Staff using phones

[AlterEgo]

The picture clearly shows he is not using the device for customer service or internal work reasons.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Today at 11:18 ==


If the job is that monotonous and isn’t considered safety critical as the ‘insider’ posters have said, why not get rid of the roles at quiet stations like this one? Plenty of metros globally have their gate lines unstaffed

Because having a staffed system is important for actual safety and the perception of safety. (New York has loads of staff by the way, including at gatelines and on platforms)

Gateline is an important job in that they are mostly useful in crowd management and emergency response. On the Tube, in confined underground stations, there should be staff who are trained to assist in evacuation and to close stations to the public at very short notice.

 

[MaidaVale]

why not get rid of the roles at quiet stations like this one?

Presuming you mean the one featured in your original photograph, then the reason is quite simple. I can't identify the exact station from the photo but it's clearly a deep-level Central Line station, most of which require minimum numbers of staff to remain open due to fire and safety regulations in the UK as well as LU Policies and operating practices. If they do not meet these minimum staffing numbers, then they have to close. If you took this member of staff off of the Gateline / publicly facing position, they'd still need to be employed and positioned somewhere on the station for it to operate.

A notable example of this is Paddington Bakerloo, which according to minimum staffing rules should (or did, I think it may have changed recently) always have a member of staff positioned in the connecting passageway between the Bakerloo and Elizabeth Line platforms due to fire regulations. This is a position which rarely sees customer interactions as most people that are already interchanging via that passage already know where they are going and are not passing through barriers. Nevertheless, it (is/was) still a critically required position.

Plenty of metros globally have their gate lines unstaffed

Which to be fair I'd argue is unhelpful and not really providing a good enough service. I can genuinely say I've personally had experiences in two of the previously mentioned examples (Paris and New York) where I've faced issues with the barriers not accepting my ticket despite validity (especially in the days of the magnetic paper tickets in Paris which often just stopped working for no reason) and haven't been able to find a member of staff anywhere nearby resulting in me either having to cross to the complete opposite side of the station to find somebody, or in one instance, have to completely change my route and get a bus. Just because other places don't provide things doesn't mean we shouldn't too.

Whether they're on their phone or not, they're still there to provide a service (and whether it looks like it or not, are doing so) and from personal experience having previously worked on Stations as well as using the network daily myself, I've never once encountered a member of staff who has continued to completely ignore a customer when they've requested help or not sprung into action during an emergency. If they did prioritise their phone use over their active duties then I'd consider it unwise and unprofessional to be using their device (or of course at all times if currently undertaking a heavily safety-critical task like driving a train, obviously). When it comes to gateline duties (and some more active ones) there genuinely are times when there is nothing to be done right there and then other than just simply being there in case you're needed.

 

[AlterEgo]

I occasionally watch YouTube when I’m waiting for something or have a break. I also occasionally watch the informational videos on my employer’s various channels whilst on a break, or even during working hours if I’ve got nothing else to do. If anyone has a problem with this because they can’t tell whether I’m allowed to, obliged to, or simply not allowed to do so, they’re welcome to contact customer services. What I don’t appreciate, however, is the immediate assumption that I’m not carrying out my duties.

Well, quite. There's a big difference between "bad optics" and an immediate assumption that someone is not concentrating on or performing at their role.

Staff sitting at their place of work and being seen by customers (who pay high fares and who are absolutely cogniscant of industrial action to secure better wages) watching videos for personal entertainment is bad optics regardless of internal policy.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 minutes ago ==

Whether they're on their phone or not, they're still there to provide a service (and whether it looks like it or not, are doing so) and from personal experience having previously worked on Stations as well as using the network daily myself, I've never once encountered a member of staff who has continued to completely ignore a customer when they've requested help or not sprung into action during an emergency. If they did prioritise their phone use over then I'd consider it unwise and unprofessional to be using their device (or of course if currently undertaking a heavily safety-critical task like driving a train, obviously). When it comes to gateline duties (and some more active ones) there genuinely are times when there is nothing to be done right there and then other than just simply being there in case you're needed.

That was also the case when I worked in call centres, including for the railway. But we were not allowed, nor did anyone think, that when people simply weren't calling we could do nothing or watch YouTube. We were kept productive on other duties, like responding to emails, auditing some delay repay, or quality checking letters. One obvious flaw with rail staffing is that much of it is inefficient; roving members of staff who are multifunctional across a shift would serve a better purpose than someone purely sitting on a gateline. The staff already have multiple roles and skillsets, it simply doesn't make sense for them to be head down watching a video instead of doing a number of other things.

 

[bluegoblin7]

From the OP’s tone I think it’s clear they primarily have a bee in their bonnet about fare evasion. Most staff feel the same way, but decisions by LU management and beyond have made this a significant problem and something which can’t be tackled easily. Staff can’t physically stop a fare evader, and whether they’re on their phone when no one needs assistance or not really is irrelevant - I witness fare evasion on a daily basis through gatelines with three, four, five members of staff monitoring it. They’re going to push through regardless - maybe the OP would like to do the same instead of vilifying staff members.

Gateline work is soul destroying, and I’m pleased I don’t do it any more. As time-served members will I am sure attest, I always took the job seriously and was proactive, but I had no qualms using my phone during quieter periods or if no-one needed assistance. It didn’t draw my attention away from the job and didn’t affect anybody.

My views would be quite different if the CSA was on their phone with a huge queue of members of the public waiting to be assisted, or actually carrying out safety critical duties.

I again ask if the OP would like someone to come into their workplace and take unsolicited photos of them at perceived transgressions, whilst airing grievances that are entirely not the fault of front line staff. I wish my life was so perfect that I genuinely got worked up by something as irrelevant as this.

 

[ainsworth74]

If the job is that monotonous and isn’t considered safety critical as the ‘insider’ posters have said, why not get rid of the roles at quiet stations like this one? Plenty of metros globally have their gate lines unstaffed

For one I've been trapped by other metro systems either in or out of the system and have had to either pay again, tailgate or force my way through the barriers at unmanned barrier lines. I'm not convinced that this is an area where we should be taking lessons. Quite apart from a staffed station, even though it isn't the role of the staff to be security, feels safer and more welcoming than an unstaffed station. Especially in urban metro areas.