Call Centre Industry Research Articles

The South African Call Centre Industry: A Study of Strategy, Human Resource Practices and Performance

The South African Call Centre Industry: A Study of Strategy, Human Resource Practices and Performance

Predicting intention to quit in the call centre industry: does the retail model fit?

PurposeModels of workplace turnover are rarely assessed in contexts other than that in which they were developed. This reduces their generalizability and their usefulness in providing managers with guidance as to what they might do to reduce workers intentions to quit. The purpose of this study is to test a model derived from a study of shop floor retail salespeople in the call centre environment.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire measuring the variables in the model was completed by 126 call centre representatives recruited from 11 call centres in Melbourne, Australia.FindingsAlthough the model was supported, the interactions among the variables differed. In particular, stressors played a bigger, albeit indirect, role in the intention to quit.Practical implicationsCall centre managers need to consider carefully the aspects of the work environment that may be stressful. If appropriately addressed, turnover may be reduced, and productivity increased.Originality/valueThis paper demonstrates that the model of turnover derived from shop floor salespeople is generally robust in the call centre setting. It provides management of call centres with some guidance as to the factors associated with turnover and areas that can be addressed to reduce it.

An Asian Tiger takes up Service: The Growth of the Call Centre Industry in Singapore

An Asian Tiger takes up Service: The Growth of the Call Centre Industry in Singapore

When Non-Standard Work Becomes Precarious: Insights from the New Zealand Call Centre Industry

The issue of precarious employment has gained increasing currency over recent years, as OECD countries have shifted away from traditional standard employment models. Nevertheless, there has been little empirical research on the experiences of nonstandard workers and the links that can be established with precarious work. This article attempts to address this gap by introducing precarious employment as a sub-set of non-standard work and highlighting its distinguishing features. The Tucker model is introduced as a useful bridge between non-standard work and precariousness, and is used as a framework for examining employment experiences within two New Zealand call centres. Initial observations indicate evidence of precariousness in both workplaces, although more severe in the case of the small, outsourced call centre. In-depth analysis suggests precariousness varies depending on the nature of the employment arrangement and questions are put forth about the applicability of the 'Tucker' model to the call centre context. Key words: Non-standard, Precarious, Call centres, New Zealand Introduction The growing incidence and distribution of precarious work has caused significant concern amongst researchers, particularly in terms of the social costs associated with these working arrangements. The unregulated use of employment contracts and weak bargaining power mean that these workers often find themselves working in unsatisfactory conditions. Those in precarious employment often earn significantly less, work less desirable hours, face greater job insecurity and have access to fewer entitlements than their counterparts in more secure positions (Brosnan 1995; Alan 2000; Quinlan/Mayhew/Bohle 2000; Markey/Hodgkinson/Kowalczyk 2002; Tucker 2002). Although there is no necessary causal link between non-standard work and precarious employment, research indicates a strong association between the two concepts (Tucker 2002; Cranford/Vosko/Zukewich 2003). Recent studies indicate an increase in non-standard employment arrangements, including part-time work, selfemployment, temporary work and casual work (Carroll 1999; Felstead/Jewson 1999; Horwitz/Allan/Brosnan 2000; Campbell/Burgess 2001; Tucker 2002). Moreover, there is a variety of demand and supply side factors that can be identified in terms of contributing to the growth of non-standard employment forms. However, the question is: What are the linkages between non-standard work and precarious employment? And more fundamentally, What constitutes precariousness? The article endeavours to address these questions by examining the concept of 'precarious employment' as a sub-set of non-standard work as well as highlighting its distinguishing features within the context of two New Zealand call centre case studies. More specifically, a model developed by Tucker is introduced as a way of identifying key components of precarious employment (Tucker 2002). While there are a number of emergent models of precarious employment, it is argued that Tucker's model provides an antipodean viewpoint and useful bridge between non-standard work and precariousness. Based on an extensive literature review, Tucker identifies a number of indicators of precariousness and argues that it is the interaction of the nature of jobs and worker preferences that determines what constitutes precarious employment, but cautions it is an area where data is very limited, particularly in New Zealand and that there is a need for further research. Taking up Tucker's challenge, the article reports on a study of employment experiences within two New Zealand call centres - TEL·!, a large, inbound, in-house call centre; and MESO, a small, outbound outsourcer - in which Tucker's model is used as a framework. The rationale for focusing on New Zealand is that it provides an interesting national example of non-standard work that has relevance for other countries. The call centre sector also has been selected because of the phenomenal expansion of the industry both within New Zealand and overseas and the parallel concern with the poor working conditions that exist within many call centres (Frenkel et al. …

Precarious Employment in the New Zealand Call Centre Industry

Precarious employment is an increasingly prevalent phenomenon in contemporary labour markets. Research on the call centre industry has not only identified a growing use of non-standard employment arrangements, but also evidence to indicate that precariousness may be a feature of employment in this industry. Despite this evidence, however. There is still little known about the extent to which precarious employment is an integral part of the NZ call centre context. In addition, there has been scant research on the individual experiences of non-standard workers employed in the call centre industry. This paper aims to address the gaps in the literature by essentially 'marrying' these three broad areas of research. A framework for measuring precariousness is introduced and examined in relation to two case study call centres, selected to facilitate a comparative approach. Based on in-depth interviews with case study participants and key stakeholders, this paper examines the applicability of this framework to the NZ call centre context. Key findings from the study indicate that precarious employment is indeed a phenomenon that affects non-standard workers in the NZ call centre industry. A number of policy concerns are raised through the data, particularly where the incidence of precarious employment is associated with the lack of organisational compliance with employment legislation.

