working at virgin media? anyone as a Project coordinator? - Page 2

RichardCoulter · 01-10-2011, 21:10

Hi,

I am referring to post number 1 and his/her subsequent postings. If a VM employee had posted a message to me like that, I would soon be in touch with senior management.

I still believe that the disclaimer would be no defence in disciplinary proceedings or an Employment Tribunal if management decided that you had posted something inappropriate. I have been reassured that such disclaimers are not a passport for staff to be rude or disrespectful to customers, nor for the company to be painted in a bad light.

For example, your disclaimer states "The postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent Virgin Media's positions, strategies or opinions." What if you decided that "your opinion" was that VM is a bad company to work for, that you hated working for them and posted to say so. Do you really think that management would dismiss this as merely "your opinion" and take no action ;-)

Fortunately, common sense and courtesy prevail in the vast majority of cases and it is seldom that postings from VM employees are an issue

Sirius · 01-10-2011, 21:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

Hi,

I am referring to post number 1 and his/her subsequent postings. If a VM employee had posted a message to me like that, I would soon be in touch with senior management.

I still believe that the disclaimer would be no defence in disciplinary proceedings or an Employment Tribunal if management decided that you had posted something inappropriate. I have been reassured that such disclaimers are not a passport for staff to be rude or disrespectful to customers, nor for the company to be painted in a bad light.

Fortunately, common sense and courtesy prevail in the vast majority of cases and it is seldom that postings from VM employees are an issue

Post 1 is the OP

RichardCoulter · 01-10-2011, 21:23

Yes, the appalling way that it is written and the subsequent arrogant, immature and rude remarks do not do anything to promote VM as a credible company who employ personnel of a high calibre.

thenry · 01-10-2011, 21:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

Yes, the appalling way that it is written and the subsequent arrogant, immature and rude remarks do not do anything to promote VM as a credible company who employ personnel of a high calibre.

i hope your not referring to my post.

RichardCoulter · 01-10-2011, 21:46

I'm not.

**Hugh** · 01-10-2011, 22:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

Yes, the appalling way that it is written and the subsequent arrogant, immature and rude remarks do not do anything to promote VM as a credible company who employ personnel of a high calibre.

Once again - oh, the irony....

RichardCoulter · 01-10-2011, 22:56

In what way is my statement ironic? I don't understand, please don't post in riddles :-)

Stuart · 01-10-2011, 23:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Masque

Which is the reason all Virginmedia staff have a disclaimer in their signature as per below and mine is the exact wording they specify which covers whatever we post as long as it is not something business sensitive.

You should also be aware that the forum team also post on here as themselves but if in bold it is as part of the moderating team.

We all post within the boundaries of the forum and if we did not then we would be brought back into line.

In fact I have no idea who you are actually aiming your comment at in this thread anyway so would you care to enlighten us to the post or wording you found offensive.

Read my signature below.

The problem with putting notices in your signature (and I realised I do it as well) is that members can opt not to have signatures displayed.

That, and people frequently ignore them even if they are displayed.

RichardCoulter · 01-10-2011, 23:18

I never realised that signatures could be hidden! Not that it matters, as I just have them displayed anyway

Digital Fanatic · 02-10-2011, 00:06

I can only think of 2 issues that could potentially cause problems for a VM staff poster on here.... if member of VM staff was to post something of a business sensitive nature or was posting off brand or negative remarks about the business.

We have a code of practice to work to and VM ask us to put the disclaimer in our sigs. They have verified with VM lawyers and they say it is enough to show we are not posting in an official capacity.

The reason we declare we are staff is to stop anyone thinking we are working under cover as staff.

RichardCoulter · 02-10-2011, 00:31

I don't see why anybody should have to say where they work- I don't!

If people think you are working undercover, so be it!

Still, I can see where verification that someone does actually work for VM is useful when advice is being given.

The problem with that is that VM staff can be compared with staff in the real world, who, for example, may be wearing a VM uniform.

