INTRODUCTION ON STRESS

Todays age is called The Age of Anxiety and this century is called The Century of Stress.
Today vast majorities of people are in a state of Stress. Their fast-paced lifestyle demands that
they are raring to go always and are always under pressure to perform. This pressure usually
leads to Stress. Stress can be due to various reasons. And Stress in many cases causes Tension,
Depression, Anxiety, etc.
A lot of research has been conducted into stress over the last hundred years. Some theories
about it are now settled and accepted; others are still being researched and debated. Hans Selye
was one of the founding fathers of research on stress. He stated in 1956 that
Stress is not necessarily something bad it all depends on how we take it. The stress of
exhilarating, creative successful that of failure, humiliation or infection is detrimental. Since
then, a great deal of further research has been conducted on the subject, and new ideas have
come to light.
Stress is now viewed as a "bad thing", with a range of harmful biochemical and long- term
effects. These effects have rarely been observed in positive situations. Stress is that stress is a
condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that demands exceed the personal and
social resources the individual is able to mobilize. In short, it is what we feel when we think we
have lost control over events. There are very many proven skills that we can use to manage
stress. These help us to remain calm and effective in high- pressure situations, and help us avoid
the problems of long term stress.
Stress is something that occurs all the time and affects everyone one way or another at least some
of the time. Stress can be a good thing. It can be a source of motivation to help get something
done or help one to react quickly to a potentially dangerous situation.
HISTORY OF STRESS
Since the origin of the term 'stress' it is ambiguous 'stress' began life as a variant on 'distress' in
the 14th century. It meant the experience of physical hardship, starvation, torture, and pain.
These days, however, the term revolves around the medieval definition, in which 'stress' simply
meant 'hardship'. The recent scientific developments inform us that 'stress' is actually good for
us. Stress is derived from the Latin word stranger, meaning to draw tight, and was used in the
17th century to describe hardships or affliction. During the late 18th century stress denoted
"force, pressure, strain or strong effort," referring primarily to an individual or to an individual's
organs or mental powers (Hinkle, 1973).
As has already been noted, stress has been defined as a stimulus, a response, or the result of an
interaction between the two, with the interaction described in terms of some imbalance between
the person developed, particularly that surrounding the person- environment (P-E) interaction,
researches have considered the nature of that interaction and, more importantly, the
psychological processes which it takes place (Dewey, 1992).

Stress is a physiological and psychological imbalance. It arises due to the demands on a person
and that persons inability to meet these demands. Stress is the bodys way of reacting to any
situation and it can have serious repercussions on an individuals life. Yet, people fail to realize
the importance of stress management in their lives. Effective managers can stay in control of life,
without panicking even under stressful situations. They handle stress by planning work, taking
regular breaks, and rejuvenating them.
STRESS! What is it???
STRESS IS THE DEMAND MADE UPON THE ADAPTIVE CAPACITY OF MIND AND
BODY
--- DAVID FONTANA.
It isnt easy to find a generally acceptable definition of stress. The word with different people
takes different meanings be it professionals, psychologists, doctors, engineers, management
consultants, all use the word in their own distinctive ways. Management consultants talk in terms
of organizational challenges, psychologists in terms of human behaviour and doctors in terms of
psychological mechanisms.
The word stress is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as a state of affair involving demand on
physical or mental energy". A condition or circumstance (not always adverse), which can disturb
the normal physical and mental health of an individual. In medical parlance 'stress' is defined as a
perturbation of the bodys homeostasis.
At one end

of a scale, stress

us on our toes whereas on the

which individuals

represents those challenges that excite us and keep

other end, stress represents those conditions under

have demands

made upon them that they cannot physically and

psychologically meet. Hence, at one end, stress is a life- saver and the other it is a lifedestroyer.
TO DEFINE STRESS
It is a demand made upon the adaptive capacities of mind and body. This definition is useful in
three ways

Firstly, it makes clear not only that stress can be both, good or bad, but also that since there is
wide range of things that can make demand over the mind and the body, there is wide range of
things that can cause stress.
Secondly, it infers the point that it isnt the events that determine that we are stressed or not, but
it is our reactions to them.
And thirdly, as the definition says that stress is a demand made upon the bodys capacities, its
nature and the extent of these capacities determine our response to the demand. If our capacities
are good enough we will respond well. If they arent we give away.
Stress is the "wear and tear" our bodies experience as we adjust to our continually
changing environment; it

has physical and

emotional effects on us and can create

positive or negative feelings. As a positive influence,

stress can help compel us to

action; it can result in

exciting new perspective. As a

new awareness and an

negative influence, it can result in feelings of distrust, rejection, anger, and depression, which in
turn can lead to health problems such as headaches, upset stomach, rashes,
insomnia, ulcers, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. With

the death of

loved one, the birth of a

child, a

relationship,

we

experience stress as we read

just

job promotion, or a new

our lives. In so adjusting to different circumstances,

stress will help or hinder us depending on how we react to it.

Stress is a fact of life. But too much stress can break down a person's physical, mental, and
emotional health. Planning can help people to manage stress in their lives. They must begin to
make choices that support their values and develop a personal plan to take charge of their lives.
TYPES OF STRESS - SOME GOOD, SOME BAD

Did you know that some types of stress can be good for you? That's right! Some forms of stress
can be good for you, but other types of stress disorders can cause major health problems and
even be life threatening.
There are four main types of stress that people experience.
EUSTRESS
Eustress is a type of short-term stress that provides immediate strength. Eustress arises at points
of increased physical activity, enthusiasm, and creativity. Eustress is a positive stress that arises
when motivation and inspiration are needed. A gymnast experiences eustress before a
competition.
DISTRESS
Distress is a negative stress brought about by constant readjustments or alterations in a routine.
Distress creates feelings of discomfort and unfamiliarity.
There are two types of distress.
1. Acute stress is an intense stress that arrives and disappears quickly. Acute stress is the most
common form of stress. It comes from demands and pressures of the recent past and anticipated
demands and pressures of the near future. Acute stress is thrilling and exciting in small doses, but
too much is exhausting. Because it is short term, acute stress doesn't have enough time to do the
extensive damage associated with long-term stress. Acute stress can crop up in anyone's life, and
it is highly treatable and manageable.
2.Chronic stress is a prolonged stress that exists for weeks, months, or even years. Someone who
is constantly relocating or changing jobs may experience distress. While acute stress can be
thrilling and exciting, chronic stress is not. This is the grinding stress
that wears people away day after day, year after year. Chronic stress destroys bodies, minds and
lives. It wreaks havoc through long-term attrition. It's the stress of poverty, of dysfunctional
families, of being trapped in an unhappy marriage or in a despised job or career
The worst aspect of chronic stress is that people get used to it. They forget it's there. People are
immediately aware of acute stress because it is new; they ignore chronic stress because it is old,
familiar, and sometimes, almost comfortable.
HYPERSTRESS
Hyper stress occurs when an individual is pushed beyond what he or she can handle. Hyper
stress results from being overloaded or overworked. When someone is hyper stressed, even little
things can trigger a strong emotional response. A Wall Street trader is likely to experience hyper
stress.

