Emotional labour and the experience of emotional exhaustion amongst customer service representatives in a call centre
Year: 2006
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: In the new service economy organisations have to distinguish themselves from their competitors in terms of the quality of their service delivery.In order to attain this new goal organisations realise the important role that customers play in their success.Organisations also recognize that modern day customers have different wants and higher expectations regarding service delivery compared to only a decade ago.To live up to these new challenges a novel form of conducting business was introduced to the global labour market: Telephone call centres provide quality and efficient service in the most cost-effective way possible by, inter alia, utilising customer service representatives (CSRs) to attend to clients' each and every need -this job demand is termed emotional labour.Due to the way in which the CSRs' work is structured and the wide-ranging demands placed on them, these individuals experience countless and varied stressors on the job.The result, in a nutshell, is that CSRs become emotionally exhausted and eventually leave the call centre.The purpose of the present research study is, therefore, to identify to what extent emotional labour influences CSRs' feelings of emotional exhaustion, and whether the latter results in detrimental outcomes that undermine organisations' success and competitive advantage in the marketplace.A large organisation's call centre operators participated in the study (n = 84).Seven focus groups were conducted for the purpose of qualitative data collection: Six groups consisted of CSRs (N = 30) and one group consisted of team leaders (N = 4).Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the focus group interviews.The participants (n = 84) also completed questionnaires measuring emotional labour, emotional exhaustion, supervisor support, organisational commitment, and intentions to leave.Analysis of the interview data supported the existence of the five theoretical constructs and additional sources of job stress, over and above emotional labour, were identified.Pearson product-moment correlation analysis was used to analyse the questionnaire data, followed by multiple regression analysis with organisational commitment and intentions to leave as dependent variables, and the remaining constructs as the predictors.After determining the fit of the measurement model, consisting of the five constructs, a structural model was tested.Both the measurement and structural models produced acceptable goodness-of-fit statistics.The results of the structural model did not indicate a significant correlation between the total construct emotional labour and emotional exhaustion.Significant correlations were found between emotional labour and supervisor support, emotional exhaustion and organisational commitment and intentions to leave respectively, and organisational commitment and intentions to leave.Multiple regression analysis indicated emotional exhaustion is a significant predictor of both lowered organisational commitment and increased intentions to leave.Structural equation modelling indicated emotional exhaustion is causally related to intentions to leave through organisational commitment.The findings are congruent with previous research on the detrimental effect of emotional exhaustion on organisational outcomes and illuminate the complex relationship between emotional labour and emotional exhaustion.Interventions minimising the impact of both emotional labour and emotional exhaustion, within a call centre environment, are explored.IV OPSOMMING Organisasies in vandag se dienstesektor is genoodsaak om hulself van hul mededingers te onderskei deur middel van gehalte dienslewering.Organisasies besef dat, ten einde hierdie doelwit te bereik, hulle nóg kan bekostig om die kliënt agterweë te laat, nóg om die moderne kliënt se behoeftes en hoë verwagtinge met betrekking tot dienslewering te ignoreer.In 'n poging om aan bogenoemde uitdagings te voldoen is 'n oorspronklike manier van besigheid doen aan die wêreld bekendgestel: Oproepsentrums verskaf doeltreffende en kwaliteitdiens op 'n koste-effektiewe manier deur, onder andere, gebruik te maak van oproepsentrum-agente wat reg staan om aan kliënte se behoeftes te voorsien -die tipe eise wat aan agente gestel word, word omskryf deur die term emosionele arbeid.As gevolg van die wyse waarop oproepsentrum-agente se werk gestruktureer word, asook die werkseise wat aan hulle gestel word, is agente blootgestel aan 'n groot verskeidenheid stressors.Die gevolg is dat die agente emosioneel uitgeput raak en uiteindelik besluit om die oproepsentrum te verlaat.Die doelwit van die huidige navorsingstudie is om te bepaal in welke mate emosionele arbeid aanleiding gee tot agente se emosionele uitputting, en of laasgenoemde lei tot nadelige uitkomstes wat die organisasie se sukses en mededingende voordeel in die mark ondermyn.'n Groot organisasie se oproepsentrum-agente (n = 84) het deelgeneem aan die studie.Sewe fokusgroepe is ter wille van kwalitatiewe data-insameling gehou: Ses groepe het bestaan uit agente (N = 30) en een groep uit spanleiers (N = 4).Kwalitatiewe inhoudsanalise is gebruik ter ontleding van die fokusgroeponderhoude. Die deelnemers (n = 84) het ook vraelyste vir emosionele arbeid, emosionele uitputting, toesighouer ondersteuning, organisasie toewyding en voornemens om die organisasie te verlaat, voltooi.Ontleding van die onderhouddata het die teenwoordigheid van die teoretiese konstrukte, asook addisionele bronne van werkstres bo en behalwe emosionele arbeid, in die oproepsentrum bevestig.Pearson korrelasie analise is gebruik om die vraelysdata te analiseer, gevolg deur meervoudige regressieanalise met organisasie toewyding en voornemens om die organisasie te verlaat as afhanklike veranderlikes en die oorblywende veranderlikes as voorspellers.Na aanleiding van die metingsmodel, bestaande uit genoemde vyf konstrukte, se passingsresultate is 'n strukturele model getoets.Beide die metingsmodel en strukturele model se passingstatistieke was aanvaarbaar.Die resultate van die strukturele model het nie 'n beduidende verwantskap tussen emosionele arbeid as eendimensionele konstruk en emosionele uitputting aangedui nie.Beduidende korrelasies is gevind tussen emosionele arbeid en spanleier ondersteuning, emosionele uitputting en organisasie toewyding en voornemens om die organisasie te verlaat onderskeidelik, en organisasie toewyding en voornemens om die organisasie te verlaat.Meervoudige regressie analise het aangedui emosionele uitputting is 'n beduidende voorspeller van beide verminderde organisasie toewyding en verhoogde voornemens om die organisasie te verlaat.Strukturele vergelykingsmodellering het aangedui emosionele uitputting het deur organisasie toewyding 'n kousale verwantskap met voornemens om die organisasie te verlaat.Die bevindinge is in ooreenstemming met vorige navorsing oor die negatiewe uitwerking van emosionele uitputting op organisatoriese uitkomstes en verhelder die komplekse verhouding tussen emosionele arbeid en emosionele uitputting.Intervensies om die impak van beide emosionele arbeid en emosionele uitputting binne die oproepsentrum-omgewing teë te werk, word ondersoek.VI ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the following individuals and entities for providing me with their continuous support, albeit in very different capacities.Firstly, I would like to thank the Department of Industrial Psychology (and all its lecturers) at the University of Stellenbosch for providing me with a safe environment in which I could develop my competency as researcher and aspiring psychologist.More specifically, I would like to thank Mr Petrus Nel for the key role he performed in assisting me to complete my thesis: I will always be indebted to you for your kind and professional guidance, as well as your constant encouragement to explore my own style and to trust in my abilities.Also to Dr Henry Vos who helped me in preparing my research proposal: Thank you for your constructive advice whenever needed.To Professor Callie Theron, thank you for teaching me the intricacies of SPSS and Lisrel and for guiding me in my quest for comprehension … I will always remember the many hours I spent immersed in Beta-coefficients and Goodness of Fit statistics!Also, thank you for your constant support and personal concern throughout the years.To Dr Willem de Villiers, thank you for making me feel at home at the Department, and for your continuous support and interest in me, not just
Author: Marelise Spies
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1915012098