The persistent demand for increased accountability and value for money in the public sector from both the public and governments raises the issue of quality of service in advice-giving by governmental agencies. The goal of this study is to develop a model to validate frameworks able to contribute to improved advice-giving through the application of knowledge management principles. Zack's (2001) Four Knowledge Problem Model, Brogowicz, Delene, and Lyth's (1990) Synthesised Service Quality Model, and Markus's (2001) Theory of Knowledge Reuse are used to examine knowledge strategies in advice-giving through the application of a case study methodology. Two Queensland public-sector call centres are investigated. This study confirms that although the studied call centres operate under differing business drivers, agents have developed strategies generally consistent with those suggested by Zack (2001) to deal with uncertain, complex, and ambiguous problem types. No equivocal problems were encountered in the study. The solution of the former problem pair of uncertainty and complexity relies on knowledge that is codified and stored in databases, while the latter equivocality and ambiguity, seeks out experts who apply both technical and functional knowledge to the problem resolution. Roles performed by call-centre agents predominantly align with those described by Markus (2001), with the opportunity to enhance performance through contribution by shared-work producers to knowledge repositories. The problem-solving strategies employed by agents and the technical capabilities of the call centres combine to deliver a level of service quality which, although meeting client expectations, has been able to be improved through the application of knowledge strategies targeting efficient problem resolution through knowledge reuse.

Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom(IPS) / Research suggests that a positive relationship exists between job satisfaction and organizational commitment and increasing the job satisfaction and commitment of employees impacts positively on their job performance and productivity. In addition to this, research also shows that these attitudes have implications for positive job related behaviours such as reduced turnover and intention to quit. The argument is that with the call centre industries‘ expansion and subsequent rising turnover, the necessity to ensure a high level of satisfaction and commitment amongst call centre agents as to reduce intention to quit and eventual turnover has become of paramount importance. This study therefore investigated the relationship between job satisfaction, organisational commitment and turnover intentions among call centre agents in a call centre in the Western Cape. The sample group consisted of one hundred and seventy two (n=172) call centre agents in a call centre in the Western Cape. A biographical questionnaire, Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ), Organisational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) and Intention to Quit Scale were administered to the respondents. Once the questionnaires were returned the raw data was captured into SPSS and statistically analysed. Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient was utilised to determine the relationships between job satisfaction, organisational commitment and turnover intentions amongst call centre agents. Furthermore multiple regression analyses was utilised to determine the variance between biographical variables (age, gender, tenure in a call centre and tenure in the organisation as a whole), job satisfaction and organisational commitment amongst call centre agents. The results indicate that there is a significant relationship between job satisfaction and organisational commitment amongst the sample of call centre agents. There was also a significant negative relationship between organisational commitment and intention to quit. In addition, there was a significant negative relationship between job satisfaction and intention to quit. Further findings of the current study point to a significant relationship in job satisfaction based on employees‘ age and tenure in the call centre. However, no significant relationship was found between all the biographical characteristics of gender, age, tenure in the call centre, tenure in the organisation as a whole and organisational commitment. Implications for the management of job satisfaction, organisational commitment and turnover intentions are provided based on the results which were obtained in the current study.

The call centre industry is gaining momentum in the retail sector, which can be attributed to the fact that many companies use call centre agents to communicate with the end users of their products. A major challenge facing retail companies is finding the right employees for their call centres, so that these people are able to perform according to their natural abilities and acquired skills. The South African retail company under study uses the Clerical Test Battery (CTB2) to screen candidates for its call centre. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the CTB2 numeracy subtest scores and work performance scores of employees in this call centre. The literature review examines the use of psychometric instruments in general, and then focuses on the use of the CTB2 in South African contexts. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the validity of the numeracy subtest when used as part of the selection process for call centre candidates. A quantitative research approach was employed to analyse the raw data, which was already available in the company’s database. The two datasets used were the CTB2 numeracy subtest scores and the work performance scores of 300 call centre agents. The correlation between these two sets of scores was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software (version 17). No statistically significant relationship emerged between the two research variables. Therefore, it may not be appropriate to use the CTB2 numeracy subtest to screen call centre candidates. The findings of this study suggest that the CTB2 should not be used in isolation when assessing call centre candidates. Face-to-face interviews should form an important part of the decision-making process, and the use of additional instruments to measure general cognitive aptitude and skills such as perceptual speed and accuracy is recommended. The dissertation concludes by outlining the limitations of the study and giving some suggestions for future research in this field. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Psychology / unrestricted

<p>Further findings of the current study are: there are significant differences in stress based on employees&rsquo / gender and tenure, a significant difference in burnout with regards to gender and employment type, and significant differences between emotional labour based on gender and tenure. However, no significant difference was found between burnout and tenure, nor was there a significant difference between emotional labour and employment type. Recommendations are made to alleviate the effects of stress on call centre employees which in turn, will minimise the effects of burnout and emotional labour. Recommendations included the development of wellness programmes, stress management programmes, coping programmes and effective communications as a mean to shape employee perceptions regarding their interpretation of organisational demands, threats or opportunities and to enhance call centre employees&rsquo / performance within their work.</p>

<p>Further findings of the current study are: there are significant differences in stress based on employees&rsquo / gender and tenure, a significant difference in burnout with regards to gender and employment type, and significant differences between emotional labour based on gender and tenure. However, no significant difference was found between burnout and tenure, nor was there a significant difference between emotional labour and employment type. Recommendations are made to alleviate the effects of stress on call centre employees which in turn, will minimise the effects of burnout and emotional labour. Recommendations included the development of wellness programmes, stress management programmes, coping programmes and effective communications as a mean to shape employee perceptions regarding their interpretation of organisational demands, threats or opportunities and to enhance call centre employees&rsquo / performance within their work.</p>

Magister Commercii - MCom / The increasing demand for client-centred services in a highly competitive business environment has resulted in a substantial increase in the number of call centres world wide (Knight 2004 cited in Carrim, Basson & Coetzee, 2006; Nel & De Villiers 2004 cited in Carrim et al., 2006; Williams, 2000 cited in Carrim et al., 2006). According to Holdsworth and Cartwright (2003); Malhotra and Mukherjee (2004); Singh and Goolsby (1994), the work of a customer service representative is seen as one of the ten most stressful jobs in the present-day world economy. Customer service representatives are highly susceptible to elevated levels of stress and burnout, more so than in any other work environment. Within the call centre environment specifically, turnover has been identified as one of the most pressing problems in terms of scope (levels or percentages of turnover), cost and productivity (O’Herron, 2003 cited in Spies, 2006). Factors that lead to unhappiness in call centres are, inter alia, the monotony and repetitiveness of the job content. This situation is aggravated by lack of opportunities for promotion and by stress (Worldroom Digest, 2004 cited in Carrim et al., 2006). In addition, Hochschild (1983) posits that organisations in the service industry do not hesitate to “commercialize” employees’ emotions as a means to attract and retain customers. Research suggests that service providers are under implicit and explicit pressure to regulate their emotions as a tool to lure customers into patronizing the organisation. In recent studies, several key factors were identified that are commonly associated with turnover intention among customer service representatives, namely, work overload, monitoring and surveillance of employees, competing management goals, upward career movement, lack of skill variety, and emotional labour (Cordes & Dougherty, 1993; Deery et al., 2002; Deery & Kinnie, 2004; Holman, 2004; Singh, 2000; Zapf, Isic, Bechtoldt & Blau, 2003). If not dealt with appropriately, stress, burnout and emotional labour can increase the turnover rate, which accordingly can be damaging to the organisation. The current research was conducted at an outbound call centre in a retail organisation in the Western Cape. The sample comprised of a hundred and sixty three call centre employees who are employed in the collections/outbound department. Convenience sampling was utilised. A self-developed Biographical Questionnaire, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach & Jackson, 1981), the Emotional Labour Scale (Brotheridge & Lee, 2003), the Experience of Work and Life Circumstances Questionnaire (Van Zyl &Van der walt, 1994), and the Turnover Intentions Questionnaire (Roodt, 2004) were used to collect the data. The data was analysed using SPSS and the results were interpreted by means of descriptive and inferential statistics (the Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient, T-Test, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Multiple Regression Analysis. The results indicate that there is a moderate relationship between stress and intention to leave the organisation amongst the sample of employees. There was also a significant relationship between burnout and intention to leave the organisation. Moreover, there was a significant relationship between emotional labour and intention to leave the organisation. Further findings of the current study are: there are significant differences in stress based on employees’ gender and tenure, a significant difference in burnout with regards to gender and employment type, and significant differences between emotional labour based on gender and tenure. However, no significant difference was found between burnout and tenure, nor was there a significant difference between emotional labour and employment type. Recommendations are made to alleviate the effects of stress on call centre employees which in turn, will minimise the effects of burnout and emotional labour. Recommendations included the development of wellness programmes, stress management programmes, coping programmes and effective communications as a mean to shape employee perceptions regarding their interpretation of organisational demands, threats or opportunities and to enhance call centre employees’ performance within their work. / South Africa

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology: Business Administration in the Faculty of Business at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology 2014 / Call centres have become an important source for organisations to provide efficient information to their customers through cost-effective communication channels. Call centres are defined as a work environment in which the main business is mediated by computer- and telephone-based technologies that allow the effective distribution of incoming calls to available staff, and permit customer–employee communication simultaneously with the use of display screen equipment (DSE) and instant access to information. Working in a call centre is often linked with high stress levels, difficult customers, shift work, high workload demand, absenteeism and high employee turnover rates. The work characteristics of call centres include performance targets where employees are required to achieve set targets, undergo close performance monitoring, performance appraisal systems, limited task variation, repetitive work and limited autonomy. The physical environment in the call centre is often associated with open-plan office layouts and booths where noise levels and workstations are positioned in close proximity to each other. Wellbeing in call centres has become a concern and the research was undertaken to establish what effects the working environment (physical environment and job characteristics) in call centres in the Cape Metropole has on the wellbeing of call centre agents. A quantitative research method was employed in the study. A structured questionnaire was distributed via SurveyMonkey® to call centre agents from four participating call centres in the Cape Metropole. The combined target population of the four call centres was 760. A sample size of 200 was determined by using the Raosoft Incorporated® calculation tool. Although the aforesaid sample size sufficed, a response rate of 275 was received. Questions relating to job characteristics and significance of the work were based on the Job Diagnostic Survey by Hackman and Oldham. Social support questions were based on the instrument developed by Caplan, Cobb, French, Van Harrison & Pinneau in 1975. Job demand questions were based on the instrument developed by Karasek in 1979, and only the section on job demand was used. Performance monitoring and physical work environment were measured by using the questions based on these variables by Sprigg et al in 2003. Emotional wellbeing questions relating to burnout were measured using the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory. The wellbeing questions relating to vocal health, optical health and auditory health were based on the questionnaires developed by Sprigg et al. in 2003. General health was measured using the “Somatic Complaints” section of the NIOSH Generic Job Stress Questionnaire. Musculoskeletal health problems were measured using the Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire (CMDQ) developed by Hedge in 1994. Research question 1 addressed the gender perceptions of job characteristics, physical work environment and emotional and physical wellbeing. A T-test was conducted to answer the research question and the results revealed that there was no significant difference in gender perception on job characteristics; however there was a significant difference in perception of the physical work environment and wellbeing. Research question 2 addressed whether there is a significant difference in emotional and physical wellbeing experienced by call centre agents from various industries. A MANOVA analysis was conducted to determine the significance in industries, p = .015, and an ANOVA analysis was conducted that revealed agents working in the online retail as well as financial service industries were more likely to experience disengagement, p = .035. Research question 3 addressed the factors in the workplace environment that contribute to emotional and physical wellbeing problems. An ANOVA analysis was conducted and the results revealed lack of skills variety, p = .014, contributes to exhaustion; lack of autonomy, p = .040, contributes to disengagement; lack of supervisor support, p = .009, contributes to exhaustion, job demands, p = .000, contribute to exhaustion, performance monitoring, p = .036, contributes to exhaustion; and workstation layout, p = .001, contributes to auditory health problems. Research question 4 addressed whether there is a significant relationship between job characteristics, physical work environment and wellbeing. A Pearson correlation analysis was conducted and the results revealed that there is a significant relationship between job characteristics, physical work environment, and wellbeing. It can be concluded that the workplace environment does have an impact on the wellbeing of call centre agents in the Cape Metropole. It is imperative that the management of call centres understand the nature of the job and how the physical environment contributes to job stress; burnout; vocal, auditory, and optical health problems; and musculoskeletal disorders. The researcher recognises that there are essential job characteristics associated with call centre work but that there are elements of the job that can be redesigned to improve the wellbeing of call centre agents. It is recommended that management implement interventions which will redesign those elements within the workplace environment that contribute to wellbeing issues. The findings of this study add to existing literature and knowledge of the workplace environment and wellbeing of call centre agents.

