The call center is a centralized place where youths of
all most all races, cast, creed and color share a work station daily. Working
in call centers is very popular among the youths of today. Away from home and
family, with sleep roughened eyes men and women work together. Call centers are
often seen as the meeting point of various ethnicities.
Call
centers in popular literature
An exorbitant amount of emphasis is laid on the way
how the employees interact with the customers. In pop literature, call centers
have often been described as the “electronic Panopticon”. The employees are
continuously watched and monitored how they interact with the customers. They are watched to the number of calls they
make, how much time they devote on each call, the sales they make, the breaks
they take Creaghan Harry describes
call centers as little boxes where a number of humans are crammed in a small
space. Adding to this constant surveillance is the pressure of meeting targets.
An overview
of the work environment in a call-center
The targets they have to meet are put on white boards.
Add to all these, a television screen monitors their activities. To this whole
psychologically draining surveillance, however, is an escape. If one meets the
intended target before time, he can leave this “Panopticon!” The only way out
of this little prison is you have to perform at any cost. The environment is
draining, competitive, intrusive and all consuming. It’s a cut throat place. Where
you either perform or leave. There is no respite. The pressure takes the toll
on the employees’ minds and lives.
Call centers
and ethnicity
According to Creaghan Harry, the managers have
only one motivating mantra to give to the employees, meet the targets and go
home or do not! This competitive and exploitative environment however has a
positive effect on culture. Employees of one region interact with customers and
clients of another region. These two sets of people belong to two very
different worlds- of different country, state, region and border. And naturally
their culture is also very different. This scenario has very remarkable impact
upon the African and Asian employees of Call centers when they communicate with
their western clients. Westerner associate prejudices are associated with the
African and Asian culture. Same is true for the former. Many times, abuses are
hurdled at one party of culture and race to another. Linguistically capable and
racially sensitized people should be matched with clients. Also, sometimes
racial or cultural disputes and quarrels between the employees and managers
within a call center occur. This is especially true in the Indian and African
Subcontinents. These places are most culturally diverse. So, it is very
important to develop a harmonious and open environment in the call centers.
The
intercultural communications should be encouraged. Abuses and punk jokes of one
culture should be refrained from. This is maintaining not only peaceful culture
within the call center, but also with the clients. The work culture in a call center
is already stressful and taxing with targets and everything. Just put a dollop
of cultural harmony in it to negate all the stress!
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