Exploring monitoring, work environment and flexibility as predictors of job satisfaction within Australian call centres

The purpose of this paper is to investigate predictors of workers’ job satisfaction from the labour process and equity theoretical perspectives. The study employed a qualitative approach and draws on data from in depth focus groups of customer service representatives (CSR). The sample for this study was drawn from three Australian call centres operating in a variety of business sectors. The study highlights that three dimensions: monitoring, flexibility and work environment are significantly correlated to CSR job satisfaction. Developing an understanding of these dimensions is critical to understanding CSR job satisfaction perceptions in an industry which exhibits high labour turnover and absenteeism. This study provides new insights on how to manage effectively job satisfaction within call centre environments through the incorporation of more multi-dimensional aspects that are considered to be strong determinants of CSR job satisfaction. The study contributes to the literature by investigating a more multi-dimensional approach to studying job satisfaction in call centre environments. The intensive case study approach highlights the implications for HRM

The impact of job related factors, job context and work design on job satisfaction in Australian call centres

Past empirical research related to call centres’ has had a preoccupation with panoptic extrapolations and suggestions of stereotyping of call centres using ‘sacrificial HR’ strategies that encourage, high staff turnover, absenteeism and stress as the norm. The aim of this research is to investigate the nature and extent of job related factors on job satisfaction for customer service representatives (CSR’s) in five Australian call centres. The study used a broad sample to capture the diversity of call centre structures which included different industries and work designs -inbound, outbound and outsourced call centres. The study used a mixed methods approach of an adapted Job satisfaction quantitative survey N= 205 and indepth and focus groups N= 60 in five diverse Australian call centres. The study found that, CSR’s perception of fairness, equity and relevance of monitoring practices, together with a participative work environment and flexible work life balance practices are the most important contributors to job satisfaction. The findings also suggest that the manner in which work is designed has an impact on CSR satisfaction levels which appear to be higher for inbound CSR’s as contrasted to outbound cold-calling and sales, and blended approaches. The study concludes that utilizing a mixed methodology has unearthed nuances in the data that confirm and extend the extant literature of call centres. In particular organisations that embark on a ‘one size fits all’ HR strategy by ignoring these job related factors could eventually face further problems such as high staff turnover associated costs and potential sacrificial customer service strategies that will impact on the bottom line

Exploring customer service representatives' job satisfaction levels: a comparison of inbound/outbound and outsourced Australian call centres

The aim of this research is to investigate the nature and extent of job related factors on job satisfaction for customer service representatives (CSR's) in five Australian call centres. Using quantitative methods, the study found that, CSR's perception of fairness, equity and relevance of monitoring practices, together with a participative work environment and flexible work practices are the most important contributors to job satisfaction. The findings also suggest that satisfaction levels for inbound CSR's is significantly higher than outbound sales, and blended approaches

The flexible workforce in the knowledge economy: a case study examining the perceptions of call centre staff and influence of flexible work practices to job satisfaction in a multi-national call centre operating in Australia

This paper explores the nature of workplace flexibility in an Australian call centre by comparing flexible practices to employee's perceptions and job satisifaction on these criteria

A study investigating the determinants of customer service representatives' job satisfaction in Australian call centres