HYPOSTRESS
Hypo stress is the opposite of hyper stress. Hypo stress occurs when an individual is bored or
unchallenged. People who experience hypo stress are often restless and uninspired. A factory
worker who performs repetitive tasks might experience hypo stress.
SIX MYTHS ABOUT STRESS
Six myths surround stress. Dispelling them enables us to understand our problems and then take
action against them. Let's look at these myths.
Myth 1: Stress is the same for everybody.
Completely wrong. Stress is different for each of us. What is stressful for one person may or may
not be stressful for another; each of us responds to stress in an entirely different way.
Myth 2: Stress is always bad for you.
According to this view, zero stress makes us happy and health. Wrong. Stress is to the human
condition what tension is to the violin string: too little and the music is dull and raspy; too much
and the music is shrill or the string snaps. Stress can be the kiss of death or the spice of life. The
issue, really, is how to manage it. Managed stress makes us productive and happy; mismanaged
stress hurts and even kills us.
Myth 3: Stress is everywhere, so you can't do anything about it.
Not so. You can plan your life so that stress does not overwhelm you. Effective planning
involves setting priorities and working on simple problems first, solving them, and then going on
to more complex difficulties. When stress is mismanaged, it's difficult to prioritize. All your
problems seem to be equal and stress seems to be everywhere.
Myth 4: The most popular techniques for reducing stress are the best ones.
Again, not so. No universally effective stress reduction techniques exist. We are all different, our
lives are different, our situations are different, and our reactions are different. Only a
comprehensive program tailored to the individual works.
Myth 5: No symptoms, no stress.
Absence of symptoms does not mean the absence of stress. In fact, camouflaging symptoms with
medication may deprive you of the signals you need for reducing the strain on your physiological
and psychological systems.
Myth 6: Only major symptoms of stress require attention.

This myth assumes that the "minor" symptoms, such as headaches or stomach acid, may be
safely ignored. Minor symptoms of stress are the early warnings that your life is getting out of
hand and that you need to do a better job of managing stress.
STRESS AND GENDER
Does stress tend to affect the male of the species more than the female? Opinions vary, since
there are differentiating factors between the sexes. All parameters being equal, however, the
preponderant view is that women are more adept at handling stress, thanks to better coping
mechanisms.
EFFECTS OF STRESS
The human bodys reaction to stress is natural. It results from the need to resist a stressful
situation. For example, when a person is nervous, there is an increase in his/her pulse rate. This is
a fight or flight response. However, things can go out of control if too much stress is present.
The person can have a heart attack or a nervous breakdown. Too

much of stress can tell upon a persons health. If neglected, it can lead to serious health disorders
at a later stage. Stress has both physical and psychological effects on an individual. (Refer
Exhibit 1 to find out the effects of stress on an individual.)
Exhibit 1

Effects of Stress on an Individual

Physical Effects :
[
-Increased heart rate and blood pressure
-Sudden increase or decrease in weight (change in appetite)
-Frequent headaches, fatigue, and respiratory Problems
-Nervous weakness ( biting nails, too much sweating)
-Insomnia
-Reduced immunity to common colds and flu
-Ulcers and weak digestive system
Psychological Affects :
-Difficulty in concentrating
-Unable to spend leisure time productively
-Always anxious
-Bad decision making
-Mood swings

-Increased usage of food, cigarettes, alcohol and drugs

-Developing fears and phobias
-Feeling out of control and confused

STRATEGIES FOR COPING WITH STRESS

After understanding the sources of stress and the effects of stress on individuals, let us discuss
some strategies to fight stress.
Strategies to Fight Stress
Some of the important strategies for managers to fight stress are prioritizing and delegating
work, laughing a lot, exercising regularly, practicing relaxation techniques, maintaining a good
balanced diet, and having a good nights sleep.
Prioritize work
Multi-tasking is the buzzword these days. An individual requires special skills to perform
multiple tasks simultaneously. One way to minimize stress while multi-tasking is to plan,
prioritize, and perform. Planning involves preparing a list of activities that need to be performed.
This involves considering the time factor. Prioritizing involves ranking the activities based on
their importance and performing these activities in that order. Prioritizing activities each day is
the simplest way to tackle stress. The next step is to schedule time for tasks depending on the
priorities. For instance, a person may have to attend a community meeting and an official party.
He/she may schedule time for both activities by attending the official party first and then the
community meeting.
Delegate work
Some individuals prefer doing all the work themselves. This adds to their stress. They should
learn to delegate routine work to others. For instance, a manager can delegate the work of
preparing a report on a project to a subordinate.
Laughter
Laughter is a good de-stressor. An individual can relax and de-stress by watching a humorous
movie, reading comics, etc. A sense of humor allows an individual to perceive and appreciate the
imbalances of life and provides moments of delight.
A day without laughter is a day wasted for life. This is very true. Laughter is the best outlet for
stress. It is a great stress buster. Laughter is a no cost, no side effect medicine. A person with a
sense of humor is less likely to be under stress. A sense of humor allows an individual to
perceive and appreciate the imbalances of life and provides moments of delight.
Exercise
Exercise is another good stress-buster. It keeps an individual physically and mentally alert. When
a person is nervous, tense, or angry, exercise is the best outlet for giving vents to his/her
emotions. Regular exercise lowers blood pressure, lowers pulse rate, boosts blood circulation in
the body, increases artery suppleness, lowers cholesterol, and reduces fatigue and tension. These

benefits help an individual to tackle the physiological changes that occur during stress. Exercise
should increase blood circulation to the heart.
Relaxation
The best strategy to reduce stress is to relax. Relaxation is not being idle. It is doing what one
wants to do, rather than what one should do. It is very important for a person to
schedule some time for relaxation. This relaxation time should disconnect the person from all
his/her tensions, worries. This is the time when the person rebuilds his/her energy levels.
Relaxation techniques vary from person to person.
Diet
A good balanced diet plays a vital role in reducing stress. A person tends to neglect diet when
under stress. This may lead to overeating or under-eating. This improper eating results in a weak
immune system and creates health problems. A well-balanced meal that is eaten on time is very
important to minimize stress.
Sleep
Sleep is a weapon. During sleep, a person prepares himself/herself to face another day. Stress
makes a person sleepless or very sleepy. A stressed person may feel sleepy throughout the day
and awake during nights. On an average, everyone needs at least 7-8 hours of sleep per day.
Some may need more sleep or some less. After a good nights sleep, a person feels fresh. An
individual must adopt a bedtime routine that induces sleep like reading a book that is soothing,
and listening to music that is relaxing. One must go to bed at the same time every day.
Meditation
Meditation is one of the most effective techniques in reducing and avoiding stress. Regular
meditation helps in stress reduction. It
enables one to control the thought process
enables one to take effective decisions
helps in physical and mental relaxation
Improves concentration
Meditation is a technique to achieve a thoughtless or mindless state. In this state, a person has no
thoughts. This kind of state thus acts a stress reliever and a great rejuvenator.
Yoga

