TSR - Cerebral Insights

Missed and Not Missed

10 Things I won’t miss in the BPO Industry

I won’t miss the controlled atmosphere. I won’t miss the fact that we need to call CCOD to ask for breaks or that after a break, we must go on auto-in at once lest we go on OB. I won’t miss the 10-minute total CR break for the entire shift.
I won’t miss the AHT, CSAT and QA advisories and audits.
I won’t miss the “Blocked by Websense” and the constant screen flashes indicating that the GTI is monitoring our computers.
I won’t miss the robotic opening spiel and the other spiels that although are unique to each agent, already sounds robotic due to constant over-use.
I won’t miss the unchallenging issues that keeps on repeating themselves day in day out.
I won’t miss the VR Sales!
I won’t miss the irate customers who, eventhough, is understandably frustrated, can’t comprehend that the other person on the line is a person himself and also has feelings and limitations.
I won’t miss the Log Bus and the ultra early pick-up.
I won’t miss the heavy queues or the excessive avail time.
I won’t miss talking almost non-stop about the same topic for almost 8 hours straight.

10 Things I’ll Miss about the BPO Industry

I’ll miss the kind and appreciative customers and their ear-flapping praises.
I’ll miss the bloopers incurred by the non-technical customers.
I’ll miss the daily IS chats with my guinea pigs.
I’ll miss the pizza nights and other apparently absurd theme nights.
I’ll miss Outlook, the email blasts and spams and my uber professional looking signature.
I’ll miss the pantry and the cheese cupcake and Big 250 Apple.
I’ll miss the team buildings and inuman days.
I’ll miss the stolen chats with a particular CCOD.
I’ll miss the fast rides with Kuya Adam.
I’ll miss the rec area and the Fuzzball and internet room.

Comparatively, the things I’ll miss are things I could work around with so as to have them back or things I could do without. The really important things – like work satisfaction and fulfillment are the ones provided by the new job that I haven’t been able to achieve with my previous job.

When I am asked why I left the BPO to become an MT (medical transcriptionist), I give the standard answer below, which I realized later on, is really true.

MT is the closest thing I could get to a medical career. I took up BS Bio with the intention of becoming a doctor but I realized that I could not cure patients and make them feel better for I lack the sympathy and care to do so. However, I am fascinated with the study of medicine. Yet for me to pursue medicine purely for education’s sake is a luxury I cannot afford. MT will give me the education I want while also filling my pocket.

the change in me i didn’t want to happen

Sometimes I wonder if I have issues with superiority and following or if I am simply a free-spirited person. Sometimes I wonder if I would ever last in a job where I need to take orders and be boxed by a rigid set of rules or if I was simply meant to work in a boundless environment. A friend and mentor did forewarn me that I was not suited for an office job or any other static job that would eventually end up routinary. He told me that the best jobs for me would be something that would always excite my creativity or push me to constantly change or innovate all the time. I would fare better in a job that would constantly push me to my limits and challenge my creative mind. I will never be content in a job that would require me to work routinely day in day out.

I should have listened to such a precious gem of advice. I should have heeded it the first chance I got. But I was scared. I was complacent. I was impatient. I knew no better. I had grown tired of my vagabond days in school. I felt that I needed a more stable, less exciting, and more predictable life. I felt like I couldn’t take another moment of stressful organizing, chaotic order and countless networking. I felt like I needed a break. I decided to be a bum. Of course, I needed to earn money. It would be selfishness if I continue to impose myself upon my parents long after graduation just because I felt like I needed a break from who I am. And so I became a call center agent, specifically, a Technical Support Representative.

Continue reading “the change in me i didn’t want to happen”

a rare moment of insanity (and irresponsibility)

I know it was immature and irresponsible. I know it goes against all my principles and my personality. But I had to do it. I had to be irresponsible and immature – just for once. Just this one time.

Why? I cannot exactly tell. Maybe it was a way of telling the world (or myself) that I can also go against the tide; that I can also be reckless to the point of stupidity; irresponsible to the point of foolishness. A lot will berate me for my foolishness; my inconsideration. But although it was a regrettable action, I can’t help but admit that if you strip the regrets and the disappointment, I’m actually glad of what I did. I actually believe that what I did resulted to more good than harm – for me and my work, even for my sanity.

