scholarly journals Exploring predictors of job satisfaction in call centres – The case of Australia

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 376-395
Author(s):  
John Annakis ◽  
Tony Lobo ◽  
Soma Pillay

In this paper we examine predictors of job satisfaction within the call centre industry. Using a qualitative methodology, we investigate the nature and extent of job satisfaction of customer service representatives in two large Australian call centres. The findings from the study confirm that monitoring, personal privacy and flexibility correlate to workers’ wellbeing and job satisfaction

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Tuheena Mukherjee ◽  
Kanika T. Bhal

Numerous researches in call centres indicate the negative psychological impact in the form of burnout experiences of the customer service representatives. The present study argues that burnout experiences do not always have a negative impact on the employee’s self-worth. The relationship is, instead, moderated by the impact of job-worth, which acts as a potential individual resource. The results of the present study conducted on 312 call centre representatives partially confirm our hypotheses. Results indicate that representatives who have high job-worth maintain their self-worth, even when emotionally exhausted. The results also show that employees possessing high job-worth, even with low personal accomplishments on their jobs, maintain their self-worth. We discuss the findings in the Indian call centre context from the perspective of self and identity literature and provide broader implications for practice and research.


Author(s):  
Willie A. Visser ◽  
Sebastiaan Rothmann

The aim of this study was to develop a brief daily hassle diagnostic questionnaire that could be used to identify daily hassles for customer service representatives within a call centre environment, and to investigate the relationship between daily hassles and burnout. A crosssectional survey was used with an accidental sample (N = 394) taken from a service and sales call centre. An exploratory factor analysis of the data resulted in a six-factor model of daily hassles consisting of daily demands, continuous change, co-worker hassles, demotivating work environment, transportation hassles and personal concerns. The internal consistency of one factor, namely personal concerns, was low. Exhaustion was best predicted by four categories of daily hassles, namely daily demands, continuous change, a demotivating work environment, and transportation hassles.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Jagodziński ◽  
Dawn Archer

Abstract Many customer service institutions draw on the (argued over) notion of “customer experience”. Gentile et al. (2007) suggest that, at an optimum, the notion assumes a thinking and feeling customer who co-creates their customer experience together with the service providing institution. This co-creation is believed to comprise interactional involvement, personalization and the holistic treatment of the customer’s needs. Given the latter, we might expect service providers, such as call centres, to view language as a vital means of creating an experience with the customer. The extant linguistic call centre research, including our own, points to the fact that call centre institutions view language as fundamental to their functioning. However, heavy language regulation tends to be the most important - if not the only - means of achieving outstanding customer experience (Cameron 2000; Jagodziński 2013; Archer and Jagodziński 2015). There is a clear mismatch, then, between the tenets of customer experience and the way language is conceptualized, interactionally managed and regulated. Throughout this paper, we argue that the co-creation of customer experience must be accompanied by its linguistic co-construction, which can only be achieved by giving frontline employees more interactional freedom than they tend to have in practice.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2(J)) ◽  
pp. 79-91
Author(s):  
Devina Oodith

Customer call centres have become a critical form of service delivery for many organisations hence technological innovations serve as a critical point of contact between the organisation and its customers and can assist in raising the stakes in businesses in terms of customer service delivery (Burgess & Connell, 2004). According to the 2017 Global Customer Experience Benchmarking Report technology has been the number one enabler to positively enhance customer service experience in the last 5 years (Business Tech, 2017). Customers have become so empowered that they expect to have flexibility to contact a business however they choose; either via a telephone, email or Facebook. The key to ensuring satisfaction though is system’s efficiency and ease of use. This study was undertaken in EThekwini (Durban), South Africa and was directed within a Public Sector service environment comprising of four major call centres employing a total of 240 call centre agents. Using simple random sampling, 220 customers were drawn from all consumers subscribing to e-billing in EThekwini (Durban). Data for the customer sample was collected using a precoded, self-developed questionnaire whose psychometric properties were statistically determined. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results specify that in terms of customers’ perceptions of the influence of technology, on call centre effectiveness the majority of the customers found it challenging to use the technology and to understand the self-help options that were provided to them by the call centre. There were problems encountered with logging in customer queries and complaints and most customers were dissatisfied with their overall customer experience. Based on the results of the study recommendations have been made to manage the interactions between the customers and call centre’s more proficiently and powerfully.


2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 62-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Crone ◽  
Lorraine Carey ◽  
Peter Dowling

ABSTRACTWhile there is a growing body of research on telephone call centre management in the U.K. and the U.S.A., empirical studies in Australia are at an embryonic stage. To date, most of the studies have focussed on the management of employee performance. The principal aim of this study was to provide data on current compensation practices in Australian call centres and to determine the extent of their strategic and best-practice orientation. A second aim was to explore whether the strategic management of compensation can help to balance the tension between commitment to customer service and commitment to employee motivation.Using data collected through a mail questionnaire survey of telephone call centres operating in a range of industries in Australia, the paper explores the effect of compensation practices on employee performance, absenteeism and turnover. Following a review of the literature on call centre management and the literature on compensation strategies, the findings are presented. Key findings include: a) a significant negative correlation between annual salary and the number of calls handled by full-time customer service representatives (CSRs); b) a significant positive correlation between casual CSRs' pay rates and turnover; c) a significant negative correlation between full-time CSRs' pay and absenteeism; d) a highly significant difference between the compensation strategies currently practiced in Australian call centres and the strategies call centre managers think should be practiced and e) Australian call centre managers report their compensation strategies are not very effective in increasing performance or employee satisfaction.


Author(s):  
Gary Crone ◽  
Lorraine Carey ◽  
Peter Dowling

ABSTRACTWhile there is a growing body of research on telephone call centre management in the U.K. and the U.S.A., empirical studies in Australia are at an embryonic stage. To date, most of the studies have focussed on the management of employee performance. The principal aim of this study was to provide data on current compensation practices in Australian call centres and to determine the extent of their strategic and best-practice orientation. A second aim was to explore whether the strategic management of compensation can help to balance the tension between commitment to customer service and commitment to employee motivation.Using data collected through a mail questionnaire survey of telephone call centres operating in a range of industries in Australia, the paper explores the effect of compensation practices on employee performance, absenteeism and turnover. Following a review of the literature on call centre management and the literature on compensation strategies, the findings are presented. Key findings include: a) a significant negative correlation between annual salary and the number of calls handled by full-time customer service representatives (CSRs); b) a significant positive correlation between casual CSRs' pay rates and turnover; c) a significant negative correlation between full-time CSRs' pay and absenteeism; d) a highly significant difference between the compensation strategies currently practiced in Australian call centres and the strategies call centre managers think should be practiced and e) Australian call centre managers report their compensation strategies are not very effective in increasing performance or employee satisfaction.


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