Call Center expectations ridiculous due to poor training - Anonymous employee Xcel Energy Employee Review

-Scheduling is a nightmare (call center EE's expected to work EVERY weekend; can't put in for time off unless you find your own replacement which was impossible with mandatory overtime) -Low pay for expectations (the amount of knowledge required by reps is absurd; training breezes over most of it so many situations/facets are not fully explained) -Team leads are demanding but not helpful -It takes years to promote out of call center, or even as a specialist within. Literally years (as in 5-7 from what I was told) Working in the call center was one of the worst positions I have ever had in my life. I have worked in other call centers but this one takes the cake. Of course dealing with customers who are rude and demanding is expected- most are upset of power outage or billing issues. The customers aren't the problem. That's part of working in a call center. However Xcel ill-prepares reps for dealing with situations. Reps are expected to basically cover knowledge from at least 10 different departments, and if you need help from the actual department, well, good luck. They will likely be rude and unhelpful. I mean I am not n electrical engineer but I sure was expected to answer those types of questions. The resource base is pathetic. Staffing is short and everyone was increasingly frustrated with mandatory overtime. I don't understand why on earth they don't divide the center into different departments to deal with consistent issues so reps don't waste time trying to connect with the right person in one of over 20 departments. Why not have a, say, group that handles primarily billing/payments, another that handles line drop requests and the like, another new accounts, etc. Everyone can pitch in to handle outages. I know the ebb and flow of concerns changes but specializing reps in one area to start and then allowing them opportunities to certify in others as a promotion would improve quality of service I would think and not force unprepared reps into the fire right off the bat. Basically I would never recommend this as a workplace. Pay is awful, will is awful. No one is happy but the department heads (who could be seen lounging in their offices chatting with each other causally for hours on end).