Work & Stress, March 2006; 20(1): 60 /83
Work motivation, organisational identification, and well-being in call centre work
¨ RGEN WEGGE1, ROLF VAN DICK2, GARY K. FISHER2, JU CHRISTIANE WECKING3, & KAI MOLTZEN4 1
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universita¨t, Mu¨nchen, Germany; 2Aston University, Birmingham, UK, and Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universita¨t Frankfurt, Germany; 3Universita¨t Dortmund, Germany; and 4 Philipps-Universita¨t Marburg, Germany
Abstract Previous work has not considered the interplay of motivational forces linked to the task with those linked to the social identity of employees. The aim of the present study is to combine these approaches. Two studies with call centre agents (N 211, N 161) were conducted in which the relationships of objective working conditions (e.g., inbound vs. outbound work), subjective measures of motivating potential of work, and organisational identification were analysed. Job satisfaction, turnover intentions, organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB), health complaints, and burnout were assessed as indicators of the agents’ work motivation and well-being. In both studies it was found that objective working conditions substantially correlated with subjective measures of work motivation. Moreover, employees experiencing a high motivating potential at work reported more OCB, higher job satisfaction, and less turnover intentions. As hypothesised, organisational identification was a further independent predictor of job satisfaction, turnover intentions, OCB, and well-being. Highly organisationally identified employees report higher work motivation and more well-being. Additionally, interactions between the motivating potential and organisational identification were found. However, all the results indicate that interventions seeking to enhance work motivation and well-being in call centres should improve both the motivating potential of the job and organisational identification. These two factors combined in an additive way across both studies.
Keywords: Call centre, work motivation, organisational identification, well-being, burnout, organisational citizenship behavior, work-related stress
Introduction The main goal of the present study is to contribute to research in the area of stress among call centre agents. More specifically, this paper focuses on two factors that should affect work motivation and well-being: the motivating potential of the task and organisational identification. Prior research has clearly documented that an appropriate work design promotes employee satisfaction, motivation, and well-being. As call centres are a new segment of the service industry, we examine whether the ‘‘old laws’’ apply to this kind of work, too. A second purpose of this study is to investigate potential benefits of
Correspondence: Ju¨rgen Wegge, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universita¨t Mu¨nchen (LMU), Department of Psychology, Psychology of Excellence, Martiusstrasse 4, D-80802, Mu¨nchen, Germany. Tel: 498921809791. Fax: 498921804814. E-mail:
[email protected] ISSN 0267-8373 print/ISSN 1464-5335 online # 2006 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/02678370600655553
Work motivation, identification, and well-being in call centre work 61 organisational identification on work motivation and well-being in call centres. There are only few studies that have examined the impact of organisational identification on wellbeing. Thus, we seek to provide more evidence on this issue. Finally, this study investigates whether and how motivational forces linked to the task combine with those forces linked to the psychological attachment of employees towards their organisation. Call centres are a growing part of the service industry in many countries and a substantial amount of call centre agent (customer service representative) jobs have been created in this sector in recent years (Baumgartner, Good, & Udris, 2002; Holman, 2003; Moltzen & Van Dick, 2002; Wegge, Van Dick, Fisher, West, & Dawson, 2006). Three percent of the US working population and 1.3% of the European working population were employed in call centres in 2002 (Deery, Iverson, & Walsh, 2002). In emergent markets, the call centre sector is rapidly growing and it is estimated that soon there will be a workforce of 700,000 in India (Shah & Bandi, 2003). The main task of call centre agents is to communicate with customers via integrated telephone and computer solutions. Communication between agents and customers serves various purposes, e.g., taking orders, giving information about products, providing highly skilled IT services or legal advice, conducting consumer research, advertising, and hard selling. Inbound agents receive calls from customers whereas outbound agents dial up customers themselves. A common stereotype regarding call centre work is that managing phone-based customer interactions all the day is neither complicated nor demanding as most interactions are basic, simple, and scripted. This stereotype, however, is not corroborated by recent research. On the contrary, the majority of previous studies have shown (for a review, see Holman, 2003) that the work of call centre agents is very demanding with respect to various aspects. In order to do the job correctly, call centre agents have to perform several attentionconsuming, simultaneous subtasks such as controlling the call via the deployment of sophisticated listening and questioning skills, operating a keyboard to input data into computers, reading often detailed information from a visual display unit, and speaking to customers. Furthermore, as many customers are subjected to long waiting times their satisfaction is negatively affected and thus these tasks are often conducted under high time pressure. Moreover, phone calls with customers are usually short (e.g., 2/5 minutes) and therefore, a call centre agent often communicates with many different customers each day; sometimes with about 100 customers during a typical 8 hour shift. Continuously keeping track of to whom you are speaking and the frequent readjustment to new customers is a further, non-trivial attention requirement. More significantly, call centre agents are usually instructed to be friendly, enthusiastic, polite, and helpful to customers even if customers are rude (which is not a rare event, see Grandey, Dickter, & Sin, 2004; Totterdell & Holman, 2003) and this induces further demands with respect to the volitional presentation of emotions in opposition to those being actually felt, which is referred to as emotional dissonance (e.g., Lewig & Dollard, 2003). As many call centres use monitoring procedures such as test calls and recording of calls (Holman, 2002; Holman, Chissick, & Totterdell, 2002), violations of this norm will be easily detected. Recent research shows that the control of one’s own emotions (e.g., by suppression, hiding, or overplaying emotions) can have serious consequences. This form of emotion regulation consumes volitional energies (Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven, & Tice, 1998) and often leads to the development of emotional exhaustion, a component of the burnout syndrome (for reviews of burnout and emotional labor at work see Dormann & Zapf, 2004; Grandey, 2000; Payne & Cooper, 2001; Salovey, Detweiler, Steward, & Bedell, 2001; Schaufeli & Buunk, 2003; Zapf, 2002). Thus, demands for emotion regulation at work can affect health negatively, especially if
