Harleen Kaur, the BPO executive, get a “shrink”
lecture –
and, guess whaaaat ??????
IT WORKS!!!
Santa ji is a happy man these days. He can’t believe somebody is actually
willing to pay money to his daughter for doing something that she only earned
scolding till now for – talk endlessly on the phone. Yes yes…!! Santa ji’s
daughter got a BPO or a “call center” job recently. Even though I suspect he
does not have a clue about how call centers work, he can’t stop telling people
that she’s so busy that international clients don’t let her get “off the hook”.
Whatever the excitement, it did not seem to last long and
Santa ji looked visibly stressed when I passed him by the other day.
So, I met up with Harleen and man, did she look tired. “what
struck you”, I asked, adding that I expected her to transfer overnight into the
“COOL BPO – TYPES WITH FIRANGI ACCENT”.
“Arrey baba, don’t ask. I love the job and all, you know. But the timings are
so weird. They have changed my shift thrice by now, swapping between day and
night timings. I think my body has got so confused that it has stopped
responding”, she sighed. Looking into her sleep deprived eyes, I instantly knew
what she meant.
So often does one see these friends, sleepy like hell in
the backseat of their Qualis and Gypsies in the wee hours of the morning – and just
not communicating with each other. It’s not rocket science to understand that
they are paying a heavy price – that of their physical health and calmness, for
that hip lifestyle and cool salary that the BPO job brings, I know one can’t
dispute the importance of call centers as a sought after workplace and can’t
wish away the unavoidable timings.
So, here is my peacefulness mantra for all my call center
friends like Harleen Kaur.
I know you all would counter that by saying that will all
the fun things in the cool corporate environment BPO’s offer, you already have
access to fun things – a pool table, a gymnasium, a grrreeat café. But, there’s
a difference in having access and actually using them to unwind.
Moreover, infrastructure can hardly make up for the
stress caused by lack of human communication. Be sociable in whatever time you
get – make a rule to crack a joke with colleagues after every 4 calls you take,
spend weekends in family outings (basically let them know you exist and are not
just a noise they hear when you sneak in at 3am), work out (and not just feel
happy that your office has a well-equipped gym), listen to soothing music, go
out – break the monotony, travel (like two of my dear friends, married for 4
years and dating since a decade – Aarti and Gaurav – you are an amazing couple
<3 ) and most importantly learn to
talk while on your way back from office. You are anyway going to hit the sack
as soon as you reach home, why lose the precious little chance of interaction
you get.
Harleen went “humming” after I shared my pearls of
wisdom. (Well, ok, let’s call it a lecture). And Santa Ji is a happy man once again!!
lecture – and, guess whaaaat ??????
