Communications Workers’ Union Summary of the Impact of Abusive Customers in the Communications Retail Sector
August 2013
Background to Retail Abuse Survey 2013 This report discusses the findings of a recent survey undertaken by the Communications Workers’ Union (CWU) on the subject of customer abuse in the retail sector of the communications industry. The survey was undertaken in response to concerns expressed by CWU members at our regular Retail Forum meetings and during store visits by CWU Organisers, regarding incidents of abusive customers. The purpose of the survey was to enable retail workers to communicate issues to their Union on the subject of abusive customers. The responses will assist the Union in developing a policy in relation to abusive customers in our Retail Branches. The survey was distributed to retail workers in three companies where the Union has a Collective Agreement; namely Vodafone, eircom (including Meteor and eMobile) and An Post. The survey took place during March and April 2013. There were 725 surveys distributed and 203 responses were received by Union Head Office. This represents a response rate of 28.4%. A total of eleven questions were asked, nine of which were multiple‐choice and two were open‐ended questions, which allowed the respondents to provide more information if they wished to do so. Legal and Company Framework for Dealing with Customer Abuse The Health & Safety Authority (HSA) has an overall responsibility for the administration and enforcement of health and safety at work in Ireland. The Safety, Health & Welfare at Work Act (2005) sets out the main legal provisions. Traditionally retail is not viewed as a high‐risk sector and it is not specifically targeted in any HSA compliance inspection programmes. The issue of abusive customers is covered mainly under workplace bullying. Furthermore there are no dedicated guidelines or provisions for dealing specifically with customer abuse. All three companies have their own Dignity at Work policies. In the case of An Post and eircom, the policies were written in conjunction with the Group of Unions. Each policy focuses on relationships within the workplace; none focus on the relationships between customers and employees. The commencement of the survey coincided with a training programme by eircom which is designed to raise awareness and train staff to recognise potential conflict and how to deal with difficult customers, should a conflict arise. It is too early to comment on how successful or otherwise this project is. However, any scheme designed to tackle the issue is a positive move and the CWU commends eircom for taking this initiative.
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Summary of the Impact of Abusive Customers Research on workplace aggression has mainly investigated aggression on the part of supervisors or colleagues. However, research by Ben Zur & Yagil (2005) and Grandley et al (2004) investigated the impact of abusive customers on the individual “victim” and recognised a correlation between increased stress levels, burnout and even withdrawal from the company as a result of abusive customers. Grandley et al’s research also identified a link between performance and absenteeism occurring as result of abuse from customers. Ben Zur & Yagil concluded “that empowerment can attenuate both customer aggression and service provider burnout”. Thus, an abusive customer not only affects employees on a personal level, who may also suffer emotional exhaustion as a result of such abuse, but it also impacts on the organisation through potential poorer performance, increased levels of absenteeism, plus the cost of recruiting staff that are required to replace those who choose to leave because of this issue. Therefore abusive customers potentially impact all stakeholders: staff, company and other customers. The Survey The survey does not set out to discover a panacea in relation to the topic of abusive customers. Neither is the survey designed as to be used as a stick to beat any company with. It does however attempt to provide a general overview of the issue of customer abuse in the communications retail sector, seeking out themes and trends of abuse. This report will make a number of observations and comparisons to similar surveys that were previously conducted. The overriding aim is to provide all stakeholders – employers, workers and Union Officials – an insight into the nature of customer abuse and offer suggestions to address this issue.
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Analysis of responses to Retail Abuse Survey in the communications retail sector
Breakdown of Respondents by Company
The survey was distributed to a selection of postal outlets from a cross‐section of large city offices, suburban and rural locations. The survey was also distributed to the majority of the company‐owned mobile retail units of both eircom and Vodafone. The split between postal and telecoms respondents is: 41.5% are employed in postal retail outlets and 58.5% are employed in the mobile retail sector. The responses to this question were as follows: 88 from An Post (41.5% of respondents), 77 from Vodafone (37.8% of respondents) and 43 from eircom (20.7% of respondents) retail stores. Three people did not identify their employer, whether this was by choice or oversight is unknown.