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intensive negative emotions are aroused or suppressed, and this was also found in call centre work (Grandey et al., 2004; Isic, Dormann, & Zapf, 1999; Lewig & Dollard, 2003; Schaubroeck & Jones, 2000; Totterdell & Holman, 2003; Wegge, van Dick, & Wecking, 2006; Zapf, Isic, Bechtoldt, & Blau, 2003). Continuous attention to high volumes of differing customer demands, the regulation of emotions, and conforming to organisational norms with respect to the display of positive emotions can easily exceed the available resources of call centre agents. There are also some aspects of call centre work, however, that are stressful because they disqualify the use of available skills and resources. Most calls are based on a predetermined script that agents have to follow strictly. Agents also have very little autonomy or control over their work because they are not allowed to deviate from a predetermined message in order to meet customer demands. Having to use the same communication script about hundred times a day leads to feelings of monotony and boredom (Wieland & Timm, 2004) that might accumulate over the course of the week (Richter, 2004). Boredom is sometimes also induced by unnecessary waiting times that result from mismanaged call distribution or unexpected low call volumes. Moreover, requirements for agents to be innovative, proactive, or forward thinking are often low for these types of tasks and this typically also yields lower work motivation and health problems. As several other common stressors (e.g., working in shifts, inconvenient postures due to computer work, high noise levels in large offices) are also present in call centre work, it can be concluded that the work of agents is neither simple nor undemanding. In support of this view, turnover rates in call centres are very high. In a study of 14 call centres in Switzerland, for example, Baumgartner et al. (2002) report an average turnover rate of 21% per annum. The factors that make call centre work stressful are under extensive investigation (e.g., Dormann & Zijlstra, 2003; Holman, 2003). Very little research, however, has been conducted with respect to important factors that might reduce strain and turnover in call centres. Can traditional approaches to job design focusing on the tasks of employees also be utilised to improve work motivation and well-being in call centres? As a major redesign of the core tasks of call centre agents (having rather simple, often scripted phone calls with customers) is almost impossible, some doubts may be raised. Furthermore, what other factors, apart from designing core task features, might be successful in improving well-being in such emotionally loaded environments? The purpose of the present study is to address this issue. We draw upon the work by Hackman and Oldham (1980) and their Job Characteristics Model (JCM). According to this model, job satisfaction, motivation, and other outcomes are a function of five core characteristics of the job itself, mediated by psychological states and moderated by variables such as knowledge and skills or the individual’s need for growth. The five core job characteristics are skill variety, task identity, meaningfulness of the task, autonomy, and feedback from the job itself (as opposed to feedback by supervisors or others). These characteristics can be assessed with several items for each dimension from the Job Diagnostic Survey, and a Motivating Potential Score (MPS) can be calculated (Hackman & Oldham, 1975, 1980). The first aim of the present study is to examine the relationship between objective job characteristics (e.g., working on inbound vs. outbound tasks) and employees’ perceptions of the motivating potentials of their jobs based on the JCM. The second aim is to investigate whether the main proposition of this model (high MPS scores should correspond with high work motivation and well-being) can also be corroborated in the restricted work of call centre agents. Third, we want to examine the relationship of organisational identification with work motivation and well-being of call centre agents. According to social identity
Work motivation, identification, and well-being in call centre work 63 theory, a strong psychological attachment of employees to their organisation should typically improve work motivation (Van Knippenberg, 2000). Moreover, recent findings show that the appraisal of stressors and successful coping with stressors are also influenced by social identity (Haslam, 2004). Feeling strong ties with the organisation might therefore reduce stress that is based on adhering to organisational norms such as being always friendly to customers. Finally, this study seeks to investigate the relative importance of both factors (motivating potential and organisational identification) and their potential interactions with regard to work motivation and well-being.
Job design in call centres As work in call centres is often characterised by Tayloristic, restricted working conditions (low autonomy, low task variety, short task cycles, etc., see Holman, 2003; Zapf et al., 2003), several researchers have recommended the use of traditional strategies of job enrichment and job enlargement (Hackman & Oldham, 1980) to improve work motivation in call centres (e.g., Grebner, Semmer, Faso, Gut, Ka¨lin, & Elfering, 2003; Richter, 2004; Wieland & Timm, 2004). The question, however, is whether it would be possible to increase the motivating potential of work (e.g., task variety, task significance, task completeness) given the strongly restricted nature of the work setting in which the basic nature of the task itself cannot be changed. Previous research has shown that call centre agents responsible for outbound calls report less time pressure, more autonomy, and lower strain than agents working only inbound (e.g., Isic et al., 1999). Moreover, it can be expected that employees also value getting access to training and development programs (Shah & Bandi, 2003). Having access to vocational training should be perceived as a real enrichment and benefit because many agents often receive little training before they start their job. In a similar vein, a third objective aspect of working conditions that should be linked with perceived motivating potentials of work is the type of employment contract. According to assumptions from social exchange theory and research on psychological contracts (e.g., Rousseau, 1998), employees with a full-time contract expect and often have more positive exchange relationships with an organisation than employees with a part-time contract. Especially in organisations with a high turnover rate, having a full-time contract is also probably perceived as an indication of long-term job security and this should improve, for example, the organisational citizenship behavior of employees (Van Dyne & Ang, 1998). Of course, employees with full-time contracts might also be responsible for several subtasks (products), so that they experience higher task variety and task significance than employees with part time contracts. Accordingly, the following hypothesis is proposed: Hypothesis 1. Objective working conditions in call centres, especially (a) inbound vs. outbound tasks, (b) regular vocational training, and (c) part time vs. full-time contract correlate with subjective measures of motivating potentials of work (expressed as MPS). Higher values of MPS should be observed for employees with outbound tasks, more training on the job, and full-time contracts. Many previous studies have documented that high motivating potentials have a positive impact upon indicators of work motivation and well-being such as job satisfaction, turnover intentions, absenteeism, and OCB (Fried & Ferris, 1987; Johns, 1997; Van Dick & Wagner, 2001). Thus, if variations in the motivating potential occur in call centre work (which has
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not yet been examined), it can be expected that these relationships will also be found in this type of work. This leads to: Hypothesis 2a. In call centre work, work motivation (MPS) is positively correlated with (a) job satisfaction, (b) OCB, and (c) well-being, and negatively correlated with (d) turnover intentions.