Yoga is another important stress reliever. Yoga has been tried and tested since ancient times.
According to Patanjali Maharishi, yoga is the cessation of mind. It is a state of no- mind. Yoga is
not for bodybuilding. It simply focuses on gentle postures that improve circulation of blood to
vital parts of the body. The increase in blood circulation rejuvenates the organs and releases
stress.
Maintaining work-life balance
Work-life balance means a harmonious balance of work and domestic life. It allows an employee
to fulfill all the roles in his/her life effectively and efficiently. Researches have proved that
employees are at their best when they are contented and motivated both at work and at home.
Achieving a work-life balance is not as easy as it seems. In the corporate world, change is
constant and imminent. The impact of globalization has further fuelled these changes. The
corporate world signifies uncertainties, too many responsibilities, and long work hours. These
changes in the environment disturb the balance between domestic and work-life of employees.
The increasing competition and demands of society further aggravate the situation. All this adds
up to stress.
Importance of Work-life balance
The corporate world is realizing the importance of the work-life balance. Companies are
realizing the fact that the work-life balance of employees has a direct effect on the productivity
of their organizations. Exhibit 5 explains the various practices that companies follow to maintain
work-life balance.
The importance of work-life balance is due to the following reasons:
Changing social scene:
In todays world, maintaining work-life balance is the greatest challenge employees face.
Employees have realized that their personal lives have an effect on their work life. Hence, they
are striving hard to maintain the balance.
Changing work culture:
There is a shift in the organizational work culture. Todays work culture provides flexible work
hours, focus on results, and recognition of achievements. However, this has made the workplace
even more competitive as employees are expected to always give their best, and this leads to
stress.
Increased work time:
With globalization, organizations are working 365 days, 24 hours, and 7 days a week irrespective
of time zones. Businesses are focusing more and more on customer care. With the coming of call

centers, this focus has doubled. The technology has added to the speed of work but the workload
remains the same.
Dual income families:
The shift in attitudes, work styles, and cultures has disturbed the work-life balance. Working
mothers have major responsibilities of managing both home and work place. This makes it all the
more important for them to balance work and life. Organizations are helping women by
providing facilities like work from home, day care etc.
Benefits of Work-life Balance
Achieving a work-life balance benefits both employers and employees. While the employers get
the benefit of productive and active employees, the employees feel secure and loyal. It also
improves confidence, concentration, self-esteem, and loyalty among the employees. The concept
of work-life balance is still fresh in India. Indian IT companies are probably the first ones to
provide a fun-work environment. Some companies are now investing in recreational facilities at
the worksite.
Steps to achieve work-life balance:
To build up an awareness of the importance of work-life balance in employees, companies
should conduct regular workshops and programs on work-life balance.
The following measures have to be taken by employers:
Discourage employees from working late
Take a regular employee satisfaction survey that can identify the pitfalls in the work pattern
Provide vacations and encourage employees to take breaks
Provide opportunities like work from home, flexi times
STRESS MANAGEMENT
Every one wants stress-free life. Yet, stress is ubiquitous. Of course, it cannot be controlled by
more nutrients as the real cause of stress is anxiety or pressure which may ultimately lead to the
neglect or proper dietary habits. Stress refers to the circumstances that threaten ones well being
and thereby tax ones coping abilities.
Stress is inevitable part of modern life. Like Janus, stress has two faces. It is a good servant, but
a bad master. In other words, it can be ones best friend or worst enemy. A certain amount of
stress is necessary to achieve success. But, undue stress causes distress.

Stress is received by different people differently. If two people experience the same amount or
pressure, one may be healthy while the other is sick. This is so because our personalities do
influence the level of stress. The present days lifestyle breeds stress and tension. When tension
lasts long, depression sets in.
According to Dr. Raw Baum, a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvanian bioenergetics analyst and stress
educator, Stress is our bodys bio-chemical reaction to how we live our lives. Stress can develop
into distress and disease through your personal adaptations to internal and external
environments.
Stress is the bodys reaction to the external demands placed upon it by the environment. Stress
can be either good or bad. Good stress creates the necessary excitement to perform an activity.
This type of stress is temporary and has no long-term effects on the body. Bad stress creates an
alarming reaction in the body. It affects the bodys immune system and has detrimental affects on
the body over a period.
There are many sources of stress for an individual. It can be family, friends, workplace,
superiors, and colleagues. The sources of stress for an individual should be identified. The effects
of stress may include minor symptoms like headache, irritability, loss of concentration, loss of
appetite to major symptoms like insomnia, amnesia, heart attack, ulcers etc. Stress should be
identified and treated in the early stages or it could result in a burnout. A severe case or neglected
case of stress leads to burnout. Exercise, diet, and rest play a vital role in stress handling. A
healthy person is better at handling stressful situations than an unhealthy person.
A working person should learn to balance work and personal life to lead a happy life. This worklife balance can be achieved by giving importance to both work and personal life. Organizations
should help their employees achieve work-life balance, as this has an effect on the productivity
of the organizations.
Spirituality at the workplace has become a necessity in todays world. The practice of spirituality
at the workplace enables an individual to deal with stressful situations. It provides an individual
with the strength to face unforeseen situations without panic. Spirituality helps a manager to deal
with stress internally instead of looking for external solutions.
Action Points
Managers should:
Identify sources of stress and their effects on you.
Adopt a de-stressing routine like going for a solitary walk at the end of the day.
Spend time with family, friends.
Make time for vacations.

Practice relaxation methods like deep breathing, meditation, and yoga.

Sleep for at least 6-8 hours.
Plan, prioritize, and delegate work.
Try to maintain a work-life balance.
Managers should not:

Ignore symptoms like frequent headaches, coughs, and colds.