What the heck am I talking about? Simple. I just went NCNS (no call, no show) from work the day before my day-off. You could also call it AWOL (absence without leave). And although I was perfectly aware of the protocol, I disregarded it, doing things my own way. My reason? I don’t want to add insult to injury by giving a lie, however conceivable, to my planned absence. I wasn’t absent because I had some excusable sickness. I was absent because I simply wanted to. Because I felt that my sanity demands it. I know the consequences of my absence. I knew what would be affected. I was prepared to face it. I accepted the consequences. Furthermore, I knew that no serious part of my job would be compromised. Heck! The company or queue could survive a day (or night) without me.

Continue reading “a rare moment of insanity (and irresponsibility)”

Paid to be a BUM

The human persona is a very interesting thing – one moment it could want one thing and the next, it could abhor that specific thing it badly wanted in the first place. In my case for example, one moment I was ranting about my dissatisfaction in my current job and now, I am raving about how satisfied I am with it. Or maybe last I heard I was pushing him away, then now I am terribily missing him. But that is another story.

So moving forth in this job issue, the past days saw me disgruntled, yet again, on the current state of my career life. I felt like my full potential was not exploited and I was all too ready to get out of the BPO industry, of which I know my potentials are not deeply appreciated. But some reality check later, I found out that I have no choice but to stay where I am now, for the moment that is, until some circumstances in life, uncontrollable by myself, changes. And since such is the case, I need to make the most of what I have or where I am now. And thus saw the advent of the e-books.

I know I could read e-books at work, but I never had any inclination that in another part of the network, initially inaccessible to me, there exists a whole collection of the latest and most wonderful e-books. But my entry is not suppose to start like this so let me change track.

If before I wanted to be promoted the soonest time possible, now I want to remain Tier 1 as long as probable. Again, see the conflicting thoughts or emotions that I earlier said was interesting? What made me feel as such? The e-books were just the eye-openers. There were several graver observations that led me to such feelings.

Based on what I’ve observed, the higher you go up the ladder, the more your responsibilities increase. Of course that is to be expected as this is the normal course of things in any corporate setting. But in the BPO, there is a twist to this normal course of things. The responsibilities and workload not only increases as one gets promoted – it EXPONENTIALLY increases. Let me illustrate.

A Tier 1 agent (that is me) only has to report for work and take calls for 8 hours (including breaks). After his shift, he goes home or to wherever he needs to go, and spends the rest of the day the way he wants (most of the time catching up on sleep). And if it’s not queuing (huge volumes of call), a Tier 1 agent is free to do whatever he wants during the shift – read e-books, fix her nails or eyebrows, gossip to other agents, etc. Now when the Tier 1 agent gets promoted to Tier 1.5, that is a Senior Agent, he still retains the same job description as the Tier 1 agent, that is take in calls. However, he will sometimes be “asked” by the bosses to do something especially if he wants to be promoted to a higher level. He will constantly be asked to do floor walks, that is examine if the other agents need any assistance with their calls, and take escalations whenever necessary. And then he might also be “asked” to render overtime (OT) in addition to his 8 hours shift. Quite light, you may say, but look at the next level.

When one gets promoted to Tier 2, or an SME (subject matter expert), the workload dramatically increases. Not only is one required to do floor walks and take escalations, one also acts as an assistant supervisor, making reports, following up on agents’ performances and customers’ surveys, etc. etc. etc. And if one hasn’t yet done all the work one has to do, two hours is the minimum OT time required to finish all the humoungous workload. And it is possible to be forced to report for work even when one is on day-off or vacation leave. Talk about a life!

And when one rises up a notch, Tier 2.5 or to a Supervisor (or Team Lead) or a QA (Quality Analyst), the workload increases further, the amount of time spent at work becomes more demanding and the responsibilities becomes graver (or more serious or encompassing). I cannot bear to illustrate them here. And what do we expect when the level increases further?