Social identity, work motivation, and health As a second main motivating factor predicting work-related attitudes and behaviors, the focus is drawn to employees’ psychological attachment towards their organisation. We will draw upon social identity theory for our hypotheses. Social identity theory, developed by Tajfel and Turner (1979, 1986), explains intergroup conflicts and hostility between groups with different ethnic backgrounds. Basic assumptions of this theory are that: (1) individuals are striving for positive self-esteem; (2) that one part of an individual’s self-concept, one’s social identity as opposed to one’s personal identity, is based on membership in social categories; and (3) that individuals strive for positive differentiation between those categories of which they are a member, i.e., their in-groups, from other categories, or outgroups. Empirical research has indeed corroborated these propositions and shown, for instance, that individuals who highly identified with their groups reported more prejudice toward outgroups but also a higher tendency to follow the group’s norms and rules, to defend the group to outsiders, and to put in extra efforts in tasks that supported the group. Recently, social identity theory has also been fruitfully adapted in organisational contexts showing that employees’ organisational identification is positively related to work-related attitudes and behaviors such as job satisfaction or extra-role behaviors (Van Knippenberg & Van Schie, 2000; for an overview see Van Dick, 2004). Van Dick and Wagner (2002), for instance, demonstrate in two samples of schoolteachers that variables of work motivation, job satisfaction, and self-reported extra-role behaviors were predicted positively by identification with the professional group. Riketta (2005) provided meta-analytical evidence, based on approximately 100 studies, of substantial relationships between identification and indicators of work motivation such as job satisfaction (r .54), turnover intentions (r .48), and extra-role behavior (r .19) (see also Riketta & Van Dick, 2005). Research on the relationship between organisational identification and variables of stress and well-being, however, has not been extensive. Van Dick and Wagner (2002) found a negative correlation between organisational identification and physical health complaints. Consistent with this finding, Schaubroeck and Jones (2000) showed that high organisational identification might function as a buffer against organisational stressors because perceived demands to present (pretended) positive emotions as part of the work role correlated positively with physical symptoms only for those employees reporting low organisational identification. In the same vein, Brotheridge and Lee (2003) found that role identification correlated negatively with emotional dissonance and also negatively with burnout in a sample of 238 workers from various fields (e.g., service/sales workers, office workers, laborers). Moreover, Haslam, Jetten, O’Brien, and Jacobs (2004) could demonstrate the usefulness of a social identity and self-categorisation perspective on the appraisal of stressrelated information. In their experimental research they found that information that described a situation as more or less stressful was perceived as more reliable if it came from an in-group member. Haslam (2004) has recently summarised this and other evidence into
Work motivation, identification, and well-being in call centre work 65 a self-categorisation model of stress in which he outlines that a common identity can provide not only the basis for a more self-protective (effective) perception of stress-related information but also the foundation of social support and coping, leading to greater wellbeing. To summarise, there is considerable evidence for positive effects of identification in the workplace with respect to indicators of work motivation and there is preliminary evidence that (organisational) identification also promotes well-being of employees. Whether these relationships can be found in call centre work has not yet been investigated. However, in line with existing evidence from other work contexts, we formulate: Hypothesis 2b. In call centre work, organisational identification is positively correlated with (a) job satisfaction, (b) OCB, (c) employee well-being, and negatively correlated with (d) turnover intentions.
Relationship between job design and social identity Theories of job design and theories of organisational identification focus on rather different aspects of work that motivate people to invest more or less effort and persistence. The job design approach considers task characteristics like task variety and task feedback as more or less motivating whereas the social identity approach focuses on inter-group relations and self-categorisation processes with respect to social categories. Therefore, it seems plausible that these different forces are to a large extent independent of each other. People might like the task they do (e.g., teaching school children) but do not like the organisation in which this happens (the school) because this organisation, for example, is managed by an incompetent head-teacher. In the same vein, employees can identify strongly with an organisation but not like their boring tasks or how their work is organised (e.g., routine office work without any autonomy). Conceptualizing the motivational incentives linked to task design and social relations as rather independent from each other, however, does not imply that interactions between these factors are impossible. Interactions might be observed, for example, because highly committed employees experience higher self-esteem and this reduces the potential impact of organisational stressors (Pierce, Gardner, Dunham, & Cummings, 1993). The findings from Van Dick and Wegge (2004) in a sample of bank employees point to another possible reason for interactions between job design and organisational identification. In this study, different levels of organisational identification had no impact on turnover intentions if the motivating potential was perceived as high. If the motivating potential was low, however, only employees with low organisational identification reported high turnover intentions. Thus, organisational identification might be more important for work motivation and well-being if job design is perceived as suboptimal. Work in call centres has a much lower motivating potential than office work in a bank (e.g., Isic et al., 1999) and we can, therefore, expect that finding independent main effects of both factors is plausible in this context. Given the lack of studies examining both organisational identification and motivating potentials of work, our predictions are somewhat exploratory. The existing evidence, however, supports the following hypothesis: Hypothesis 2c. In call centre work, the relationships between motivating potentials of work and organisational identification on the one hand, and work motivation (job-satisfaction, OCB, turnover intentions) and well-being (health complaints, burnout) on the other are additive in nature.
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Relationship between identification and OCB In this research, identification with organisations is considered to be an important antecedent of behavior in organisations. With respect to OCB, however, there is also evidence that organisational identification might function as a moderator variable. In a study by Van Dyne and Ang (1998), differences in the relationship between commitment and OCB have been analysed for permanent versus non-permanent, contingent workers. As expected, those employees who have been employed on a contingent basis showed lower commitment and OCB levels. Contingent workers, however, showed similar levels of OCB to those of permanent workers if their commitment was high. Thus, only contingent workers with low levels of commitment showed low extra effort. As contingent working relations and part-time employment are widely observed phenomena in call centre work, a final aim of this research is to replicate these findings for call centre employees. If this is successful, the implication for practitioners would be very clear. Increasing the identification of part time workers will pay considerable dividends. Taken together, this leads to: Hypothesis 3a. In call centre work, part time employees engage in less OCB than regular employees. Hypothesis 3b. In call centre work, the relationship between identification and OCB is stronger for part-time employees than for full-time employees. We will test our hypotheses using a cross-sectional multi-sample approach. Study 1 provides an initial investigation, and Study 2 will seek to replicate and extend the findings.
Study 1 Sample and procedure After getting approval from management and union representatives, standardised questionnaires were distributed in two call centres, comprising 305 customer service representatives. Respondents filled out the questionnaires during business hours and participation was both confidential and voluntary. Two hundred and eleven questionnaires were returned (response rate 67%). Sixty-five percent of respondents were female, average age was 27.8 years (SD 6.7 years), and mean professional experience was 1.1 years (SD 2.5 years). A total of 169 call centre agents are working inbound, 37 mainly outbound; 32% of respondents had full-time contracts, 68% were working part time.
Questionnaires Participants had to evaluate all the following items using 6-point answering scales with endpoints 1 ‘‘is not at all correct’’ to 6 ‘‘totally correct.’’ The items were then averaged within each scale, which can thus have a range between 1 and 6. Information on organisational identification was obtained with an instrument in the form of a table that has been shown to be a reliable and economical measure with regard to the assessment of different forms of identification (Van Dick, Wagner, Stellmacher, & Christ, 2004). Six items within the table tapped organisational identification (e.g., ‘‘I identify with my organisation,’’ ‘‘Being a member of my organisation is a reflection of who I am’’). These items were averaged and provided a good reliability (a .85).
