Written by Ashton Deroy

On paper a call center should be the ideal job. Sitting down, answering the phone and solving problems you are trained to solve. The jobs really do suck though! From unpredictable schedules, angering the community of finite workers & underperforming on production training. Here is why Call centers don’t last in Belleville Ontario and Quinte West?

Long Hours and the Poverty Dash of your first 2 weeks.

The first two Weeks of a call center are horrific. You are in training staring at computers 8+ hours. You’ve got colleagues living out of their car. Cause they haven’t seen a paycheck yet. People in Quinte West & Belleville Ontario are perpetually broke. Therefore many of them are food insecure, but in the first two weeks they are working long hours and also food insecure. It’s not uncommon to see a bunch of people after their first call center shifts also walking home. However far away they can be in Belleville Ontario. This is a class of people who can’t exactly always afford a car.

What Else is wrong with Training?

• Modules are filled with outdated information – The Training probably needs to see updates every two years. Some companies are lucky if they are doing it on a 5 year schedule.
• Broken hyperlinks – Videos won’t work. Can’t get to proper information databases and trainers are practically requesting you use your imagination.
• Training environments are often broken. – Can’t actually execute practice with the software because the software used for training hasn’t been updated or fixed in years. The process is failing and no one is doing anything.

Unpredictable schedules

If you work in a call center for management? You should have the agents sign a piece of paper that says ‘You are our property. We own you now.” It’s not enough to say this is a job like any other. ‘It’s not.” I’ve seen them reject everything from allowing people to spend more times with their kids. To completely ignoring sheets where workers are submitting schedule preferences.

Belleville Ontario and Quinte West do not run after dark.

People who invest in these towns? need to start realizing this. Workers need to start demanding more money to do these shifts. Employers need to start realizing the town will not support workers to do this kind of work. They aren’t exactly going to be able to get their dinner after doing the midnight shift.

Myths about employing people in Belleville Ontario and Quinte West.

1. You can employ people here for cheap and they will be committed hard workers? You need to be aware a popular Belleville Ontario Phrase is ‘Minimum Wage = Minimum effort.” If the wage is too low? People don’t take the job seriously. Just like anywhere else. People know the difference between a job that raises their quality of life & a job that temporarily provides an income.
2. You have a vast Labor force waiting to replace people you may fire? – Actually you don’t. People in these towns are pretty stagnant. College students don’t work full time during the school year. During that time. Your choices for workers consist of people living on social supports, people who have generational wealth and bored spouses. Plus if you get in the habit of randomly ditching employees? People get talking. It becomes your reputation here.
3. People here separate professional and personal? – ‘NO!” Grow up and out of ‘Professionalism is a culture.” Professionalism is baby talk for adults that don’t realize Business is a relationship game. As a manager you will be held accountable. Even if your function is as a talking head of an organization. Personal attacks are not surprising or out of left field. You start burning enough bridges? People will start telling you to step off. You may get your vehicle damaged or be ambushed in town. It’s not that this town doesn’t have Law & Order. Hurt enough people’s quality of life? Then Business doesn’t just act like Business anymore. People do believe people within organizations can be evil. Point blank you are not immune from scrutiny. You can’t de-personalize because you use the word ‘Professional”. It’s kind of a meaningless term. It means be submissive to the suits in upper management and it’s been decoded. When the Socialist Rhetoric starts catching on in the mainstream? it’s time to rethink culture. Check your World War 2 History.
4. Workers here will not advocate for their rights? – Just know as a Labor Writer. I’ve gone from hearing. ‘What you do is just harming you?” To hearing things like? ‘I understand the need to speak up and use free speech for poor working conditions.” A Mom is going to say ‘This organization hates moms.” If they fire her for Mom reasons. A disabled person may say? ‘This company has an ableism problem.” If the company makes no effort to accommodate their different abilities during their employment. I’ve even had an ex worker reach out and say ‘This company drove me into smoking crack.”

Thankless aspects. What else is turning people away from Call Centers?

High pressure selling – The ‘Sell or you are fired” Mentality won’t fly anymore. Not when companies are pitching outdated products, not addressing Public Relations issues and underperforming on customer Service. Roger’s Communications as a Telecom contract does have people sell after resolving every customer service call. You need to know and accept this aspect of doing Business? Has in fact lowered their customer service reviews. Cause they made it more about selling than having good relationships. People can tell when your only concern is ‘Growing the Business.” Both Agents and customers resent it. Many potential agents that know a company is doing this kind of thing? Will turn away from opportunities from high pressure selling telecom operations.

Other opportunities – Since working at Stream around 2015-2016 ? I have seen people leave Telecom for something as basic as a Fast food Job at A&W. Why did they do this? It is less money? More physically intense Labor and you work in hot environments.

‘I don’t want work in an environment shrunken people describe as hell.” Call center representative 2015-2016. You see people go into these places. They lose their Health, free time and eventually completely lose themselves. Read the culture people in Telecom management. People are horrified by how your workplaces have behaved and the degradation of health they see in friends as well as loved ones. It’s not just mental health and it’s not just physical health. It’s both that go into decline. It is not fun for outsiders to watch. It is something people take a personal offense to.

These jobs don’t have to be this way but the first step in forcing a change? Is to get people standing up for themselves. We are approaching a population decline for ready & willing workers. That means people who are willing to work can ask for better. Publish feedback on job forums and on Social Media. Don’t buy in to fake company Lawfare and realize you have free speech as a worker. If you are a company? Time for a new deal. Workers are not big Evil! They are essential to the corporate machine and if you are not willing to treat people with the importance they are entitled to? Human participation can be moved where the incentive and enjoyment of labor is better.

Why call centers keep failing? Training is mishandled. Workers are not treated like the assets they need to be treated like. Lastly people in Business suits don’t get that Business is is a personal thing. No matter how much of Professional culture you try to create? If you don’t keep good terms with people? You will be burned by people. You will be alienated by Communities. You will be an observed evil burning your relationships in spectacular fashion. I have tried to write this story many times. People kept trying to stop me. Maybe stop thinking you know more than me and start asking what I am realizing! How are we killing worker participation in our labor force? Functional Economies are determined by the buy in of people. Don’t you ever forget it.

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