Sitel's time in Bogalusa now down to hours

For the first time in more than a decade, Bogalusa will be without a customer service call center when the new work week gets under way.

Only 18 vehicles were in the Sitel parking lot late
Saturday morning. The company has announced
plans to close its Bogalusa operations on Monday,
although a skeleton crew of about 20 is expected
to work through July 25 to shutter the facility.
(Photo by John H. Walker) 

Earlier this year, officials for Nashville-based Sitel notified Washington Economic Development Foundation director Ryan Seal that it would cease operations in the Bogalusa Industrial Park on Monday, July 18.

At the time, Sitel employed 149 people — the majority in $8 to $9 per hour pay range. When the announcement was made, facility coordinator Chad Luikart said employees would be given the opportunity to transfer to other Sitel sites — the nearest being in Starkville, Miss.

Attempts to contact Luikart were unsuccessful and Human Resources Manager Jerry Couch did not return an earlier call.

Both Seal and Bogalusa Mayor Charles Mizell have told wpnewsblog they are working “on a deal that will be great” for the community and hope to make an announcement soon.

Sources tell wpnewsblog there is a team of about 20 persons who will stay until July 25 in the shutdown process, but that the remainder of the workforce would finish employment on Monday. At about 7 p.m. Friday, there were seven vehicles in the parking lot and, at noon Saturday there were 18 — with five bearing Mississippi plates. While the majority of the hourly workers and first-line supervisors reside in Washington Parish, there have always been a number of employees from the Tylertown, Dexter, Sandy Hook, Foxworth and Columbia areas.

“Who can transfer for what they pay?” a supervisory employee who requested anonymity at the time, asked. “People making $8 an hour can’t afford to move and they sure aren’t going to pay for it. The coaches (team leaders) don’t make a lot more than the customer service reps.”

Seal said the decision did not surprise him, as he had been notified three previous times that the company was considering closing the Bogalusa facility.

Seal told wpnewsblog that Sitel cited several factors in reaching the decision, including the national economy, the lack of Spanish-speaking employees, the location of the call center in a hurricane zone and the distance from a commercial airport.

“I think the fact we were nearing the end of their agreement also played a factor, although they wouldn’t admit that,” Seal said. “They had raised some questions about the requirements and things like that a few months ago.”

One of the conditions of the company’s contract with the city — going back to when the facility was new — was that a workforce of 300 be maintained.

And an educated, dependable workforce was one of the problems in Bogalusa.

“You have to show up for work,” a floor coach told a training class last September. “You said you wanted to work and we hired you and scheduled you, so you have to show up.”

That class of 16 was down to 13 being the six-week training period was up and only four remained at the end of January.

“Turnover is a problem,” trainer Janet Cotton told the September class. “The churn is more than 100 percent.”

The $3 million facility housing Sitel was constructed for what was then known as Service Zone in 2000 and 2001. Service Zone, a Florida-based call center, had been located in a former retail space in Shopyard Square before relocating to the Industrial Park in September 2001.

In March 2002, the state reimbursed the city’s Industrial Park Fund to the tune of $1.5 million — it’s share of the cost of the project. At the time, Service Zone employed 346 people and planned to add between 80 and 100 over the next two months.

Louisiana Secretary of Economic Development Don Hutchinson said at the time that the state was focusing on bringing in what he described as “technology jobs.”

In January 2004, ClientLogic acquired Service Zone’s operations, including Bogalusa, but by summer things weren’t looking very promising as the company announced it had lost its only contract (for the Bogalusa operation) and would likely lay off its entire workforce — which, by this time, was below 300. Things turned around, though, when the company announced it had acquired three, and possibly, four contracts for Bogalusa.

The company continued to push for growth in its Bogalusa operations, but ran into problems.

In April 2005, the company announced it was having difficulty meeting its goal of hiring 375 new workers by July because of a lack of computer and customer service skills in the local workforce. The company’s director of operations even went before the Washington Parish Council to seek out qualified workers.

Darlene Larkin said only about half of the 50 applicants the company received daily were qualified, but that there was a 50 percent failure rate when those were tested for employment.