Of course these are all based on my observations and for all I know the actual job descriptions and responsibilities may vary. What about the salary compensation? I heard it was not that large an increase. There are also exceptions of course, like trainers, who are also Tier 2.5 but I believe have a lesser workload, especially when there are no new hires. Also, the person at level 4 or 4.5 seems to have lesser workload, too, though more responsibility (that post will now be the PM or Program Manager responsible for maintaining the performance of the entire account or in other words making sure the supervisors or people below him are doing their jobs – you get the picture). But for the immediate positions near to my Tier 1 level, the workload and responsibilities are staggering. No wonder they kept on telling me to enjoy Tier 1 life as it is the most relaxed stage in the BPO industry. And no wonder, a lot of agents wishes never to be promoted, even when they have been in the job for more than a year now. Somehow, to preserve their sanity, they just keep switching accounts.

Then of course this is what employment is all about. I’ve had a taste of entrepreneurship and now employment and I could say that I have been able to compare both sides of the coin. Nothing beats entrepreneurship. I still believe I would make a fine entrepreneur and if I want the kind of freedom I’m thinking of, this is the solution for me. But for the moment, I must make do with employment, and hope that when the uncontrollable circumstances in my life changes, in the not so distant future, I would be able to move on to much more exciting and rewarding waters.

For now though, I must content myself being a Tier 1 – there are still a lot of e-books to read and my supervisor has agreed to allow me to bring in paperbacks when the need arises. I know it won’t be long when I myself am promoted to a higher level and subsequently given larger workloads and responsibilities – my nature would crave for that, but for the meantime, I relish this freedom I’ve found. I am free to do as I please provided I still get the job done by the end of the day.

And this I can say makes me content – for the moment. How long this will last, I cannot tell. Maybe as long as I have interesting e-books to occupy my boring shifts and Mafia Wars to play on my breaks. 🙂

Post Script:

Watch out for my reviews of Thorton Wilder’s play Our Town and Frank Collymore’s short stories like Shadows and The Man Who Loved Attending Funerals. These two books were my latest read and I can’t wait to share how much I’ve loved them.

something positive about work

I know that most of my entries about my current job are bordering on the negative. I know that when I blog about work now a days, it’s mostly because I got impatient with a customer or because my mind is rotting away in boredom. But then not all is gloom and doom at work.

I recall an article from Peyups sent to me by one of my workmates which detailed why the kind of job I have is most of the time a thankless one. Yet, though we often receive frustrated callers, there are certain rare gems that can make our heart’s soar in this type of job.

I recall the customer who was so happy because I simply educated her about viruses and how they work, that in the offset of the call she offered a short prayer of blessing for me. I recall several customers who are not native Americans and whose accents are so hard to understand that you have to be patient with them. And though the call dragged on to immeasurable lengths, after the issue was resolved, they thank you profusely for being so patient and understanding to them. Lately, I find my eyes becoming teary-eyed when a customer thanked me profoundly because according to him, of all the TSR he talked to, I was the most precise and the most clear, not to mention that I have been able to clearly explain to him the issue with his computer. I wasn’t able to resolve his issue but then he understood his predicament and he was thankful that I explained things to him clearly.

Then also there are this customer’s who are simply nice to talk too. Those who will chat with you about their jobs and also appreciate the job that you have. I recall the lady who was nice enough to inquire how I feel about my job and to be indignant that I should be receiving a salary good enough for 2 persons. I also recall how she was totally sympathetic that I finished a different course but due to practical reasons had to be in this job. I could never forget the customer who called only to talk about Manny Pacquiao. He knew what to do with his computer, he probably had only one quick question which was answered at the onset of the call but since he wanted to chat, I gave in. We talked about Manny and boxing for 21 minutes while he was at the same time tinkering with his computer and I merely assured him, from time to time, that he was doing the right thing.

Of all the bad calls which I have blogged about, I believe it is but right that I also defend my customers. Not all of them are jerks like the people I’ve talked about in the past. A large majority are also nice people who would be profusely thankful for even just the information handed over to them. The mind remembers the bad incidents, but I believe it is the good ones which should leave a deeper imprint so that they could serve as fuel to move on and continue in this “thankless” job.

