Designing Stress Out of Call Centre Work

Dr. David Holman

Senior Research Fellow

Institute of Work Psychology

University of Sheffield

Sheffield

Overview

• Causes of employee stress

• Comparing stress levels with other forms of work

• Organisational-level research.

• Ideas for re-designing work.

Employee Stress in Call Centres.

• Elements of employee stress

• Review of international literature on call centres and stress.

Elements of Employee StressPsycho-Social Stress.

– Anxiety / Contentment

– Depression / Enthusiasm

– Emotional Exhaustion

– Psychosomatic complaints

Musculo-Skeletal Disorders

– Hand, Wrist, arm, shoulder, neck and back problems

Stress Related Outcomes

– Absenteeism

– Turnover

Causes of Psycho-Social Stress

1. Job Design

2. Performance Monitoring

3. Social Support

4. Human Resource Practices

5. Customer-Employee Interaction

Causes of Psycho-Social Stress

1.1. Job Design Job Discretion. Participation Variety of calls and/or off-line tasks. Skill Utilization. Workload Problem load - but challenging work is o.k if

accompanied by high job control.

Causes of Psycho-Social Stress

1.2. Performance Monitoring• Arguments for - improves skill and coping.• Arguments against - threatening and demanding

• Content of PM - frequency of feedback, clarity of

criteria, frequency of monitoring. • Purpose of PM - developmental or punitive.

• Intensity of PM - its pervasiveness, feeling that it

cannot be escaped from, its intrusiveness.

Causes of Psycho-Social Stress

• Performance-related content of PM +ve association with well-being

• Beneficial-purpose of PM+ ve association with well-being

• Intensity of PM- ve association with well-being

Intensity has much larger effect on well-being.

Causes of Psycho-Social Stress

1.3. Social Support

Lack of supportive managers and team leaders

1.4. Human Resource Practices

Training

Performance Appraisal

Pay and Reward

Causes of Psycho-Social Stress

1.5. The Call.– Unpleasant calls

– Emotional Dissonance - emotions felt not in line with required emotional expression.

– Surface acting - faking it.

– Deep acting - trying to bring emotions felt in line with what is expressed.

– Not being able to provide a satisfactory service.

Causes of Musculo-Skeletal Disorders

• Poor work station design

• Repetitive physical movements due to computer-based work

• Workload

2. Comparing call centres to other forms of work

Well-being is generally lower in call centre workers.

BUT

CSRs in ‘healthy call centres’ can have

similar and sometimes better levels of well-being

than employees in comparable occupations.

What is a healthy call centre?

Good ergonomic design

Developmental monitoring

Empowered job designs

Social support - well trained team leaders

A focus on training and development

3. Organisational Performance in Call Centres

• Research in US and UK on 500 call centres

• Sickness - performance monitoring/poor job design

• Turnover - Poor job design

• Customer Satisfaction - performance monitoring

• Target Times - Human resource practices

4. How can work be re-designed?• Tools - Holistic and Participative

– Scenarios planning.

– Socio-technical tools - particularly useful if planning large scale changes in IT systems.

• Job and Work Designs

– Semi-autonomous work groups

– Participative performance monitoring

– Expanded and empowered job roles

• Stress Audits – quick and easy

5.Conclusion

• Well-being can be designed into call centres

• Need to take a pro-active approach to employee stress.

• Is a business, legal and ethical case to be made for a pro-active approach.

• For further details contact d.holman@sheffield.ac.uk.