Abtran Reviews

Pros

Comrades are absolutely lethal unreal

Cons

Management are complete idiots so they are

Pros

The paycheck was consistent and reliable. A handful of TLs really wanted to help their teams, and I felt bad leaving them but not leaving management behind. The odd customer that appreciated your genuine effort to resolve their problem.

Cons

During my interview, I was asked if I had any upcoming holidays planned. I advised that I did and assumed that it was taken note of. Two months later I checked with my TL that it was on the record that I was going to be off for that time and he said that I couldn't take that time off since it wasn't in my record. I thankfully managed to find the manager who was in my interview who sorted it out but this points to a... severe lack of organisation. When I started there, I was told that with my background I could be fast-tracked into working on more technical projects (off phones basically). I made an effort to show how my skills could be applied to streamline processes for both staff and management at all levels. My advice and solutions were outright ignored despite TLs showing great interest in having them implemented across the contract. Mental health issues are not taken seriously at all. Do not expect any sympathy from some TLs if you're suffering from any mental health difficulty. My second TL told me that if my issues were affecting my work that I should just leave, despite knowing that nobody is working there because they love the work but because they need a paycheck. After talking with some colleagues in the canteen one day about unions I was brought into HR and advised that "Abtran doesn't recognize unions" and threatened to fire me if I talked about them during work hours, on break or anywhere on premisis. The phone server would regularly go down, in a call center. The client company would either never listen to or get the feedback that we were giving on the floor. We advised that generating all the customers bills in one or two days was lagging the system and meant we couldn't update customers bills while they were on the phone (reducing our "First Call Resolution"). This problem persisted beyond my time there. Reported incidents of hate-speech by management to HR were not taken seriously and employees were told to report it to their managers, often the ones citing the hate speech. This made it very uncomfortable to work there for myself and other minority groups. When more staff were hired, the targets never changed. Meaning we still had to complete 42 calls a day even if the workforce for that contract increased 50 - 100%. Employees that regularly missed that quota, even by one or two calls, were warned of their 'poor performance'. This inconsistency was brought up but targets never changed. Employees that regularly do the wrong thing or mess up accounts entirely often have no repercussions if their chummy with the managers. Dissemination of information relating to factors that may affect the number or quality of calls was often by word of mouth and unreliable. There was exposed wiring, possibly live, in the men's bathroom. One day the smell of vomit filled the entire call floor and we were told to work through it.

Advice to Management

Please start treating your employees as more than money machines. We're starting to break down. We sometimes need more than 7 minutes to use the toilets for goodness sake.

Pros

Good work environment, trainers are really good and friendly

Cons

There are no cons yet

Pros

Met some nice people in my time working there. My own team leader was friendly and undestanding.

Cons

Little care for staff, treat them as pawns. Onsite bullying, transphobia, homophobia and misogyny. I noticed team leaders whispering about other employees, actively bullying them with other staff members. And certain team leaders seemed to be on power trips, giving preferential treatment to those they liked only.

Advice to Management

Possibly a code of conduct for how you talk to other people in the office? Daily racist, homophobic, misogynistic and transphobic comments in an office in 2019 is shocking.

Pros

Oppurtunities to Learn People Work Life Balance

Cons

I have none at the moment

Pros

Can be flexible with hours depending on what account you get

Cons

Poor wage, no job progression, terrible management

Advice to Management

Need to work on retaining staff with some incentives. High turn over means a lot of knowledge walking out the door

Pros

I started on the phones, moved to a Team Leader position and then onto a Business Analyst position. My managers have been supportive and recognised my hardwork and enthusiasm.

Cons

Pay could be more competitive, although this has improved in recent years.

Advice to Management

In the last number of years, Abtran has moved towards better recognising their staff. From a personal standpoint this is a positive and should be encouraged.

Pros

The hours are fine

Cons

Literally everything else is terrible; the pay, the other staff etc