Michael Miller

An ambitious credit union with broken infrastructure IBMSECU, soon to be iThink Financial, has bitten off more than it can chew in the last year, and the customer service employees in the call center bear the brunt of member backlash. A new phone system, which doesn't always work and doesn't let members transfer funds, was rolled out, confusing older, less tech-savvy members. Then the CU absorbed Oculina Bank, which was disaster from a customer service standpoint. Accounts weren't integrated into the IBMSECU system correctly, and people suddenly couldn't access accounts they were previously linked to, had business accounts listed as personal, couldn't see their statements, and overall didn't seem to understand what was going on. Interdepartmental communication was poor, and departments like loans, card services, and electronic processing were too understaffed, relying on call center employees to pick up the slack. It was frustrating to try and connect members to loan officers, only to have the phone ring until it finally disconnected. The worst part about working in the call center, besides dealing with frequently abusive members, was the scheduling. The schedule alternates weekly between early and late shift, but the manager insists on holding telephone meetings several times a month at 7:30 AM, which employees have to be physically present in the office for, despite being able to simply conference in from their cell phones. These meetings mean that anyone unfortunate enough to be on late shift is there for about 11.5 hours, sometimes longer, without any additional breaks. The credit union was unprepared to handle the changes it took on, and didn't hire enough new staff to handle the call volume for the merger, instead opting to extend hours and cancel breaks. We were expected to change our schedules with little to no warning, which was hard on my coworkers with children and other responsibilities. It's also worth noting that IBMSECU hardly ever promotes from within, at least in the call center. This is a known issue in multiple departments, and I saw several capable leaders get passed over for a promotion in favor of a brand-new employee. Morale is, from what I've heard, at an all-time low, and most of my former coworkers would change jobs if given the opportunity. At one point, the building caught fire, causing a power outage and they made us all drive to a different location and wait in the break room for hours until the problem was fixed. It was bizarre.