Excessive

Someone sent the following to every Stream employee today. He was leaving and thought he'd say goodbye. I thought it as well written and deserved to be read by more. So here you go... his farwell.

My Time at Stream: A Documentation Worth Reading

I started Stream in July of 2004. After two attempts to get hired (the first I was not accepted due to the fact that I failed the technical aspect of the interview apparently taking too many shortcuts in saving a file to disk; yes that was the 'technical aspect' they required) this Microsoft Certified, Network Certified, Cross-Platform Trained, multi-platform user was hired.

I began my training in a class of roughly 25 people ranging in technical ability from Engineering Students and Technical Administrators to people who could hardly speak English or others who have barely owned their own computer. I wondered how on earth someone who could A: either not speak English as a first or at least fluent language or B: someone who did not at least have basic technical knowledge about computer repair would possibly be able to assist someone random, over the phone, with their technical issue regarding a computer they have never seen before. I also wondered how they were hired but I had so much trouble.

I was informed that our system of getting paid was quite unique; we were to be payed by the minute using an advanced and superior program known only to us new hires as "Timecard". Booking off days was another advanced system known as VTrack where you submit a day, it was either denied or approved by a 3rd party company that worked in the building, then sent to your supervisor who either denied it or approved it again, and then sent to the site supervisor who once again either denied or approved it for you. I was excited and ready to be starting in this extremely well prepared and executed establishment.

Our trainer was excellent; he brought us the tools (and only the tools) needed to do the job (and only the job) that we were required to do. I did feel incredibly sorry for him though; he was forced under company policy to be so politically correct that it was almost sickening. Unfortunately there is no sort of advanced class that students such as myself could fast-track through so we did not have to spend that 8 hours a day for 6 weeks training how to "change options in Internet Explorer" or "Find the device manager in as few steps as possible".

As training progressed things became more fun and exciting; us new hires got the chance to go out to "The Floor" and doublejack with "experienced" agents. To my surprise it was not an energetic room of wisdom and insight. Unfortunately for us new hires it was the opposite; I was training with technical support agents who either hated their job, wanted to go home, or looked about one razor blade away from suicide. I was also extremely shocked and worried as I let my eyes wander around the room. Here I am, 6 feet tall at 185 lbs. noticing few that were my size or athletic build. Could it be that within a few months of working here that I would become grossly overweight and have to wear stretch pants? But back to the experienced and knowledgeable agents I was training with. They all told me stories of people being fired for no reason; I was always told to "watch my back" and not to do certain things. I did not listen to them as they were either fired or quit before I ended up hitting the floor anyway, but later on I began to realize what they meant.

Training finally was coming to a close and I was becoming increasingly excited to throw my wealth of knowledge into the world of computer troubleshooting. We had a ceremonious graduation day which I thought was just incredible; here were 9 full time, hardworking supervisors, part of a team of great skill and knowledge, all leaving their trusted employees to themselves and take time out of their extremely busy and strenuous schedule to congratulate me, a new hire nobody, on passing through the training and welcoming me to the floor. I'm glad not every company has this much time to let their supervisors extend their gratitude to their new employees like Stream does. It made me feel so special and appreciated! What a great way to start such a wonderful new job. I was also excited to see that neither of the members congratulating me were over the age of 30, exciting me once again for possible early advancement in the company if I succeeded to their most certain grueling expectations. Unfortunately 2 out of those original 9 either quit or were fired by the time I actually hit the floor.

Onto the floor it was from here-on in. I had my own desk at my own cubicle; it was great. I finally felt like I had an office job. To my surprise though; it was not my own desk... I had to share it with other people who worked over night. They also seemed to drink sticky drinks and eat crumbly food that riddled my freshly clean desk and keyboard with all their midnight snackings. Also my now cleaned wall was, only a day after I began my job, now filled with reminders, junk mail, photo's of children I've never met in my life or pets I've never seen... but I guess that's what happens when you have to share a desk. But back to work we go. The calls were going very well. I was surprised with how easy and how professional things seemed to be. The amount of times customers understood when I explained they had to "bare with me" as my computer I was stationed at struggled to handle it's 3 Internet Explorer windows I was required to run by company policy. I suppose when you're using a computer with 128 Mb of SD RAM attempting to run the required 8-10 processes, things can slow down a bit.