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Question 1: In the workplace, how often have you been a victim of verbal abuse by a customer in the last twelve months?
There were five possible choices for this question, ranging from being a victim of verbal abuse from a customer on a daily basis daily to never experiencing verbal abuse from a customer over the previous 12 months. 93% of respondents said they received abuse from customers on at least one occasion in the previous 12 months. A similar survey carried out in 2009 found that 74% of workers reported customer abuse once a year. Somewhat surprisingly, there is a difference of 19% between the two surveys. There are a number of potential reasons for the differentiation. Firstly, the number of respondents in the Mandate survey was higher. Secondly, although both surveys were carried out among retail workers, this survey is industry‐specific (i.e. communications retail), whereas the Mandate survey covered a broader segment. Finally, there is a four year difference between the surveys and there is the possibility that attitudes have changed. More than one‐in‐three (36.2%) respondents said that they are abused every week. The figure increased to 56% of those abused once a month. A total of over 77% of respondents said they were verbally abused on at least two or more occasions during the last twelve months.
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Question 2: In the last 12 months, how often have you been threatened by a customer?
With regard to actual threats being made, 67.5% of respondents said that they had been threatened by a customer on at least one occasion during the previous 12 months. This compares to a figure of 30% which was recorded in a similar survey in 2009. The variation between the surveys may be explained to some degree as the same reasons given in Question 1 above. However, it is noticeable that the incidences of threats against retail staff have doubled in the last four years. This is a trend that requires further investigation.
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Question 3: Have you ever been the victim of physical abuse from a customer?
Twenty seven workers, which equates to over 13% of respondents, said they have experienced physical abuse in the previous 12 months. The types of physical abuse reported include being hit in the chest with a stapler, workers being assaulted with phones and other items of stock, and workers being spat at. This compares with a figure of 10% in a similar survey undertaken in Ireland in 2009. In follow‐up interviews a number of respondents indicated that they felt that the company could have done more to protect them from violent attacks. Some people also indicated that they were unaware of any policies, procedures or reporting structures that were in place at the time of the attack. This applies to both the company and the Union.
“He shouted and called me names, then suddenly he grabbed me and pulled me over the counter and drew back as if to punch me. He seemed to realise what he was about to do then let go of me and left the shop”
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Question 4: Have you ever been the victim of any of the following from a customer?
The response rate to this question was lower than the other questions; however the following observations are noted. Incidents of homophobia are relatively low at 2.3%. Sexual harassment was also quite low at 6.4%. However a large number of respondents 36.6% reported that they had experienced racism from a customer. Interestingly the relatively high response rate in relation to racial abuse includes a number of respondents who report incidents of “reverse racism” or “playing the racist card”. Other research indicates that racism is on the increase and the survey reflects this societal trend in general. Again, increasing racist abuse is an area that requires further investigation. The survey did not ask respondents any questions in relation to gender or sexual orientation. Nor did the survey ask respondents questions about which ethnic grouping they considered themselves to belong to. Therefore, the responses relate to the percentages of respondents collectively. The high incidence of racism recorded in the survey is indicative of a broader issue of racism as a societal issue, as identified by McGinnity at al (2013).
“When I cannot resolve an issue for a customer because it is out of my control, it usually ends up with racial abuse”
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Question 5: If you experienced any abuse/ threat/ violence by a customer, who did you report the incident to?
With regard to the reporting of customer abuse in the workplace, 57.6% of respondents reported the incidents to management and a further 9.4% reported abusive customers to another party. Most significantly, around 33% of respondents did not report incidents of abuse to anybody. Worryingly, no respondents reported incidents of customer abuse to the union. During follow‐up interviews when asked why people didn’t report incidents, the reasons given included: “Don’t see the point, management always side with the customer”; “Customer abuse is part of the job”; “It’s more trouble than it’s worth”; and “Sure, what can the union do about it?”. It should be a concern to both management and union that staff/members are experiencing customer abuse and choose not to report it. Although not all respondents are union members, it is an issue that the Union needs to address.
