"Corporate Narcissism"
by
Jenna West
www.geocities.com/jennawest.writer
The constant policy changes, loss of wage, unrealistically high call volume, understaffed call center employees, angry customers, additional call STAT requirements along with worn out, stressed out supervisors unavailable to assist with customer calls (And I rarely had to ask for help as a seasoned, trained representative; but, a different situation for the newer call center employees who needed help)--it all piled up and took a direct toll on my ability to do my job. My body felt tired all the time. My patience level dropped. I became unable to handle the added stress in my personal life atop the unrealistic stress level that daily existed while at work. After a little over one year of working for Cingular Wireless I requested F.M.L.A. (Family Medical Leave Act) so I could get off the phone and away from work to refocus and re-energize on a daily basis. Using F.M.L.A. meant loss of wage though. Now not only was I exhausted and fatigued from the overly demanding job requirements; but, I was stressed even more due to loss of pay. And Cingular does not have part-time positions for their employees. You either work full-time for them or you do not work at all. And I couldn't afford to quit my job. I had two (2) people to feed, rent to pay, etc. I sure didn't have the energy to look for another job or go through the wait period for new health benefits to start with a new company. And I know for a fact that I am not the only employee who got caught in the same situation.
By November 2006, my mind and emotions hit total burnout during an inbound customer call and all I could hear inside my head was, "Enough is enough!". Work and home collided and it was time for a sabbatical. The one good thing Cingular Wireless does provide for its employees is Short Term Disability (S.T.D.). With the amount of negative stress of Cingular's job requirements, F.M.L.A. and S.T.D. is the saving grace for their employees. Keep in mind the state in which this particular call center is located does not allow for job-related stress claims through the Workers' Compensation Courts. Smart planning on the company's part for keeping their call centers operating in the south, mid-western part of the United States.
Another part of what builds such internal stress for an inbound call center representative is the fact they are paid to display a certain mood while on a call. Specific phrases were periodically created and provided to the call center employees to use either at the opening or the closing of the call. It didn't matter that the phrases annoyed the customer, made us sound fake or took away our individuality in call handling, and went against our natural internal voice. We tended to sound like pre-programmed robots even when we sincerely cared about the customer. The department who screened our calls to grade them were given an ever changing list of things a representative was required to say or could or could not say during a call. A certain tone to the voice was expected; so, if an employee "mirrored" the customer to match their type personality to sound more genuine and it didn't match the check list, the employee was either "dinged" with a low call score, put on written warning, or terminated.
When a company like Cingular Wireless gives mandatory behavior guidelines that are in disharmony between our true internal emotions and the emotions we're suppose to express on the job, this contributes to our emotional exhaustion, our physical complaints, and our job dissatisfaction and, ultimately, causes us to terminate our employment. And such companies wonder why they have such high employee turnover? Clean the inside of the cup first and the outside of the cup will be clean too.