Survey shows Australian call centre stress levels soaring

Telephone calls offering a 30-minute insurance survey or a time-share holiday around dinner time rank high on most households’ unwanted list.

But the people on the other end of the line don’t find the experience too pleasurable either, a new survey indicates.

Thousands of Australian call centre workers are more stressed than ever before, according to the national survey commissioned by the Australian Services Union (ASU) of 1,549 staff.

It compared the figures with an earlier benchmark study of the industry in 2000.

The call centre industry – which includes workers who make and take calls – has unique types of stress, unlike other office jobs, the ASU says.

Job insecurity, constant monitoring by unsupportive management and few opportunities for rest breaks were among the biggest complaints of call centre workers identified in the results.

It also found more than one-third of those surveyed reported being always or often stressed and disliked targets and “key performance indicators”.

One worker, who wanted to be known only as Enza, has worked in the call centre industry for nine years and says stress levels have soared in recent times.

She says company policies can often change.

“So you think you have a certain parameter that you can work within,” she told reporters on Thursday.

“And then when they feel that these averages are being met then they can change again so then there’s another load put on you of having to then meet brand new targets.”

The $15 billion call centre industry is one of the fastest-growing in Australia, employing more than 250,000 people.

ASU assistant national secretary Linda White said the union would use the research to work with call centre management to reduce health risks.

The ASU has launched an online “stress-o-meter” to assess call centre workers’ stress levels and provide resources to improve workplace health.

article from: http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-national/call-centre-stress-levels-soar-survey-20091119-inth.html

BE Intent

Mood of the Nation

Quarterly Mood data results for July, August, September 2009 show some great changes in the profile of our collective organizational results. We’ve seen the Start State of Tired half from 42% to 21%, and in fact last quarter 82% of staff were starting their work day in a negative frame of mind, this quarter sees it drop to 62%.  We’ve also seen a big jump of staff requesting Happy, which pushes it up to third most request mind-set after Energized and Focused.

The impeding summer months are seeing predominantly Physical Self Motivators being chosen by staff such as BE Hydrated, BE Slim and BE Fit, with BE On TO It just pushing through to second place.

What’s happening in your workplace?

Great success with Contact Centre staff

It’s an environment where results are clearly impacted by staff mood/mind-set and attitude and we’ve had some great response to our programme.

Were working with a number of contact centres to help agents make the most of each call and their day, and we’ve developed a training/support function that helps reiterate and communicate key training themes in fun, bite sized pieces.

Personalised to each staff member, the program helps staff take control of their state of mind and each call. Exercises help inspire, motivate and enable staff to improve customer service and support.  Confidence boosters and stress management tools help uplift mood and energy and refocus staff when dealing with difficult customers.

Here is what some Contact Centre staff have to say:

“BE Intent is better than a cigarette break”

“Its absolutely great. Whenever I do an exercise I am physically active and energised, my day goes really well. It gives me great motivation.”

“The exercise did make me feel better & was also a good reminder to relax & have a break”

“My staff are choosing to do a 10 minute BE Calm meditation in their morning break, rather than eating an unhealthy morning tea – it’s a win, win.”

“Makes me focus on me for a change, and lets me take control of my work day, rather than it taking control of me”

“Finally something that’s here for me”

If your curious to implement Be Intent in your organization, your Contact Centre could be a great place to start. Check out the flyer here, and forward to your Contact Centre Manager.

BE Intent

Self-directed employee engagement versus leader-driven

Our approach to workplace wellness is creating self-directed employee tools that build strength from within your organisation.  The model of leader driven engagement often misses parts of an organisation and doesn’t account for individual learning processes and different starting points.  We researched ways to cost-effectively communicate with staff in an engaging way that encourages self-directed learning and personal responsibility.

We help staff identify their own strengths, challenges and set themselves goals.  With each member of a team taking responsibility for their mindset each day, it creates a self-reliant team who want to find solutions.

Staff start asking themselves “what is possible?”, rather than waiting to be directed from above.

We want to introduce an “Award for intelligent mistakes” to encourage creative thinking and problem solving …..  what do you think?

These are tough economic times and having a team who DO MORE WITH LESS has far reaching effects on an organisations bottom line, as well as fostering a sense of individual achievement.

Our unique [ Choose my day ] tool helps staff take charge of their day, helps measure team and individual goals and gives you a daily snapshot of your organisations mindset!

Personalised to each staff member, our program helps staff take control of their state-of-mind and make the most of each hour and each day.
Exercises help inspire, motivate and enable staff to improve customer service and support.  Confidence boosters and stress management tools help uplift mood and energy and refocus staff when dealing with difficult customers.
We also customise content for your business – incorporate existing well-being initiatives, communicate your company mission, training and values, or special messages from your CEO or managers that inspire and engage on a personal level.

Engaged, focused and productive staff make for healthy business an d we help you make that happen!

BE Intent