iii) Task Monotony: This is another factor that causes stress in employees. Employees are required to follow a predesigned script and are required to intersperse it with 'power words' like please, 'Thank you', welcome and the like. This leads to monotony and boredom due to no flexibility and routine and repetitive nature of work tasks. Yales et al. 1994 and Houlihan (2002) among many others report that monotony was related to higher turnover rates and intentions to quit. Houlihan (2002) in her study reports that the nature of work caused monotony and stress in rhythms with its peaks and troughs. Repetitive work lead to frustration and low self efficacy. Lack of stress and autonomy in decision making causes disengagement (Paul and Huws 2000,
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Given the time difference between American clients and India, CSRs have to work during the night time. Some CSRs have a choice of rotating between day or night shifts. Others have no option but to work during the night. This is even more problematic for women for whom call centre employment on the one hand means independence, financial security and a chance to live their lives in the way they choose to; however, on the other hand they fare societal pressures to conform to societal norms, which impose restrictions on their mobility during night time (Patel, 2010). Working through the night shifts, both men and women tend to drift away from their social circles and home and family affairs causing stress levels to rise (Pradhan & Abraham, …show more content…
2000), due to the flat organizational structures. Many young employees join the BPO in the hope of using it as a stepping stone for better career options later. However, the lack of any time or energy after a hard days work makes it impossible for them to take on any developmental activity . Crome (1998) says that Training and Development activities are 'nice to have' but are not considered ‘must have' in a number of organizations. Owing to hardly any space for vertical mobility and only lip service to Training and Development opportunities, attrition rates in call centres are also high (Watson et al. 2000, Paul & Haws, 2002). In the light of the above cited factors and research literature that brings to the fore that stress and burnout is a crucial aspect of the employment and nature of work in the industry (Richardson & Marshall 1999 Batt & Moinihan, 2002 Holman, 2002 Pau & Hows 2002. Deery and Kinnie 2002). I now focus on the ways in which stress levels can be reduced and ways in which health and safety issues can be always managed effectively. More specifically I look into ways in which organisational psychologists can make a positive contribution in this
Given the time difference between American clients and India, CSRs have to work during the night time. Some CSRs have a choice of rotating between day or night shifts. Others have no option but to work during the night. This is even more problematic for women for whom call centre employment on the one hand means independence, financial security and a chance to live their lives in the way they choose to; however, on the other hand they fare societal pressures to conform to societal norms, which impose restrictions on their mobility during night time (Patel, 2010). Working through the night shifts, both men and women tend to drift away from their social circles and home and family affairs causing stress levels to rise (Pradhan & Abraham, …show more content…
2000), due to the flat organizational structures. Many young employees join the BPO in the hope of using it as a stepping stone for better career options later. However, the lack of any time or energy after a hard days work makes it impossible for them to take on any developmental activity . Crome (1998) says that Training and Development activities are 'nice to have' but are not considered ‘must have' in a number of organizations. Owing to hardly any space for vertical mobility and only lip service to Training and Development opportunities, attrition rates in call centres are also high (Watson et al. 2000, Paul & Haws, 2002). In the light of the above cited factors and research literature that brings to the fore that stress and burnout is a crucial aspect of the employment and nature of work in the industry (Richardson & Marshall 1999 Batt & Moinihan, 2002 Holman, 2002 Pau & Hows 2002. Deery and Kinnie 2002). I now focus on the ways in which stress levels can be reduced and ways in which health and safety issues can be always managed effectively. More specifically I look into ways in which organisational psychologists can make a positive contribution in this