Then came Hurricane Katrina. The company shuttered its Bogalusa operations after the storm hit on Aug. 29, 2005, but reopened three weeks later, although not with the pre-storm workforce of 350.

By mid-September 2006, the company announced it was planning to add 60 jobs in October and an additional 100 by the end of the year. To reach those goals, the company announced it would offer referral bonuses and sign-on bonuses. In addition, to emphasize its recommitment to Bogalusa, the company planned a grand reopening.

In February 2007, ClientLogic had merged with Sitel and the workforce was now down to 240 persons. ClientLogic’s starting wage was $7 per hour with increases to $9 after about 18 months, Larkin had explained.

Bogalusa’s Sitel operations had a single client, Citizens Bank Group, a division of the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Mizell looks back on first six months in office

Attitude.

That is what’s behind what some people say is a visible change under way in Bogalusa, according to Mayor Charles Mizell. “I think there has been a change in attitude from (city) department heads and employees because they know I am supporting them.”

But Mizell said he felt the attitude change stretches beyond just those city employees he mentioned.

Bogalusa Mayor Charles Mizell
takes notes during a recent
meeting of the city council.
(Photo by John H. Walker)

“I think we’re seeing a change in the community’s attitude, as well. I think what citizens wanted  to see was that somebody cared. I come to work every day and you can find me, either working here or out in the community.”

Mizell, who completed his first six months in office on Monday, sat down with wpnewsblog prior to the city council meeting to talk about those 180 days in an exclusive interview.

WPNB: “Mr. Mayor, thank you for the opportunity to sit down and discuss your first six months. Did you have any preconceived ideas about the task ahead of you when you took office?”

CM: “I pretty much had a notion of what we faced. There were some things that were clearly going to have to be handled.”

WPNB: “What are the key issues that have proved to be most challenging?”

CM: “The water system has been a challenge, to say the least. It is an antiquated system that we’ve patched and patched and patch. We would patch a leak and the next day, get a call to let us know it was leaking again … we’d go back, dig it up and find out it was not the original leak, but one a couple of feet away. We’ve applied for Capital Outlay Funds, which will allow us to address the problems en masse … until then, we will continue to prioritize the leaks and get them done.”

WPNB: “Has the time spent dealing with the water issues affected other areas?”

CM: “In a word, yes. With our personnel reductions (10 down in public works), we just don’t have the people to throw at problems, so it has caused some delays in our pothole patching and street repair. That being said, we’re gaining and within three months I think we’ll be caught up (on potholes and street repair). I’m extremely proud of Border Drive and Avenue B and what we’ve done there to open up the drains, uncover the drains and clear the sides of the streets to help the water move when we have rains. We're proud of what we've done at Cassidy Park with the asphalt walking trail, replacing park benches and putting up posts to keep people from driving across park grounds.”

WPNB: “From driving Border Drive every day, it’s nice that it’s not so rough anymore.”

CM: “One of the first things we did was go in and smooth out the spots where pavement had buckled and been patched at, so it wouldn’t be so rough on drivers and their vehicles. We’re trying to do that around the community.”

WPNB: “What’s the biggest accomplishment thus far?”

CM: “I think it is the attitude of the employees and their willingness to work together. I had heard that no one worked together and their was no cohesive effort. I haven’t found that at all … I think they just needed direction and leadership and, as I said earlier, to know someone cared about them and they job they had to do. We’re doing much more with far fewer people (157 now vs. 180 a year ago).”

WPNB: “What’s the biggest disappointment?”

CM: “Anytime we lose jobs, such as the 149 at Sitel. We’re working right now to make an announcement to replace those jobs and we’re working with a developer to try and improve our housing through the construction of 32 tax credit homes, which will create some construction activity.”

WPNB: “How about a recap, or overview of these past six months?”

CM: “With the economy in its current condition, we’re having to be more self-sufficient. We have to be pro-active and we have to be on the job, managing and working every day to make sure we run this like the business it is. Our department heads have been charged with certain responsibilities and they are held accountable every day … we now have eight radar units on the street to help our police bring some of the speeding issues under control … we have officers in school for training and there is good communications in the department under Chief (Joe) Culpepper and (Assistant Chief Effie) Clayton.

