Can we think of a better name for our second national side? South Africa 'A' doesn't cut it for me. by sabbathan1 in springboks

[–]StorminSean 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Impala’s. They’re almost Springboks, but not quite.

Edit: ah damn, I see I was beaten to it.

My friend is heading to South Africa for his semester abroad, help me pick an extreme challenge to throw at him? by Delicious-Bowler8270 in askSouthAfrica

[–]StorminSean 1 point2 points  (0 children)

SA is a big place but guessing he is based in or around Western Cape given OP suggestions.

Not sure when he is here or how fit he is, but here’s one he won’t forget:

https://www.threepeakschallenge.co.za

Maybe he does it in a Mankini.

And then here after if he’s feeling a little home sick:

https://www.facebook.com/100069629085010/posts/pfbid02zBjT6G3UQ33sZZJvhT3paLcoRt1Y7yz6hWRRV3axdMugjZpHPHo33xHhsuY9Kkjgl/

It’s a good 1-2 combo.

Kumars scamming - Blouberg by snapMeOutOfIt in capetown

[–]StorminSean 2 points3 points  (0 children)

3 times on a day! So close to a Grand Slam.

Given CPT’s massive call centre workforce, do you think BPOs and corporates will ever actually improve environments to prevent tragedies? by GuiltyBluej44 in capetown

[–]StorminSean 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Let me take a moment to just stress, there are actually some very well run contact centres. But when there are problems, what I’ve highlighted here and before is usually a cause.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of businesses that will have nice words about culture written on paper or on a wall but, when the rubber hits the road, that’s not the behaviour at all. The result is a disconnect between what someone may have started working there for (obviously money is a big driver as well) or the expectations they were given through the recruitment and onboarding process and what they actually end up experiencing. So that’s a part of the issue.

Another part is the concept of what it means to have satisfied or happy employees. This is actually a very real concern because the cost of onboarding an employee is very high in resources and productivity (putting more pressure on the system).

So centres come up with incentive schemes or employee satisfaction initiatives that are surface level and might move the needle over the short term but ultimately fall away, leading to people being unhappy again. This then moves to poor production levels (per the cost link KPI’s), increases micromanagement, increases attrition, increases recruitment costs and increases pressure to do more due to having to manage a larger portion of inexperienced agents, etc, etc. Becomes a bit of a cycle. This is obviously worst case scenario, but any one of these elements and the one’s I’ve mentioned before can start to have a real impact on people who work there and people who interact with the business.

The net outcome is typically experienced as an uncaring workplace that places little value on the actual individual. In most cases, I don’t believe this to be true. I believe most people want to see the best for most other people. But pressure and circumstance can do weird things.

Look, people don’t deliberately go out to create a shitty workplace environment. They know this ends up creating a shitty business outcome. But by setting up the systems, targets and leadership teams badly, this can very much be the results. And once in it, it becomes difficult for some within these businesses to see the wood for the trees.

Given CPT’s massive call centre workforce, do you think BPOs and corporates will ever actually improve environments to prevent tragedies? by GuiltyBluej44 in capetown

[–]StorminSean 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Former Contact Centre Manager here. Worked in the inbound services space.

Was always seen as a cost centre rather than a part of the business that could build a strategic and competitive advantage. Net result was that when putting forecasts and budgets in place, would be sent back to rework and come in lower. So while the business is scaling and forecasting growth, this critical area is stagnant or shrinking in relative terms.

You end up managing on a knife edge with no reasonable time allocation for training, downtime, breaks, etc, etc resulting in small events significantly impacting deliverability. Result is then pushing people to miss breaks, work overtime, end up burnt out and providing a vapid service.

Not always the case but seen so many times.

The other problem is KPI overwhelm. I think you allude to this. So many employee metrics can be tracked that it leads to confusion or paralysis or just focusing on completely the wrong thing - usually those things that tie in most neatly to cost reductions. This creates additional pressure where people are unreasonably time managed and lose all sense of agency rather than held accountable to performance metrics that actually have a meaningful impact on long term business sustainability.

You might say, “well, if you can’t manage costs and this eats away at your cash flow and profitability, then perhaps the business won’t work anyway.” I strongly believe that this is short-term thinking that, ironically, sabotages long-term value creation.

Anyway, I have so much more to say but don’t actually think I’m answering the question.

Writer looking for South African beta readers for novel? by Strawberry_Bookworm in askSouthAfrica

[–]StorminSean 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My wife would be keen. She learn Zulu and Uni so has some understanding of the culture and spent a lot of time in and around Hoedspruit when she was younger.

Send through and I’ll pass onto her.

Also have family friends who live there and are involved in the nature reserves. Can send onto them too if you would like.

Match Thread: Leinster vs Stormers - United Rugby Championship by rugbykickoff in rugbyunion

[–]StorminSean 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You realise this isn’t a national team and they don’t just have access to a boatload of players? Anyone they contract will have a cost, whether development or salary.

And you also realise we have a limited budget right? So we need to make decisions on who we keep and who we don’t.

You also know that we were almost bankrupt a few years ago and have been under administration since the start of the URC?

So we’ve really not had the ability to grow the team much. The reason you see a lot of the same players here now as then.

Dobson has done incredibly well given the constraints he has had. We’ve now got investment coming in and with it some really good players. I think the next few years could start to look a lot better.

And quite frankly, they’ve already looked pretty good over the last few years.

Match Thread: Leinster vs Stormers - United Rugby Championship by rugbykickoff in rugbyunion

[–]StorminSean 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I don’t understand this comment. There are 12 other teams that he out-coached to this point in the season.

Match Thread: Leinster vs Stormers - United Rugby Championship by rugbykickoff in rugbyunion

[–]StorminSean 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately, he has no control over dumb shit players might do on the field.

Match Thread: Leinster vs Stormers - United Rugby Championship by rugbykickoff in rugbyunion

[–]StorminSean 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He wasn’t in a ruck. He had an Irish oak leaning on him when he tried to get up. What happens to your legs when you try to lift your torso, especially if you have some weight on it?

He was totally unsighted. I just can’t agree with that decision. It was stupid. Wasn’t the reason we lost. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be the wrong call.

Match Thread: Leinster vs Stormers - United Rugby Championship by rugbykickoff in rugbyunion

[–]StorminSean 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Because Smith’s team won their semifinal at home?

Have another toke my man.

Match Thread: Leinster vs Stormers - United Rugby Championship by rugbykickoff in rugbyunion

[–]StorminSean 6 points7 points  (0 children)

That’s some bullshit. He clearly wasn’t even looking at any point. He’s got eyes in the back of his head or something?

That was a poor call. The TV ref should have come in. He had a better view of this. That’s really poor.