Take on too may responsibilities or demands that are outside your capabilities.
Use drugs, tobacco, alcohol to handle stress.
Use self-medication.
Wait for deadlines to approach.
Set unrealistic goals.
STRESS AT WORKPLACE
Job stress is a consequence of two key ingredients: a high level of job demands and little control
over ones work.
-PAUL FROILAND.

WHAT'S IT?
In this difficult economy, you may find it harder than ever to cope with challenges on the job.
Both the stress we take with us when we go to work and the stress that awaits us on the job are
on the rise and employers, managers, and workers all feel the added pressure.
While some stress is a normal part of life, excessive stress interferes with your productivity and
reduces your physical and emotional health, so its important to find ways to keep it under
control. Fortunately, there is a lot that you can do to manage and reduce stress at work.
CALL CENTERS
Call center is a generalized term that embraces a number of activities like reservation centers,
help desks, information lines or customer service centers, irrespective of how they are organized
or what types of transactions they handle. Call center is generally referred to a refined voice
operations setting that provides a full range of high-volume, inbound or outbound call-handling
services, including customer support, operator services, directory assistance, multilingual
customer support, credit services, card services, inbound and outbound telemarketing, interactive
voice response and web-based services.
Call centers are becoming increasingly popular in today's business, where many companies have
centralized customer service and support functions. Call centers are generally large offices with
representatives who either make or receive phone calls. Depending on the type of work, call
centers may have a single office employing a few people or large office with thousands of
employees. The main activity in some call centers is answering inbound calls, such as a bank that
gives out a toll-free number for customers needing help. At the same time there are some call
centers that focus on outbound calls too.
With increase in outsourcing, call centers are also becoming popular. By way of outsourcing,
companies contract out some functions to other companies located mostly in cost effective
destinations like India. In this field India enjoys several advantages over a number of developed
counties. In India, we a have large pool of qualified people; English speaking graduates and IT
professionals. In addition to this India have some other
advantages like cheap labor, flexibility in working hours and time zone difference. This is the
reason why a number of MNCs are outsourcing their business activities to India.
Call centres are comparatively a recent introduction to the world of career options in India. The
career avenues provided by Call centres is one of the best suited and growing option which even
a fresher can opt for. With the opening up of the Indian economy and the advent of globalisation
more and more companies from abroad are basing or outsourcing their call centre services to
India, a trend started by GE when it established a call centre near New Delhi in 1998.
A call centre is a service centre with adequate telecom facilities, access to internet and wide
database, which provide voice based or web-based information and support to customers in the
country or abroad through trained personnel. Call centres exist in all sectors of business

including banking, utilities, manufacturing, security, market research, pharmaceuticals, catalogue

sales, order desk, customer service, technical queries (help desk), emergency dispatch, credit
collections, food service, airline/hotel reservations etc. The wide area of services provided by the
call centres makes it a lucrative career with a range of opportunities.
UNDERSTANDING - THE CALL CENTER INDUSTRY
There has been some dispute amongst researchers as to whether it is appropriate to refer to such
a thing as the call center industry. As Bain and Taylor point out, despite similarities in the
integration of computer and telephone technologies, centers differ in relation to a number of
important variablessize, industrial sector and market, complexity and length of call cycle time,
nature of operations (inbound, outbound or combined), the nature and effectiveness of
representative institutions including trade unions, and management styles and priorities. To this
list of variables, Callaghan and Thompson would add the degree of product complexity and
variability and the depth of knowledge required to deal with the service interaction. Bain and
Taylor argue that it is more appropriate to use the term sector, as call Centers are found across
a wide range of industries and may be similar primarily in terms of their core technologies. They
do note, however, that there is a professional literature and a collective identity that is maintained
and developed through conferences and forums. Belt, Richardson and Webster (2000) agree that
call centers are not an 'industry' as the term is generally defined, but rather represent certain ways
of delivering various services using the telephone and computer technologies across traditional
industry boundaries. However, these authors provide three strong reasons defending the practice
of referring to call centers as an industry:
First, the call center community often defines itself as an industry, with numerous national and
international call center conferences and workshops taking place each year, industry journals and
call center forums organized at local levels.
Second, the labor force requirements of call centers are often the same across sectors. This means
that many, though not all, call centers share a common labor pool. Third, the organizational
templates and technologies used tend to be very similar, regardless of the sector.
To this one might add the remarkable similarities that international researchers have found
between technologies used, work practices and key issues including monitoring, control,
training, and labor demographics for workers in countries as diverse as Germany, Japan,
Australia, Greece, Canada, the US, the UK and the Netherlands.
STRESS IN CALL CENTERS
Stress exists in every call center. Call centers are stressful work environments. The demands of
serving the customer in real-time helps to lay the foundation. Add to this factor things such as job
repetition, potential job dissatisfaction, poor ergonomics or low pay and the stress level climbs
higher.

If stress in the workplace (i.e. the call center) is not on the agenda the results of stress are
revealed through higher absenteeism than other parts of the company, higher Worker's
Compensation claims and ultimately in reduced customer satisfaction.
This Operations Topic focuses on various approaches to managing stress. Raising the pay isn't
necessarily the solution. There are many other creative means of managing stress in your call
center.
Factors that Create a Stressful Call Center
Emotional Labor
Stress Levels, Staff Turnover and Some Suggested Solutions
Customer Centric Attitude and Stress
Recommended Solutions to Solving Stress in the Call Center
Involve Front Line Staff in Creating Solutions
Attention to Ergonomic Factors Helps Reduce Stress
Develop an Internal Ergonomic Program
Employee Assistance Programs Can Contribute
Consider Massage Therapy Services or Yoga As Possible Solutions Resources
Wake Up Your Call Center: Humanizing Your Interaction Hub
Managing Workplace Chaos: Workplace Solutions for Managing Information, Paper, Time and
Stress
Tele-Stress - Relief For Call Center Stress Syndrome
HUMAN ISSUES IN CALL-CENTER INDUSTRY
[STRESS
For many employed in call center sector, daily experience is of repetitive, intensive and
stressful work, based upon Taylorist principles, which frequently results in employee burnout.
Brown characterizes work as repetitive brain strain. These descriptions are hardly surprising,
in a way, given that call centers are established by organizations to create an environment in
which work can be standardized to create relatively uniform and repetitious activities so as to
achieve economies of scale and consistent quality of customer service. In other words, that
workplaces are organized in ways that weaken employee autonomy and enhance potential for

management control, and a loss of control is generally understood to be an important indicator

