I'm not too sure where to start, I can honestly say that I sincerely hope senior management is reading and listening to the overall theme of many of these posts. Some may be a bit harshe, but the main theme should listened to! I can't help but notice who is NOT listed as followers on this site - senior management. Why is that?
For starters, I see many of the issues with AAA starting at the top and working it's way down. For instance, we have 2 major MSC sites, Glendale and OKC. Neither is on the same page regarding how these two sites should be run, even though we are suppose to be "one virtual center". You cannot be one virtual center when you have 2 sites being run completely different with different policies, hiring practices and procedures. That has started to cause friction between the 2 sites. When OKC was open, it should have been made clear from the get go that OKC was to follow the same procedures and business practices as GCC. In addition, we have skyrocketing unplanned PTO in OKC (and in GCC to a much lesser degree, but still high here too). So AAA's decision to actually loosen the UPTO guidelines makes no sense whatsoever. If you want to solve the problem of people calling out sick, you should not be making it easier for agents to do so. Instead, move the attendance to HR and let them handle it so their is no bias, no favoritism, everyone follows the same policy, from upper management, right on down the all hourly employees. I've worked for several large call centers that have HR handle all attendance via a call out line, they document and track it and when necessary take any corrective actions needed (and no, they don't consult the supervisor first or ask them for their permission to issue any written warnings). AAA has some of the worst attendance issues i've ever seen. Someone from upper management also needs to step in and put their foot down with the site managers and tell both sites to start working together as a team or go find another job. But instead we have upper management burrying their heads in the sand and hoping managers will "just work it out amongst themselves". It's not happening WAKE UP!
Also, what's with all the "consultants" that are suppose to come in and fix each department any time there is an issue?? If the VP's in California are reading this.....this is to you, stop trying to push the blame down the ladder and start taking some responsibiity for what YOU have created. If there are issues within a department, more than likely, it's due to directions that were handed down by YOU. Own up to it! I have never worked for a company where so many people are oh so quick to point the finger at others and not step up and say "yes, I screwed up....and here's how I'm going to fix it". Show some integrity.
Another issue I've noticed are the unfair promotion practices. I've noticed that winning the popularity contest is often times what gets you promoted. Not necessarily if you can handle the job. Or, we have the issue of people being promoted based solely on their technical abilities (or sometimes just one technical ability), but no one is looking at whether or not they are mature enough for the position - remember, you can teach people the technical aspects of the job, but you can't teach them to necessarily be mature enough...that takes time. The one's who get promoted or get the bigger raises tend to be the one's who can suck up the most.
We need as a company to start being more supportive of each other in different departments and stop pointing fingers. Upper management needs to start taking responsibilty for what's going on within this company. Pull your heads out of the sand and take an honest look around. You have a LOT of unhappy people here. You have some of the highest turnover rates i've ever seen in a call center. We have managers pointing fingers at other managers, VP's pointing fingers at anyone they can think of, but not one person is standing up and taking any responsibility! This could be an incredible company to work for, but many of you are getting in the way of your own success. Go visit other companies like USAA, American Express, etc and see how they run their organizations, they're good to their employees, firm but fair. They set guidelines and structure an environment that people can live with, but makes it known that they must stay within those guidelines to remain employed. Then they reward those employees for their service, they offer excellent benefits (we have some of the worst PTO accruals I've seen unless you're lucky enough to work for NCNU - why can't we all have the same???) We open this beautiful big building in OKC and we don't have enough seats for the agents! SERIOUSLY?? There is a ton of wasted space in that building. There are so many areas of improvement needed, but until management starts taking a good long look in the mirror and stops trying to find someone else to blame, nothing will get any better.
