers saying they are not getting their papers fast enough for their 1 million and up in assets. I don't get paid enough to do the impossible also so I can earn 1 million dollars.
I have no idea how your sloth employee operates. Does she take the time to get to know the customer to get a feel how to serve them and pass it on to the trades people so they can handle the customer well? Does she ramble too much on the phone? If that is the case, her training was poor and she doesn't understand your expectations.
If she was properly trained, showed her training notes to you that reflects properly to meet your expectations, they she is a sloth. Otherwise, perhaps you don't have any idea what the customers are like with her and she need guideline on how to handle the difficult ones.
I would love for OP to get back here and answer these questions and what others have asked also. Maybe you are too rude to customers and get the job done faster, not realizing in the long run you are damaging the business?
Note the bold: "relative experience." It sounds like you want to compare your new employee of a few months with what your call center employee of many years experience or yourself, who's obviously well-versed in the industry, are capable of. Does this seem like a realistic expectation? If you answer yes, you'll probably find yourself sorely disappointed over and over.
I realize you need/want her to be faster, but this may be something that just takes time. Otherwise, you may sacrifice time with getting the job the done correctly.
As others have said, at least in my area, call center is bottom of the rung in entry-level work. As to why qualified applicants keep cancelling interviews: there is something you're not offering that others are. Whether that's pay, benefits, or work-life balance, I don't know.
I learned the job in about 3 evenings. She is on her 6th month.
Our pay is similar. Benefits and vacation is generous. Schedule is Monday - Friday 9-5. Most call center have crappy hours.
Any of those you weeded out from a waitress and such to work in a Call Center, unless it is some super high tech job, would have probably been good at the job. They all deal with people all day.
Needing to know plumbing and water treatment is the most important part. And I can teach that but they have to be able to retain information because I don’t have time to repeat over and over.
If a customer calls and says they have no water, I need the person to determine if they are city or well water, if they have water coming into house and what a tech might need, like hauling equipment to pull a 400’ deep well pump or just taking a filter to change. Details matter.
What is a call center job for a plumbing company, just taking incoming calls and setting appointments for the plumbers? Or is the employee supposed to be cold calling people?
Taking incoming calls and making out bound to existing customers. No cold calling.
Needing to know plumbing and water treatment is the most important part. And I can teach that but they have to be able to retain information because I don’t have time to repeat over and over.
If a customer calls and says they have no water, I need the person to determine if they are city or well water, if they have water coming into house and what a tech might need, like hauling equipment to pull a 400’ deep well pump or just taking a filter to change. Details matter.
These are things you can make job aids for. Like an algorithmic checklist of questions to ask incoming calls based on the caller’s responses. Eventually, once the new hire gets comfortable, they won’t even need the job aid.
If you aren’t getting qualified candidates based on what your job offers, then you need to consider taking on a less experienced hire and train them up.
Needing to know plumbing and water treatment is the most important part. And I can teach that but they have to be able to retain information because I don’t have time to repeat over and over.
If a customer calls and says they have no water, I need the person to determine if they are city or well water, if they have water coming into house and what a tech might need, like hauling equipment to pull a 400’ deep well pump or just taking a filter to change. Details matter.
An ex waitress or something along those lines could easily do this.
I used to manage a call center, now managing at 1MM+ Sq Ft Fufillment Center, and some of the best employees I've ever hired have been food service employees. They are used to working fast and, especially waitresses, have to have a good memory and people skills.
If you talk like this at work, and this is how you treat your employees -or even people in general,- it's safe to assume some of this is repeated in the interviews you're conducting, or even possibilities for an interview.
There are plenty of Type A personalities out there looking for jobs, and you may think you're offering a reasonable rate, but unless you were offering waaaay more than other entry level employment, there's no way in hell anyone with any self esteem would subject themselves to that kind of hostile work environment, even if that hostility is being directed at someone else.