Work motivation, identification, and well-being in call centre work 67 Additionally, the questionnaire contained the Job Diagnostic Survey (Hackman & Oldham, 1975) to measure employees’ perceptions of their job (motivating potential) and their job satisfaction. Motivating potential was measured with 14 items assessing the job’s significance, identity, variety, autonomy, and feedback from the task itself to obtain a MPS. Following the recommendations of Fried and Ferris (1987) and Evans (1991) regarding problems with multiplicative composite scores, we used an additive form of the MPS, summing up the values of the five job characteristics (a .82). Job satisfaction was measured with six items (e.g., ‘‘Generally speaking, I am very satisfied with this job,’’ ‘‘I am generally satisfied with the kind of work I do in this job,’’ a .83). Participants were also asked to complete a scale assessing Organisational Citizenship Behavior (OCB). This scale consisted of 10 items based on the operationalisation of the construct devised by Organ (1997). Item examples are ‘‘I help orienting new colleagues,’’ ‘‘If colleagues are feeling blue, I try to cheer them up’’ (a .75). Turnover intentions were assessed with three items (‘‘I frequently think of quitting,’’ ‘‘I often study job offers in the daily press,’’ ‘‘A job with a similar salary in another company would be an interesting alternative to my present job,’’ a .67). Finally, participants were asked to indicate how often they participate in training activities (from 0 ‘‘never’’ to 4 ‘‘regularly’’).
Results (study 1) Table I presents means, standard deviations, and correlations of all variables. All scales are sufficiently reliable. Test of Hypothesis 1. Based on the zero-order correlations shown in Table I, it can be concluded that all three parts of Hypothesis 1 are corroborated. Higher values of the subjective motivating potential of work (MPS) were observed for employees with outbound tasks (r .16), more training activities (r .23), and full-time contracts (r .23).
Test of Hypothesis 2a. In order to test this hypothesis, we inspected zero-order correlations between variables again (see Table I). In line with our expectations, all correlations are significant in the expected direction: the correlation between motivating potential and job satisfaction (r .67), motivating potential and OCB (r .58), and motivating potential and turnover intentions (r .18).
Test of Hypothesis 2b. As expected, zero-order correlations between organisational identification and indicators of work motivation and well-being of employees are also significant in this sample. Employees who felt more attached to their organisation were more satisfied with their job (r .51), engaged more in OCB at work (r .55), and were less likely to leave the organisation (r .33).
Test of Hypothesis 2c. The similarity of findings for the motivating potential and organisational identification is obvious. The two variables, however, are correlated only moderately (r .39). To examine whether these relationships are additive in nature, a
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Table I. Means, standard deviations, reliability coefficients, and zero-order correlations (Study 1). M 1. Age 27.8 2. Gender1 1.36 3. In vs. outbound work2 1.20 4. Type of contract3 1.70 5. Training 2.30 6. Motivating potential (MPS) 3.78 7. Organisational identification 3.84 8. Job satisfaction 4.34 9. Organisational citizenship (OCB) 4.67 10. Turnover intention 2.59
SD
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
6.9 / 0.49 .06 / 0.40 .15* .08 / 0.47 .15* .07 .03 / 0.93 .13 .09 .09 .17* / 0.80 .26** .06 .16* .23** .23** (.82) 1.2 .15* .12 .21** .20** .22** .39** (.85) 0.99 .12 .05 .04 .09 .13 .67** .51** (.83) 0.69 .19** .05 .16* .28** .40** .58** .55** .51** (.75) 1.3 .00 .13 .02 .04 .01 .18** .33** .48** .20** (.67)
* p B.05, ** p B.01. Notes: n between 194 and 211 due to missing data. Cronbach’s alphas are on the diagonal, outbound tasks 2, 3 part time 0, full-time 1.
1
female 1, male 2;
2
Inbound tasks 1,
Work motivation, identification, and well-being in call centre work 69 series of hierarchical regression analyses were conducted (see Table II). In these regressions, age and gender were included as demographic controls first. Next, both standardised predictor variables were entered. In the third step, the standardised productterm of both predictors was entered as a further variable to examine potential interactions. This procedure follows the suggestions of Aiken and West (1991). In support of Hypothesis 2c, we found that job satisfaction and OCB were associated with both motivating potential and organisational identification in the expected direction. Both variables had significant positive b-values when included simultaneously in the regression equation. Together, these variables explain a quite substantial amount of variance of dependent variables (51% and 42%, respectively). For OCB, however, the interaction term was also significant. To examine the form of this interaction, we inserted cut-point values of9one standard deviation from the mean of each variable (see Figure 1). This plot reveals that the relationship between organisational identification and OCB was more substantial for employees who perceived a low motivating potential of their job. Especially under conditions of low motivating potential, organisational identification made a difference with regard to OCB at work. With respect to turnover intentions, Hypothesis 2c is not supported. As shown in Table II, the only significant association occurs between turnover intentions and organisational identification (b .31). Thus, taken together, the results give mixed evidence for Hypothesis 2c, as the nature of the relationship between motivating potential and organisational identification also depends on the nature of the criterion considered. For job satisfaction and OCB, both predictors work in a rather additive way but for turnover intentions only organisational identification is important. Test of Hypothesis 3. According to Hypothesis 3a, part-time employees should engage in less OCB than regular employees. This proposition is supported by the data (see Table I). The corresponding correlation is significant (r .28) indicating that call centre agents with a full-time contract report more OCB than those with a part-time contract. Hypothesis 3b suggested that the relationship between identification and OCB is stronger for part-time Table II. Summary of hierarchical regression analyses (Study 1).
Job satisfaction B
SE B
b
Organisational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) B
SE B
b
Age .00 .01 .15* .00 .01 .20** Gender .00 .14 .03 .00 .10 .01 .02 .04* Step I: R2 Motivating potential (MPS) .57 .06 .57** .29 .04 .42** Organisational identification .29 .05 .30** .26 .04 .39** Step II: R2/DR2 .53*/.51** .46**/.42** Motivating potential (MPS) .56 .06 .57** .29 .04 .42** Organisational identification .29 .05 .30** .26 .04 .39** MPS Organisational identification .00 .05 .06 .11 .04 .17** Step III: R2/DR2 .53**/.00 .49**/.03** * p B.05, ** p B.01 Notes: n 191 for job satisfaction, n 193 for OCB, n 193 for turnover intention.
Turnover intention B .00 .27
SE B
b
.01 .01 .19 .10 .01 .13 .10 .10 .41 .10 .31** .14**/.13** .14 .10 .10 .40 .10 .31** .14 .09 .11 .15**/.01
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OCB
4
Low MPS
3.5
High MPS
3 2.5 2 1.5 1
Low ID
High ID
Identification
Figure 1. Interaction between motivating potential of work (MPS) and organisational identification for organisational citizenship behavior (OCB) at work (Study 1).
employees than for full-time employees. In order to test this proposition, we conducted again a hierarchical, moderated regression analysis with standardised variables, controlling for age and gender. The interaction term involving type of contract and identification (see Figure 2) was significant with b .43 (p B.05; F(5, 186) 20.34; p B.01, R2 .35). The plot of this interaction reveals that the corresponding hypothesis is supported by the data. Whereas organisational identification had almost no relationship with OCB for agents with full-time contracts, agents with a part-time contract report higher OCB if their organisational identification was high. Thus, the findings from Van Dyne and Ang (1998) could be replicated in our first sample of call centre agents.