of work-related stress.
There is almost universal consensus that call center work is stressful. Even in studies that report
the observation that some staff actually enjoys their work, mention of stress is still the norm, and
a significant portion of the call center literature is devoted to detailing the sources of stress in call
center work.
FOUR KEY STRESSORS
- Can we get off the phone for a while?
The primary source of stress reported is inherent to the nature of the job: spending all day on the
phone dealing with people one after another, day after day, is difficult. Doing it under constant
pressure to keep call volumes up, with no time between calls to recover from an awkward call
or from customer rejection is even more difficult. And doing it with very little authority or
autonomy to rectify problems that arise is perhaps the most difficult of all. Many studies report
agents as wanting to just get off the phones. For example, Belt and colleagues note agents in
all three sectors [financial services, IT, and third-party services] spoke of the phenomenon of
burnout, caused by the pressure of working exclusively on the phones. In the same study, the
authors mention that the issue of burnout was also recognized by some managers: It was
pointed out that managers face an
inherent conflict between the need to reduce staff boredom and labor turnover, and the pressure
to concentrate staff energies on telephone based work.
The question of how call center employees deal with stress is an important one, particularly in
view of evidence that a build-up of stress leads to illness, absenteeism and turnover, writes
Houlihan. Many authors agree, and there are a variety of individual coping mechanisms
described in the literature. Tricks to circumvent control mechanisms, such as those discussed
above are sometimes mentioned as attempts at stress reduction, although they are unreliable in
this role as they may also increase stress.
Others mention social interaction squeezed into brief moments--Callaghan and Thompson
describe agents using humorous (or rude) gestures towards the phone, or making faces at
colleagues to defuse stress over angry or abusive callers, and making jokes to combat the tedium
of the day. Lankshear and Mason describe a similarly social approach to reducing tension in one
of the sites they observed, where staff often laughed and joked with one another in intervals
between calls, with managements approval. More formally, some call centers include stress
management as a component in training programs, and many have, or claim to have, team debriefings which permit staff to vent frustrations while discussing difficult calls or dissatisfactions
with elements of work.
Knights and McCabe take a different approach to stress in the workplace. They note that
although much organizational analysis and most of the call center literature tends to
conceptualize stress as an individual problem, it is actually located within a framework that

emphasizes the interrelationships between structural relations of power and the subjective
interpretations and actions of employees. This more nuance positioning may provide more
insight into call center conditions, as it allows a researcher to consider the response of employees
forced to interpret the often contradictory demands management place upon them including
contradictionsover service quality versus the quantity of work output. Clearly, these
authors write, staffs face some fundamental contradictions over unity versus conflict,
uncertainty versus certainty, quality versus quantity and these are at the heart of the reproduction
of stress, resistance and control. This focus on the contradictory
nature of demands strikes at the heart of the second inherent sources of stress in (primarily
inbound) call center works: the quality/quantity conflict.
QUALITY/QUANTITY CONFLICT
Typically, organizational rhetoric in inbound call centers is concerned with customer care, or
keeping customers happy (providing quality service), yet these goals are juxtaposed with an
ongoing pressure to keep call times down and call volumes up. Call centers are rooted in
contradictory tensions and structural paradoxes, and confront a number of trades-offs on that
basis. These set a context for attitudes towards the organization and can impose conflicting role
requirements on agents. A core example is that of the pressure for quantity versus the aspiration
for quality, the guiding logic of which is the conundrum of trying to get closer to the customer
while routinising, centralizing, reducing costs and prescribing standards.
The dichotomy is not completely straightforward, it is important to note. Part of providing
quality service from a management perspective is making sure customers do not wait too long
for their calls to be answered, even though the push to keep queue waiting times short is typically
categorized as part of the pressure towards quantity. As Bain points out, efforts to attain what is
perceived to be the desired balance between the quantity and the quality of calls presents a
perennial challenge.
The practice of ongoing work practice modification and target revision as management swings
from one side to another of the quality/quantity debate is a major source of stress for call center
agents. As Houlihan notes: The practice of putting a drive on particular targets for
improvement (for example, the collection of renewal dates, the up- selling or cross-selling of
products, the quality of data input, or the intensity of sales push) and continual reprioritisation
means that the goalposts are constantly shifting. Virtually all of the call center authors who
write about work conditions mention the difficulty of dealing with these competing goals.
Korczynski and colleagues suggest that this dilemma is particularly difficult for front-line
workers because they may be likely to identify with embodied individual customers, for
interactions with specific customers may be an important arena for meaning and satisfaction
within the work. They contrast this customer- as-individual orientation to the managerial goal of
balancing customer orientation with
efficiency, which they suggest leads management to prefer workers to identify with a generic
category, the customer, since such a disembodied image of the customer will encourage

workers to deal with individual customers efficiently because they will be conscious of the
concerns of other customers waiting in a queue.
INTENSITY
The third central stressor in call center work is its intensity. As Bain (2001) argues, far from
being either in terminal decline or on the wane, Taylorismin conjunction with a range of other
control mechanismsis not only alive, well and deeply embedded in the call center labour
process, but its malevolent influence appears to be spreading to previously uncharted territory.
There is widespread consensus that call centers are a new, and particularly effective,
manifestation of the increasingly capital intensive industrialization of service sector work, and
work performed in them is highly intensive and routine.
Buchanan and Koch-Schulte quote one call center worker who describes the constant pressure
graphically:
Ellen:
Its almost like the army. Its much regimented. You punch in with a time clock. You come in and
you sit down, and the numbers are all computerized. As soon as you finish a call, the minute you
hang up another call comes up just this constant, all day, repetitious constant sort of like
beating on a drum, but day after day.
The pace of work is determined by the combination of technologies that deliver calls to the
headset and account details to the screen, and workers often have no control over this process.
Descriptions such as exhausting, robotic, controlled, and agents discussing the nature of
their work often use machine-like. Houlihan expands on the idea of controlled, machine-like
agents by suggesting that this is in fact exactly the way that the organization conceives of them:
Call centers are information handling organizations. As currently characterized, the job of the
agent is to be the voice of the organization, interfacing with the client or customer.
The organization rehearses the things it wants said and feeds them through the agent. The agent
is largely constructed as a mouthpiece rather than as a brain.
Buchanan and Koch-Schulte spoke with a call-center worker who articulated her feelings about
the organizations expectations of its agents in very similar terms: Rosa: You are standing waiting
to be used by the technology, and its a physical embodiment of that. You are standing, waiting
until that call comes in to use you to make money. And you are simply another part of that
machine.
When this feeling of being a cog in a machine which never stops as it grinds on, repeating the
same actions over and over again, is combined with the cumulative emotional demands
presented by the interpersonal nature of the work, stress is inevitable.

