-Hurricane Season: Xactware provides software that assists with insurance estimating for losses and repairs. Because all of the major carriers use our software, it can get very busy after a hurricane hits. Months on end of that can get old quick, and morale can take a dramatic shift if it goes on for too long. Management does try to stem some of that by providing lunches/snacks, but it doesn’t seem to really help morale specifically over longer periods of extended high volume. Thankfully, that level of volume has only happened once or twice since I have been here.
-Company wide recognition: Support is not the red headed step child at Xactware, but there have been times in the past when I have personally felt that the Xactware executive team could have done more to recognize the Support team, and the efforts put in to keeping our customers happy. I had an experience where I was at the same restaurant with the CEO, and I introduced myself and explained that I was in support at Xactware. He was very gracious and kind, and expressed how grateful he was at the time we put in for our customers during the hurricane that had happened shortly before. More of that, but it a more public setting, would go a long way.
-Service Quality: Service Quality is a team inside of the Support department that are tasked with grading phone calls and chats with customers. The problem here is that this team is grading from a checklist of pass/fail metrics, and haven’t really had a positive effect on improving the Support team’s interactions with our customers. Unfortunately, the feedback provided is often unhelpful, or simply reinforcing what the metric requirement is, rather than ideas on how to improve. My issue is not with the individual members of the team specifically, but with the severity that the pass/fail items are applied. I know they are limited in how far they can stray from the metrics. Your grades from this team can determine if you receive a portion of your monthly bonus or not. There has been two months where a portion of my bonus was deducted because of these metrics. Based on enough feedback from other technicians in support, the process for Service Quality is getting revamped. I am hopeful that some of concerns will be addressed with that revamp.
-Contractor Status: When you first start with Xactware you begin as a Contractor. You are technically going through a third-party company for your pay. During this time, you are not eligible to receive your monthly bonus, paid time off, or benefits. This period usually lasts between 9-12 months. Their reasoning for this is the number of full-time employee positions on the Support team is limited by the Xactware. Because of that, management within the support team found a way to hire contractors to fill positions that otherwise couldn't be filled. While I do understand their reasoning for this, it can feel stressful being uncertain of exactly how long you will be without benefits, PTO, or the monthly bonus. They do not hire full time employees from outside the company. Every time a position for full time employee becomes available, a contractor is given that position. I had to wait nine months to get hired as a full time employee, but since then it has been worth the wait.