6 5.5 5 4.5
OCB
4
full time
3.5
part time
3 2.5 2 1.5 1 Low ID
High ID
Identification Figure 2. Interaction between the organisational identification and nature of contract for organisational citizenship behavior (OCB) at work (Study 1).
Work motivation, identification, and well-being in call centre work 71 Discussion (study 1) The results of this study make potentially valuable contributions in several ways. First, we found the expected relationship between objective working conditions and subjective measures of the motivating potential of work. Thus, it can be concluded that even in the often-restricted context of call centre work possibilities are available to improve the work motivation of customer service representatives. We will discuss this issue in more detail in the general discussion. Second, we found that experiencing a high motivating potential of work is also linked with high job satisfaction, high OCB, and low turnover intentions. Thus, enhancing work motivation seems worthwhile for both employees and the organisation. Third, in line with findings from a recent meta-analysis (Riketta, 2005) and recently developed self-categorisation models of stress (Haslam, 2004), it was found that employees with high organisational identification were more satisfied with their job, engaged more in OCB and were less inclined to leave the organisation. Fourth, it was also found, as expected, that motivational forces linked to the work itself (MPS) and forces linked with self-categorisation processes (organisational identification) can combine in an additive way. This is true for two important indicators of work motivation: job satisfaction and OCB. Finally, our attempt to replicate the interaction reported by Van Dyne and Ang (1998) in a sample of call centre agents was successful. In our view, this is important because in call centres a substantial proportion of contingent (non-permanent) workers can be found. Our finding indicates that enhancing organisational identification will be especially effective for contingent employees. The purpose of Study 2 was to replicate the basic findings from Study 1 in another sample of call centre agents. Because the sample in Study 2 was composed of agents from eight different call centres representing a wider range of organisations, a replication would lend substantial support to the findings of our first study. More importantly, the second study was also designed to extend the perspective by including burnout as a further dependent variable. It was also decided to add a validated questionnaire measuring various psychosomatic complaints to collect more information about employee’s health status.
Study 2 Sample and procedure More than 20 call centres were approached to get approval for collecting data. Eight call centres agreed and standardised questionnaires were distributed. In total 300 questionnaires were distributed. Call centre agents filled out the questionnaires during leisure time. Participation was confidential and voluntary. A total of 161 usable questionnaires were returned (average response rate 53%). Sixty-two percent of respondents were female, average age was 32.6 years (SD 9.7 years), and mean professional experience was 2.3 years (SD 2.6 years). A total of 119 agents (73%) indicated that they performed inbound tasks, 39 agents mainly outbound tasks; 78 agents (47%) had full-time contracts, 83 were working part-time.
Questionnaires Organisational identification was assessed in this study with four items similar to those of Study 1 (e.g., ‘‘I see myself as a member of this call centre,’’ ‘‘I feel strong ties with other members of this call centre’’). These items were averaged and provided a good reliability
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(a .86). Additionally, the questionnaire contained items from a German screening instrument measuring different aspects of working conditions (Pru¨mper, Hartmannsgruber, & Frese, 1995) that is based on previously validated instruments. Some of these items were also taken from the Job Diagnostic Survey. To derive an indicator of employees’ perceptions of the motivation potential of their job (MPS), measures of autonomy (3 items), task variety (3 items), and task identity (2 items) were averaged into a new scale (8 items, a .79). Job satisfaction was measured with five items (e.g., ‘‘How satisfied are you with you job in general?’’ ‘‘. . . with the conditions at your work place,’’ a .85). Organisational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) was assessed with seven items taken from Staufenbiel and Hartz (2000) that are similar to the measure from Study 1. Item examples are ‘‘I help colleagues to improve their work,’’ ‘‘If colleagues are feeling blue, I try to cheer them up’’ (a .84). Turnover intentions were assessed with six items (e.g., ‘‘I frequently play with the idea of quitting,’’ ‘‘I am searching for a new job,’’ a .90). To measure employees’ well-being, two instruments were used. The Maslach Burnout Inventory in the German translation (MBI-D) from Bu¨ssing and Perrar (1992) assesses three components of burnout: Emotional exhaustion (8 items, a .87), Depersonalisation (5 items, a .75), and Personal accomplishment (a subjective evaluation that one performs well in one’s job; 8 items, a .77.) Whereas personal accomplishment is usually scored in the opposite direction from the other two components of the Maslach Burnout Inventory, in the present study high values of personal accomplishment indicate good performance). In addition, a list of 21 different types of health complaints that was developed by Mohr (1986) was presented and agents indicated how often they had experienced these complaints in the last 6 months (a .91). For all scales described above, participants had to evaluate the items on 5-point answering scales with endpoints 1 ‘‘is not at all correct’’ to 5 ‘‘totally correct’’; 1 ‘‘never’’ to 5 ‘‘very often’’; or 1 ‘‘not at all’’ to 5 ‘‘very much.’’ Finally, the degree of training was assessed with a single item asking agents to indicate how often they participated in training in the last year (from 1 ‘‘never’’ to 5 ‘‘more than three training courses’’).
Results (study 2) Table III presents means, standard deviations, and correlations of variables from Study 2. All scales proved to be sufficiently reliable. Moreover, the observed correlations in this sample are in the expected direction and again modest in size indicating that different constructs were assessed. Test of Hypothesis 1. Based on the zero-order correlations (see Table III), it can be concluded that Hypothesis 1 is again corroborated by the data. Higher MPSs were observed for employees with outbound tasks (r .21), more training activities (r .27), and full-time contracts (r .18). Test of Hypothesis 2a. In order to test this hypothesis, we examined seven zero-order correlations in this study. Six of these correlations are significant as expected. These are the correlation between: motivating potential and job satisfaction (r .37); motivating potential and OCB (r .42); motivating potential and turnover intentions (r .25); motivating potential and health complaints (r .29); motivating potential and
Table III. Means, standard deviations, reliability coefficients, and zero-order correlations (Study 2). M
1
9.8 / 0.48 .11 0.43 .04
2
3
.38**
0.96
.34** .17*
0.80 0.66
.05 .09
1.3
.22**
0.75 .16*
5
6
/ .02 .27**
/ .18*
(.79)
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
/ /
0.50 .05 .24** .36** 1.3 .36** .09 .03 0.81 .01 .04 .21**
0.72 .09
4
.02
.04
.32**
.36**
.02 .09
.03 .11
.06 .29**
.37** .42**
.02
.10
.12
.05
.14
.11 .10 .23**
0.82 .40** .25 0.61 .41** .06
(.86) .63** .51**
(.85) .34**
(.84)
.19*
.25** .54** .51** .17*
.10
.02
.29** .27** .38** .21*
.24**
.14
.14
.04
.23** .28** .46** .17*
.43**
.17* .01
.18* .10
.28** .11 .40** .35** .24** .37** .37** .64** (.75) .25** .40** .48** .33** .38** .38** .32** .39** .40** (.77)
* p B.05, ** p B.01. Notes: n between 161 and 141 due to missing data. Cronbach’s alphas are on the diagonal, time 0, full-time 1.
