New Country Manager stirs Wachovia’s nest
By Juan Dela Cruz

Change in management can bring better directions and new hope for everyone in a call center company. Newly installed Wachovia Country Manager Philippines, Tonichi Villanueva, however, is getting more than she bargained for. And it is likely that it has a lot do with what the management is doing and bringing to the table.

Wachovia top dog Tonichi, with her stunning good looks and appeal, may have somebody saying she ought to be working on TV or the movies. However, many inside Wachovia can tell you right now, there’s a lot more to a person than their looks. Especially for this particular call center head. A sizable number of employees have taken their concerns online while a couple of disgruntled employees have reached out to me via my email address to describe their experiences with their dear beautiful leader Tonichi.

Conduct and professionalism matters to most people in a company setting. These two were major concerns for one Wachovia employee who wrote me saying she never thought someone with such a successful track record and lofty post in the company can make a junior feel so little. At a casual meet-up, one employee asked Tonichi if all employees will get paid on the 14th like they usually do. This employee was blown off by her country manager and was told that it wasn’t even the 15th yet and they already want to get paid. Based on the rest of her email to me, it is apparent that their new Manager had pushed through too many changes like new score cards and appraisals in a short period of time. It also appears that these changes were too drastic for her people to adapt easily, hence the increasing resistance from those who have been with Wachovia since they started here in the Philippines many years ago.  There is an element of the old resisting the new.

Here’s a sign that the highly regarded Tonichi may have taken things personally even when they were not directed at her. Another employee wrote to me saying Tonichi was trying to pin down someone to accuse when most of Wachovia’s employees decided to wear black on the second year anniversary of Wachovia. Apparently, their country manager wasn’t aware that such a show of solidarity by employees was going to be done and she thought it was a form of protest against her leadership. In Philippine culture, it is a sign of protest and/or death of somebody when people concerned are wearing black clothing.

The discussion about this new Wachovia country manager has reached fever pitch inside a popular call center forum. This early in her stay, many from inside the company have narrated their bad experiences relating to the top management of Wachovia. Personally, it sounds like that some Wachovia managers need to brush up on Change Management 101.

Wachovia is one of the largest banks in the U.S. with back-office operations located in major BPO hubs like India and the Philippines where they operate in partnership with BPO giant GENPACT.

(For more feedback on Wachovia or any other BPO companies in the Philippines, email me at 1delacruise at gmail dot com.)