WOW! Just wow. Check your E-mail.
Here is their latest "improvements". My responses are in blue. I really would like to post it on their board, but I doubt it would last. I'm just a little bit ticked
and adding my own comments made me feel somewhat better. I would probably feel more let down if my foot wasn't already halfway out the door.
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Hello IDIOT,
Starting next week, we're putting YOU in charge of your destiny
Thanks! I think it is now my destiny to get the heck out of dodge!
For the past few months, we've been quietly evaluating the effectiveness of the way we compensate you for Guiding. We've been reading the Forum closely, listening to your feedback, and looking for ways to improve how we do things.
And we've decided it is not very effective to compensate you for guiding. How else will Scott Jones pay his mortgage payments if we don't cut into your hard-earned pay checks? Times are getting tough, even for the big guys!
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I think you'll agree that our current pay system is not without its downsides. SP and GE Guides are under constant pressure to produce quantity and quality answers to have a shot at Top Guide pay. While this rewards merit, it also depends heavily on Quality Control scoring. QC scoring, while generally on the mark, is far from an exact science.
You'll also agree that this pay system is not going to be any better. We're still working on training the monkeys in the QC department. It's more like rocket science for them.
We've noticed that Top Guide changes on Thursdays cause anxiety and disappointment for some of our Guides. For those who fall just short, like a 4th place Olympian, it can be more than a little demoralizing.
Whatever.
Naturally, keeping all our Guides motivated and happy leads to better customer service and a better experience in general. You've endured traffic slowdowns, seen some question types get shifted to Expeditors, and wondered aloud if the Specialist and Generalist roles were on their way to extinction.
If only we could find a way to get rid of you, we would! But you're in luck....
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They are not, that's for sure. Instead, in looking to address some of our current shortcomings on the compensation front, we are rolling out a brand new way to pay Specialist and Generalist Guides...
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This is so wonderful for you!!! Come on, now....drink the Kool-Aid...
Category Pay
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Call it "Category Pay" for short. The amount you earn for answering a query will now be determined by the type of question it is. Harder categories of questions will pay more; easier categories will pay comparatively less. The choice of which categories to sign up for remains entirely up to you.
We were going to call it "Pay Cut" for short, but we decided against that. Either way, you'll still be earning less, meaning, we make more! Problem solved!
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In other words, Category Pay will put you in greater charge of your own destiny than ever before. Pay rates for all categories are published for your perusal. The lowest rate is $0.10, the top rate is $0.22, so some queries will now earn you more than the current Top Guide rate.* None will earn you less than the current base pay.
The current base pay at which we would all do better collecting food stamps and welfare?
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More important than pay range, however, is the greater predictability, transparency, and equality in the new pay system.
Instead of wondering if you're going to be screwed out of money this week, you will know for sure....you are DEFINITELY being screwed this week! And every other week from now on! Now you never have to worry.
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Guides will now get paid the same for the same work. No longer will some Guides be making double what other Guides are making in a particular category. For all the good things about the current Top Guide setup, this was a justifiable gripe, especially by Guides who just missed Top Guide the prior week.
You just had to gripe about your pay didn't you? So instead of making things better, we'll just make it worse for everyone. That will teach them a lesson!
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The Top Guide system, as you know it today, will no longer exist starting next week; it will revert to a weekly rewards and recognition program.* Top Guide will continue to run as usual this week, however.* The new pay system is tentatively scheduled to go out Feb. 18th.
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With Category Pay, your pay will not be directly affected by past performance. Instead, it is entirely dependent on the categories in which you answer questions.
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For example: answer 100 questions in "White Pages," a $0.10 category, that's $10. Answer 50 in "Math," a $0.20 category, that's also $10. Most Guides will choose a mix and match of various categories and pay rates.
So let me get this straight. All the questions that made it worthwhile to actually work for ChaCha are now at a pay-rate that averages out to about $3 an hour (on a good traffic day). ***??? Would YOU work for this?
With the week-to-week fluctuations of Top Guide gone, all Guides will have a better idea what they can earn each week. What's more, individual QC feedbacks won't have the same worrisome, distracting effect on you because they are not directly tied to your pay.
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And since you're not all worried and distracted, you won't bother our feedback department anymore. We really would prefer to lay in the lounge room on our laptops with our stinky feet propped up. Please don't bother us!
How Quality Still Matters
By now, you're probably wondering, "if Top Guide is gone, how will quality be recognized? Surely ChaCha won't just ignore quality as a factor in Guide pay."
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Because we really give a crap about ChaCha now. We still care that ChaCha gives quality answers. Sure. We can't afford to pay our bills on the peanuts being dished out, but what we are really worried about is that ChaCha might fail due to lack in quality answers.
That's true, we are not ignoring quality under the Category Pay system. Quality is the bedrock of our service, and we want to ensure that all Guides continue to have a financial incentive to give Wow answers.
If we were really smart, we would keep people around who actually expect a decent pay for decent work. You get what you pay for, right?
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So under Category Pay, your quality rating will affect how likely you are to receive queries compared to another Guide. Whether traffic is high or low, the best Guides will get first dibs on incoming questions for their categories and interests. That means the most chances to earn.
Wow! A chance to earn a whole dime!!!! I haven't earned this much money since I was a kid and got a two-dollar-a-week allowance! Maybe now I can afford to compete with my nephew's Pokemon collection!
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Under the old system, quality affected pay, not query routing. So an average guide or a poor guide was just as likely to get a question as a Top Guide. In times of slower traffic, especially, this meant a Top Guide might not out-earn an average Guide, since a little bad luck getting queries sent her way would level the playing field.
Lets just be honest. We really don't know what was going on with the old system. Don't worry though, the tech department is fixing the issues! If there were news, we would let you know.
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Category Pay fixes that weakness by giving the best Guides the most chances to answer questions. It's also, by the way, great for the company as a whole, since more customers get answers coming from our best Guides.
No. More customers are going to get answers from KGB once all the guides with any sense decide to leave this ridiculous company that exploits stay at home moms and the like.
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Quality Control will remain active in reviewing a sampling of all Guides' work each week to produce quality ratings that will be fed into our routing algorithms. But the effect of any one QC notice will be much more indirect in affecting your pay than it has been to date. You won't need to fight tooth and nail to hit the cutoff of Top Guide or risk losing half your pay. The effect will be far more gradual, so we hope to reduce frustration levels all around.
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Your routing algorithms? Where was this algorithm when no one was getting traffic several months back? Suddenly, you have it all figured out and you think you can direct traffic exactly where you want it. Wow, you have come a long way! Or maybe you were just feeding us all a bunch of BS before?
As you see, each system has its upsides and downsides. But we're very confident that with Category Pay, we've created a pay system that more fairly compensates all Guides, while providing ways for the best Guides to earn more, and deservedly so!
We've created a pay system that more fairly pads out wallets, while providing a great reason for the best Guides to get lost!
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Thanks for all your efforts - we look forward to a fantastic 2009!
Thanks for your charity - we look forward to increasing our bottom line in 2009.
Hey that rhymed...we will now require all answers to rhyme, otherwise, we are deducting 40% from your QC score!
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-ChaCha Guide Care
-ChaCha Doesn't Care
would be after me too.