1
female 1, male 2;
2
(.90) (.91) .56**
(.87)
Inbound tasks 1, outbound tasks 2,
3
part
Work motivation, identification, and well-being in call centre work 73
1. Age 32.9 2. Gender1 1.37 3. In vs. outbound 1.25 work2 4. Type of contract3 0.48 5. Training 2.30 6. Motivating 2.61 potential (MPS) 7. Organisational 3.47 identification 8. Job satisfaction 3.62 9. Organisational 3.89 citizenship (OCB) 10. Turnover 2.82 intention 11. Health 2.24 complaints 12. Emotional 2.22 exhaustion 13. Depersonalisation 2.14 14. Personal 3.40 accomplishment
SD
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emotional exhaustion (r .23); and motivating potential and personal accomplishment (r .40). One component of burnout (depersonalisation), however, is not significantly correlated with motivating potential even though the relationship is in the expected direction (r .11). Taken together, this pattern strongly supports Hypothesis 2a. Test of Hypothesis 2b. To test this hypothesis, we analysed the relevant seven zero-order correlations involving organisational identification. All of them are significant as expected. Employees who felt more attached to their organisation were more satisfied with their job (r .63), engaged more in OCB at work (r .51), and were less prone to leave the organisation (r .54). Moreover, these agents reported fewer health complaints (r .27) and less burnout (r .28 for emotional exhaustion, r .40 for depersonalisation, and r .48 for personal accomplishment). These results clearly support our hypothesis. Test of Hypothesis 2c. Motivating potential and organisational identification correlated moderately once again (r .36), so that it makes sense to test whether both variables combine to predict work motivation and well-being. To examine this issue further, a series of seven hierarchical regression analyses was conducted (see Tables IV and V) following the suggestions of Aiken and West (1991). These regressions were similar to those described for Study 1 (entering age and gender as demographic controls first, both standardised predictor variables in step 2, and adding a standardised product-term of both predictors in a last step). In six out of seven tests, Hypothesis 2c could be supported because both predictor variables had a significant b-weight in step 2 of these regressions. The only exception found was for depersonalisation, because motivating potential had no substantial association beyond organisational identification for this dependent variable. This is also in line with the zero-order correlations. It is also noteworthy that motivating potential and organisational identification explained quite a substantial amount of variance in dependent variables (in the range of 9 to 42%). For two of the seven variables the interaction term was also significant (health complaints and emotional exhaustion). A plot of these interactions (see Figure 3 and Figure 4) indicates that in both cases only employees with high organisational identification reported fewer health complaints if they also perceived a high motivating potential at work. This implies that, for customer service Table IV. Summary of hierarchical regression analyses (Study 2).
Job satisfaction B
SE B
b
Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) B
SE B
b
Turnover intention B
SE B
b
Age .00 .01 .05 .00 .01 .09 .00 .01 .20* Gender .16 .13 .09 .16 .11 .11 .51 .21 .19* Step I: R2 .01 .02 .08** .17 .05 .26** .14 .10 .11 Motivating potential (MPS) .12 .05 .15* Organisational identification .50 .06 .62** .31 .05 .46** .62 .11 .47** Step II: R2/DR2 .43**/.42** .36*/.33** .33**/.25** MPS Organisational identification .01 .05 .08 .00 .04 .06 .12 .09 .09 Step III: R2/DR2 .44**/.01 .36**/.00 .34**/.01 * p B.05, ** p B.01. Notes: n 158 for job satisfaction, n 155 for OCB, n 147 for turnover intention.
Emotional exhaustion
Health complaints B Age Gender Step I: R2 Motivating potential (MPS) Identification Step II: R2/DR2 MPS Identification Step III: R2/DR2
SE B
b
B
SE B
Depersonalisation b
B
SE B
b
.01 .12 .00 .01 .14 .00 .01 .37** .13 .13 .19 .13 .12 .34 .12 .21** .03 .04 .20** .14 .06 .19* .14 .06 .19* .00 .06 .03 .15 .07 .20* .15 .07 .20* .25 .06 .31** .13**/.10** .13**/.10** .29**/.09** .12 .06 .17* .14 .06 .18* .00 .06 .06 .16*/.03* .17**/.03* .29**/.00
.00 .19
Personal accomplishment B
SE B
b
.00 .00
.01 .42** .10 .01 .18** .18 .05 .29** .18 .05 .28** .38**/.20** .00 .04 .03 .38**/.00
* p B.05, ** p B.01. Notes: ns 136, 144, 151, 146 for health complaints, emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and personal accomplishment.
Work motivation, identification, and well-being in call centre work 75
Table V. Summary of hierarchical regression analyses (Study 2).
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J. Wegge et al. 6 5.5
Health Complaints
5 4.5 4
low MPS
3.5
high MPS
3 2.5 2 1.5 1 Low ID
High ID
Identification Figure 3. Interaction between the motivating potential of work (MPS) and organisational identification for health complaints (Study 2).
representatives who were highly identified with their organisation, a good task design ensured better well-being. Test of Hypothesis 3. Similar to Study 1, full-time employees also tended to engage in more OCB than part-time employees, although the corresponding correlation (r .11, see Table III) was only marginally significant. Thus, Hypothesis 3a could not be supported. Hypothesis 3b predicted that the relationship between organisational identification and OCB was stronger for part-time employees. We tested this proposition once again with a hierarchical, moderated regression analysis with standardised variables, controlling for age and gender. The interaction term involving contract and identification (see Figure 5) was significant with b .26 (p B.01; F(5,149) 16.18. pB.01, R2 .35). The plot of this interaction shows that the corresponding hypothesis is also supported in Study 2. Whereas 6
Emotional Exhaustion
5.5 5 4.5 4
low MPS
3.5
high MPS
3 2.5 2 1.5 1 Low ID
High ID
Identification Figure 4. Interaction between the motivating potential of work (MPS) and organisational identification for emotional exhaustion (Study 2).
