NO ACCENTS

This subject is full-on but it has been plaguing me my whole career.

I work a lot in the Call Centre space and work with some of the biggest Call Centres in Australia, from Banking and Finance to Insurance and Education.

One request I get a lot from clients is no strong accents.

My whole career I have prided myself on not judging resumes by names or locations, and despite what it might be on a resume, if they have the right experience I give them a shot.

About 5 years ago I was working with a large Education provider who was looking for Sales Consultants, as usual, they asked for no accents. 

I ignored the request and put forward a great candidate who had lived in Australia for over 8 years who had worked in some great companies but he originally came from India, so he did have an accent.

I really had to push for this guy to get an interview and when they met him the loved him but had reservations on how successful he would be.

But they decided to give him a shot.

This is where things get complicated, during his probation, he didn't make one sale.

This wasn’t because he didn't know his stuff, or he was lazy or he wasn't trying, the audience he was selling too wouldn't give him the time of day because they thought he was calling from a big call centre in India. 

They didn’t trust him purely because he had an accent.

In comparison, other “English” speaking consultants were making around 10-12 Sales per week.

While the company loved having him around and he enjoyed being there despite the lack of success, purely due to results the company had to let him go.

For years, companies have been offshoring Call Centre roles to India and the Philippines for many reasons but one of the big reasons is usually due to cost.

It doesn’t help that the Australian public has been targeted by overseas scammers working in call centres, building a level of distrust.

Talk to any Call Centre Manager, after a few years and many complaints, companies are often forced to onshore these companies because Customers don’t get the experience they want and in the end, start creating more work.

Onshoring is a very expensive process, wages for Casual Call Centre staff in Australia start from around $27.00ph + Super and can double for overtime, public holidays and Sundays.

If you are paying that type of money you want the best results, more first call resolutions and less doubling up on admin.

I also know Call Centres aren’t the only industry that has the request for “No Accents”.

So what can I/We do to change the perspectives of others to give everyone a fair go?

I would love to hear your thoughts, ideas, suggestions, and frustrations with this topic.

I hope by opening a dialogue, perhaps we can make some positive change.