EMPIRICAL RESEARCH

 

Exploring antecedents and consequences of burnout in a call centre

 

 

Willie A Visser; Sebastiaan Rothmann

WorkWell: Research Unit for People, Policy and Performance, North-West University, South Africa

Correspondence

 

 

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ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between six characteristics of call centre work environments, burnout, affective commitment and turnover intentions. These characteristics were competing management goals, work overload, electronic performance monitoring, lack of career opportunities, lack of skill variety and emotional labour. A convenient sample of employees (N = 146) was obtained from a call centre. Multiple regression analysis showed that work overload, lack of career opportunities, skill variety and emotional labour were the most important predictors of burnout. Burnout had a direct effect on turnover intentions. Affective commitment partially mediated the relationship between burnout and turnover intention.

Keywords: burnout, antecedents, call centres, affective commitment, turnover intention

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Correspondence:
Sebastiaan Rothmann
E-mail: Ian@ianrothmann.com