Procedural, organizational and relational aspects of call-centre job : results of semi-structured interviews

Background Specific characteristics of the job (procedures, organization, relationships) may sustain or reduce well- being and motivation among call-centre operators. Aim To report results of semi-structured interviews conducted with 1106 call-centre operators working in a large-scale Italian telephone company. Methods A mixed quali-quantitative approach was used for study conduction. While questionnaires include mainly standardized scales on work-related psychosocial characteristics and well-being, semi-structured interviews comprise ad-hoc questions aimed at deepening knowledge concerning procedural, organizational and relational characteristics of the job. Results Among participants (72.4% women), mean age was 32.5 (s.d. 3.7) and mean job seniority 6.9 (s.d. 1.5). Most operators worked part-time (86.9%) and performed in-bound call handling (57.6%). Nearly two thirds considered the “need to work under tight deadlines”as the main source of pressure. About 45% deemed organizational resources available for client management as adequate. In this respect, main problems reported were “no sufficient time for managing clients”(22%) and “problems with IT instrumentation”(10.8%). Three-quarter felt uncomfortable with performance monitoring for several reasons (mainly “unreasonable pressure”). About 75% considered clients to be emotionally demanding, mostly for their rudeness/arrogance. Although scarce, two thirds deemed career possibilities as not influencing their work motivation. Nearly all subjects considered relationships with colleagues as “good”. For 76%, relationships were “good”also with their supervisor. Finally, 56.4% regarded work breaks as adequate, while 27.4% as no sufficient for recovery. Conclusion Semi-structured interviews may favour workers’ participation and provide more concrete and usable information on potential psychosocial risk factors among call-centre operators, mainly for intervention purposes