Exploring employee retention and intention to leave within a call centre

Abstract: Call centre organisations are plagued with high levels of employee turnover and are challenged by effectively retaining their staff. Research purpose: The study sets out to establish factors that affect the retention of call centre agents and to determine call centre agents’ intention to leave. Research design, approach and method: The study is quantitative in nature, which follows a cross-sectional approach. Data were collected using an established questionnaire, the retention factor management scale. Psychometric properties of the questionnaire for validity and reliability were assessed using factor analysis and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, respectively, to ensure internal consistency. Data were collected using a convenience sample, and the participants of the study are call centre agents. The sample yielded a response rate of 282 respondents. Subsequently, data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics..