The impact of electronic performance monitoring on staff turnover in a call centre environment

Abstract

Call Centres represent one of the fastest growing industries today. In a competitive business environment the service delivered by Call Centre operators needs to be quantified and this is achieved through Electronic Performance Monitoring (EPM). This study considered the effects of EPM, and related factors such as job control, task complexity, performance, goal-setting and feedback, on the job satisfaction, organisational commitment and work stress, of Call Centre operators. The impact of these factors on staff turnover, which media reports suggest is very high for many Call Centres, was also considered. A total of 388 participants (265 females,123 males) completed a voluntary self-report questionnaire. All participants were Call Centre operators who were working in one of 27 call centres across Australia in a variety of industries, including Banking & Finance, IT, Employment, Insurance and Telecommunications. All operators were working in an electronically monitored environment. Regression and path analyses revealed age, that is younger employees, and job dissatisfaction to be the only variables that predicted staff turnover. A positive perception of EPM was predicted by a positive perception of both goal-setting and feedback. It was concluded that while staff turnover was high in the current sample, it was not associated with perceptions of EPM, and other factors appeared to be more important.

Date of Award	2002
Original language	English
Supervisor	Debra RICKWOOD (Supervisor)