Your People Made a Difference - Christchurch a Year on
Isn’t technology grand!? In my position I’m fortunate enough to witness the changes and constant advancements in technology 1st hand. Through the myriad of Contact Centres around New Zealand I come in contact with every week, I see technologies once only thought of as science fiction.
So with the anniversary of the February 22nd Christchurch Earthquake nearly here I began think of just how far I’d come personally since that date, and wanted to give you and your teams a slightly different perspective of why It’s your people that I value so much.
Let me set the scene: February 22nd started as quite an ordinary day for me, light drizzle as I walked the dog early, nothing outstanding in the morning World news bulletins, and nothing really noteworthy to make this particular Tuesday stand out in any way …
I had scoffed at the government advertisements that urged us to prepare and to ‘get through’ for three days post natural disaster. I mean - really- this was Christchurch after all; things like this didn’t happen here, maybe in Wellington or Auckland, but in the Eastern suburbs of Christchurch, not a chance…
Life really can change in seconds, and sadly for myself and for many thousands of others in Christchurch almost a year ago, things did.
Crawling down a hall way, covered in of glass, dust and concrete, falling down a stairwell as the wall came down, crushing my spine - Dunedin hospital really was a nice respite for a while. Then back to reality of Christchurch, to which we had coined the phrase ‘the new normal’.
So, an uneventful day changed in a matter of some 30 seconds, and for months drastically changed the way in which many of us lead our daily lives. Waiting for the water tanker at the school each morning, digging toilets in the garden, and queuing at night for a shower at the welfare centre (previously a sports stadium) with both the ladies that lunch from Sumner and the displaced homeless for the City Centre. That’ll change your outlook on life for sure!
There were so many heroes that came out of this horrific situation; we all saw their faces on TV. Stripping away rubble to search for those trapped, clearing the liquefaction from the streets, and getting vital supplies to those who needed them so badly.
Then there were those whose faces we’ll never know, but whose voices we’ll always remember. With empathy, resilience and an amazing ability to communicate; they demonstrated the capability to assist us every time we called. Looking back now with some perspective a large number of those calls must have sounded awful!
We were sleep deprived from the aftershocks, some of us lost our possessions, our houses and people we loved.
You see technology is amazing, but the really amazing thing for me is the people behind the technology. No matter the advances we see, the progress we make as technologies are invented, implemented and refined, I believe it’s people who will always remain your greatest asset and differentiator. Guiding and controlling the call, finding out what we really needed, calling us back when the information wasn’t to hand, and managing each one of us with care, consideration and a sense of duty. I came to witness this first hand, many times over.
Without power to our area for 7 weeks, there was no ability access websites to find out any information; and with situations changing daily the phone really did become our lifeline to the outside world. Sounds a little melodramatic? It may do - but it made us feel less venerable, more in control, and let us find a semblance of order in our own chaos.
Contact Centres played a pivotal role during that time, sitting quietly in the background, playing such an integral part, yet going almost unnoticed and unsung for the job they did.
So, Amanda from our power provider, sorry I broke down when you said the Transformer Station was going to be back up in a few days, (I don’t think it was the first call you’d had like that) to our bank, thanks for telling us about the mobile ATM’s you set up in the beach car park on the back of trucks, and to our insurance people for the camper vans you manned with bottles of water, fruit with amazing people to assist us with our endless barrage of questions.
So, a year on a message of thanks to you and your teams. You need to know your people really are the difference. They may have thought they had just taken our calls, but they did so much more. It’s something they still continue to do each day. Yes, it may not always be note worthy or make the news, but your teams their skills and training do make a genuine difference to each and every caller.
Not everyone is up to this career in this industry of ours; it can be relentless, demanding and at times stressful. But it’s also rewarding, fun and ever changing. And if you’re anything like me, it gets into your blood!
As for me, I no longer live in Christchurch. I do still have issues around walking from time to time, but I’m enjoying life. I’ve worked out what’s important, and what’s not. And saying thank-you more often for a job well done really is part of what’s important for me now.
So thank-you to Contact Centres for the important and often vital role you provide to our communities and a sincere thank-you to those making Contact Centres their career. It really is a job that really can, and does change lives.
By Suzanne Pratley, National Business Development Manager, Drake NZ
Proud Gold Sponsor of CCiNZ