Targets
There is a fourth feature of some call center work that may engender stress: performance targets.
There are various types of targets, which may vary between inbound and outbound centers.
Inbound centers typically have targets for call duration, wrap time, and daily call volume.
Outbound centers often also have sales or completion targets, which are closely monitored and
upon which pay may be partially based. In addition, in some sectors, inbound call centers are
attempting to introduce the practice of cross selling, where agents attempt to sell additional
products to the customers who call in for another purpose. In these centers, sales targets similar
to those in outbound centers are often in place.
Taylor and Bain argue that particularly in the financial services industry in the UK, targets are a
significant source of stress for workers as more and more importance is placed upon meeting
them in an increasingly competitive business environment. Sales targets, in particular, are
difficult to accept, or meet, for staff who often consider themselves as service personnel,
particularly when they are set centrally and implemented locally:
Cross-selling is seen by employees, not as an opportunity to engage in creative work, but as an
additional and acute source of pressure. This is especially the case when
sales targets are parachuted in on top of service targets set originally when there was no pressure
to produce sales.
As a CSR in Taylor and Bains study emphasizes: When somebody phones in for a balance you
have to try to get a sale or get them interested as well as turning the call round in 155 seconds.
Even in centers that claim not to prioritize targets, researchers have found that staff often feels
significant pressure. Targets simply intensify the stress produced by the quantity/quality debate,
or, as one agent is quoted as saying, They say that theyre not really interested in numbers. They
say that they are more into quality. Well, thats a lie. Theyre usually more into numbers than
anything. It is important not to over generalize however. While most call centers do have some
targets, they are a source of stress that is directly under management control. Some call centers
are managed in such a way that targets are set to realistically reflect local conditions, are
interpreted in light of other, more subjective information, and are not used punitively or to
intensify work. In some they are even used effectively to motivate and encourage staff. For
example, Lankshear and Mason describe a series of conversations with managers in their call
center site where management consistently conceptualized their performance reports (for
example, one commented that its human nature for productivity to drop before and after a
holiday), and used their stats as an excuse to praise good performance and coach those who
consistently had difficulty meeting targets: Our best bet is to develop the people we have got
one manager is quoted as saying.
Other Health issues
The result of intense, stressful work may be an effect on workers health. There are often high
rates of absenteeism and sick leave reported in the literature, although there is relatively little

exploration of these issues, particularly when compared to turnover. Most often, authors provide
a brief list of known health issues. For example, Richardson, Belt and Marshall write that
Health concerns have been expressed, including tension, sleeplessness, headaches, eye-strain,
repetitive strain injury (RSI), voice loss, hearing problems and burn- out, but they do not
develop the point. More detailed descriptions of the causes and effects of these ailments can be
found in industry and trades union reports. For example, the Trades Union Council (TUC) in its
brochure targeted at call center workers, cites the main illnesses
to which call center staff are prone: back strain and RSI, stress, eyestrain, and voice and hearing
loss.
Also in the UK, regulators have been proactive in their examination of the industry, with the
Health and Safety Executive issuing a bulletin on call center regulations, health risks and best
practices in December 2001. They looked specifically at health issues including stress, noise
levels, musculoskeletal disorders (such as back problems) and voice loss, and also at display
screen issues, working environments, requirements for work stations, daily work routines,
training, organizational working practices and shifts.
Sleeping Disorders :
No prizes for guessing the most severe ailment afflicting people working in Indian call centers.
Since this is a unique Indian problem, again, no solution appears in sight. Obviously this affects
first timers more severely, as they take time to acclimatize their biological clocks, but even
experienced people or managers are not able to completely escape from it. Some call centers are
looking at devising innovative mechanisms like flexible shifts with sleeping arrangements in the
office premises as possible solutions.
Digestive System Related Disorders:
Working long and odd hours without any sleep, and eating food supplied by external caterers
everyday, has led to 41.9% of the respondents suffering from digestive problems. Especially for
the large number of girls working in the industry, the problem is even more severe. Many call
centers are now taking additional care to ensure their caterers supply hygienic food; besides
stipulating strict conditions to maintain the quality of the food they serve.
[Depression:
In last year's survey, this was not among the top disorders, but this year it has climbed up the
chart, affecting nearly one-fourth of the respondents. Not surprising, since, as the industry
matures, the initial glitz and glamour wears away and the real problems come to the fore. Not
only are there several health related issues, but, on top of that, the gradual realization that there is
limited scope in developing a career owing to fewer growth opportunities is increasing the
frustration levels. Coupled with growing mental fatigue and

increasingly punishing physical environments, depression is the obvious end result. Some call
centers have now devised different stress management programs mainly to counter depression.
Severe Stomach Related ProblemsContinuing digestive problems lead to severe stomach
disorders like gastroenteritis, as endorsed by more than 24% of the respondents. Even doctors in
major cities agree-in recent times many of the patients with various stomach ailments are from
call centers.
Eyesight Problems:
Globally call center industry employees are considered a high-risk group for eye- related
problems. While the quality of monitors might impact these disorders, sitting continually without
adequate breaks seems to be the truer reason. The number of people affected seems to be on the
rise-last year only 19% complained; this year it has gone up to 23%. At some point of time, this
problem might also afflict the IT services industry, but for the call center industry, no remedy
seems to be in sight.
Ear Problems:
More than 16% of the respondents inform that they have hearing problems. Again, no surprises
here, since a call center job involves taking calls throughout the shift, sitting with headphones.
While quality of headphones does make a difference, it would not be correct to completely wish
the problem away by thinking that changing headphones will solve it.
Some other Human Issues, in Call-Centers, which need Immediate Attention Personal habits:
The young executives are getting more than five figure salaries per month in an early age. They
tend to develop certain bad habits such as alcohol, smoking etc. It is not easy to identify such
individuals. It is also very sensitive to talk to them. The professional counselors can conduct
group-counseling, workshops, educative film shows in order to create awareness on effects of
bad habits. Such actions will enable individuals to realize the
importance of good habits and they could seek one to one Counseling sessions to solve their
problems.
Discipline and behavioral issues:
Call centers provide excellent working environment, free food and transportation. There is
always a situation where individual or group of youngsters tend to commit mistakes and abuse
the freedom. They start behaving like in college campus where they have more freedom.
However, the call center executives have more responsibility and accountability, they need to
follow discipline and do well in the job. The most common behavior is misuse of food, behave
erratically in vans, and smoke in public places, misuse of telephones and other resources of the
company. The supervisors always concentrate on performance and achieving targets. They do not
have time or interest to go deep into these matters and find out the reasons for such behavior. The
professional counselor can play a major role in educating the youngsters on discipline; provide

