Ethical Issues at work
You would not think there were ethical issues with the idea of answering phones, but apparently there are. You learn something new every day.
Obviously, there are ethical issues in the course of doing the job, such as integrity of medical information; making the right decision for the client who pays for you to answer the phone as against the needs of the person trying to contact them; ensuring that the company you directly work for are represented fairly; telling the truth or lying as to your position, depending on the wishes of the client.
What you do not expect is evidence of fascism in a company who pride themselves on their ethos.
When I say fascism, I mean true fascism. Fascism as corporatism. The idea that the source of the income determines how you think and how to live your life.
If I was your employer, for example, I would not tell you that in order to progress or even remain in the company you had to read Das Kapital and the Koran. If I did, I would be doing something wrong, now wouldn’t I?
So, imagine my surprise when I received the following message from the CEO of my company, relayed via company email
I have found over the past several years that learning tends to correlate to many other areas of performance over time, and those who learn tend to ascend… And those who do not, tend to have other issues.
As you can see, the idea is that if you don’t watch the indoctrination videos, you will not get on well in this company. This is nothing to do with actual training.
She is not talking about answering phones – videos I have watched whilst with this company include messages from Richard Branson claiming to be an eco-warrior (he certainly isn’t) and Ben and Jerry’s, still pretending to be ethical (they sold out to Unilever several years ago) We were also treated to a video implying that disabled people were to be put to work to save the country money – this is an extremely sensitive issue in the UK at the moment, and when I objected to this, I was accused by one of the founders of being political. Right, so it is political when I object to it, but it is not political when the company brings it up? Murder is murder, whether the conservatives were responsible for it or you were. Death is death, whether it is political or not.
I am inclined to think this is innocence rather than guile, but the education provided by this company has nothing at all to do with answering phones and everything to do with promoting a laziness of thought that entails allowing the source of your income to provide knowledge that has nothing at all to do with the work you do for them.
This, I am afraid, is not the function of an employer. In the event that they wanted to provide me with 300 videos about how to answer phones, then that would be relevant. The thought police telling me that I am to believe lies punted by someone to sell products are not relevant.
I will now be accused of lack of team spirit, of refusing to toe the line, and of sabotaging their efforts to create a team where none exists. I loved this job precisely because I do not have to deal with other staff. They appear to want to make this impossible, and alongside this I am to be taught how to think, in a badly researched and ill-thought out way.
Such a shame.
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