Job Characteristics and Their Implications on the Satisfaction Levels of Call Center Employees: a study on a large telecommunications company

• Autor(a) principal: dos Anjos Grilo Pinto de Sá, Ana Cristina
• Data de Publicação: 2014
• Outros Autores: Moura e Sá, Patricia Helena Ferreira Lopes de
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng; por
• Título da fonte: Revista Brasileira de Gestão de Negócios (Online)
• DOI: 10.7819/rbgn.v16i53.1553
• Texto Completo: https://rbgn.fecap.br/RBGN/article/view/1553
• topic: Job design. Frontline employees. Call center.; Diseño de función. Empleados de contacto. Call Center.; Desenho da função. Funcionário de contato. Call center.

Standardization of answers and cost reductionefforts have provided a specific relevance to callcenters in the commercial strategy of many servicecompanies.The aim of this research is to analyze to what extentjob characteristics, as identified by Hackman andOldham (1980), are essential determinants forthe level of satisfaction of the contact employeein a call center.Indeed, literature clearly suggests that jobcharacteristics have a huge influence on employees´work performance, their level of satisfaction,and, as a consequence, on the quality of servicesprovided to the customers.In order to answer these questions, we haveperformed a case study, based on a questionnairesurvey.Findings reveal that employees feel that theirjobs are highly structured and that they arebeing closely monitored, what might worsentheir performance regarding the contact with thecustomer, mainly in what concerns customization,flexibility and adequate answer in a single contact.In order to increase frontline employees’performance, a proposal that enhances jobautonomy and values intrinsic satisfaction is made.The research suggests the need to change theway companies view contact employee’s job, ina call center context, not always perceived anddesigned as strategic or determinant for customers’satisfaction, which calls for additional institutionalinvestment in the redesign of such job.