Unfortunately after I had been there 2 years, a new CEO took over and a massive restructuring began. Our operations center lost hundreds of great employees who either relocated or couldn't keep their job if they wouldn't relocate. It was obvious to employees that our once highly-rated customer service had seriously declined and many new rules were put in place that were more restrictive on employees. For instance, in a given working group, which in my case was 40, only 10% could be off for PTO, which meant only 4 could be off. After I left I learned this was cut back to 3. So, we had to plan very far in advance in order to have slots that were available. This was difficult for those who couldn't plan months in advance. In my group, when the allowable number off was 4, there were 2 women on maternity leave so only 2 out of 40 could take PTO. Also, if you were late, regardless of the reason, you received "demerits" and after a certain number of demerits the employee would be written up. In one particular city, there was a snowstorm one night and several employees could not get to work on time. Even though it was an "act of God" they were given demerits. I have learned that this system of punishment has been discontinued but the damage to morale is possibly irreparable with many. The property on which the center is located where I worked is on a large piece of property where constant attention was given to keeping it extremely well-groomed. Many of us felt that if spent a little less money on grass and trees that the money could've have benefited the employees in some way. The feeling with employees was that as long as it looked good on the outside it didn't matter what the inside was like. Too much emphasis on meeting numbers than it getting quality claims reports. When the changes took place the quality of the initial claims intake was very high because it was done by people who had been through a 3 month claims school and recorded detailed information. With the changes, lesser-trained people did the initial intakes which was obvious because of the poor quality of the information or completely missing information which added work (and cost) to reps and associates to complete the data gathering. This was also stated by customers on several occasions. This effect was reflected in lower ratings by J.D. Power and associates; lower than ever in the history of the company. It is possible that the rating has improved since I left the company.