advice to erring executives. The counselors with their wisdom and experience can tackle such
issues tactfully and bring change within the individuals. As said earlier, to majority of them this
is the first employment and they are fresh out of the colleges. Few tend to behave differently and
they have the do not care attitude. Such executives will not take their job seriously, they
indulge in teasing, and joking, talking over mobile phones, have friction within the team. These
aspects may go noticed or unnoticed by the supervisors. The fact remains that such unacceptable
behaviors will cause disturbance to others and overall it affects the productivity. Sleeping while
on duty, reading novels and playing games on the computer during working hours brings down
productivity and quality suffers. The HR representatives and professional counselors jointly have
a role to bring behavioral change starting from the training days. Continuous education and
Counseling will help to mitigate such problems and it is possible to prevent serious problems.
Inter-personal relationship and friendship:
Executives develop friendship quickly and sometime the friendship breaks and there will be
misunderstanding among the team members and naturally affects the team performance. The
supervisors and counselors can play a major role to sort out the interpersonal relationship and
develop team spirit. Healthy relationship among the team
members has always helped the team to out perform. When the relationship fails the individuals
will also break down mentally. They either absent for duties or fall ill or the performance will
come down. It is also true that due to misunderstanding and break in friendship they change jobs
quickly.
Love affair and marriages:
Few of the boys and girls fall in love quickly. They maintain the healthy relationship, behave in a
matured manner, plan the future course of action and such persons have got married with the
consent of their parents. They work together in the same organization for longer duration. There
are instances, where lovers fall apart, start disliking, creating troubles to each other and vitiating
the atmosphere. They are immature, take instant decisions to break or unite and sometimes go to
an extent of damaging others reputation. The professional counselors can play an important role
in explaining the importance of marriage, preparation required for marriage, how to enter the
institution of marriage, which is acceptable to both parents and society and about the new role
and responsibility after getting married. Counseling services can definitely give emotional
support to individuals.
Absenteeism:
Absenteeism is very high in calls centers. Employees tend to be very irregular to the duty due to
various reasons. Professional counseling services to such irregular employees on one to one basis
will help to bring down absenteeism. Counselor can educate and explain the importance of
attending duties to earn salary and also to meet organizational goals. Each individual are unique
and the problem they face are also different in nature. Professional counselors can understand,
analyze and provide long lasting solutions for the individuals.

Higher education and part time jobs:

It is possible to do higher education while working in BPO units. Few organizations encourage
and offer support services to pursue higher education. However, time management by the
executives is crucial to go forward in education as well as to maintain performance and career
growth. Programmes on time management, tips to study, tips to keep fit and such other
programmes can be offered. These steps would help to seek the loyalty of employees to
organizations and helps greatly for retention of employees. Organizations do not grant
permission to pursue part time jobs while working in BPO units. In order to make quick money
and to have options open to change jobs in future will drive employees to do
part time work. Human body does not permit to stretch beyond ones capacity. Executives need
to take sufficient rest in daytime so that energy levels are maintained. Either due to lack of
experience or due to compulsions, executives keep their one feet in call center and another in
part time jobs. In the long run this would affect individuals health. The HR executives must
identify such persons and offer professional Counseling services to them.
REMEDIAL MEASURES FOR STRESS MANAGEMENT
Understanding that the Stress is a major concern for all Call-Center Employees, it is a duty of
HR-heads of Call-Centers to address it properly.
Some of the common signs and symptoms of stress
Although we all experience stress in different ways, there are certain signs that are most
frequently reported. These signs fall into two major categories; physical/behavioral signs and
emotional signs. If we become aware of our own stress symptoms, we will be more effective in
dealing with them sooner rather than later. What follows is a list of some of the most experienced
symptoms of stress.
The physical/behavioral symptoms include; muscular tension, muscle spasms and tics, rapid
heart beat, shortness of breath and high blood pressure, cold hands and feet, backaches,
headaches and neck aches, stomach problems, indigestion, irritable bowel and ulcers, feeling
fatigued, irritable, decreased ability to concentrate, insomnia and changes in eating behavior.
Since these physical symptoms may be related to physical problems, you should consult with
your medical doctor before you assume that your symptoms are purely stress-related.
The emotional symptoms include; anxiety in a variety of situations not limited to the stressful
situation, depression, hopelessness and a strong urge to cry without specific incident, withdrawal
from social interactions and avoidance of previously enjoyed activities, powerlessness and
decreased self esteem, hostility, anger and resentment, fears, phobias and unwanted thoughts.
Learning to become more aware of your own stress symptoms is the first major step in the stress
management and healing process. It is often helpful to monitor your daily symptoms in a stress
diary where you match the stressful events with the symptom

experienced. For example; you made find that if you are stuck in early morning traffic you may
experience irritability and headaches. In this case it will be important to use these symptoms as a
cue that you have to begin managing that stress more effectively when it happens.
What are the consequences of unmanaged stress?
We all know that stress is something that doesnt feel good to us physically and emotionally.
What is even more compelling is what happens below the surface each time we experience
stress. Stress researcher Hans Selye, determined what happens internally each time we
experience something as threatening or stressful. According to Selye, when we perceive a threat
in the environment the thinking part of the brain sends an alarm message to the nervous system
via the hypothalamus. The nervous system then makes changes in the body that prepare you to
handle the perceived danger ahead. These changes include increases in heart rate and blood
pressure as well as pupil dilation. In addition, there are hormones and chemicals secreted such as
adrenaline, that give the body the necessary push to be able to manage the threat ahead.
Although there are situations in which these adrenaline surges are very helpful in helping us
mobilize, the constant adrenaline surges due to repeatedly perceived threats, have a toxic effect
on the body. For example, recurrent adrenaline surges inhibit some of the other important
functions in the body including growth and tissue repair, digestion and the immune response.
Just as the thinking part of your brain is responsible for turning the stress response on, you can
turn it off by changing the threatening appraisals you are making. Once you are able to determine
that a threat does not exist or that it can be effectively managed, your thinking brain stops
sending panic messages to the nervous system. As a result of this reappraisal, the hormones and
chemicals cease to be released and the body returns to normal.
Bringing the body back to an "un-stressed" state is very important since almost every system in
the body can be damaged by stress. Although our bodies are adaptive and can recover from
periodic stressors, chronic stress has serious consequences. We experience the consequences of
stress on three important levels; physically, emotionally and behaviorally. What follows is a
description of the specific consequences in these three categories.
Physically, the body is likely to develop a stress-related disease as a result of the stress toxins
that are released. For example, chronic stress can lead to cardiovascular disease by elevating
blood pressure, damaging the heart and arteries and increasing blood sugar. Respiratory
conditions such as asthma and bronchitis can result from stress-triggered changes in the lungs.
When stress inhibits the bodys digestive functions, diseases such as ulcers, colitis and chronic
diarrhea can occur. In addition, stress contributes to inhibited growth of tissue and bone which
can lead to decalcification and osteoporosis. The immune system is also inhibited by the reduced
efficiency of the white blood cells, making the body more susceptible to disease. Increased
muscle tension, fatigue and headaches are additional consequences of chronic stress.
The second category of consequences of chronic stress is the emotional consequences.

