| dc.description.abstract | The technological era in which modern day organisations function, attempting to make every
aspect of service more efficient and customer friendly, has cultivated a need within organisations
to invent new ways of service. Call centres are one way in which organisations are trying to
improve their customer service. For this reason, telephone call centres are one of the fastest
growing segments of the service sector. The growth in call centres is attributable to the benefits
that they offer organisations. Call centres can improve service and retain customers, increase
sales and/or revenue and reduce costs and/or improve efficiency. For this reason, organisations
are placing an increasing emphasis on the role of call centres regarding the competitiveness of the
company and increased pressure on call centre agents. Research indicated that there are certain
stressors in the call centre industry. This is emphasised by the high turnover rate and by high
absenteeism levels in call centres. Although some studies seem to suggest that working in call
centres can be interesting, overall it seems that working in call centres is a stressful experience.
The objective of this research was to investigate the relationship between job characteristics,
work wellness and work-related flow of call centre agents in an insurance company. A cross-sectional
design was used with an availability sample (N = 176). A self-constructed instrument
(JDRS) was used to measure the unique job demands and job resources in the insurance industry.
Along with the JDRS, the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale
and the Work-Related Flow Scale were used as measuring instruments.
Results showed that the unique job demands in a call centre are pressure, working conditions,
workload, and job security. The unique job resources are supervision, resources availability, task
freedom, pay and benefits, opportunity for growth, and support. Work wellness was found to
comprise burnout, work engagement and work-related flow. Multiple regression analysis showed
that 6% of the variance in Mental Distance was predicted by Job Demands, with Working
Conditions being the only significant predictor. Within Exhaustion, 11% of the variance
explained was predicted by Job Demands, with Job Security and Working Conditions being the
only significant predictors. No statistically significant predictions were obtained for Work
Engagement and Work-Related Flow (i.e. Absorption and Flow).
Recommendations were made for future research. | |