Work motivation, identification, and well-being in call centre work 77 6 5.5 5 4.5
OCB
4
part time
3.5
full time
3 2.5 2 1.5 1 Low ID
High ID
Identification Figure 5. Interaction between the organisational identification and nature of contract for organisational citizenship behavior (OCB) at work (Study 2).
organisational identification made little difference to OCB for agents with full-time contracts, agents with a part-time contract reported much higher OCB if their organisational identification was high than if their organisational identification was low. Thus, the main findings from Van Dyne and Ang (1998) could once again be replicated.
General discussion Despite stereotypical perceptions, the work of call centre agents is neither simple nor undemanding. Therefore, researchers have started to analyse the various factors that make call centre work stressful (Dormann & Zijlstra, 2003; Holman, 2003). The purpose of this study was to contribute to this research by investigating whether traditional approaches of job design can also be applied to improve work motivation and well-being in call centres. Moreover, we examined the impact of organisational identification on various indicators of work motivation and well-being. In line with a recently developed self-categorisation model of stress (Haslam, 2004), it was assumed that a strong attachment to the organisation would help employees to adhere to organisational norms (e.g., being friendly to customers) and (or) to handle the problems linked to their core tasks (e.g., communicating with often unfriendly customers) more efficiently. Thus, apart from designing core task features, improving organisational identification might be a successful intervention to enhance wellbeing and to reduce turnover in call centres. In addressing these issues, the present study also aimed to examine how the two factors might combine and whether organisational identification relates to the work motivation (OCB) of part-time employees more positively than the work motivation of full-time employees. Answering this last question is important, as part-time, contingent contracts are very prominent in call centres. With regard to the first aim, two main findings that could be replicated across the two studies have to be emphasised. First, it was shown that higher MPSs for the task were observed in call centres for employees with outbound tasks, more training, and full-time contracts. Thus, these variables can be considered as important starting points for improving work motivation. Moreover, it is clear from these findings that even in surroundings where the basic task itself can hardly be changed, significant relationships
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between various aspects of work and motivating potential can be found. We also found evidence in support of the main proposition of the underlying model in both studies: high motivating potential corresponded with high work motivation (high job satisfaction, OCB, personal accomplishments, and low turnover intentions) and better well-being (lower health complaints and low emotional exhaustion). Taken together, in our view the replication of these findings in two independent samples of customer service representatives coming from 10 different call centres lends strong support to the JCM of Hackman and Oldham (1980). Using this model and corresponding interventions, therefore, would probably be effective for improving work motivation and health in call centres, too. In line with Holman (2003, p. 129 /130), these findings reveal ‘‘the old rules still apply in a new setting.’’ Providing greater variety and autonomy, for instance through work redesign, should thus have positive effects on agents’ attitudes and well-being. What is the impact of organisational identification on the work motivation and well-being of customer service representatives? In addressing this question, we referred to basic insights and findings from social identity theory. According to this theory and recent refinements with respect to appraisal of stressors and coping with stress in a social context (see Haslam, 2004), strong psychological attachment of employees to their organisation should typically improve work motivation and well-being. Our research was not designed to show that feeling strong ties with an organisation reduces stress because employees have fewer problems to adhere to organisational norms (e.g., being always friendly to customers) or because they receive more social support in coping efficiently with stressors. Nevertheless, we were able to replicate in both studies that strong relationships exist between organisational identification and several indicators of work motivation and well-being in this context. A high organisational identification corresponded with high work motivation (high job satisfaction, OCB, personal accomplishment, and low turnover intentions) and better well-being (lower health complaints, lower emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation). As the strengths of these relationships were slightly greater than those for the motivating potential, it might be tempting to conclude that organisational identification in call centres is more important in explaining work motivation and well-being than a good job design. To analyse this issue, we have to consider how both factors relate to each other and whether the correlations with dependent variables reflect the same or different processes. The similarity of the findings for work motivation and organisational identification is striking. As these variables are correlated positively in both studies (r .39 and r .36), one might expect that the same relationships always underlie these significant correlations. However, and this deserves attention in practice as well as theory, we found consistent evidence that motivational forces linked to the work task itself (MPS) and forces linked with self-categorisation processes (organisational identification) combine in an additive way for job satisfaction, OCB, health complaints, emotional exhaustion, and personal accomplishments. For explaining variance in turnover intentions (and this was replicated in both studies, as was the finding for job satisfaction and OCB), organisational identification was a stronger predictor than MPS. Finally, depersonalisation only correlated significantly with organisational identification. Thus, both variables (and corresponding interventions to change them, see Hackman & Oldham, 1980; Haslam, 2004; Rose, Jones, & Fletcher, 1998; Schreurs & Taris, 1998) should be taken into account when seeking to improve work motivation and well-being in call centres. For reducing turnover intentions or feelings of depersonalisation, organisational identification seems to be even more important than work motivation.
Work motivation, identification, and well-being in call centre work 79 In sum, we found strong evidence in both samples for a model that conceptualises motivating forces linked to the task and those forces that are linked to the social identity of employees and self-categorisation processes as rather independent from each other (see Van Dick & Wegge, 2004, for a detailed account of these ideas, adding goals as a third basic motivational force). There was also evidence, however, for interaction effects of MPS and organisational identification: for OCB in Study 1 and for health complaints and emotional exhaustion in Study 2. The pattern of these interactions is quite consistent, as employees seemed always to benefit when both factors were positive, supporting the idea that enhancing both motivational forces simultaneously is beneficial. The final aim of this study was to examine whether the finding from Van Dyne and Ang (1998) could be replicated for call centre agents. These researchers analysed the impact of organisational commitment on OCB for contingent workers and full-time employees in two service organisations (a bank and a hospital). According to their findings, enhancing organisational identification leads to more OCB, especially for contingent workers. In both of our studies we were able to replicate this interaction. Agents with a part-time contract reported higher OCB if their organisational identification was high. Since part-time contingent contracts are very prominent in call centres, the implication of this finding is clear. Improving organisational identification to enhance extra-role behavior should deliver considerable benefits for part-time employees.
