Customer Care: where there's a will, there's a way

Being parents of two boys today is not easy. I work in the Customer Care sector, but I am also a mother and never more than in this historical context, where everything is distorted by social media, do I find our role as parents (mothers and fathers) even more difficult.

My goal has always been to instill in my children that nothing is given for free, nothing is owed, nothing can be claimed with arrogance and EVERYTHING MUST be earned, not stolen or copied.

The "I WANT", as an end in itself, does not exist…

My countless lectures as a "nagging mom" (as they would call me) I hope have been worth something and that it is clear to them that life is beautiful if rich in dreams... Dreams that must be pursued, but not demanded by a want.

I want that game,
I want the enduro bicycle,
I want the motorcycle,
I want the driver's license…

And the list goes on of these damn wants! Well… when you WANT, you also CAN!

Where there's a will, there's a way, as Michele Lessona maintained.

And so my children have always worked for as long as I can remember (and now, alas, I'm no longer a spring chicken) to get what they wanted.

At first they were small family jobs, like cleaning windows and floors at their grandparents' or relatives' houses, then there was the period of home deliveries with the pizza maker's beat-up scooters and finally more continuous work in alternation with university studies.

Fair pay to enhance human resources

I don't have the presumption to say that my educational line is the most suitable, but it is certainly the one I believe in and, at the same time, the most complicated one.

Numerous obstacles have been and still are along the way; one of these is the issue of the minimum wage, a thorny political and social debate that has periodically characterized the last four years with the presentation of various bills on the subject, until June 30th, when the latest proposal for its introduction in Italy was presented.

The main purpose of the minimum wage is to guarantee remuneration that is proportionate to the work performed.

Don't get me wrong, I'm the first not to over-quantify economically the jobs that the kids do for me at home; first of all I assume that they are not professionals; therefore, if they have to paint a room, the pay will be proportional to the skill (I know I'm mean, but that's how the world goes and also our family micromold).

Here a "but" as big as a house creeps in, one cannot even diminish and underestimate the work, otherwise goodbye teaching (in my case) and goodbye food on the table (for the "poor" workers who currently have a lower salary and who, in many cases, are not even covered by collective agreements)!

5 gross euros per hour… and I've said it all! Gross eh… just to be clear.

To make a comparison, the Bill filed in June provides for a legal minimum wage of 9 euros. Well… it's a proposal and as such it still doesn't protect workers.

Working conditions and performance of the Customer Care Service

Some time ago my son went for an interview (obviously I refrain from mentioning the name of the well-known Company) for a part-time position in a Call Center.

“Mom, so I can buy my own car!”… these were the assumptions.

So, the young man goes to his first job interview. Four basic questions not related to his skills, but to his hourly availability and then the blow: “5 gross euros per hour”.

Doing a brief mathematical calculation: perhaps by the retirement age he could have afforded a car for new drivers, obviously only and strictly used and obviously with parental room and board!

Now, fortunately my son, like many other young people, had an alternative in his pocket: committing himself to an innovative Startup that aims at Crowdfunding (I won't go into details because I wouldn't be able to, dinosaur as I am).

But, at this point, the question that arises spontaneously is quite another: what will be the degree of preparation of a Call Center with employees paid 5 gross euros per hour?

Customer Experience: training is business strategy

Without a shadow of a doubt, the Company providing such customer care service will have competitive prices, in fact, let's say it, it will offer unique prices! How unique will be the quality of service, service provided by an operator who as soon as they have the chance to run away, won't think twice.

Perhaps the concept of minimum wage should be reviewed in this case.

One cannot expect or even provide a quality that is even minimally decent, if, at the first opportunity, employees run away with the consequent discomfort of having to train new ones… in theory!