Pros
At the beginning they really seemed to value their employees. They upheld the ideals that everyone is human and has to find balance in life. They rewarded hard work and dedication and commitment with praise and returned dedication and commitment. They really believed in their employees and in return gained our deepest respect. The opportunities given me by VoiceNation increased my confidence in myself. Up front, they present themselves to be very patient and generous with PTO and paid vacation. After only 4 years of employment I was already given 2 weeks of each plus several paid holidays for the year to use as I needed. VoiceNation offers, as a courtesy, a fully stocked kitchen with breakfast, lunch and vast variety of snack foods and beverages. The holiday party in December always included a Christmas bonus and often a certificate for Honey Baked ham. The employees, my fellow co-workers, had an amazing dynamic that made every day worth going in and getting the job done. We were allowed to dress casually in the office, not to be confused with sloppy, giving way for personal comfort.
Cons
Things began changing company wide over the last year or so. VoiceNation in growing the newest addition of services, live answering, forgot the core values they once prided themselves on. My daughter has been very sick this past year and each time I was told that everything was OK and that there was no problem in me using my time off I believed them. Although very generous with the PTO and paid vacation, I was reprimanded for using up the time given by the end of Sept. Another, and even bigger, concern is that VoiceNation has represented themselves as an open-door policy company. They were very vocal in saying that for us to be the best employees we could be they asked for absolute honesty with them in what was working within the responsibilities of our jobs and what maybe was not. Recently we were advised of a mandatory informational cross training with the live answering dept. It was stressed that we were not going to become operators but that rather we were going to shadow the leads to gain knowledge as to what they do on a daily basis and increase our appreciation for that part of the business. In addition, select operators would cross train in the administrative side for likewise results. Upon completion of working with an operator showing her the ropes around my dept for a week it was my turn to learn more of the live answering dept. The very first day of informational training turned into the beginning of a 1 week crash training course that usually takes 4 weeks to complete. Before the end of the first day, I was given a headset and told that I was to begin taking calls and that I would be evaluated based on my performance. Things were drastically different than what the company explained. I experienced high amounts of anxiety. In remembering the charge given to us by management on a regular basis, I went in to express my concerns with my supervisor. In relating my experiences I did ask how the cross training related to my current position in the company. He indicated that it did not have any relation to my current position. And, that the reason for the mandate was so that VoiceNation would have more "well-rounded employees". I was informed that if I could not complete the training that I could face a formal write-up. Understanding this, I returned to the mandated training. My anxieties interfered with my ability to complete the training and I calmly expressed my concerns a second time to my supervisor. That afternoon I was fired for "Refusal to participate in a company mandated cross training."