27 Sources of Stress within the Call Center

You must have heard stress associated with various workplaces. But how does it feel to be stressed up in a call center environment?  Most people have attested that stress in a call center environment is pervasive. Thus, managers in call centers should use QA for call centers to make the environment in a position to identify sources of stress and deal with it.

The following is a list of 27 sources of stress that call center agents experience.

• Role Conflict

It can be termed as the occurrence of two types of pressures, and compliance with one might make compliance with the other difficult.

• Lack of consistency between evaluation and performance expectations

Managers have different ways in which they evaluate the performance of each employee; this makes call agents feel unfairly treated.

• Role ambiguity

When employees' roles are not defined clearly, they can get confused about the responsibilities they should carry out.

• Lack of enough resources

Employees who do not have enough knowledge and experience normally feel lost and out of place when kept in the same basket with those employees who are experienced.

• Excessive monitoring

When call monitoring becomes more frequent and intrusive, call agents do not feel trusted, and it also causes work strain.

• When job demands become overwhelming

When one is overwhelmed by work, at times, one may feel confused and undecided; this makes one less productive.

• Lack of social support

People are social beings and can't always stay in isolation. When the job gets too heavy that they don't have time for interaction, it can start to feel isolating and draining.

• Lack of control

Call center agents that have tight performance schedules and strict rules to keep up to are unable to make decisions on their own based on what they see best for the company.

• Monotonous work tasks

The standardized work process makes call agents unable demonstrate their sense of innovation while faced with hard tasks to carry out.

• Lack of appropriate awards and recognition

Every person expects to be rewarded or appreciated after performing an outstanding job. If this is not done, the employee loses his morale.

• Call agents not being recognized in the company

Most companies, especially those that have more important tasks to carry out, do not recognize call agents in a meeting, events, or awards; this makes them feel left out.

• Lack of status associated with their job

Sometimes call centers may hire employees whose qualities do not match with those of the job requirements. This makes the employees feel incompetent, confused, and left out.

• Lack of pride associated with the position

Most call center agents are not proud of their jobs because it was not part of their career. Thus, they keep looking for other better jobs which they would want to work for.

• Difficult working hours

Some call center agents offer 24/7 customer support; this causes adverse effects on their physical and mental health when late and long hours are demanded.

• Unfairness

Workers in all fields want to be treated fairly based on workload, awarding, and evaluation. If this is not so, there are likely to be disunited, making it impossible to work as a team.

• High consumer expectation

Some customers raise issues that cannot be solved through a phone call; instead, they need to resort to higher authorities. The customer can easily term this as poor customer service.

• Angry customers

It is hard to handle abusive words from customers and this makes call center agents emotionally upset, thus losing their calm.

• Lack of good computer software

Lack of suitable computer software makes call centers agents unable to meet their goals thus putting their jobs at risk

• Lack of job security

Call center agents are always worried and uncertain about their jobs; therefore, they cannot give their all to tasks.

• Lack of opportunities and advancement

Call center agents are not able to add to their skills and capabilities because of the nature of their work; this makes them feel stagnant, uninspired, and disengaged.

• Lack of training and development

Most call agents are not trained to handle their jobs properly. When this happens, they are incompetent in handling some tasks, making them feel disengaged.

• Physical demands

Call center agents are often supposed to remain seated and only take their breaks when they are supposed to do so. This can lead to voice loss, neck pain, and postural problems.

• Unpredictable work environment

Too heavy and unmanaged call volume leads to uncertainty since you can't tell how many customers you will handle. This makes it difficult to set goals and targets.

• Poor ergonomics

Poor posture and inappropriate computer monitor distances can lead to poor health among employees.

• Poor management

Most call center agents are not involved in the decision-making process, while some managers involve them in some small objectives which are not goal oriented.

• Difficult work environment

Call center environments sometimes happen to be excessively loud, which can, in turn, lead to physical and emotional strain.

• Low salary

Poorly paid employees are always looking for other job opportunities, thus not being able to pay more attention to the tasks at hand.

The factors mentioned above are the significant causes of stress in call centers that need to be watched out for to ensure that your employees are happy and your business flows smoothly.