This entry is an ode to all the nice customers I’ve had. To all those who’ve given me high marks in the surveys and to whom I owe my high metrics. May they continue to be nice and understanding to all the people they meet – customer representatives and all.

intregrity compromised

Ganito ba talaga pag nagtratrabaho na? Darating ka sa isang punto na mamimili ka kung konsensya o pera ang paiiralin mo? Kung magiging practical ka o gagawin mo ang alam mo na tama?

Simple lang naman ang nangyari. Wala naman holiday last payroll, at wala din naman akong approved OT last payroll pero sa payslip meron akong additional 152 pesos dahil sa special holiday OT.

Masaya di ba? Nadagdagan ng 152 ang sahod ko. Pero nakakalungkot. Kasi pakiramdam ko nasusukat ang integridad ko bilang tao. At sinusubukan ang pagka-Kristiyano ko.

Oo na. Inaamin ko. Hindi na ako mabuting Kristiyano kagaya noon. Hindi na ako nagdadasal at matagal na matagal na since huli akong nag-quiet time. Lasingera na rin ako at hindi na nagsisimba. Pero buo parin naman ang loob ko at and konsensya ko at ang bagay na to, sobrang hindi kinakaya ng sarili ko.

Nagsabi na ako sa sup ko. Sabi ko hindi kaya ng konsensya ko na wag magreklamo. Ikinagulat nya yun. Kung nabawasan ang sweldo ko ng hindi tama sa oras, alam ko na magrereklamo talaga ako. Aba! Wala naman may gusto na maging underpaid di ba? Pero bakit kaya pag overpaid ka, walang gusto magreklamo? Sabi ng sup ko, nangyayari talaga yan. Pabayaan ko na daw kasi di ko na yun problema. Wag na daw ako magreklamo.

I guess I don’t have much support from that area. But then again, I cannot take this. My conscience is screaming at me! I feel like if I passed up this situation, my integrity might be, again, corrupted. (I feel that it has been corrupted by all the cheating issues back in trainig days and with the required exams we need to take).

And once corruption starts, it will continue on. It will be like a worm, first eating a small hole that would gradually grow larger. If my conscience can take to be silent on this small instances, what would happen when the amount becomes larger? Or the instance becomes graver. Isn’t this exact scenario the case why there is corruption in the country.

Being dishonest in small things lead us or train us to become dishonest in bigger things. You may say I am over-reacting over a meager amount of 152 pesos but the fact is I am really disturbed. I am. I even had to go on break and blog about this just so I can air out my sentiments.

***

Apologies to those who I know would be shocked by the outburst on my spiritual state now. Friends, I am but human, and though I know this is not a valid excuse, forgive me for I do err.

random thoughts on dreams

Sigh.

I guess all of us have our own dreams and ambitions in life but when we grow up we realize that the dreams of childhood are more complicated to achieve than what we were led to believe. I mean I know that in each and everyone of us there is a kid who still wishes he grew up to be an astronaut, an astronomer, a doctor, a lawyer, a scientist, a broadcaster, a soldier, a teacher, a businessman, etc.

Yet when we got to face the world, we realized that we had responsibilities to attend to, that life was not as good as we thought it was, that opportunities were not as many as we expected them to be and that everything is so damned complicated than what we initially imagined. So in the end we are forced to relegate this dreams to a place in our head called Neverland, and we are forced to face life, with resignation in our faces and the steeled determination to accept whatever it throws us just so we could survive.

The few who dare to brave the odds and pursue their dreams either succeed (if they really put their whole hearts into it) or fail (if they are along the way, dissuaded from their cause). And for us who are now in this crossroad, we are left wondering whether we become one of the brave ones or we stick to the safe path of practicality.

Indeed it is a complicated life that we are in. Much complicated than what we have been led to believe in when we were just kids, innocent of the atrocities of the world and full of hope for a bright future.

Note: This was part of my e-mail to a friend at work when we were discussing what we wanted to become instead of TSRs.

