Hrm Practices Call Center
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Call Centres, Quality of Work Life & HRM Practices: an In-House/ Outsourced Comparison
Dr Julia Connell College of Graduate Studies University of Wollongong in Dubai United Arab Emirates Tel: +971 367 2478 Fax: +971 367 2760 juliaconnell@uowdubai.ac.ae Zeenobiyah Hannif School of Management and Marketing Faculty of Commerce University of Wollongong NSW 2522 AUSTRALIA Tel: : +612 4221 3574 Fax: +612 4221 4154 zeenie@uow.edu.au
The focus of this paper concerns a comparative study of the quality of work life for the staff based in two Australian based call centres. One is an ‘in-house’ public sector call centre and the other is an outsourced private sector call centre. Whether the topic is in-house or outsourced the quality of work life is an under-researched area where call centres are concerned. Similarly, much of the existing call centre research has been based on the private sector despite the public sector emerging as a large user of call centre operations. The aim of the paper is to determine whether and how the quality of work life varies between the two types of call centres in different sectors and the implications of HRM on these findings. Three quality of work life factors are reported: job content, working hours and work-life balance, and managerial/supervisory style and strategies. The in-house, public sector call centre Govtcall emerges as being inferior in terms of all three QWL measures. Conversely, the outsourced, private sector call centre, Salesplus features a management model that is more akin to what would be expected in a call centre operating under a professional service model. Although this paper is based on empirical research conducted in two Australian call centres it can assist in providing lessons for other call centres involved in globally distributed work through call centres. Keywords: quality of work life, public/private sector.
1.0 INTRODUCTION.
The outsourcing of customer service work to call centres has been enabled by
Call Centres, Quality of Work Life & HRM Practices: an In-House/ Outsourced Comparison
Dr Julia Connell College of Graduate Studies University of Wollongong in Dubai United Arab Emirates Tel: +971 367 2478 Fax: +971 367 2760 juliaconnell@uowdubai.ac.ae Zeenobiyah Hannif School of Management and Marketing Faculty of Commerce University of Wollongong NSW 2522 AUSTRALIA Tel: : +612 4221 3574 Fax: +612 4221 4154 zeenie@uow.edu.au
The focus of this paper concerns a comparative study of the quality of work life for the staff based in two Australian based call centres. One is an ‘in-house’ public sector call centre and the other is an outsourced private sector call centre. Whether the topic is in-house or outsourced the quality of work life is an under-researched area where call centres are concerned. Similarly, much of the existing call centre research has been based on the private sector despite the public sector emerging as a large user of call centre operations. The aim of the paper is to determine whether and how the quality of work life varies between the two types of call centres in different sectors and the implications of HRM on these findings. Three quality of work life factors are reported: job content, working hours and work-life balance, and managerial/supervisory style and strategies. The in-house, public sector call centre Govtcall emerges as being inferior in terms of all three QWL measures. Conversely, the outsourced, private sector call centre, Salesplus features a management model that is more akin to what would be expected in a call centre operating under a professional service model. Although this paper is based on empirical research conducted in two Australian call centres it can assist in providing lessons for other call centres involved in globally distributed work through call centres. Keywords: quality of work life, public/private sector.
1.0 INTRODUCTION.
The outsourcing of customer service work to call centres has been enabled by