STRESS | Call Center General findings

Two-thirds of call centre staff reported experiencing stress. Stress is not only caused by the need for agents to present a positive image; it can also be caused by workload. The Tayloristic principles applied in call centres frequently result in repetitive and stressful work that can lead to ‘burnout’. Indeed,  call centre where the average call duration was said to be 32 seconds. If the agents were working all the time, this would equate to over 800 calls per shit!

Stress and emotional exhaustion can be caused by a number of factors including job autonomy, length of tenure, degree of self-monitoring and work hours. In addition, role overload, role conflict, workload and work pressure have been found to increase stress.

When people suffer undue stress and emotional exhaustion the characteristics they demonstrate are o en tiredness, low energy and lack of demonstrable emotion. People experiencing emotional exhaustion depersonalize their interactions with others, which can lead to negative scoring of their work performance with the potential to create a vicious circle where increased stress leads to further stress.

Possibly the worst example of exploitation is the practice of a ‘sacrificial HR policy’. This requires advisers to invest high degrees of energy into calls and when they become emotionally exhausted they are encouraged to leave and are replaced by ‘fresh’ new hires.

General findings

Drawing from the preceding discussions a number of observations can be summarized about training and development within contact centres:

• The segmentation of provision into a mass-production model, the hybrid mass-customization model, and the professional service model will tend to create a stronger emphasis on training for the higher value professional service model.
• There is an inherent tension between ensuring and standardizing the quality of the interaction which requires formalized scripts and protocol and providing a skilled and satisfying job.
• A reduction in induction training would appear to be increasing the levels of customer dissatisfaction. It may also lead to increased turnover of staff although other labour market opportunities may also be contributing to this factor.
• The growing use of video and e-mail contact may introduce new training requirements.
• The continual introduction of new technologies will mean that there will be ongoing training required in hard skills. So skills will be less affected but will still remain important.
• First-time resolution of calls means that advisers generally need a greater level of knowledge about the organization.
• There is a tension between the value of qualifications to the individual and organizations that o en recruit on the basis of attitude.
• The provision of qualification options is growing as the industry matures.
• More staff are becoming involved with selling, requiring new skills.
• Employees are encouraged to relate to the main organization or client through visits, branding and clients providing training.
• Training reduces employee turnover.
• Operational scheduling requirements impact on the organization of training.