The job demands-resources model of work engagement in South African call centres

Abstract

Orientation: A ‘sacrificial human resource strategy’ is practised in call centres, resulting in poor employee occupational health. Consequently, questions are posed in terms of the consequences of call centre work and which salient antecedent variables impact the engagement and wellbeing of call centre representatives.Research purpose: Firstly, to gauge the level of employee engagement amongst a sample of call centre representatives in South Africa and, secondly, to track the paths through which salient personal and job resources affect this engagement. More specifically, the relationships between sense of coherence, leadership effectiveness, team effectiveness and engagement were investigated, thus testing the Job Demands-Resources model of work engagement.Motivation for the study: To present an application of the Job Demands-Resources model of work engagement in a call centre environment in order to diagnose current ills and consequently propose remedies.Research design: A cross-sectional survey design was used and a non-probability convenient sample of 217 call centre representatives was selected. The measuring instruments comprise the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale to measure engagement, the Team Diagnostic Survey to measure team effectiveness, the leadership practices inventory to gauge leadership effectiveness, and the Orientation to Life Questionnaire to measure sense of coherence. A series of structural equation modelling analyses were performed.Main findings: Contrary to the ‘electronic sweatshop’ image attached to call centre jobs depicted in the literature, results show a high level of employee engagement for call centre representatives in the sample. Also, personal resources such as sense of coherence and job resources such as team effectiveness related significantly to engagement. A non-significant relationship exists between leadership effectiveness and engagement.Practical/managerial implications: Both the content and context of jobs need to be addressed to increase the personal and job resources of call centre representatives.Contribution/value-add: The Job Demands-Resources model of work engagement can be used to improve the occupational health and performance of employees in call centres

Exploring employee retention and intention to leave within a call centre

“…The call centre industry is in a poor state regarding people management practices. Managers' unwillingness to compromise efficiency for quality customer service on the expense of call centre representatives affects the well-being of those representatives (Van Rensburg et al, 2013). However, it was not indicated which of those factors contributes to the retention of call centre agents within the South African context.…”

“…A challenge that exists in most call centre organisations is the extreme employee turnover rates (Van Rensburg, Boonzaier & Boonzaier, 2013). According to Pierre and Tremblay (2011), turnover rates of call centres were 70% and increased by 30% from 2008 to 2011.…”

“…The work environment is associated with impaired employee well-being, namely, shift work resulting into absenteeism and increased turnover rates. Likewise, Van Rensburg et al (2013) indicated high stress levels, high employee turnover and emotional burnout as factors associated with call centres. Call centre work places a high burden on employees (Pillay et al, 2014).…”

“…A challenge that exists is the high rate of employee turnover (Van Rensburg et al, 2013). Employee turnover is defined as: the rate at which employees leave the organisation on an annual basis, and this can be expressed as a percentage, by dividing the number of employees who have left over the year by the total number of employees who were with the organisation at the beginning of the year.…”

“…Barnes (2013) noted that retaining call centre agents in the industry is challenging because turnover is much higher than in other fields of employment. According to Van Rensburg et al (2013), negative issues related to call centre work environments impact the well-being of employees in terms of long hours of work. This results in absenteeism, increased turnover and negative health-related issues leading to high stress levels and hence results in burnout.…”