Originally I was assigned a TS or Team Supervisor who was to look after myself and the rest of our "Team". I thought this was great; we as a team could work together to triumph over the great troubleshooting issues that face us in everyday life to help our customers to the best of our combined ability. However to my dismay, I found out that the TS really didn't have much to do with me at all. I did not feel led or driven to succeed, rather just to keep my Timecard properly configured and make sure I followed company policy in the most proper fashion. As quickly as I had my original TS, I was swiftly moved to a newly appointed one as well as moved my entire desk and be re-assigned to a new team. I was excited to be a part of this fast paced organization that kept changing things up on me to keep me well adjusted and interested to see what was next! No time to get settled here; No no, this was the business world!

Things seemed to be progressing well at this organization; I noticed a fresh batch of new hires being trained around the room to offset the fact that either most people from my class had been fired or quit within a month. It was great to see all the new faces around all the time instead of the old, annoyed, boring, mildly suicidal, or depressed ones I was used to. Great to see new excitement in the eyes or the eager and willing to learn and please!

Around this time I started to have meetings with random Team Supervisors regarding my performance. I was excited for these meetings as I was starting to think of advancement in the company. Unfortunately, it was nothing along those lines. I would be picked apart for doing something against company policy such as helping the customer too quickly for what was known as "Average Handle Time". Apparently if I don't talk to the customer for 12 minutes it's under that time, but if I go over to 15 minutes or above, I'm in for another meeting. I would have to watch that as I was completely embarrased with such a disgraceful mark on my record. Here I was trying to assist the customers to the best of my ability when I was doing it all wrong from the beginning. It's a good thing that 5 months in I was explained how to do my job properly and effectively. Thanks so much to those who explained it to me because now I am off to the road for success!

But, apparently I was still doing things wrong. On a nearly daily basis I was having important meetings to discuss my apparent poor performance. It seemed I was just doing everything wrong. I felt so terrible for my customers who, though they had their issues solved and went away pleased and satisfied, did not receive the proper and most effective customer service that I could have provided them. Time and time again with these meetings from TS's who just monitor calls and seem only to 'coach' (which is another term for belittle and look down upon) their employees on what they are doing wrong I felt disgruntled at my performance and felt that every day I came to work that I was doing something wrong.

I was switched to another Team Supervisor, and within 2 weeks moved onto another once again. It was now nearly 8 months into my time at Stream and I barely recognize an original face from the time I began. I had decided to take a vacation for both pleasure and business for 5 days. I had booked these dates off over 1 month before the time off. Everything had been OK'd by my TS and I was ready to go. I had a great time on my trip; it's good to get away from the job every once in a while. Upon my return, not one day back I have a meeting with my TS and her supervisor; apparently all the dates weren't approved and I ended up with what is known as a No-Call No-Show. After much deliberation and fault put plainly upon myself I realized that when my TS says everything is fine; apparently they have no authority and to take it upon myself to approve every single date booked off. Good to know for the future I thought!

Around this time I began to think that Stream may not be the place for me. I had an increase in workload from my other place of employment so I was considering leaving Stream. I decided it was finally time after a weekend off to part with Stream. I went in for work normally and began to take calls as I was typing up my letter of resignation to my TS. Midway through my letter I was pulled aside into Human Resources and was told they did not want to extend my contract anymore. It was one last jab for Stream; I could not even quit properly as I was terminated before I had a chance. All I wanted was to leave and thank everyone who I worked with (who was left) and be on my way; unfortunately I could not to this. I was fired for not taking proper case notes to document my calls I was troubleshooting. I was fired by someone I've never met before and a former TS. All the way to the end of my time at Stream it was all about company policy which I apparently did not follow.

So, goodbye Stream. You have lost a technical agent who apparently couldn't follow the rules. It was an interesting and learning experience for my first time at a call center. Thank you for all that you have shown me.

Chris Allen

chris_allen@sympatico.ca

1999 words

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