Abstract

SIMONS, Janet C.  and  BUITENDACH, Johanna H.. Psychological capital, work engagement and organisational commitment amongst call centre employees in South Africa. SA j. ind. Psychol. [online]. 2013, vol.39, n.2, pp.1-12. ISSN 2071-0763.

ORIENTATION: The development of psychological capital amongst call centre employees could have an impact on positive work-related attitudes and behaviour; such as work engagement and organisational commitment. RESEARCH PURPOSE: The purpose of the research was to determine the relationship between psychological capital, work engagement and organisational commitment amongst call centre employees; and further, to determine whether psychological capital and work engagement hold predictive value for the organisational commitment of call centre employees. MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY: There is a gap in research in understanding and enabling positive resource capacities in highly stressful work contexts such as call centres. RESEARCH DESIGN, APPROACH AND METHOD: A cross-sectional survey design was used. A sample of 106 call centre employees from a South African organisation participated in the research. The measuring instruments included a demographic questionnaire, the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ), the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) and the Organisational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ). MAIN FINDINGS: Significant positive relationships were found between psychological capital, work engagement and organisational commitment. The results showed work engagement as being the only significant predictor of organisational commitment. PRACTICAL/MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS: Call centre employers need to develop and implement workplace interventions that would increase the psychological capital of call centre employees. CONTRIBUTION/VALUE-ADD: The research findings will benefit both call centre employees and management. The study highlighted the importance of the role of optimism as a subdimension of psychological capital in developing work engagement and organisational commitment amongst call centre employees.

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