so after quitting my job almost a week ago, they asked me to do an exit interview. basically wanting to know why i left the company. below is a copy of the email that was sent to the corporate hr department as well as the local management:
To whom it may or may not concern,
I pondered whether or not I should write this exit interview because I honestly think it will fall upon deaf ears. I'm sure the points I will make in this email will be countered by excuses as it has they have in the past. So why write this email you may ask. Well, I'm doing it for my fellow agents that still work for NOVA with the hopes that I'm wrong about this email falling upon deaf ears. The following reasons are why i chose to leave NOVA:
1.) At NOVA and I'm sure in all Cargill business units safety is stressed to the maximum. I do not have a problem with being safe and it being enforced. I do have a problem when it's enforced at NOVA/Cargill's discretion. We are told to wear our personal protective equipment (PPE) while boarding ships, riding launch boats etc. We are threatened with adverse action if we do not wear this required PPE. To me this is hypocritical . NOVA/Cargill wants agents to be safe only when it's beneficial to making money for the company. Case in point. Wear all your PPE on ships, but then drive sleep deprived from said ship in many cases. Sure we are told that if you work late you can call the manager and get permission to come in late. Oh but make sure you call the manager at 0700. So now I just got off of a ship at 0430. I've been working since the night before. Now I have to set my alarm clock for 0700 to call a manager. I've asked all around the river to at least 6 different agencies about their rules on agents working late/early mornings & having to come in early the next morning or even calling managers. ALL of them said that if they work late the night before they are not required in until 1200. All they have to do is send an email. They do not have to call and ask for permission. Can you see how this is hypocritical? Let's stress safety, but not when it comes to agents driving sleep deprived. Here are 2 links below stressing how dangerous it is to drive while sleep deprived. This was brought up at one of our meetings and as usual an excuse was made.
http://articles.cnn.com/2000-09-20/health/sleep.deprivation_1_sleep-deprivation-impairment-researchers?_s=PM:HEALTH
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/safety/humanfac/94046/index.cfm
SAFETY FIRST, BUT ONLY IF IT DOESN'T INTERRUPT OUR CASH FLOW!!!!
2.) As agents at NOVA it seems that we do not get any respect from some of the local management and management of other business units. It seems every time we have an Ops Meeting it's like the agents are being burned at the stake. Going in there we as agents know that we will be getting flack for something. We do an outstanding job and I'm sorry to say mistakes will be made. It's unfortunate, but a fact of life. In the future I think that management should show more appreciation for the agents instead of pointing out what they do wrong.
In my opinion, our management needs to stick up for the agents when it comes to other business units downing us or insisting on explanations. Mary Benson does this all the time. "Why did the agent do this? Why did the agent do that? I want an answer" I understand that she wants things perfect, but it's not going to happen. The world is an imperfect place. Stuff happens!!! When she sends these emails, NOVA management seems to think they owe her all these explanations. I don't think they do. I'm not saying ignore the issue. IMHO they should address the issue. Something like this: "Mary we are aware of the issue and we are doing our best to remedy the situation. Let us run our business unit and you run yours." Maybe not in those words, but let her know that she should not "call out" our agents at will. This makes us feel like we are just sitting ducks when our own management won't take up for us.
3.) Job security was always a concern of mine. I was told by upper management that everyone at NOVA is replaceable. WOW!! If you're not happy at NOVA we can find someone to replace you. How would you like that hanging over your head everyday you go into work? I think they should work on making employees feel secure and not expendable. Who wants to dedicate most of their life to a company that could care less about them? Having a few out of work activities does not erase the feeling of this. It's like you're giving us just enough to shut us up basically.
4.) The dreaded meetings!!!!! I've had more meetings in my 2+ years at NOVA than I had my entire life. Safety meetings from the proper operation of a toaster oven to the batteries in my smoke detector. To be honest, I think NOVA took enough of my time when I was working all those hours. I didn't need them to tell me what I should do at home in my personal life. If I want to click a link and get scammed by a Nigerian, then let me do it. If you don't have enough common sense to work a toaster oven, you should never step foot in a kitchen. To me, all these senseless meetings were an insult to my intelligence and a waste of time. If you're going to have safety meetings, stick to topics that deal with my career and do safety across the board, not when its convenient. Also, see point 1.) about being hypocritical.
In closing, I hope this email helps Douglas, Michael, Darryl and future agents. They bust their butts day to day for Cargill. They are the heart & soul of NOVA. Without them no one would have a job over there. Show them the respect they deserve. Quit taking them for granted. Can they be replaced? Probably so, but then you have to train more people only for them to quit when they realized that NOVA/Cargill does not care about them. It will be an endless cycle. They only one losing out will be NOVA/Cargill.
Regards,
Scott Dalon
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