Turnover intentions in a call center: The role of emotional dissonance, job resources, and job satisfaction

Abstract

BackgroundTurnover intentions refer to employees’ intent to leave the organization and, within call centers, it can be influenced by factors such as relational variables or the perception of the quality of working life, which can be affected by emotional dissonance. This specific job demand to express emotions not felt is peculiar in call centers, and can influence job satisfaction and turnover intentions, a crucial problem among these working contexts. This study aims to detect, within the theoretical framework of the Job Demands-Resources Model, the role of emotional dissonance (job demand), and two resources, job autonomy and supervisors’ support, in the perception of job satisfaction and turnover intentions among an Italian call center.MethodThe study involved 318 call center agents of an Italian Telecommunication Company. Data analysis first performed descriptive statistics through SPSS 22. A path analysis was then performed through LISREL 8.72 and tested both direct and indirect effects.ResultsResults suggest the role of resources in fostering job satisfaction and in decreasing turnover intentions. Emotional dissonance reveals a negative relation with job satisfaction and a positive relation with turnover. Moreover, job satisfaction is negatively related with turnover and mediates the relationship between job resources and turnover.ConclusionThis study contributes to extend the knowledge about the variables influencing turnover intentions, a crucial problem among call centers. Moreover, the study identifies theoretical considerations and practical implications to promote well-being among call center employees. To foster job satisfaction and reduce turnover intentions, in fact, it is important to make resources available, but also to offer specific training programs to make employees and supervisors aware about the consequences of emotional dissonance.

Secondary Traumatic Stress: Relationship With Symptoms, Exhaustion, and Emotions Among Cemetery Workers

“…The dimension of intrusion is also remarkable among the GR category, consistently with the characteristics of the job. Indeed, these particular categories of workers that have to daily face with a suffering client is subject to the continuous contact with customer asking for help, and support, which calls emotional dissonance (Zapf et al, 2001; Zito et al, 2018), but requires also emotional and grief skills. This leads the operators in constant contact with others’ suffering experiences, activating the process of secondary trauma as reaction to others’ emotional demands (Jenkins and Baird, 2002).…”

“…Emotional labor is characterized by frequent contacts between operators and customers; workers are required to show compassion to the family of the deceased, and to display particular emotions according to the job role. This can lead to experience emotional dissonance, the state perceived by workers when they have to conceal the emotions they actually feel during the relationship with users, in order to conform to the organization requirements (Zapf et al, 2001; Zito et al, 2018). This inserts funerary workers near to those characteristics of the helping professions that have the objective risk of developing negative psychological outcomes, such as compassion fatigue (Figley, 1995) and burnout (Maslach and Leiter, 2000; Argentero and Setti, 2008).…”

The Nature of Job Crafting: Positive and Negative Relations with Job Satisfaction and Work-Family Conflict

“…Job satisfaction is the result of the evaluation—positive or negative—of the individual on his/her job [18]. Job satisfaction is a crucial construct, from which depend many consequences at the organizational level (i.e., intention to leave the job, absenteeism, individual performance and quality of product/service) and at the individual level (i.e., relationship with life satisfaction, anxiety, distress at work) [19]. Moreover, job autonomy is depicted as antecedent [11], an enhancing element for job satisfaction [4].…”

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“…For example, one of the recent studies conducted by Italian researchers M. Zito, F. Emanuel, M. Molino, C. G. Cortese, C. Ghislieri, and L. Colombo (2018) in the call center of Italian Telecommunication Company, proved that emotional dissonance has a positive relation with turnover intentions, while job satisfaction, supervisor's support and job autonomy have a negative relation with turnover intentions. Researchers also proved that job satisfaction can be a mediator in negative relation between job resources (supervisor's support and job autonomy) and turnover intentions, as well as a mediator in positive relation between emotional dissonance and turnover intentions.…”