How stress affects performance in call centers in the Philippines

Thursday, May 8, 2014


Call center agents encounter a lot of significant stressors at work. They face high expectations, work in a fast-paced environment, and undergo pressure to solve customer concerns. This pressure is aggravated by the expectation to meet performance metrics while being regularly scrutinized by team leaders or managers. All of these contribute to the difficulties of a call center agent.

While stress greatly affects agents, their performance, and their attitude towards work, it can also prove to be detrimental to the call center itself. Here are effects of agent stress on call centers in the Philippines:

1.   Efficiency

Stress can affect the overall efficiency of a call center team. When agents are not in their best shape, they underperform and fail to meet quality standards. Absenteeism can also become an issue when agents try to avoid work because of feeling burnt out.

2.   Customer satisfaction

When stress starts to affect the quality of work, your workforce becomes less efficient and professional in meeting customer service goals. As a result, the lowered customer service quality can increase dissatisfaction among customers.

3.   Agent attrition

Agents can become frustrated with their current work environment because of stress. They may experience psychological, emotional, and physical effects of stress. Because their well-being is at stake, agents then become more inclined to quit their job.

4.   Costs

The call center can incur additional costs for hiring and training replacement agents. Aside from inviting expenses, high agent turnover rates can also give the call center a negative impression, making agent recruitment harder to accomplish.

5.   Team dynamics

When agents become more focused on overcoming stressful situations, they become less concerned about the people they work with. Because there's constant agent turnover, the changes in the team structure make it harder for the new agents and the seasoned ones to become bonded.

6.   Leadership

When agents continue to face the same stressors over time despite voicing out concerns to the management, they may eventually lose their trust in their leaders. This creates poor and unhealthy communication practices between the team leaders and the agents.

The effects of stress on call center agents can ultimately affect the kind of service they provide to customers. Therefore, it is only important for the management to address stress at work in order to ensure a healthy and productive environment for its agents.

Open Access BPO is an outsourcing firm in the Philippines that employs effective quality assurance methods to make sure our clients have a workforce with unparalleled skills and work ethics. Know more about us by visiting our website and Google+ page.