Globe employees volunteer as customer service reps during crisis

In a pandemic, how can a company continuously serve its millions of customers with the closure of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies and other vendor partners? The answer is malasakit and volunteerism.

Globe put into action an employee volunteer program to  fill the void caused by the temporary shutdown of its outsourcing partners when the enhanced community quarantine took effect in Metro Manila last March 16.

The employees, belonging to different teams in Globe, were reskilled and trained to properly handle back office requirements and after sales support.  Some were tasked with responding to customer concerns sent through private chats and public posts on Globe’s official social media channels while a group was  assigned to process requests for broadband service, among others.

Jenny Kho-Villon, an employee volunteer, makes use of her experience as Retail Manager of  the Globe Store in J.Center Mall Mandaue City to perform her new role effectively.  “It’s a good thing I am from the Store as I have the background on how to do this. Also, Globe made sure that we undergo training prior to giving us applications to encode,” she said.

Although the current number of volunteer employees only represents a fraction of the company’s regular manpower requirement, the team works untiringly to deliver the necessary services.

“I welcomed the task. Before the ECQ, I had installed all the web tools required to work from home. I applied the agile mentality, made mistakes early and adapted quickly to become an expert encoder so I can help others by sharing my best practices,” said 39-year old Rainer del Rosario, an analyst for Customer Service Management Operations. “We were needed due to the backlogs so I made extra effort to give back to Globe for all the blessings I received.”

Jennifer Anne M. Misa, a Globe Assistant Retail Manager who has been with the company for 17 years, said:  “ I took on this job because I really wanted to help after I found out that there were a lot of pending wireline applications.  I saw this as an opportunity to give back, make good use of my time by using my stock knowledge in a productive way.  What was most rewarding is that this experience gave me a sense of fulfillment knowing that I was able to help other groups in the organization.”

Training employees as backup for different  business functions  is  part of the company’s business continuity plan in case unexpected events such as a pandemic occur.

“Knowing that telecommunications is an essential service especially at this time, we can’t afford not to be there for our customers.  We want to ensure that our customers are continued to be cared for by providing them with connectivity and by responding to their other needs.  We are thankful to our employees who selflessly offered their time and effort to keep our after sales services running despite the difficult situation that we are all in,” said Rebecca Eclipse, Globe Chief Customer Experience Officer.

Globe, for its part,  keeps the employees safe through various health protocols it is implementing and makes sure that employees have unlimited access to licensed doctors for medical advice and information.

Meanwhile, Globe encourages its customers to use self-service apps such as GlobeOne (https://www.globe.com.ph/apps-content/globeone.html) and TM App to keep track of data usage, pay bills, and subscribe to promos; Globe At Home https://www.globe.com.ph/apps-content/globe-at-home.html) for all account-related concerns; and GCash App (https://www.gcash.com/) to buy load, pay bills, send money, and book movies, among others.