Does Convergys have a good record with employees?

Answer 1

It really depends on who you are. Anyone above a Team Lead is more secure than anyone at or below that level. You would have certain privileges such as the right to cubicles with windows and the ability to come and go almost as you please without repercussion as long as you do your work and make it to the meetings. On the other hand, you also take the blame for anything anyone below you does and be generally abused by the authorities above you in a way that, if those authorities tried it on any of the employees below the level of Team Lead, would get them sued.

The bottom rung employees, i.e. the customer service representatives, are not treated exactly badly. After a certain length of time working all employees become eligible for things like not very good insurance with high co-pays, and tuition reimbursement (assuming you get good grades, submit all the paperwork, and manage to hang on to your job for a full 6 months straight after you've done all that). They also offer Family Medical Leaves of Absence, if you need to be able to leave periodically for medical reasons for yourself or a direct family member. This, however, is available only if you have worked for the company for a year or more before said need arises. The best that can be said for the day-to-day aspects of the job is that it will be easier to bear if you make a few friends, and, you get paid.

For low level employees, overall schedules are changed every 3 to 6 months in a fairly arbitrary manner. Employees are allowed to submit their preferences and/or needs, but this does not mean that they will get those schedules. In fact, most won't. No allowances are made for those with limited transportation options (i.e., those who for medical or financial reasons must rely on buses or family and friends). They are still expected to show up even if it is literally impossible for them to do so. There is also a recent push to disallow school accommodations, although most schedule changes occur after school has already started. This means those who have classes conflicting with each new schedule are either expected to give up their jobs, or give up their schooling.

Once schedules are officially set, they can still be changed, sometimes overnight -- though not by the employees themselves. The changes can involve forced overtime, forced leave, or changes so that employees are expected to show up earlier, later, or on days they were originally given off. Employees are not actively notified of these changes. They are instead expected to keep up with them by reviewing their schedules online at home, on a regular basis. Exceptions are not made for employees who don't have access to computers or the internet.

Employees are considered late to work if they arrive even one second after the minute at which they are scheduled to start work. They are also considered late if they leave after working only 3/4 of the scheduled shift, regardless of reason, and whether or not they arrived on time. Employees are considered absent if they work less than 1/2 of their scheduled shift; working part of it counts as nothing. 12 lates or 5 absences are an automatic firing.

There is no sick leave.

Quality control is increasingly strict. Missing only one item on a checklist of 15 to 30 requirements can cost up to 100 percentage points out of a possible 100, regardless of how well the other items were accomplished.

Those who achieve positions above customer service, such as Team Lead, can be fired at a mere 24 hours notice with little to no explanation, regardless of track record. Convergys ignores the subsequent loss of morale, rise in stressful atmosphere, and reduction in customer service quality among the remaining employees. If there is any response, it is usually in the form of remarks, supposedly encouraging, about how lucky those who are left are that they still have jobs, and thinly veiled warnings that that can easily change if things do not improve.

Convergys habitually denies leave to those who have valid emergency and/or family situations, such as single parents needing to leave early to pick up a child from school if no one else is available (your child will be fine hanging around by herself for a few hours, is the unspoken thought), or those who are taken suddenly and painfully ill (do your best to work through it, thanks -- said in tones suggesting that you must have got sick on purpose just to inconvenience the company). Leave has also been denied for employees needing to attend funerals for close family members or friends.

One Convergys center required employees to continue working after a carbon monoxide leak was discovered in the building. The center was finally closed by local area leaders, against the wishes of headquarters, after one person actually lost consciousness. At this point employees had been forced to stay so long that many were suffering from severe nausea, among other things, and had to be taken to hospitals to be given oxygen. At least 3 were pregnant. Another center required employees to work during severe and life-threatening floods, yet company publicity was such that it gave the appearance they were doing so entirely out of loyalty.

All of the above is contributing to a heavy decline in employee loyalty.

In short, Convergys is not bad in that it does offer paying jobs with benefits, and oppportunities for advancement. Convergys has managed to maintain a good reputation among other non-Convergys employers, so you would be able to add it to your resume to good effect once you decide to move on.

But if you'd rather work for a company that has a good reputation AND cares about its employees, look elsewhere.