which we are always praying that it does. We scoff down our sandwiches, share a few laughs grab another coffee and head back to the classroom for another round of Russ and forms.
Step two is day two and we are going to review Fes which is our operating system that lets us take phone orders from customers which is our primary job. Then many of us in the room are crossed trained to be CSR 2’s which allows us to take all customer service calls which is a higher pay grade and then people like me are also trained in Res Q to answer calls from reps who are lost or stuck on a call with a customer and need help from a peer which gives you another pay grade. So we break into 3 groups for review and I’m in the group with all three job training levels. I know all the people in the group and they are all very driven and we move through the programs quickly and share ideas. We talk about that we will be doing mostly order calls till July then Customer Service August and September while they ramp up employees. Then order calls in October and November and Res Q in December to help new reps then Customer service in January and February as the Christmas return frenzy will be in full tilt. Russ reviews incentive and statistics that will earn you rewards in your pay. He discusses the many prizes planned as we move through the season like LLBean camps for a week, gift cards for LLBean, trips and they are bigger and better this year because they are going to rehire less people but expect more business. Overtime will be approved earlier this year and last longer which is good news for all of those with only this opportunity as primary employment. So lunch is louder today as we fall into old routines and discuss how we plan to reach all these lofty goals this season. After lunch is more review as a larger group as we discuss in detail the new product line which is aimed at 25 to 45 year olds and then we leave for the day. We are all anxious for day 3 which will be live calls and the start of the season.
Step 3 and day three my favorite day. We spend the morning with a quick review and question and answer and then I go live the first time since February 28th and it feels like that perfect pair of jeans. It is the feeling that all is right with the world and you are in the place you belong. I’m taking orders and helping customers and before I know it we are at lunch. Lunch is rowdy as we are all trying to pull up the morning stats to see who is on top because today they give a $100 gift card to Bangor Mall for best stats in all 10 categories. There is a 50$ second prize for LLBean and 25$ third prize to Dunkin Donuts. We are all on the trade board picking up shifts. Bean allows you to pick up shifts from any sight anytime from people giving them away and we are all like rabid dogs picking up shifts because they are only scheduling one 8 hour shift per week until business picks up. We head back from lunch and go live again and the afternoon seems like a minute. I work through a variety of customers helping with size fit appropriate hiking gear new skis and then its wrap up time. The hour of reckoning is upon us and I have found m self in 2nd place of 50 which is a nice place to be with a 50$ LLBean gift certificate. My friend Andrea has taken the big 1st prize and we are all excited for her good work. We get our team assignments and meet our seasonal managers and find out our one scheduled day so we can pick up extra shifts and the foot race to Peak Christmas 2010 begins with high expectations.
Bean is a culture of its own. I go to another world each year between July and February a place where, there are rigid rules, high expectations, high rewards and the opportunity to do meaningful work. This is a place where you feel valued as an employee and your work environment energizes you and pushes you to be better than you think you can be each day. The opportunity to provide world class customer service and the only place I get rewarded for simply doing my job well. I will speak with 200 plus customers a day but I try to make each one feel like I’m help them with their needs be it skis, camping gear or hiking gear. I have extensive resources in fit, style, measurements but the thing I bring to Bean is that I use the products and I love them so I know which coat is the best at the top of a mountain in January. This is the one place I truly fit in and feel a kinship with the people, their ideals and our love of the outdoors. So the mundane paperwork, the reviewing and the start of the season has set me on the path to win that week at a camp on Rangeley Lake but it has helped me feel like I’m me again. I can face all the other challenges with school and life because I have the support of this culture to give me wings. So give us a call anytime and experience culture that is LLBean.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Process Essay #4 Page 1
The Culture of Bean (Process Essay #4)
The sea of faces awash with a mix of fear and excitement and a buzz of sound a few decibels above a whisper as many chat and try to remember passwords. We generally work July 1st until end of February if you are the best of the best. You have to have the highest statistics in calls per hour, orders per hour, customer service resolution, after call time and have a perfect listening score to get the longest seasonal assignments. This year we are coming back for training early in April because we have launched a new line with LLBean Signature and the call volume is bouncing too high for the number of available agents. We are a band of brothers to say the least we all share the commonality of losing our primary jobs over the last 3 year period and have not been able to find another full time job so we keep coming back to Bean as seasonal workers. The other quality we all share is that we all hope to get a full time position year round but since we started hear in season 1 the economy has been and continues to be in distress. Each season we have hoped for them to hire but each season there have been no positions but we do know we would be at the top of the list. This is a cohesive group but very competitive since the ultimate goal is long term employment with a great company with excellent benefits. For my cohorts this is more than a job it’s a lifestyle we embrace and believe in living. We cohesively believe in the brand and the company. The smell coffee, food, and soap wafts passed my nose and the room hushes as the instructor arrives in a flurry. . Russ is welcoming us back to LLBean for early start of Peak 2010. He is reviewing all the terms of the position all the incentives and prizes available this season. You can feel the energy in the room as all eyes come to attention as the competitive beast comes alive in all of us and so it begins Peak 2010.