“In the fire department, we have all new hoses. We could never have afforded to purchase those, but because the department wrote its own grant, we got the 400 to $500,000 needed to do that. We laid three firemen off last year … and they’ve been hired back.

“I’m excited that people are starting to notice a cleaning community. I’ve seen citizens out on the street, picking up trash and trying to make a difference. This was a magic city at one time, but that is behind us … we must bring back the spirit of working together to make things happen … to make things better and to help our neighbors. It’s not a company town any more and there’s no one to take care of us. We need to be more responsible.

“We must become more self-sufficient. We need to look at the glass being half full, instead of half empty. We have a lot of good people willing to invest in our community — the hospital and technical college, for example.

“I would say government does not work as fast as private business and, sometimes, that’s frustrating because I just want to say, ‘Let’s get that done.’ But I know all those layers and checks and balances are good.

“While we would always want things to be better, I think the excitement we’re seeing and the opportunities ahead far outweigh the disappointments.”

WPNB: “Mr. Mayor, thank you for your time.”

CM: “You’re welcome.”

(Published first at http://www.wpnewsblog.blogspot.com)

Sitel employee: "We don't know what's going on"

The news that Nashville, Tenn.-Sitel is closing its Bogalusa Call Center, as first reported in the Bogalusa newspaper, caught workers by surprise Tuesday afternoon.

"We don't know what is going on," one employee said. "We've always had rumors, but this came out of the blue."


"I am officially out of a job as of July 18 uggghgh!!!!!!!!!!," one employee posted on Facebook.


The decision will result in the elimination of 149 jobs in Bogalusa. The Bogalusa site was one of several call centers, along with Asheville, NC, and Bartlesville, Okla., handling customer service calls for Providence, R.I.-based Citizens Financial Group and Charter One Bank, both operating divisions of the Royal Bank of Scotland.


The Bogalusa payroll included site supervisor Chad Luikart, H/R Director Jerry Couch, an IT person, a trainer, a receptionist who also administers employment tests, and between seven and 10 team leaders, called coaches, who lead teams of 15-20 customer service representatives (CSR).


CSR pay rates begin at $8 per hour with the opportunity to eventually climb to the $9 per hour range. Coaches are former CSRs whose performance metrics positioned them to advance into the spots, where the pay range was in the vicinity of $10.50 per hour. Employees were eligible for a benefits package that included insurance and 401k.


"They say they're giving people the opportunity to transfer," a city official said, "But you probably won't see many $8 people moved."


Over the years there have been consistent rumors that Sitel was closing. One recent rumor began in December when coaches began discussing job opportunities in Glasgow, Ky.


"Them looking at job postings online made a lot of people think it was going to close," a CSR with less than a year's experience, said.


While the building was configured into two halves, only about 60 percent of the north side was utilized year-round. Limited usage of the south side occurred only around Christmas, when Sitel handled calls for mobile telephone providers.


The building, which received damage during Hurricane Katrina, was plagued by a number of issues. Last summer, employees were forced to work with only shop-size fans to provide cooling as the air conditioning was inoperable. Employees also complained of a constant, moldy smell and there were almost constant equipment issues.


"I think they are bailing because they're going to have to spend serious money to bring everything up to standard,” one former employee speculated.


Additional speculation was that the company's contract was running out with the city and, rather than spend money to upgrade the building. it was easier to leave. Terms of the agreement with the city included a clause pertaining to the number of jobs created and maintained.


Employment at the center has dropped from 240 when the ClientLogic-Sitel merger was announced to the 149 announced Tuesday.

There has been a call center operation in Bogalusa for more than 10 years, beginning with Service Zone, which operated in a storefront in Shopyard Square. Service Zone, a privately-held company based in Brandon, Fla. was acquired by ClientLogic in a deal that closed in early January 2004. ServiceZone had moved to the Industrial Park prior to the acquisition.


In mid-February 2007, ClientLogic announced it had completed its acquisition of Sitel by merger, but the Sitel name was retained because it more widely recognized.


(Exclusive content at http://www.wpnewsblog.blogspot.com)