scholarly journals The development of a hassle-based diagnostic scale for predicting burnout in call centres

2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Willie A. Visser ◽  
Sebastiaan Rothmann
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Work Environment ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Daily Hassles ◽  
Call Centre ◽  
Continuous Change ◽  
Call Centres ◽  
Customer Service Representatives ◽  
The Relationship

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.

Do They Always Have Wounded Selves: Moderating Impact of Job-worth on Burnout and Self-worth of Indian Call Centre Employees

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Tuheena Mukherjee ◽  
Kanika T. Bhal
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Psychological Impact ◽  
Call Centre ◽  
Call Centres ◽  
Self And Identity ◽  
Self Worth ◽  
Customer Service Representatives ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

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.

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
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Call Centre ◽  
Personal Privacy ◽  
Call Centres ◽  
Customer Service Representatives

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

scholarly journals The relationship between organisational climate and employee satisfaction in a South African information and technology organisation

2010 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monia L. Castro ◽  
Nico Martins
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Work Environment ◽  
South African ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Strong Positive Correlation ◽  
Line Managers ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Organisational Climate ◽  
Exploratory Factor Analyses ◽  
The Relationship

Orientation: Organisational climate and job satisfaction are distinct but related constructs, and both appear to influence employees’ understanding of the work environment and their level of job satisfaction.Research purpose: The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between organisational climate and job satisfaction to determine whether employees’ perceptions of the work environment influence their level of job satisfaction.Motivation for the study: Organisations are facing more challenges than ever before. These challenges are not unique to any specific organisation or industry, but affect all organisations.Organisational climate in particular is constantly challenged by changes impacting organisations today.Research design, approach and method: An organisational climate questionnaire was administered to a convenience sample of 696 employees from a population of 1453 employees working in three regions in which the organisation was operational. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses were used to investigate the structure of the climate model.Main findings: The revised 12-factor model (after the confirmatory factor analysis) fitted the data best and the researchers therefore decided to proceed with the revised 12-factor model (11 dimensions) for further analysis. A stepwise regression was conducted and nine dimensions of organisational climate were found to predict job satisfaction. The results indicated a strong positive correlation (r = 0.813, p< 0.01) between organisational climate and the dependent variable of job satisfaction.Practical implications: This study provided support for the view that line managers and human resource practitioners should be aware that different biographical groups have different needs that can influence their job satisfaction levels and different perceptions of the climate within the organisation and that this impacts on their behaviour.Contribution: The findings of this study indicated a positive relationship between organisational climate scores and job satisfaction scores and thus, regardless of how the dimensions are perceived, organisational climate has an influence on job satisfaction.

scholarly journals Co-creating customer experience through call centre interaction: Interactional achievement and professional face

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Jagodziński ◽  
Dawn Archer
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Customer Experience ◽  
Call Centre ◽  
Frontline Employees ◽  
Holistic Treatment ◽  
Call Centres ◽  
The Way

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.

scholarly journals Enhanced Customer Interactions through Customer-Centric Technology within a Call Centre

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2(J)) ◽  
pp. 79-91
Author(s):  
Devina Oodith
Keyword(s):  
Service Delivery ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
Simple Random Sampling ◽  
Customer Experience ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Call Centre ◽  
Call Centres ◽  
Self Help ◽  
Public Sector Service ◽  
Sector Service

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.

scholarly journals The Relationships Between Perceptions Of Supervisor, Trust In Supervisor And Job Performance: A Study In The Banking Industry

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Betty J. Birkenmeier ◽  
Pierre-Yves Sanséau
Keyword(s):  
Job Performance ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
The United States ◽  
Front Line ◽  
Customer Contact ◽  
Immediate Supervisor ◽  
Customer Service Representatives ◽  
Regional Banks ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Supervisor Trust

<p>The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the perceptions a front line employee has of their immediate supervisor, the trust the front line employee has in this supervisor, and an employee’s job performance. Data were collected from 457 employees holding customer contact positions at community and regional banks located in several states in the southern part of the United States. The findings of the study indicate that there is strong correlation between the perceptions an employee has of their supervisor and the trust the employee has in their supervisor for Customer Service Representatives.  Furthermore, it was found that there was, at best, a weak correlation between perceptions of supervisor and job performance.</p>

Calling on Compensation in Australian Call Centres

2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 62-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Crone ◽  
Lorraine Carey ◽  
Peter Dowling
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Negative Correlation ◽  
Employee Performance ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Significant Negative Correlation ◽  
Telephone Call ◽  
Call Centre ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Call Centres ◽  
Significant Difference

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.

Calling on Compensation in Australian Call Centres

2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 62-76
Author(s):  
Gary Crone ◽  
Lorraine Carey ◽  
Peter Dowling
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Negative Correlation ◽  
Employee Performance ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Significant Negative Correlation ◽  
Telephone Call ◽  
Call Centre ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Call Centres ◽  
Significant Difference

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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