Like other agencies, Insight considers it is essential for interpreters arrive punctually at the requested destination. But when incident of late arrival frequently occurs, the offender will be questioned and given written warning, quoted as below:
We have never had anyone who would have been well over an hour late for an
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assignment. We had to run around like hens and chickens trying to cover the job. I want to establish whether it was a case of your timing being far too tight on this occasion…The hospital was not… happy with us [email, some parts omitted].
Field notes have recorded the exact moments when members “run around like hens and chickens” [jnl]: “Several rounds of calls came through from the client anxiously waiting for the ‘missing’ interpreter. As Mark gave no warning to Insight that he would be late, members naturally responded to the client that ‘he must be just around the corner and would appear in any minute’. After all, it was not their first time to deal with similar cases and they are convinced that if they apologise genuinely, people would understand.
However, tension built up when they were told that Mark still had not showed up since last call at 40 minutes ago.
The hospital eventually decided to go ahead with the operation without the interpreter and filed a serious complaint against Insight. The director lost her temper with Mark. She shot his belated text an angry look, grumbling about his “irresponsible attitude” and
“unprofessional behaviour”. The incident concluded with Mark’s apology afterwards.
But the actual disciplinary measures were no more constructive than a “grievance email”
asking for an explanation. Nothing substantial has been done to prevent a reoccurrence, apart from the director complaining that “it is very detrimental to Insight’s professional image” [A-Director]. One manager frankly admitted:
The situation doesn't allow us to do more, because we have a very small team, if one person is not available, you gonna have to ask the other person. Unless you make a decision, okay I will never use this person again, which happened before, but rarely. [A-Mng-2]
Even in extreme cases where the same interpreter is repeatedly late for the job, the decision to “consider stopping using someone” remains uncertain. In one incident, Magda was booked for an appointment at 2.30 pm but “she claimed that she’s never told where to go”. She only phoned back to the office at 2 pm to ask for the address, which angered one manager:
That’s just crazy! This is the third time... And if there are more people I am not gonna use her again, because she is just too much.[A-Director]
But after the initial dissatisfaction, managers still come to terms with a generous attitude
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(“let’s not do it next time”), partly due to the huge demand for Polish interpreters.
Knowing that “there is no win here, not good for us either”, the Director acknowledged
“that is what we can do at this stage”. Insight eventually has to rely on giving some verbal warning which will “make her feel guilty, feel that she needs to take the responsibility, then she will not try again” [A-Director]. The interpreter Mark and Magda are only two of the many examples that manifest Insight’s attitude towards the obstruction to service quality and professionalism. Professionalism needs guided boundaries especially when the best practice of a nascent profession is yet to be taking root in everyday work realities.
When practitioners are acting without the oversight of rules, it is perhaps time for organisational and managerial authority to intervene and check the freedom. As the Director argued:
Listen, in the code of conduct it writes be punctual, be responsible and be professional, what else can you say? You can’t hold their hands forever, if they cannot be responsible professionals, then we shouldn't be sending them. [A-Director]
But managers still keep “sending them and she keeps receiving jobs” because “we have no choice” [A-Mng-1]. Insight, like other agencies, has its vested interest in each job accomplished. The commercial returns based on that inevitably render managerial decision bounded by practical concerns. They are often caught between two stools—their heightened awareness to thwart bad practice from happening (‘being late’ in this example) and their incapacity to change what has happened. Insight must constantly squeeze a middle ground in the face of different demands of institutional forces with conflicting logic.
Occasionally, Insight receives emergency call-outs for medical interpreting assignments.
To fulfil their promise of 24/7 customer service, members have to contact interpreters at night; for urgent requests, interpreters will be driven by managers to the hospital if taxi expense is not covered. Locating someone out-of-hours is not an easy task, especially past mid-night. As one manager reflected:
You have to be so apologetic, and then everyone is also so apologetic. I actually phoned Eva. But she was ill in bed, so couldn’t go. I just told her to go back to sleep. I phoned Avoro, no answer, but I think he might be still working. Then I got Rebecca who was prepared to go. But they don't drive, so I would’ve had to drive anyway. It’s quite far. [A-Mng-2]
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This reveals that the policy of no payable travel expenses significantly reduces the incentives for interpreters to work irregular hours. Some agencies do not even offer differentiated rates for day and night shifts [B-Int]. This increases the difficulty in calling interpreters to work and the perceived responsibility that agencies assumes to enhance public service. To win clients and deliver the promise of being highly responsive, several key Insight members have to turn to “ambulance drivers” transporting interpreters to help with the front-line emergency.
The Director herself had quite a few experiences of being a ‘driver’. She recalled one case where she had to run errands for an interpreter:
It was a last-minute emergency. She phoned that she hasn’t got a babysitter, so she has to go to the hospital with the child. Then I said, ‘right, I will go now, and I will watch the child for you.’ What else can I do? She doesn't have a car, and we can’t let her go in with a kid! …The appointment was more than one hour, and I was sitting in car with the child, and the child woke up, hungry, thirsty and I was cold in the car. [A-Director]
Here, each single job is taken so seriously by Insight that managers are ready to do all they can to fulfil it, even if it means blurring the boundary between working and non-working life of interpreters. While watching the child is a rarer occurrence in agency practice, it illustrates that Insight is in its desperate attempt to prove its competency in meeting the contractual targets by delivering responsive and speedy service. The pursuit of professionalism is thus driven by achieving budgetary targets and fighting for the institutional recognition of its brand presence.