The challenges that COVID-19 brought has prompted some of Globe’s BPO partners to close or limit their operations, drastically cutting down to less than 40% the manpower supporting Globe’s customer operations for both its hotline and social media channels.
The situation prompted Globe and its vendor partners to work closely to address the needs of frontliners. While we provide the connectivity and assistance that are crucial to our customers, we also want to make sure that the people who assist them are not left behind,” said Rebecca Eclipse, Globe Chief Customer Experience Officer.
Globe’s vendor partners arranged free accommodations and shuttle services for their employees as well as giving them free food and health kits, which contain vitamins, face masks, and alcohol. Globe, for its part, provided them with hazard pay, incentives, and additional protection kits.
The ongoing quarantine restrictions, however, continue to impact the availability of frontliners. It is expected that the current number will further go down due to the ECQ happening again in Cebu where some of Globe’s BPO partners are located.
While things are yet to return to normal, Globe is continuously looking for ways to provide support to customers whose connectivity needs to keep increasing. Thus, to make up for the lack of hotline personnel, Globe encourages its customers to use mobile apps such as GlobeOne, Globe at Home, GCash, and TM apps to manage their accounts. These apps allow customers to monitor their usage, report concerns, troubleshoot technical issues, pay bills, and conduct other common transactions without having to speak with the limited number of frontliners.
Globe is also exploring a remote desktop tool that will allow frontliners to work from home. This will give them access to the systems and information that they need while keeping company and customer data secure.