This thesis deals with the possibilities of the use of psychological assessment tools in selecting of employees. The theoretical part discusses the theoretical background of selection of employees, turnover and psychological assessment. Attention is paid to the efficient selection procedure with emphasis on the use of psychological assess-ment tools (questionnaires and tests) as a mean to reduce staff turnover, and thus to more effective management of human resources. The practical part deals with the analysis, examination and comparison of selected psychological instruments avail-able by company Motiv P s.r.o., cut-e czech s.r.o., Assessment Systems s.r.o. and TCC Online s.r.o., on the basis of pre-defined crucial criteria and characteristics for the implementation of these instruments in a particular company in the selection of call center operators. The result of this thesis is recommendation of specific psychological assessment instruments that according to aims, purpose and needs of particular company would help to reduce turnover of employees.

A continuing debate within Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research is how to elucidate, improve, and optimize the relationship between social context and technology use. Social context is conventionally understood as immediate use context while an understanding informed by social science suggests a wider scope, involving actors and structures. The focus of this thesis is the use of a communication environment using audio and video, established to span and connect three geographically distant call-centre workplaces in the Stockholm archipelago, Sweden. The research was carried out as intermittent fieldwork, spanning unevenly over a period of three years. The fieldwork was carried out at two sites: the premises of the Swedish Police Contact Centre in the archipelago and within the research project Community at a Distance. Methods included participant observation, interviews, and the analysis of documents, everyday talk, and images. This thesis offers a broad analysis of the socio-cultural context of technology use investigating the question how a sense of togetherness is promoted and negotiated at the Swedish Police Contact Centre and around and across the communication environment. The technology served as a means of overcoming the distance between the sites and making everyday encounters between the dispersed staff members possible. The sense of togetherness—fellowship and belonging, caring for each other, fostering a sense of solidarity, and achieving consensus in everyday practices—had an impact on the uses (and non-uses) of the technology. The use of the communication environment reflects the values and arrangements of the workplace and reproduces its conventions. The discussion is explorative, outlining an analytical approach to the socio-cultural context of technology use informed by interpretive social science, and provides a partial analysis of the organizational culture of the Contact Centre and its technology use. The argument is that analysis should aim at exploring the relationship between individual actors and social structures. Rewriting context allows us to understand the socio-cultural embeddedness of technology. While the analytic framework is not comprehensive for the purpose of detailed design implications in HCI research, it does provide a reconsidered terminology that links individual practices to socio-cultural context. / QC 20100629

Den psykiska ohälsans utbredning är omfattande och är idag ett folkhälsoproblem i Sverige. Många människor söker vård för psykisk ohälsa genom telefonrådgivning. Syftet med denna studie har varit att undersöka och beskriva sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av att bemöta patienter med psykisk ohälsa i arbetet med sjukvårdsrådgivning. För att genomföra denna studie valdes en kvalitativ metod. Sju sjuksköterskor som arbetar med telefonrådgivning intervjuades. I resultatet framkom fem olika teman som benämndes: ”att känna att man betyder något för en annan människa”, ”att känna obehag inför samtal”, ”att inte kunna göra något och att känna sig otillräcklig”, ”att inte ha tid och resurser” samt ”att inte kunna se varandra”. Studien visar att det är viktigt för sjuksköterskan att betyda något för patienten. Den visar också att samtal om psykisk ohälsa kan innebära känslor som stress och obehag hos sjuksköterskorna. I studien framkommer för- och nackdelar med att inte ha en visuell kontakt mellan sjuksköterskan och patienten. / Mental illness is today an extensive problem, which affect the public health in Sweden. Many people with mental illness, try to get help through healthcare call centres. The aim of the study was to examine in what way nurses in healthcare call centres experience receiving patients, suffering from mental illness. To implement this study, a qualitative method was chosen. Seven nurses who work with counselling by phone were interviewed. Five themes appeared in the result: “to feel that you mean something to another human being”, “to feel discomfort with some calls”, “feeling insufficient and feelings of dejection”, “lack of time and resources” and “being unable see each other”. This study emphasizes that it is important for the nurses to mean something to the person who calls the healthcare call centre. Its also shows that calls about mental illness could create stress and discomfort feelings among the nurses. This study also shows advantages and disadvantages about the disability of not seeing the patient.