An example of this was when a fortnight ago a "Street Marshall" was in one of our clubs in his uniform after finishing work.

He was drunk and dancing, but not causing any trouble. Before long one of his bosses turned up and was overheard to tell him to "go home, look in the mirror and have a word with himself". Thankfully an informal word in his ear was all that was deemed neccessary (and, in my experience, is what resolves most workplace problems).

Imagine a similar scenario had a VM installer had been in the club whilst still in uniform and (for the purposes of comparison) had a "my views are my own" disclaimer on the back of his jacket.

He may be off duty and acting in a personal capacity, but, like it or not, anything that he does indirectly represents VM

If he had begun to annoy people, they would have associated him with VM and i'm sure management would have something to say on the matter.

It's for the same reason that company vans encourage other road users to report selfish drivers of company vans (who may not actualy be breaking the law)- they represent the company.

Digital Fanatic · 02-10-2011, 00:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

I don't see why anybody should have to say where they work- I don't!

If people think you are working undercover, so be it!

Still, I can see where verification that someone does actually work for VM is useful when advice is being given.

The problem with that is that VM staff can be compared with staff in the real world, who, for example, may be wearing a VM uniform.

An example of this was when a fortnight ago a "Street Marshall" was in one of our clubs in his uniform after finishing work.

He was drunk and dancing, but not causing any trouble. Before long one of his bosses turned up and was overheard to tell him to "go home, look in the mirror and have a word with himself". Thankfully an informal word in his ear was all that was deemed neccessary (and, in my experience, is what resolves most workplace problems).

Imagine a similar scenario had a VM installer had been in the club whilst still in uniform and (for the purposes of comparison) had a "my views are my own" disclaimer on the back of his jacket.

They may be off duty and acting in a personal capacity, but, like it or not, anything that they do represents VM

If he had begun to annoy people, they would have associated him with VM and i'm sure management would have something to say on the matter.

It's for the same reason that company vans encourage other road users to report selfish drivers of company vans (who may not actual be breaking the law)- they represent the company.

I understand what you are saying, but...

By declaring that I work for VM, I have been able to help many a customer/poster with problems. If I didn't say who I was, then most posters would say "and who are you?" "how can you raise a ticket?" "how do you know that...?"

It just saves having to explain every time that you are staff and can actually help.

I liked helping customers on here...

**Hugh** · 02-10-2011, 09:14

Richard, it seems that you are trying stop VM employees from disagreeing with you by deploying specious propositions (as above) - you appear to be confusing "daring to disagree with you" with "bringing VM into disrepute", and you try to inflate the impact of posting behaviours by comparing them with being drunk & disorderly whilst in uniform.

It has been explained to you a number of times that VM management have agreed a forum signature / behaviour guidelines for those VM staff who wish to post on this and other forums - just because you disagree with those guidelines, doesn't make them wrong...

If any posters, including VM staff, break the forum rules (which include insulting or inappropriate behaviours), they are warned and/or infracted (and in extreme cases, suspended or banned) - this has not been deemed necessary in any of the discussions involving you and VM staff.

techguyone · 02-10-2011, 09:41

Finding it odd that VM would employ someone in a fairly responsible position through a recruitment agency?

From working in a large corporation myself, that's not usual for anything higher than factory/clerical type positions of a temporary nature.

Nopanic · 02-10-2011, 10:26

From my point of view, VM has politely requested I make it known I work for VM .. in doing so I advertise that I maybe able to offer support to other forum users.

However, as I post in my own time and do not represent VM, I will post how I feel is appropriate.

The forum rules however dictate that I must follow a set of guidelines or the owner of the forum will not allow me to post, these rules I choose to accept when I post here.

---------- Post added at 10:26 ---------- Previous post was at 10:25 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by techguyone

Finding it odd that VM would employ someone in a fairly responsible position through a recruitment agency?

From working in a large corporation myself, that's not usual for anything higher than factory/clerical type positions of a temporary nature.

We do employee some high profit, short term contracts.