Step one is as usual the mundane paperwork of being a rehire. This is my fourth season as an LLBean seasonal worker. The one thing that I don’t look forward to is all the paperwork. It is not that it’s hard it’s tedious. All the W2’s, computer security form, privacy forms, secure information forms, sexual harassment statement, vdt statements so that is encompassing the majority of our day. We move through the forms at a snail’s pace and I’m figuring my hair might finally go straight before this day ends. We have to wait for each person to finish before we move through another form. It never fails we get that one person who is a poker not a typist and it takes them forever to fill out an electronic form. My friend Beth says good that will slow down his transition time so he will be no competition this season. The beast in Beth is already awakened as she is counting incentive money already in her mind. By lunchtime my hair is standing on end. I get to see all my old partners in crime and we discuss what we have done since Feb 28th that was the final layoff date for the best workers. They have 3 start dates and 3 layoff dates and our goal is to start the earliest and end at last layoff each year which we have been successful at all 3 seasons. The next ramp up of workers will be September then October and first layoff is the day after Christmas, then the day after New Year’s and then end of February if business holds out
The sea of faces awash with a mix of fear and excitement and a buzz of sound a few decibels above a whisper as many chat and try to remember passwords. We generally work July 1st until end of February if you are the best of the best. You have to have the highest statistics in calls per hour, orders per hour, customer service resolution, after call time and have a perfect listening score to get the longest seasonal assignments. This year we are coming back for training early in April because we have launched a new line with LLBean Signature and the call volume is bouncing too high for the number of available agents. We are a band of brothers to say the least we all share the commonality of losing our primary jobs over the last 3 year period and have not been able to find another full time job so we keep coming back to Bean as seasonal workers. The other quality we all share is that we all hope to get a full time position year round but since we started hear in season 1 the economy has been and continues to be in distress. Each season we have hoped for them to hire but each season there have been no positions but we do know we would be at the top of the list. This is a cohesive group but very competitive since the ultimate goal is long term employment with a great company with excellent benefits. For my cohorts this is more than a job it’s a lifestyle we embrace and believe in living. We cohesively believe in the brand and the company. The smell coffee, food, and soap wafts passed my nose and the room hushes as the instructor arrives in a flurry. . Russ is welcoming us back to LLBean for early start of Peak 2010. He is reviewing all the terms of the position all the incentives and prizes available this season. You can feel the energy in the room as all eyes come to attention as the competitive beast comes alive in all of us and so it begins Peak 2010.
Step one is as usual the mundane paperwork of being a rehire. This is my fourth season as an LLBean seasonal worker. The one thing that I don’t look forward to is all the paperwork. It is not that it’s hard it’s tedious. All the W2’s, computer security form, privacy forms, secure information forms, sexual harassment statement, vdt statements so that is encompassing the majority of our day. We move through the forms at a snail’s pace and I’m figuring my hair might finally go straight before this day ends. We have to wait for each person to finish before we move through another form. It never fails we get that one person who is a poker not a typist and it takes them forever to fill out an electronic form. My friend Beth says good that will slow down his transition time so he will be no competition this season. The beast in Beth is already awakened as she is counting incentive money already in her mind. By lunchtime my hair is standing on end. I get to see all my old partners in crime and we discuss what we have done since Feb 28th that was the final layoff date for the best workers. They have 3 start dates and 3 layoff dates and our goal is to start the earliest and end at last layoff each year which we have been successful at all 3 seasons. The next ramp up of workers will be September then October and first layoff is the day after Christmas, then the day after New Year’s and then end of February if business holds out
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