PeopleSupport, a call center that offers benefits that no MTSO can ever match, shut its MT operation in the Philippines effective May 31, 2007. However, the company continues to operate and maintains a group of home-based MTs in the U.S.
Apparently, Ms. Evelyn Abat, in an attempt to save her skinny ass, has given poor quality as the cause of the shutdown.
Now, it's a case of believing Bong Borja's word or Ms. Abat's. Who would I believe? Need you question Mr. Borja's business acumen? Need you question his exemplary leadership in business? Need you question his decision making? I don't even want to compare Mr. Borja's achievements in business with that of Ms. Abat's.
Speaking of Mr. Borja, he wanted to retain all the regulars who were displaced. Ms. Abat, in her desire to establish a U.S.-affiliated MTSO in the soonest time possible, told Mr. Borja that her people were going with her. Now, if she blamed her people for the failure, why would she want to take her employees along in her new venture? Well, that new venture, MedWrite, was another failure for Ms. Abat, who then opted to join MxSecure to play it safe and remain employed.
I had a casual conversation with my wife and told her that we MTs were being blamed for the shutdown because we couldn't turn in quality reports. She retorted, "Is she crazy? If she were a skilled manager, she would've been able to hire really competent people."
Which she did -- or at least attempted to do. She brought in a bunch of arguably elite MTs and MT editors in her quest to be the Philippine's top MT group. Who hired them? She did. She wanted seasoned veterans. The only problem was that many of those veterans were seasoned with vinegar rather than sugar. You don't know what I mean? Imagine how your face would look after ingesting the sour liquid.
So, isn't she contradicting herself then? You don't need MENSA-like IQ to figure out what I mean.
Now, if those people I'm referring to, those seasoned MTs and MT editors, don't get offended after hearing that she blamed her people for the downfall, then what does that make them?
Ms. Abat should face the truth and stop blaming her people. That's the reason why managers get paid so much. If something fails, there's no one else to blame. It's easier to dump rank-and-file personnel than managers, unless, of course, that manager -- or program director, in this case -- screws up. Yes, a good manager will take the blame rather than resort to finger pointing.
If she had only been mature (well, at her age, she should be) in dealing with her PeopleSupport failure, which could be her greatest failure by far, then she would've given the real reason:
THE OPERATION WAS NOT PROFITABLE.
How can the operation be profitable? If you take a look at the books and know how to interpret them, you won't need any more explanations. You know how much she, her team manager, and the editors were making? Forget it. Remembering how we were deprived of the salary increase Ms. Abat promised, and then finding out that a bunch of new hires were being paid a lot more than we were getting, just makes me sick.
I'm not through yet. Now, if you know the volume of the work being done and the corresponding income PeopleSupport was making out of it, then subtract the salaries and other expenses, you'll see that the operation was not making money.
Well, that's not the only reason. Ms. Abat did not fit in with the PeopleSupport culture. She did not get along with some of the managers there, particularly those who have pioneered the transcription operation and joined the company long before she did. At the very onset, Ms. Abat wanted to do away with the QA/editing group in the U.S. as a way of reducing costs. She failed to realize that the company had its own way of doing things and it's not going to change. You don't need to fix what isn't broken. By contrast, the pioneering manager, when asked about making changes to the system software so that transcriptionists won't have to punch in those telephone buttons, simply replied, "That's the way they do it, and if it works, let's just leave it the way it is." Or something like that.
A newly hired manager doing an Adolf Hitler definitely isn't right. You have to fit in first, feel your way, get along with key personnel, and use your common sense. You'd be surprised that people with so much intelligence end up doing stupid things because of a lack of practical thinking.
Another reason was the seemingly uncooperative QA person in the U.S. She failed to align her goals with those of the company's with regard to offshoring. She was untouchable because the upper management (those above Ms. Abat) considered her to be some sort of authority in the business. They didn't really know the MT business well enough, so they let that U.S.-based person run the show.
It's really pretty simple logic. Management was giving out performance ratings for employees, and these ratings can lead to an employees dismissal. So, if poor quality was indeed the real reason for the MT unit's closure, then why weren't we fired in the first place? Don't tell me Ms. Abat's compassion saved our necks, because if that were the reason, then she still is to blame. Do you get the logic?
Needless to say, only a dim-witted individual would believe Ms. Abat's allegations.