“Workers don’t report abuse, as it is accepted that abuse is part of the job”
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Question 6: If you experienced any abuse/ threat/ violence by a customer, how would you best describe the support you received from your employer?
The responses to this question were evenly divided with just under 50% saying that support they received from management was adequate or excellent and just over 50% of respondents said that the support which they received from management was inadequate or poor. 17% said that the support they received was excellent and 25% said that the support they received was poor. A closer examination of the responses did not uncover variances between each company. However, some respondents differentiated between the support of local management and higher management, commenting that the support of local management was better than the support of senior management.
“Other than support from my direct manager, there was no involvement from the company”
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Question 7: Have you experienced any abuse from a colleague or manager in the workplace?
This question was designed to ascertain levels of abuse between workers, their colleagues and managers. Participants can take some comfort from the fact that over 71.1% of respondents have not experienced any abuse from either a colleague or a manager in the workplace. The second largest group was over 15%, who said that they have only experienced abuse on one occasion. Less than 3% of respondents said that they were frequently abused by either a colleague or a manager. It is interesting to note that all three of the companies have robust Dignity at Work policies, which mainly focus on workplace relationships and conflict management. It is less clear whether these policies extend to relations with customers. However, it is a positive outcome that the vast majority of respondents enjoyed good relationships with colleagues and/or management in their workplaces.
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Question 8: Are you a member of the Communications Workers’ Union?
77.5% of respondents are already members of the Communications Workers’ Union; therefore, 22.5% are not members. However, each respondent from An Post indicated that they are members of the Union. Therefore when the responses from An Post are discounted the percentage of members decreases to 62.5%. This is not surprising given that, traditionally, CWU membership in An Post has always been high, whereas the organising campaigns in Vodafone/ eircom retail are relatively recent.
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Question 9: If you are not a member, are you interested in joining the CWU?
57% of respondents said that they would be interested in joining the Union and many of them have subsequently joined CWU. The survey did not ask why people would not wish to join the Union, but 43% of non‐members indicated that they are not interested in joining the Union. There are a number of possible reasons for this. The challenge for CWU Organisers is to try to understand any objections then to develop a method to overcome these objections.
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The final two (optional) questions of the survey invited respondents to outline their comments and observations in relation to the topic of customer abuse
Question 10: Would you like to briefly outline details of any verbal abuse or physical violence you have experienced in the workplace?
Overview Over 50% of respondents took the time to complete this question. A wide range of themes were identified and there were many examples of customers becoming abusive because of a lack of understanding of company policies. In the mobile phone sector, a number of respondents noted that abuse commenced when phones could not be replaced/ exchanged. Others mentioned that on occasions customers claimed to have received conflicting advice from contact centre staff. On the postal side respondents said that abuse sometimes commenced when customers were not aware of policies and procedures in place for social welfare payments. Others noted aggressive behaviour and abuse “when you explain policy to them”. Some of the more menacing issues include a worker in a mobile phone store who said: “I
was told by a customer ‘I will bite off your nose’”. More than one person observed that customers had threatened to follow staff home, told staff to “watch your back” or made comments such as “I know where you live”. In one instance a customer threatened to follow a worker home and burn their house down.
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Many of the respondents referred to abuse occurring when the resolution to the issue was out of their control. This occasionally resulted in physical assaults or similar undesirable behaviour: “Customer spat in my face when social welfare money was not
available”. Another respondent observed: “when I cannot resolve an issue for a customer
because it is out of my control, it ends up with racial abuse”. Some respondents identified an increase in the level of racist customer abuse since the economic downturn. This is in line with the findings of McGinnity et al (2009) who observed that, in general, Ireland had lower levels of discrimination but “their [migrants] experience might be different in an economic downturn”. The responses indicate that customer abuse is a burning issue for retail workers in the communications industry. Other observations are:
Customers’ lack of knowledge of company processes often results in abuse Abuse often occurs because of issues which are out of the control of staff Customers resort to personalising (racist/other forms of derogatory insults) when they are disappointed with an outcome
Staff are threatened with physical assault and threats by customers to take matters into their own hands when they finish work
Physical assaults are uncommon, although spitting is more frequently reported Racist abuse by customers is common and is on the increase Respondents report incidents of “reverse racism” (i.e. staff are accused of racism by a member of a minority group)
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Question 11: What additional measures could your employer take to protect you?
