new manager making work unbearable.

nicechap

mandy1955 wrote: »

unfortunately she is the only manager we have contact with, and you are right, so many people off with stress at the minute.

Well then the big bosses will take notice as its costing them lots of money.

BorisThomson

It is a call centre.

Your job is not to build relationships (have a natter) with customers, it's to take their orders and ensure they are processed accurately. If you're struggling to do that in a timely fashion, why?

Banning swearing and gossiping in the workplace is not a bad thing. It sets a reasonable expectation of workplace behaviour and prevents the inevitable problems when those expectations are not in place.

ohreally

mandy1955 wrote: »

we are not allowed a union as the company said they won't recognise one.

Bring that one on.


https://www.unison.org.uk/get-help/knowledge/vulnerable-workers/call-centre-workers/ Other organisations are available.

theoretica

You say yourself that logging on a minute early a day would be £40 a year of time they are not paying you for. By the same calculation every minute a day of friendly chat with customers will be costing them £40 a year, and I suspect there was a lot more than a minute a day of it. Similarly, chat with colleagues you get on with. It reads to me like this time is in the sightlines for reduction.

Are the phone scripts so very stressful? Do you have the points written out so you can check them each call?

swingaloo

Im an ex call centre supervisor and a lot of this is taking me back.
In any job you should be at your work station ready to work by your start time. If you are expected to be on the phones bang on 9am then its not right to be wandering in and taking your coat of at 9.

I think that maybe this person has been brought in to try to improve performance. When I was a clerk in the call centre we had stats and scripts and were just supposed to be polite and professional on calls rather than take an order then chat about the weekend with them. Call centre work can be stressful, you are either cut out for it or not. We used to get three seconds between calls and had to account for our time every minute our phone was 'not ready' to take the next call.

It sounds to me as if you and other team members are too chatty with your customers. Why would you be on a call for 20 minutes past the end of your shift? How long would an average call take?
If you are genuinely still taking an order without chatting and that takes you past your finish time then that needs bringing to the attention of the manager and a solution found. Do other people man the phones after you finish or does the office close? If others man the phones could you not transfer your call to another operator? If the office closes at 5.30 and you are still on a call at 5.45 then why is that happening? Can you not tell your caller that you do not have time to complete the call and ask them to ring the following day.

If these are companies which are calling to place orders rather than members of the public then they must know what time you close . Why would they ring you at 5.25 with a lot of orders knowing you are 5 minutes from closing?

I think this is a case where you have all been getting along with no stress because you were all previously allowed to be chatty and easy going with the callers rather than 'get the orders then get them off the phone' as quickly as possible which is what should be happening. Are your calls listened to internally by a supervisor/manager?

Possibly the people who have been moved have been moved because they got on so well that there was time wasting involved. A new manager coming into an office is unlikely to move people out of spite. What would be the sense in doing that, a manger wants staff to be co-operative and be productive. That's not going to happen if she deliberately sets out to have an unhappy work force. Its more likely she has come in and found that a lot needs changing in order to achieve the performance the company is looking for.

If having to perform means people going off with stress then they are not the right people for the job.

Guido_Fawkes

OP (Mandy), despite other seemingly negative comments I have every sympathy for you.

Being ready is one thing, and starting is another.
If you are expected to start answering calls at 0900, then you should be paid from 0855. As has been mentioned already, time after your finishing time also has to be compensated in some way.

It's about give and take, but not all give and receive hassle in return.

Apologies for being blunt, but that's real life. I may not know the legal niceties of what you are and aren't allowed to do, but I do know what's fair and just. That's one reason why I'm no longer employed.

At your age you shouldn't have to put up with this kind of stuff. If you can afford to, retire early. But make 'them' pay if you possibly can.

HardCoreProgrammer

I can understand why you expect to be dismissed for swearing at a customer, but swearing in the mess room when not working and out of earshot? This is ridiculous and those who take offence need to grow some backbone.

And talking about drunken nights out shouldn't be allowed either, you should maintain a professional attitude if you want to work there.

Seriously, have you ever been to a company Christmas party? The talks about who did what under influence of alcohol is fun and great team building!
I would not want to go to a company do if everyone needs to be on their best behaviour.

Les79

mandy1955 wrote: »

hi, neither happened on a call or within hearing of the phones.

Really?!

I quote you:

mandy1955 wrote:

One colleague used the word s**t in an offhand way when she dropped her phone

Listen, you are on a different track to me. I've done the whole call center supervising thing, so I am posting this with more of a "bigger picture" perspective.

Ultimately, places like this are home to many managers of varying talents (usually not that great) and half-baked schemes.

The stats being introduced and the call scripts actually sound alright from my point of view, and is probably going to add some structure with the goal to allow streamlined training and a much more consistent client delivery. Will also allow weaker staff to be (I'd hope!) trained up when the stats demonstrate areas of improvement.

It could also (sadly) be a cost-cutting initiative, whereby their contracts are based on how many interactions you have per day and so the obvious place to start is lowering the call handling times; bye bye elongated rapport!

Hey, it may (and probably will) go tits up but the absolute bottom line is:

You get paid to do what they tell you to do

Unless they are breaking any laws, you don't really have much in the way of rights or any input on how they manage their business. Sorry bud, but that's life.

dealer_wins

Time to look for a new job !

Nicki

I'd forgotten what a delight it is to take over management of an existing team, all keen to tell you how they do things.

I agree with what others have said - it's normal workplace behaviour to expect people to start on time, not swear in the workplace, and to have measurable standards. I can't believe that the first response of the team to any change in the way of doing things is to accuse the new manager of being spiteful - they all sound like schoolchildren!

OP the clue is in the job title. She is your manager - ergo it is for her to manage how you do your job. If you don't like this, you need to find your own management role somewhere or work for yourself or retire.