I would like to announce
that InvoCare is willing to support this blog and will seek to support the honours
research. Which is a seriously big advantage for me! In light of
this I thought it appropriate to write about my interaction with InvoCare up to
this point. As it has significantly influenced how I see InvoCare.
Hopefully this post will
help others understand my perception of InvoCare!
The early days as an employee
My first interaction with
InvoCare was through working at a well-known Sydney funeral home. This
was also my first direct interaction with the funeral industry in about a
decade. I had attended a couple of funerals, but as a child years ago.
So I really knew nothing about the industry at all, and had no idea
InvoCare even existed. I enjoyed getting to know InvoCare.
Initially when I started
InvoCare was no more than a name on paperwork I signed. Over time the
staff told me about InvoCare, explaining the company and what it was like from
their perspective. Many told me of the size of InvoCare, stating how
they controlled a huge portion of the industry in Sydney. This is the article I wrote about how many funeral InvoCare really does.
The comments of InvoCare
were mixed from staff. With both good and bad things being said.
Some said InvoCare was very corporate, that a focus on profit.
Generally there was some resistance to InvoCare so my first insight
into my employers was impacted by this. Although others did comment on
good parts of InvoCare, like its high OH&S standards.
Interestingly my first
direct encounter with InvoCare was due to OH&S. A couple of people
from InvoCare had come along to the funeral home to see about making safety
improvements. They did not interact with me at all, but the fact that
InvoCare had sent specialists to improve working conditions was interesting.
Especially in light of some comments about how into OH&S InvoCare
was.
Over my year of employment I
saw InvoCare make several minor and major changes to improve safety. From
enforcing training to adding safety things, InvoCare was clearly spending a lot
of time and money. Not to mention the skill sets also involved, having
specialists and trained people planning and implementing. When it came to
OH&S InvoCare was putting as much effort in as practically possible.
But it was not just OH&S
style improvements to working conditions. InvoCare had training on how to
do things, like manage a baby’s funeral. There were computer based tests
here and there about bullying and harassment. So far I had heard mixed
things of InvoCare, but seen them really trying to improve working conditions
in many ways.
Adding to this was the mindset
at the funeral home and it really influenced how I would later go on to
understand and treat InvoCare. InvoCare’s changes were sometimes
resisted. Simple things such as training sessions were delayed and
delayed. It took almost a year for me to do the training course
on manual handling. A course on how to safely transfer a body,
lower a coffin, etc. All things I had been doing without any real
training. This is when I realised something, I had only participated in
one training session at the funeral home in a whole year. They had a
total of two, but I was sent on a transfer for one (eve though I was new and
could have benefited).
I realised how much of a
negative mentality there was against InvoCare. That anything they did,
however beneficial or unimportant, was opposed. It was opposed for
two main reasons, firstly that it was InvoCare and secondly it was not how
things "should" be done. I personally witnessed InvoCare trying
to make an improvement, fighting hard to make my conditions better.
The higher ups at InvoCare
were also all quite nice and respectful to me. Whenever someone high
within InvoCare came by they would stop and greet each of the staff.
Sure, it is simple people management, but it is also polite and nice.
The funerals staff really appreciated it, such a simple yet
respectful thing to do. Even at the company Christmas party
people high within the company chatted with me. It would be nice of all
managers in the industry were like this.
Over my year InvoCare fought
for me and treated me with respect the whole time. It was a stark
polarisation against some who did not treat me with the same level of
respect, showed a total disinterest in working conditions
and criticised InvoCare heavily. This really set the way I look
at InvoCare more than anything else. The way it is unfairly and
pointlessly attacked just for being InvoCare. Yet really stood up for me
(and others) several times.
As a mourner
When my grandparents died I
suggested InvoCare as the funeral home.
Specifically Guardian because I just personally prefer that
brand over others. The funeral was in Brisbane, which meant I had little
involvement past this. InvoCare offered everything we wanted,
namely convenience, so we went with it.
The funeral itself was not
perfect, there were a few mistakes. Overall we were happy and had gotten
what we wanted (and would go there again). InvoCare had offered and
provided a convenient but nice funeral. However, I found there
was a lacking, a distance of a sort. Perhaps because I was in Sydney, or
perhaps because we had wanted a convent and simple funeral. But
it was not a very "personal" experience in a way. It's hard to
describe, let along think of why, and yet that is how I felt afterwards.
Overall InvoCare had done
exactly what we wanted, a convenient and simple funeral. There
was no complaints of the way we were treated, or of the price. Everything
had been quite reasonable, not perfect but certainly good enough.
Studying & meeting InvoCare
At the start of the blog I
was unsure about InvoCare. They might not like it and certainly had the
ability to shut it down. But I remained positive, hoping that they would
contact me about working together. I knew InvoCare would quickly
be aware of the blog, the company was always watching and looking for
things like that. So as I wrote the blog I made sure to subtly
'encourage' InvoCare to contact me. From writing about how many funerals
they did to discussing the company extensively.
In the mean time I continued
to write my blog and do my research. Part of which involved looking into
how many funeral InvoCare did per year. As part of understanding the size
of InvoCare. I also saw some InvoCare staff in action and talked with them
at the 2012 Rookwood Open Day. For the most part InvoCare became distant
and indirect. I knew they were reading the blog but not taking the bait
and so I looked at them from the distance.
