I was shocked to hear a family friend's reaction at Thanksgiving dinner as they questioned, "So, you sell Filipinos for labor at a discounted rate? Sounds unethical-you know, with you being Filipino and all."
"Why yes, I do, but tell me what is unethical about providing jobs to a country where opportunity is scarce?" I responded. We went on to debate about how our views differed, and their customer service experiences where they were unhappy, with the services provided by an offshore team.
Me & My Family’s Experience With The BPO Industry
I would be lying if I said that all of my experiences with offshore teams in customer service with other companies have been pleasant. In fact, I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to throw my phone due to an Amazon complaint that was never resolved. I've had my fair share of disappointment and completely understand why one would be hesitant to even consider an outsourced team such as our Filipino team at SupportNinja.
Since I have a few family members who work in the BPO space in Manila, I ended up reaching out and asked them, "What do you love most about your company?" Funny enough, it was difficult for them to answer this question. Many of my family members, similar to some of our agents, have bounced around from different companies before coming to SupportNinja. Some of the reasons were due to other BPO’s lack of loyalty to their agents, the tendency to overwork the agents without pay, and not considering the importance of health when an agent would miss a few days due to being sick (which if you haven't visited Manila yet, you must know, their pollution is atrocious and makes sense as to why the agents become ill frequently).
My Purpose At SupportNinja
I joined SupportNinja to influence change. If there were any instances of this abuse running in the company, I wanted to be a part of that change that would humanize agents in the BPO space. What I discovered after visiting our Hideout in the Philippines in December would amaze you and still amazes me to this day.
After making it a point to ask numerous SupportNinja agents or Ninjas, "What do you love most about SupportNinja?" I was overwhelmed by how much appreciation and love they had for our team. These were some of the answers I received:
- "[Leadership and management] care about my health."
- "I love the account I work on, they are so nice and they send us thank-you presents!"
- "I'm not forced to work 16 hour days."
- My favorite one of them all, "I feel like this is my family."
The SupportNinja Family
Family is a huge part of the Filipino culture, so hearing this from our Ninjas as well as all of the additional responses brought me joy. I know that at SupportNinja we treat our agents how they are supposed to be treated—like humans. We care about their health and have gone to bat for them with our clients. We also don't force anything except our core values:
• NO BS
• Always Be Humble
• Collectively Bring Joy
• Improve Everyday
• BE EMPLOYEE FOCUSED
I've become Facebook friends with many of the agents and I am able to see how much SupportNinja helps provide for them and their families. I've seen our agents plant new gardens, purchase the latest Apple technology, motorcycles, and even HOMES. Yes, some of our agents are homeowners! It's incredible the impact a great BPO company like SupportNinja brings to our team in the Philippines.
So what has my experience been like working as an Account Executive at SupportNinja? Pinakamahusay (“the best” in Tagalog)! I'm confident in what we sell as a brand because I know that we do right by our ninjas. I can't think of something I would rather sell than a hard-working Filipino team who can move mountains and make our clients immensely happy.
I’m thankful to be in a position to provide life-changing careers for my fellow Filipinos and I can’t wait to share those experiences with my family this Thanksgiving.