It is paramount to develop management strategies and practices based on empirical research, in order to improve an organisation’s ability to manage effectively and ultimately to survive in a highly competitive global environment. Call centres across the world are continuing to exhibit exponential growth irrespective of fluctuations in economic conditions. A main reason behind this phenomenon is that they are an efficient way to centralise and standardise operating procedures for organisations whilst maintaining some level of human interface with customers. The literature suggests that those at the coal face - customer service representatives (CSRs) - struggle with these tensions of providing a quality of service under economic rationalist principles, as exhibited in high staff turnover rates, sick leave and stress compared to most other industries. Despite the advances in technology available to managers, most call centres here and overseas still use human interface (rather than virtual environments) to service customers and to a large extent adopt sacrificial human resources strategies to manage their operations. With approximately 70% to 75% of the costs of call centre operations linked to CSR labour costs, there are both short-term and long-term implications associated with call centres’ productivity. Recent trends have shown a reversal of outsourcing growth in favour of ‘thinking local’ as a result of language barriers and quality concerns using outsourced providers. Overseas call centres such as in India are also facing pressures such as CSR stress, sick leave and an estimated double the annual staff turnover rates of Australian call centres (40+%). Rather than redressing the underlying problems inherent in the managerial practices, some managers are now resorting to more novel approaches, which are still largely driven by maintaining lower labour costs at the expense of workers’ wellbeing. Examples include accessing local untapped labour markets such as outsourcing locally to remote communities, also home based workers/contractors and even local prison labour. It is paramount to develop management strategies and practices based on empirical research, in order to improve an organisation’s ability to manage effectively and ultimately to survive in a highly competitive global environment. Call centres across the world are continuing to exhibit exponential growth irrespective of fluctuations in economic conditions. A main reason behind this phenomenon is that they are an efficient way to centralise and standardise operating procedures for organisations whilst maintaining some level of human interface with customers. The literature suggests that those at the coal face - customer service representatives (CSRs) - struggle with these tensions of providing a quality of service under economic rationalist principles, as exhibited in high staff turnover rates, sick leave and stress compared to most other industries. Despite the advances in technology available to managers, most call centres here and overseas still use human interface (rather than virtual environments) to service customers and to a large extent adopt sacrificial human resources strategies to manage their operations. With approximately 70% to 75% of the costs of call centre operations linked to CSR labour costs, there are both short-term and long-term implications associated with call centres’ productivity. Recent trends have shown a reversal of outsourcing growth in favour of ‘thinking local’ as a result of language barriers and quality concerns using outsourced providers. Overseas call centres such as in India are also facing pressures such as CSR stress, sick leave and an estimated double the annual staff turnover rates of Australian call centres (40+%). Rather than redressing the underlying problems inherent in the managerial practices, some managers are now resorting to more novel approaches, which are still largely driven by maintaining lower labour costs at the expense of workers’ wellbeing. Examples include accessing local untapped la our markets such as outsourcing locally to remote communities, also home based workers/contractors and even local prison labour. nuances of the industry, as adopting a generic strategy to monitoring, flexibility and work environment could have negative consequences for CSRs. The implications for call centre managers derived from this study is that they need to consider these aspects carefully when they develop and adopt managerial strategies. Ignoring these and embarking on more generic control and cost reduction management strategies will have a detrimental affect on CSRs’ job satisfaction and overall wellbeing and potentially the organisation’s productivity

The flexible workforce in the knowledge economy: a case study examining the perceptions of call centre staff and influence of flexible work practices to job satisfaction in a multi-national call centre operating in Australia

This paper explores the nature of workplace flexibility in an Australian Call Centre by comparing flexible practices to employee’s perceptions and job satisifaction on these criteria. A literature review compares and critiques the major typologies of flexibility including: The Flexible firm model of Atkinson (1984), the flexible specialisation thesis, Piore and Sabel, (1984) and adopts a revised version of Reilly’s Flexible Workplace framework (2001) in order to identify and extrapolate similarities or differences from the sample to the literature. Some significant findings from the study identifies the heavy reliance of one type of flexibility over the others, the use of numerical flexibility to meet operational efficiency requirements and seasonal demands by varying the number of workers on shifts and to a lesser extent, temporal flexibility the variability of working hours. Other forms of flexibility such as functional, locational and financial flexibility were expected by call centre staff, but only offered to management within the organisation. The management challenge is to align employee expectations to actual benefits and the strategy of the organisation

Back to the future : a preliminary study of management control processes in an Australian call centre

Abstract not available

Understanding the source of cultural difference in communication and its implication for doing business with Japan

Not available

Boundary spanning within Vocational and Higher Education Systems: integrating for success. A case study of an Australian University of Technology

Abstract not available