There were 76 responses to the question and many of these responses made similar suggestions. There were no discernible differences between the responses received from each company. Furthermore, it is clear from the responses that considerable thought went into the response, for example one respondent observed: “Most problems occur with
new products; the company could educate the customer better about its products return policy”. Another respondent suggested: “Management and staff need more training to
know how to manage abusive customers”. The main suggestions offered by respondents are:
Additional security measures, including the physical presence of a security guard, as well as other measures such as improved CCTV
Clearer policies to deal with abusive customers A structure for staff to report abusive customers More autonomy for managers/staff to refuse to serve abusive customers Better support for staff who experience customer abuse Staff training on the issue of customer abuse and the company policy on same Improvements in store design to prevent customers’ access behind the counter
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Recommendations The survey represents the responses of workers in three large companies in the retail communications sector. There are a number of inferences and a number of trends that can be drawn from the data. Our recommendations are drawn from generalisations arising from analysis of the data. It is evident from the survey that customer abuse is an issue for frontline retail staff in the communications industry. This is, or should be a concern for all stakeholders: employers, workers, trade unions and customers all need to be involved if we are serious about addressing any of the issues identified. Therefore, the following recommendations are suggested: That the CWU, through Joint Conciliation Councils, Partnership Forums, and other appropriate platforms engage with An Post, eircom and Vodafone with a view to agreeing an industry‐wide set of policies and procedures to:
Develop staff training programmes designed to empower staff with the skills to prevent and/or manage potential customer abuse
Prepare clear guidelines and reporting structures that are understood by staff Create support mechanisms for staff who are the victims of customer abuse and violence, both inside and outside the workplace (i.e. after hours)
Ensure that the Dignity at Work policy reflects, and where necessary is amended to include, procedures to address customer abuse
Develop measures to ensure that perpetrators of abuse and violence are pursued and appropriate action is taken against abusive customers
Develop and implement a ‘Charter of Respect’ that applies to all stakeholders, outlining the commitment that we give to our customers and which we expect to be reciprocated
Display the Charter of Respect in appropriate locations in retail outlets It is further recommended that the CWU maintain a customer abuse database which allows members to report incidents of abuse. This will enable the union to monitor trends, which should then be communicated to other members and management, as appropriate
CWU establish a committee made up of members who interface with customers on a daily basis. The purpose of the committee will be to advise the National Executive Council of trends in relation to customer abuse, which can then assist development of future policy in this area
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References Ben Zur, H. and Yagil, D. (2005) “The Relationship between Empowerment, Aggressive Behaviours of Customers, Coping, and Burnout”, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, Vol. 14:1, pp 81‐ 89 Grandey, A., Dickter, D., and Hock‐Peng, S. (2004) “The Customer is not Always Right: Customer Aggression and Emotion Regulation of Service Employees”, Journal of Organizational Behaviour, Vol. 25:3, pp 397‐418 McGinnity, F. Nelson, J. Lunn, P and Quinn, E. (2009) “Discrimination in recruitment: Evidence from a field Experiment” ERSI: Dublin ISBN/ISSN No 9780707002781 McGinnity, F. Quinn, E. Kingston, and G. O’Connell, P. (2013) “Annual Monitoring Report on Integration 2012” ERSI Dublin ISBN/ISSN No 9780707003542
“Customers sometimes bring their personal issues into the workplace, which equals abuse for the staff”
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