So I’m probably in for a talking to at my night job…
Yesterday the Ottawa Citizen ran a piece on call centres (I’m quoted in it about the horrid nature of the work) but more interesting was this companion piece on employee turn-over.
The article cites a study that claims turn-over rates at companies are directly linked to how much power employees have.
Workers who are heavily monitored are less likely to stay. I’d never thought about this before, but it’s true. After reading it, I realized my biggest complaint about working in a call centre is the amount of scrutiny I’m under when I’d figure that after a year, my supervisors would know I can be trusted to do my job.
But no, instead of sitting there and letting me work, I have to deal with being lectured about having a closed bottle of coke on my desk (company regulations do forbid drinking anything but water while at our desks, but the bottle was closed and I was clearly NOT drinking from it.)
That’s just one example. I’ve have other menial jobs like delivering pizzas and door-to-door sales that I hated less and I realize now it’s because of how much freedom I was given. If the restaurant I delivered for had say, stuck a GPS tracker in my car then had the manager critique my choice of delivery routes, there would’ve been a problem.
So in a nutshell to businesses: don’t hire everyone who walks in off the street, train the people you do hire well and turn them loose. Most of us will perform quite well with limited supervision, possibly better and now there’s research to prove it’ll help retention rates, too.
No Comments on "Employers: Trust your employees!"