The Fresh Rural Air

I was walking in centro yesterday morning. I was on my way home after my shift. I was struck by the cleanliness of the air and the utter freshness of my surroundings. It had just finished raining and the environment appeared to have been cleansed of its previous day’s debris. If only one could preserve air, I would have done so at that very instant, This was downtown Metro Naga we’re talking about yet the air smelled as clean and as fresh as any farmland.

It made me remember my recent trip to Manila, wherein I was once again subjected to its polluted surroundings. Somehow I couldn’t quite imagine how I managed to survive in the years I’ve lived there. The air was now suffocating to my untrained senses – I have long grown accustomed to the freshness of the rural life that I have quite forgotten the atmosphere of Manila. The experience made me all the more grateful to be working and living in the province. Maybe I wouldn’t really switch places after 2 years.

That recent trip to Manila also gave me the opportunity to come into close contact with the afternoon rush hour. Imagine being squeezed tight in the MRT train at the first terminal station. And imagine the horror of approaching, station after station, filled with numerous passengers all trying their best to get inside the train. I swear I heared the PA system at the train stations pleading for passengers to no longer choose MRT as their mode of transportation! To think that MRT started its 24/7 operations that day and still the number of passengers were horrifying.

And so I am thankful, immensely, despite the small salary, that I get to work in an environment free of polluted air; an environment that the only thing akin to rush hour is the mad rush to be the first passenger alight the shuttle bus – which can really sit ALL the passengers, except in some rare instances of miscalculation. And despite all my apparent misgivings and talks about boredom and job fulfillment, I am thankful for where I am now, Indeed I am.

AHT and contentment

Looking at my AHT for today’s shift, I am led to wonder about contentment. And as such I again philosophize on something as simple and mundane as an AHT.

When I was a new agent, they said I need not bother with my AHT – even when it was soaring high above the clouds. They said I will eventually learn how to control it. Little by little, I did. Before, when my AHT was between 18 to 19, I was happy. When I was able to get 17, I was happy with 17 and bothered when I reach 18. Then when I happened to reach 14, I was bothered with 15 or 16 or 17. Now I had 10 and 12 or 14 bothered me. Contentment? Satisfaction? When is enough, enough?

Maybe I just lack goals. I admit that I didn’t really push for my AHT to be anything lower than 19. Secretly, I am happy if my AHT rating is at 5. That is enough for me since 5 is the ceiling. Problem is, I do not know if 19 merits a 5 or not. Maybe it does. Maybe I need to ask.

In any case, I find AHT the funniest metrics there is in this industry. Everyone is concerned about it. It is updated by the hour. It is the readily observable metrics and the one that causes most agents to turn irate or impatient. Yet, it constitutes only a small portion of the over-all “grade”. AHT, I believe, is sometimes overly emphasized just because it is the readily observable metrics. It is overly sensationalized. And yet, the customer is not even aware that such a thing as an AHT exists. They are aware that there is a survey and they are aware that customer satisfaction is being measured, but they are by no means aware that the time they spent with an agent is limited.

And so, as the cliché goes: which one is more important – quality or quantity? To the customer’s eyes there is only quality. To the agent’s eyes, quantity often supersedes quality. And we are often left to create a balance which sometimes requires a compromise on some point. Then again, I believe that there will come a time when, after being on the job for a long time, we will learn that delicate balance between quality and quantity.

PostScript: After this article was written, AHT updates are no longer blasted by the hour. And even by the day. Yet I do not claim that this article inspired such. It must have been just a coincedence.

Most people hate it when it’s queuing – the rapid succession of calls that leaves one breathless or makes one’s throat ache. But I hate avail time more. When there are almost no calls and the agents are overly staffed, when most of your calls are long calls and you get reprimanded for having a high AHT, when things are so darned boring and you do not know what to do. You’re afraid to shut your eyes for fear you’ll sleep through your job – to be awakened by your boss and to have a worse case of a splitting head ache when you do wake up. I hate queuing but I hate avail time more. Well, in this job, I don’t see much of what I love.