Putting Call Centres in their Place

As the popularity of call centres has grown, so too has research on the call centre industry. The existing literature on call centres can be viewed as contributing to four areas; call centre organisations, call centre management, call centre employees, and call centre customers. Despite the large amount of research that has been conducted on the industry in recent times, there are some areas that are often overlooked, in particular, gender, history and development of the industry and, importantly, the impact of place. Call centres remove the need for face-to-face contact with customers. This, combined with the technology used, results in the call centre industry being geographically mobile, with call centres located across the world, serving customers from across the world. The geographically mobile nature of the industry highlights the importance of considering place in research on call centres, both generally and specifically. Important questions that emerge include the impact of place on location decisions, on the nature of work performed, and the impact of place on the way call centre employees are managed. Following a review of the literature, this paper focuses on considering if, and how, place impacts on the HR policies and practices on call centres. The paper concludes by examining the implications of the analysis for future research.

Call Centre Work for Women: Career or Stopgap?

Much of the international literature asserts that call centres are workplaces characterised by high levels of stress, worker burnout, limited career paths and high staff turnover. The position of women is also portrayed negatively with many researchers finding women still face a number of barriers that prevent their promotion to management within a predominantly female workforce. This research contests the claim that there are limited career trajectories for women in call centres. Exploratory research with key informants in New Zealand suggests that the call centre work experience provides product or company knowledge and skills, which may assist women to gain promotion to management positions, internally or externally. The New Zealand call industry is dominated by smaller call centres and government sector call centres. This may explain why the preliminary research findings for New Zealand on women and call centre work are different to those found in the international literature. Based on case study research on five best practice companies chosen to represent the shape and diversity of the New Zealand call centre industry, this paper discusses initial findings and concerns affecting women and their career opportunities in call centres.

Call-centre industry seeks to boost training

Call-centre industry seeks to boost training

Emotional dissonance, emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction in call centre workers

The rapid rise of the service sector, and in particular the call centre industry has made the study of emotional labour increasingly important within the area of occupational stress research. Given high levels of turnover and absenteeism in the industry this article examines the emotional demands (emotional labour) of call centre work and their relationship to the job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion in a sample of South Australian call centre workers (N = 98) within the theoretical frameworks of the job demand – control model, the effort – reward imbalance model, and the job demands – resources model. Qualitatively the research confirmed the central role of emotional labour variables in the experience of emotional exhaustion and satisfaction at work. Specifically the research confirmed the pre-eminence of emotional dissonance compared to a range of emotional demand variables in its potency to account for variance in emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction. Specifically, emotional dissonance mediated the effect of emotional labour (positive emotions) on emotional exhaustion. Furthermore emotional dissonance was found to be equal in its capacity to explain variance in the outcomes compared to the most frequently researched demand measure in the work stress literature (psychosocial demands). Finally, emotional dissonance was found to exacerbate the level of emotional exhaustion at high levels of psychosocial demands, indicating jobs combining high levels of both kinds of demands are much more risky. Future theorizing about work stress needs to account for emotional demands, dissonance in particular. Potential ways to alleviate emotional exhaustion due to emotional dissonance is to reduce other psychosocial demands, increase rewards, support and control as conceptualized in the JDR model. Ways to boost job satisfaction are to increase control, support, and rewards.

Monitoring And Surveillance In Call Centres: Some Responses From Australian Workers

The call centre industry has grown rapidly both in Australia and overseas. Research on the industry has been wide-ranging, with one strand of the research involving a reassessment of labour process debates about managerial control and employee resistance. This reassessment has been partially sparked by the distinct technological features of call centre operations. Technical systems in call centres automatically distribute calls, and management have acquired an increased capability to measure and monitor employee performance and behaviour. These advances have led some scholars to argue that new heightened forms of control have emerged within the call centre industry. This article examines the extent and nature of monitoring in the call centres of two large telecommunications firms and analyses the way customer service representatives (CSRs) responded to such conditions. The article questions whether increased monitoring and surveillance, characteristic of the industry, can be conceptualised as a new form of totalising labour control. It suggests that control has not proved to be complete. As in other workplaces, workers have been able to undertake a variety of actions that attempt to restore a sense of power over their work conditions.

Call centre management: is service quality a priority?

In recent years the call centre industry has grown rapidly in size and popularity. In so doing the industry has been perceived to suffer from some of the problems associated with industrial mass production. The nature of the requirement to answer a high number of calls in these centres had led to the use of a traditional “production‐line” management approach. Recently, as a result of both customers’ and employees’ expectations rising in relation to service delivery, the trend is for call centre operations to become more focused on staff empowerment, moving away from the traditional production‐line approach. For many companies this has become a difficult management problem. This paper reports on one such company. Following a number of years’ reliance on carrying out surveys of customer perceptions, and a history of subsequent lack of service improvement, this research used an in‐depth case study approach incorporating observation studies, interviews with different levels of managers, and focus‐group discussions with front‐line service delivery staff (agents). The findings identified the service quality issues to be addressed in order to reconcile customers’ and agents’ needs; and the implications for managers.

Call centres: battery farming or free range?

Although the UK’s call centre industry is booming, it is in danger of losing its lead in Europe to the might and experience of established US call centre operators. UK call centres must fight on two fronts if they are to win the battle for market share: first, they must improve customer service levels; second, they must recruit and retain skilled and highly motivated people if they are to continue to reap the rewards of a growing marketplace. Advises on how to motivate your workforce to deliver excellent customer service.