Limitations and future directions This study has several limitations. First, caution in interpreting the results is warranted due to the substantive use of self-reports. In general, this was necessary because most concepts involved here (e.g., organisational identification, feelings of burnout) are very difficult to measure by other means. However, it might be fruitful to add more behavioral indicators in future studies (e.g., indicators of well-being such as company records on absence and turnover rates). It is noteworthy that we also assessed several core features of working conditions (e.g., the form of the contract, inbound vs. outbound work) by self-report. Our corresponding analysis revealed that these job features are related to other subjective, more complex measures (e.g., the motivating potential of work) in a way that is very similar to what is reported in other studies without these limitations. This lends some support to the quality of the data. In addition, we made sure in both studies that data collection was anonymous. Therefore, some typical problems of self-reports (e.g., biases induces by social desirability) are probably not relevant here. Nevertheless, replications with optimised methods are recommended. A related potential drawback of this study is that both samples rely on mono-source data derived from the call centre agents’ perspective only. Common method variance may therefore overestimate main effects. However, common method variance cannot account for interaction effects. On the contrary, this potential bias typically leads to an underestimation of statistical interactions (Evans, 1985; McClelland & Judd, 1993). Therefore, we can have some confidence in the various interactions obtained in this study despite the mono-source/ mono-method design. It should also be noted that emotional labour and in particular emotional dissonance was not considered in our research. As emotional labour can be as an important factor in call centre work that is systematically linked with the well-being of agents (e.g., Wegge et al., 2006; Zapf et al., 2003), future studies should also seek to address the interplay of organisational identification, task design, and emotional labour. In the same vein, a more
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precise examination of those working conditions that demonstrated a positive correlation with motivating potential in both studies (inbound vs. outbound work, training on the job, the nature of employment contracts) might be fruitful. As the causal factors underlying these relationships were not investigated, they should be examined in future studies, for example, if training activities are generally experienced as job enrichment by agents or if jobs with high motivating potential in call centres solely require more training to complete them effectively. Similarly, it could be analysed if the difference in findings between working on inbound and outbound calls depends on the nature of these calls (e.g., the duration, the use of scripts) or on the higher discretion (decision latitude of agents) associated with outbound calls. A further limitation pertains to the cross-sectional design of both studies. A longitudinal study would enable causal hypotheses to be tested regarding the impact of, for example, motivating potential on satisfaction and well-being. However, with respect to traditional approaches of job design there is already ample evidence that such a causal interpretation is warranted (e.g., Bond & Bunce, 2001). As experimental evidence for the causal role of organisational identification in the stress process is also available (e.g., Haslam, 2004), we believe that the basic propositions that can be derived from our correlational study will, at least in part, also prove valid in a longitudinal test. Moreover, as our samples were composed of agents from 10 different call centres, it seems reasonable to assume that corresponding results would also be found in similar organisations.
Implications for practitioners These findings have implications for call centre practitioners on two levels. First, at the operational level, real benefits to both call centre organisations and agents would accrue from: job designs that facilitate greater involvement, participation, and autonomy; and more sophisticated call handling requirements in the form of low volume, long duration, highskill, phone-based customer interactions. Second, and perhaps most significantly, the importance of both work motivation and organisational identification with regard to job satisfaction, OCB, health complaints, emotional exhaustion, and personal accomplishment, challenges the current deployment and positioning of call centre business units themselves. However, it would prove very difficult to implement the operational-level job design and call handling requirements within the majority of call centres in their present form. The suggestion here is that call centres need to evolve into more sophisticated, customerresponsive business units in order to enable higher work motivation and organisational identification. At their origin in the 1980s, call centres were cost reduction, labor-saving inspired business units that facilitated for the first time both the centralisation of customer interactions and the employment of mass production methodologies within the service sector. Taylor and Bain (1999) have defined the call centre labor process as an ‘‘assembly line in the head.’’ The implication here is that call centre agents are not only under pressure to handle vast numbers of calls but also that the calls are unskilled, short-cycle, monotonous tasks. Taylor and Bain’s factories of the mind analysis clearly suggest that it would be impossible to give rise to greater work motivation and organisational identification. Set against such negative characterisations of the call centre workplace, however, are studies like the one conducted by Frenkel, Tam, Korczynski, and Shire (1998) that pays tribute to the high levels of skill that is sometimes required by frontline employees to perform challenging and interesting phone-based customer transactions. In other words, the control and
Work motivation, identification, and well-being in call centre work 81 compliance modus operandi concomitant with mass production are inappropriate and therefore rejected where an organisation providing high quality, value-added services relies on the skills, initiative, and discretion of its employees to gain competitive advantage. Recent research, however, suggests that while high quality phone-based professional services do exist they characterise only a minority of transactions generally reserved for high value clients (Batt & Moynihan, 2002). Conclusions We would argue that our research supports the promotion of greater work motivation and organisational identification within call centres. Moreover, we believe that our studies have contributed to the understanding of powerful factors influencing the attitudes and wellbeing of call centre agents. Addressing and improving both the motivating potential of call centre work as well as enhancing the organisational identification of call centre agents can also help to overcome the reputation of call centres as ‘‘electronic sweatshops,’’ ‘‘satanic mills,’’ or ‘‘battery farms’’ (see Sprigg, Smith, & Jackson, 2003). Instead of this, and in line with Shah and Bandi (2003), who provide a positive case study of a motivating call centre environment, at least some call centres of the future could and should provide challenging work and constant opportunities for training, learning, and development. Acknowledgements We are grateful to anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper. References Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. New York: Sage. Batt, R., & Moynihan, L. M. (2002). The viability of alternative call center production models. Human Resource Management Journal, 12, 14 /34. Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Muraven, M., & Tice, D. M. (1998). Ego depletion: Is the active self a limited resource? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1252 /1265. Baumgartner, M., Good, K., & Udris, I. (2002). Call centers in der Schweiz. Psychologische Untersuchungen in 14 Organisationen [Call centers in Switzerland. Psychological investigations in 14 organizations]. Reports from the Institute for Work Psychology. Zu¨richSwitzerland: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Bond, F. W., & Bunce, D. (2001). Job control mediates change in a work reorganization intervention for stress reduction. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 6, 290 /302. Brotheridge, C. M., & Lee, R. T. (2003). Development and validation of the emotional labour scale. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 76, 365 /379. Bu¨ssing, A., & Perrar, K.-M. (1992). Die Messung von Burnout. Untersuchung einer deutschen Fassung des Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-D) [Measurement of burnout: Analysis of a German version of the MBI]. Diagnostica, 38, 328 /353. Deery, S., Iverson, R., & Walsh, J. (2002). Work relationships in telephone call centers: Understanding emotional exhaustion and employee withdrawal. Journal of Management Studies, 39, 471 /496. Dormann, C., & Zapf, D. (2004). Customer-related social stressors and burnout. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 9, 61 /82. Dormann, C., & Zijlstra, F. R. H. (2003). Call centres: High on technology—high on emotions. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 12, 305 /310. Evans, M. G. (1985). A Monte Carlo study of the effects of correlated method variance in moderated multiple regression analysis. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 36, 305 /323. Evans, M. G. (1991). The problem of analyzing multiplicative composites. American Psychologist, 46, 6 /15. Frenkel, S., Tam, M., Korczynski, M., & Shire, K. (1998). Beyond bureaucracy? Work organization in call centers. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 9, 957 /979.
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