Thanks for bringing this up. It's what I thought as I read through the thread. If it has gotten to the point of yelling, then something has gone south, and even if the employee is not a good one, the OP seems a little heavy on the trigger. You'd think you'd be able to recognize someone is NOT going to be too much of a go getter during the interview. If you ask for related experience as part of the job announcement, are the candidates lying to you about having it or is it simply that they are not fast enough for you? If they've not been honest about relevant experience, then letting them go should not be much of an issue.
The other things the OP said: He learned the job in 3 days AND he's the one doing the training. He may have an overinflated expectation of how quickly someone else will learn the job. And if he's flying around doing 5 things at once, he may not be the best person to be doing the training.
I also wouldn't think of a call center as a place for a Type A personality, unless you're a 9-1-1 operator (which I was). You can be detail oriented, and a go getter w/out being Type A or being particularly fast.
400 candidates and 375 weren't qualified?
And finally, he said they have kept around a woman who doesn't really do the job she was hired for, but keeps the gardens around the facility nice and that the OP took over doing her job, or most of her job, too. Really? What kind of management is that?
It is really not. I need them to learn enough about plumbing to answer technical questions and be able to send a tech out to a him to solve an issue with the right materials or at least close to the right materials. All while creating schedules that make sense area and time wise. Not that complicated.
I wouldn't call this a call center job. When I think of a call center, I think of a room full of cubicles with people reading from scripts, all paid 100% commission only.
How do they learn enough about plumbing to answer technical questions? Do you really want an office person giving plumbing advice?
Do you have some sort of forms they can follow to ask questions, fill out answers and give to the plumber? No hot water, they grab the water heater form, etc. Many people are better following a checklist.
I love plumbers, my dad and all his brothers were plumbers. And I love the plumber who got to our house at 9 pm to fix the hot water on a holiday weekend.
I agree with the accountant that it's her inherent personality and can't be changed. Just like you're a naturally fast person, she's a naturally slow person.
I know plenty of people in real life who's really slow. My son takes 20 minutes from the time he wakes up to when he's changed his clothes and can come out of his room for breakfast. While my other son takes 5 minutes to do the same thing. I'm a naturally fast-paced person and cannot comprehend why the crap it takes 20 WHOPPING MINUTES to brush his teeth and change his clothes, but that's how he is. You can't change him no matter how much you yell at him. Same for the slow lady. At least you're looking for a replacement. That job is clearly unfit for her.
Truth. We timed her this morning and it took her 7 minutes to get out of her car to even come into work. Meanwhile I can run to the bank, post office, use the bathroom and feed the dog in that time.
Well, one of the issues here is that we really don't know the parameters of the job. When most of us hear "call center job," we immediately start thinking of those people calling to solicit donations for the Kidney Foundation or the PBA (I know I do, anyway). But, call center jobs run a wide gamut. My mom works what would be considered a call center job, and she and most of her co-workers make near or over a six figure salary working with very high-end clients.
Now, here's the thing. She's one of the "slowest" workers at her company. The higher ups are always getting on her about picking up the pace. However, the higher ups don't have to actually do her job, which requires a lot of meticulousness and attention to details. One missed detail could (and does with other workers) wind up costing her company tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars a pop. Plus, she's personable and friendly, actually taking the time to get to know her clients and their needs, which they appreciate. Many of her clients have told her that when she retires they'll no longer do business with her company. They won't do any business with her company on her days off because they won't work with another agent. She's consistently at the top of customer satisfaction surveys and referrals.
The reality is that many times in our current numbers-driven business world out there those at or near the top don't really understand what it takes to truly foster relationships that lead to repeat business. Great customer service truly is a lost art much of the time, and "speed" should not always be the name of the game.
When I say speed, I don’t want her waiting 20-30 minutes in between making calls. It took her 20 minutes to text a phone message to a tech the other day. Like what 30 year old can’t text Out books on their phone?
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