Stress continues

Everyone in the call centre industry is aware of the Telephone Marketing Guidelines that have been promulgated by the Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA).

The guidelines are not particularly new now, but it may be worth reflecting on the fact that they were launched by ADMA to help raise industry standards and set best practice benchmarks.

The Telemarketing Guidelines not only set the benchmark for the industry, but they are also aimed at helping new companies set up procedures that enhance best practice and efficient operation.

In all the discussions over the last couple of years about a National Do Not Call Register, ADMA has been working closely with the Government to ensure the industry gets its voice heard. At the same time, ADMA has also been actively developing and promoting the guidelines for the industry to follow, prior to any legislative changes being introduced.

The ADMA Code of Practice, which is a mandatory set of standards for ADMA members, has also been redeveloped to take into account the changing telemarketing environment and new technology. There are now new sections of the Code which relate to predictive dialers, recorded telemarketing calls, calling hours and use of answer machines when undertaking a telemarketing activity. As part of all this, ADMA Members are required to disclose the source of data they are using and heed to a consumer's request for no further contact.

All this is good stuff, of course, but the question has to be asked, are operators any better off and is there any less stress in call centres?

Not surprisingly, for such a diverse industry, there is no simple answer. Many of the major call centres have done groundbreaking work to create operator-friendly workplaces. But that is far from a universal picture.

Working practices and conditions vary and rates of 50% - 80% staff turnover are still mentioned.

Today, most top executives acknowledge that a steady turnover of staff is an inevitable aspect of the industry. The reasons for this could be boredom with the job, seeking better prospects or a change, or even the failure of the call centre to effectively train employees to stay at the job.

Some management claims suggest that around 80% of staff enjoy their jobs but in some cases employees themselves, make very different claims.

Extreme examples of the “sweat shop” environment that get mentioned in the popular press include:

• Operators being required to put their hand up for permission to go to the toilet;
• Being restricted to a certain number of seconds per call and being subjected to disciplinary action if the time is exceeded by even one second;
• Excessive monitoring with supervisors listening in at random;
• Excessive surveillance; and
• Long shifts without adequate breaks.

Almost certainly, these are very uncommon, but they get talked about because the media loves to highlight negatives and extremes.

Fundamentally, call centre activity is driven by the need to improve customer service while reducing its cost. It is this attitude of ‘doing more with less’ that so often creates stress. With time increasingly at a premium for customers, the demand is high for more convenient and better service.

The constant pressure to meet quotas, follow scripts, and deal with demanding customers can take its toll on some people unless there are humane and sensitive conditions.

Some industry specialists have indicated that about 30% of Customer Service Representatives say that stress often affects them physically and emotionally, and that stress "often" or "regularly" affects their work performance. Workers report a variety of physical manifestations of stress, including fatigue, irritability, inability to relax, headaches, backaches, and high blood pressure. Health problems are exacerbated because employees are limited in the number of times and minutes they can spend in the restroom.

In some call centres, the pressure to meet quotas is so great that employees can be disciplined from varying even slightly from the script. In one amazing case, it was reported that employees are prohibited from saying "please" and "thank you," in order to save time and get more calls in per day.

Where stress is causing absenteeism, employers need to think of how much employee stress is actually costing business.