- commission scheme is made for agents not to reach more than the minimum target (i.e. once you build relationships with your customers they will be taken away, your database is refreshed constantly and there is no real chance to build lasting relations with clients, lots of "dead" customers who made it clear they won't order anymore but they are still assigned to you, no understanding for different markets in the approach of
contacting them, all that matters are your call stats even though e-mails can be far more effective)
- incompetent management and supervisor, lacking basic skills in all areas and most of them don't even have a basic degree or any kind of knowledge i.e. if they need to talk to you about some petty issue (which they often do) they will pick you up straight from your desk in-front of everyone and take you to the back of the office where everyone can see and possibly hear the conversation, you will get e-mails from supervisors constantly telling you to work harder, completely unjustified as everyone wants to reach their targets in order to get commission anyways, (sadly those e-mails are full of grammar and spelling mistakes as well as rude comments ("it's a bank holiday, work double as hard since you are getting paid double as well"), in general you will receive more e-mails about housekeeping, telling you to clean your desk, what to throw in which bin etc. than anything useful or work-related, on top of that you will have managers walking up and down the office floor creating a prison-like environment, most of them have trouble using basic programs like excel and know very little about the market they are working for or how sales work in general
- it doesn't matter how long you have worked there, you will be treated the same as someone who just started, you can always over-achieve (& not receive any kind of recognition for it) but the second you don't they will forget all about it and treat you like a failure
- hiring standards are very low, no degree expected, lots of agents didn't even finish high-school, are far from the native level of the market they are working for, also people with no social skills will be among your team members and if they have been there longer than you their behavior will be tolerated no matter what
- the computers and systems are completely out-dated, programs you will work with on a daily base are older than 2000
- office is never ever cleaned (well they expect you to do it yourself I guess)
- the canteen is overpriced and the food is well okay-ish (depending on your personal standards)
- there are no development opportunities, unless you have the right nationality, knowledge, education or anything else doesn't really count, if you make it to becoming an account manager that's it, they will try to keep your hopes up but in the end you will realize a promotion is never ever going to happen
- also the products you will sell are way over-prized & the quality is horrible, when customers come back with issues they will try to blame it on you (even if it clearly wasn't your fault) and deduct it from your commission (100euro no matter how big the order was)
- absolutely no benefits that any other company has, basic health insurance which is a joke, that's about it
I could go on and on and on but if you like to be treated with respect and get recognition for the work you do, then National Pen is the wrong place for you. In my team around 20 people left (team size is around 30) since the beginning of the year and there will be more leaving in future. Even if you do decide to start there it will be hard for you to find a place to live as most landlords don't want to rent to National Pen employees anymore because of the high turnover rate (they also do like to fire people with no heads up and for no apparent reason, disciplinary procedure according to workers law is completely ignored)