By the end of the year I was
tired of waiting, and needed to start the ball rolling with InvoCare. So
I sent off an email to the general company email. People had given me
names and details for specific people to contact within InvoCare. But in
the end I thought InvoCare could forward it to the right person.
Within a surprisingly short
time I received a simple but positive reply. The reply sounded
good, and asked for more details. Such a good sign and all I
wanted. Not long after this I was invited for a chat and a coffee.
Again, another positive email with a casual tone, which was very
encouraging.
I arrived at the InvoCare
head office, never having been there before. And found it was everything
I expected. To me the reception area was incredibly InvoCare in every
way. The reception area was very professional corporate in tone
and atmosphere. To one side was a reception desk, staffed by a
very friendly and efficient person. She managed several phone
calls, to greet me, let staff through and more in just the short time I was there.
And all without looking rushed or even busy. Next to the reception
desk were some comfy couches and a coffee table. The coffee table had
several funeral industry magazines, all up to date and in good condition.
To me this little area was
such a good representation of everything I knew about InvoCare.
The corporate professionalism, how well the company conducted itself
on a corporate level. Yet the reception room could belong to
any corporation. Apart from the InvoCare name here and there the place
had no specific feel to it. One could change the name and it could be a
law firm reception area quite easily.
The magazines to the side
were also rather telling to me. They were such a good representation of
the importance Invocare puts into information. Each magazine was not only
current but also in perfect condition. Clearly they are
rotated regularly to keep up to date and to look good. The
variety was also rather impressive, as there was one from quite a few notable
organisations. From the AFDA to InvoCare's own one.
Unfortunately I did not get
long to poke about. But in a short time this small space had conveyed
everything InvoCare to me. From the efficiency and politeness of the
staff to the current industry magazines.
The people I was set to meet
came out and we went across the road for a coffee. They were very
friendly, and positive about working with InvoCare. Emphasising that they
could not make promises, but liked the idea of working with me on both the blog
and honours. Overall it was a very encouraging and promising chat.
A few things did stand out
to me though. When we talked of criticism raised against
InvoCare they took it almost personally. The foreign thing was
particularly personal for them. The way they talked of InvoCare as an
"Australian success story" was not just company rhetoric.
It was a personal pride in the company, a defence of it on an
individual and personal level. To criticise InvoCare
(especially for being foreign) was an insult to them.
They clearly had not on a
passion, but a personal link to the company. Which I found in many of the
higher ups of InvoCare. These people generally have a strong and personal
link to InvoCare and a passion for the company and the job. Which in
turn accidentally gives InvoCare a sense of personal passion.
InvoCare is possibly the most passionate company within the industry to
me. The company itself has an identity and personality, reacting more
like a person than a company to certain things. Things I have seen and
heard of how InvoCare has acted sound more like a person. Like someone
who was offended or upset and reacted out of emotion. The reason for this is
not because InvoCare itself is alive, but because many of the people within it
breath life into the company.
I also noticed the use of
rhetoric in our little chat. Certain language used by the staff had a
hint of company and funeral industry rhetoric. An example was when one
described InvoCare as "an Australian success story".
This statement is rather heavy with company speak in a way, the sort of
thing that would make a nice sound bite. The InvoCare people were not
heavy with rhetoric and felt quite genuin. Yet some of the things said
would be well suited to a press release. A good example of how the things
we do regularly and the language we use can influence how we talk and think.
One of the best parts of the
meeting was a confirmation of my numbers. The statistics I have worked
out for InvoCare, specifically regarding how many funerals it does, were
apparently quite close. There was less than 10% difference between their numbers and mine. And yes, I know these
numbers can be found in InvoCare things publicly. That InvoCare
release a lot of that type of information openly. But it was nice to hear
it in person, from someone at InvoCare.
Overall
In the end InvoCare has
always treated me very well in all three roles I have had. As a funeral
employee they fought to improve my conditions. And even though I was a number
in a system they never treated me that way, even high people took time to talk
with me. As an employee I was treated better by InvoCare than any of the
retail companies I previously worked at.
Then despite making a few
mistakes InvoCare gave us everything we wanted. Creating a decent experience that was
well worth the money and time. It was not a prefect funeral, but it was
one everyone agreed we would do again.
Finally as a 'researcher'
InvoCare was respectful and supportive, taking time to chat with me and confirm
a few things. Not only helping with my research but being very polite at
every step. Most companies turn me down, a number are even rude.
Only very few have been both supportive and polite, and InvoCare is one
of those.
By now it should be no
wonder why I have a certain perception of InvoCare. I do hear many
negative things about the company, some pointless, some untrue, others on topic
and quite true. Yet no matter what I will always remember how I was
treated, and I have always been treated well in every way by InvoCare.
An~~
I worked for Invocare for 5 years and found that all this company cared about was market share and profit. They certainly didn't care about their employees who were working in understaffed conditions and putting in 16 hour day to cope with the workload. There were incentives offered for selling the more expensive coffins and management received bonuses for saving money, generally by screwing their staff hence why we worked 16 hour days. This company does not care about the families it serves or their staff, all they care about is how much profit they can get their hands on each year and buying funeral homes to aquire market share. It actually says a lot about a company when the only way to lead the market is to buy everything available rather than providing a good service to their customers.
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