7.13.2007

lizzythemanager

i think my ability (a.k.a. tolerance) to manage people is dwindling all-too fast. i nearly lost it today. here's why. as you probably know, i manage a call center. the majority of the employees are high-school snots working thier first jobs {ever}. they have no respect and even less work ethic. they come late, leave early, listen to ipods, play gameboys-you name it. if they shouldn't be doing it, then they do it. this summer has been extremely bad, with occurances i never imagined having to deal with.

yesterday, the police came to the call center several times because my employees repeatedly called 911 and then hung up (13 times they claim). it was unintentional at first, but i'm pretty sure it became a game for them after call 5.

i have fired five people for marijuana use. i'm about to fire another for porn {in public}.

we've had csr's who answer their calls only to put the customer or sales rep on hold until they hang up-never saying a thing. i've had others who think it's fun to transfer a call back and forth as if playing "it-tag."

finally, today a csr thought it would be funny to transfer a sales rep to an adult chat line. and to top it all off, after finding that out i came in to find my just-filled-yesterday candy jar nearly empty. that's right, they ate my chocolate.

this means war...

***side note: you may be thinking: "well, liz, maybe you just aren't tough enough. maybe you aren't consistent..." well, don't think that because i am! and lately i have been surprising myself with how firm i can be! it's actually rather entertaining. ripping earpods out of ears, confiscating gameboys, scolding...these kids just don't give a rip and to be honest, i'm not sure how many people are left in the valley to take their places so i can't fire all of them....oh, fall, please come quickly...

17 comments:

AlexisTexas said...

well...i can see that atlas really CAN'T live without me...ha jk. maybe it's just you that can't live without me! i'll keep telling myself because it makes me feel good. sorry friend-that sounds like a crazy summer. i laughed reading this...as it is quite unbelieveable, and then i wondered how much it would suck-and i felt like crying for you, and the laughter halted. i love you poor girl-good luck lasting the summer-i will be there soon! zarby's, mimi's, burger supreme here i come! ha...(we have zarby's and mimi's here...but it's tradition for us-plus you get more excited about it with me than lanc does-heehee) i love you!

Diane CaƱate said...

These people do not know who they are dealing with...unreal

Jason said...

Whoa! Crazy! What are these employees thinking?!

Jewels said...

Dude - tell me where you work and lets go in there with some baseball bats. I don't know how you handle that crap! I mean, props to you for only pulling out their earphones - here's an idea. If they keep putting them in after you have asked them not to, just walk around with scissors and freaking cut the little line - no more ipods!! I am a little worried that this post got me so worked up. Hang in there and don't worry about being mean - with kids like that, you're going to need to do quite a bit to get through to them. There's always more kids to hire, so just fire the lame ones and see how they enjoy their summer broke!

Lance said...

i wish i was there so that you could hire me as your dedicated ass kicker!

{lizzythebotanist} said...

jewels-i just laughed out loud and peed a little-scissors....what a splendid idea!

lali-please do not publicize my love for zarby's without my permission. geeze.

AlexisTexas said...

terribly sorry. i didn't realize i was the only zarby's fanatic and actually proud of it! those blasted simpsons...

Kateastrophe said...

You are a brave woman. I would have so lost my cool and killed some snotty little brats by now. Props for not walking out!

Anonymous said...

cant you just take the ipods and other things until their shift is over? everyday?
and suspend people that transfer calls and fire them if they do it again?
that's what I would think would happen if i ever tried to do something like that at a job

Alifinale said...

That is unbelievable. I can't imagine trying to get away with that crap at a job. The transferring and 911 calls. You should tell them that they have to pay $50 for each 911 call and unauthorized transfer. Maybe you should just come swimming and ignore all their crap.

Anonymous said...

So what happens in the fall? You will be staying with the company but switching offices?

Jill said...

What little brats. I would start posting job openings all around the office for their positions. Then as you hire new ones, start the elimination process.

{lizzythebotanist} said...

anonymous-that's what i've started doing. i took an ipod and a gameboy the other day and the kids said "i feel violated!" ha. good, you little snots! but the everyday thing is my point. it's annoying as hell to babysit them. the other problem is that if i suspend people then no one is working, which is way worse cause i find MYSELF answering phones. the other problem is that it's really hard to track down who is doing what (in regards to phones)....i have to record every call to get that sort of info....

HW-i'm pretty sure i'm switching companies entirely when fall comes around. i'm going to be working for a sister comany that does media/design work. i'm stoked on it.

Melanie said...

Wow. That job just sounds like Hell. Good for you for sticking with it. Sounds like you'll be on to bigger and likely better stuff this fall, huh? I'm sure you're relieved to say the least. Your description of your job now almost makes me nervous just thinking about it.

Beeta said...

I'm just glad it's you and not me in that position. I almost have a meltdown working with 1 or 2 not-so-difficult children.

Physcokity said...

Sorry to hear things are so crappy this year

Bethann said...

Old idea but a good one. Put chocolate Ex-lax in your candy jar at the end of the day and the ones who have delved into your stash will certainly never do it again. (ha! ha!). I feel your pain. I work with a group of woman (ranging in age from early 20's to 50) and it's no picnic. There is a 46 year old who is worse than any teenager I've ever worked with, young 20somethings who party all night and come in late every day only to leave early, and a boss who loves to micromanage EVERY situation. I'm being to think I need either work for myself or win the lottery. Winning the lottery sounds easier ;-)