Depression can result form chronic stress due to the constant release and depletion of
norepinephrine. What also contributes to the depression is the thought that life is terrible and that
it is never going to get better. What then results is a feeling of helplessness and ineffectiveness,
feeling like a failure and a reduction in self-confidence. Individuals who are depressed are also
likely to withdraw from relationships and isolate themselves which often increases the intensity
of the depression. In addition, anxiety and fearfulness are commonly felt emotions if someone
constantly perceives threats around the corner. In addition, individuals who are chronically
stressed are likely to exhibit increased cynicism, rigidity, sarcasm and irritability since they
believe that their situation is not likely to improve. Chronic stress also has significant behavioral
consequences. Behavioral consequences often result from innate survival urge we have to seek
relief, to fight or to flee. Unfortunately, these relief-seeking behaviors eventually become
problematic. For example, "addictive behaviors" can result from the repeated efforts to soothe or
escape the painful stress. Alcohol, drugs, smoking and overeating are often seen as tools to help
manage the stress even though their effects are short lived and the consequences of chronic use
are destructive to the body and mind. Unfortunately the minds ability to deny the long-term
consequences in order to fill short-term need to escape perpetuates the problem and increases
excessive use behavior. Similarly, procrastination, poor planning, excessive sleeping and
avoidance of responsibility are examples of behaviors used by stressed individuals to temporarily
flee from the pain. What is most significant about these behaviors is their ability to generate
additional problems that are as severe as the original stressor. For example, procrastination or
avoidance of the management of a stressor only serves to increase anxiety and exacerbate the
stress experience. Stress consequences reviewed above suggest that in addition to being
physically and psychologically distressing, they reduce the likelihood of effective goal reaching.
Rationale for properly managing and coping with the stress is for health protection in future as
well as making present more productive and satisfying.
MANAGING STRESS
Since stress is an inevitable fact of life that we cant always prevent, our efforts need to be
focused on coping with stress more effectively. What follows is a description of a three pronged
approach to stress management which includes behavioral/practical techniques, relaxation
techniques and cognitive/thinking techniques.
The behavioral/practical approaches to stress management include exercise and eating a healthy,
balanced diet, which includes selections from the basic food groups. In addition, it is
recommended that one avoid the excessive use of alcohol, caffeine and sugar, which contribute
to fatigue and vulnerability to mood swings. It is also important to allow the body to rest and
replenish to help inoculate the body against future stress. Building this stress resistance also
includes scheduling time for leisure and pleasure, which provides for a more balanced, fulfilling
life. Anticipating and preparing for recurrent stressors by managing time, setting priorities and
limits, delegating responsibility, and not procrastinating are helpful stress reducing strategies.
These techniques are effective stress management tools because their utilizationis within our
control.

The relaxation approaches to stress management include a variety of techniques designed to help
you effectively manage the body/mind tension. Progressive muscle relaxation is an active form
of relaxation where you individually contract the major muscle groups of your body for about
five seconds and then you relax the individual muscle groups for a five second holds. The
contrast experienced by this exercise relieves muscle tension and relaxes the body. Some of the
more passive relaxation approaches include listening to music, reading and using saunas and hot
tubs to relieve tension. Techniques used to relax the mind include meditation and visual imagery.
Meditation teaches you how to clear the mind of stressful and distracting thoughts by focusing
the mental energy on positive coping thoughts. Visual imagery is designed to help the individual
visualize him/herself coping
effectively with a stressor that was previously experienced as overwhelming. The behavioral and
relaxation approaches described above are necessary but not sufficient conditions for stress
management. The third prong to stress management, the cognitive or thinking approach, is
essential to effective coping with stress.
The cognitive or thinking approaches are an integral part of coping effectively with stress and
now the primary focus of many stress management programs. Since it has been determined that
we can turn off the stress response by changing our threatening/dangerous event appraisals to
appraisals that help us view these events as manageable challenges, we have a direct link to
controlling the stress response. The first step in the cognitive approach is to identify our thoughts
or internal dialog that is negative, perfectionist, black and white, rigid and demanding. In other
words, you are more likely to experience stress if you believe that you, the world and other
people "should or must" behave in a manner consistent with your demands and standards. For
example, you are likely to experience stress if you believe that the world and your life should be
stress free and that you do not have the resources to handle stress if it does occur. In addition,
demands of perfection on yourself and on others important to you, increases the chance of
feeling stressed since these expectations are unrealistic and rigid. After identifying your stress
producing thoughts you are then able to move onto the second step in the cognitive approach;
recognizing the consequences of this negative, rigid dialog.
The motivation to change the stress-producing dialog comes from the determination that there
are serious consequences that result form these negative, rigid thoughts. When you talk to
yourself in a defeated, pessimistic or rigid way, you deny your ability to cope and are not likely
to manage situations effectively or meet goals you set. In addition, perfectionist demands are
experienced as appropriately unrealistic and contribute to a "why bother" attitude. This attitude
reduces the likelihood that you will address these demands since it is a realistic fact that no one
or nothing is ever perfect. Once you are convinced that the dialog is negative and
counterproductive, you are ready to move on to the third step in the cognitive approach;
challenging and replacing the negative internal dialog with a healthier, more productive internal
dialog.
This important step in the reappraisal process requires that you challenge your rigid dialog by
asking yourself a series of questions about that rigid dialog. For example, "Why

must I perform perfectly in order to believe I am a valuable human being?" In addition, "Does
that demand for perfection increase my anxiety and reduce the likelihood that I perform well at
all?" "What would I feel like and would I be more motivated if I changed my demand for
perfection to a desire to do well?" Another example of this reappraisal process can be seen in the
area of criticism and rejection.
A negative internal dialog that would create stress in this area is "I am worthless because I was
rejected and this proves that no one will ever love me." A healthy challenge to this belief would
be, "How does the opinion of this person reflect my personal worth? "How does it follow that
this rejection will lead to future rejections?" It is also important to add, " Even if I were to get
rejected repeatedly, could I work to make desired changes in my personality without condemning
myself or feeling worthless?" By replacing the negative, rigid dialog with more realistic, flexible
dialog, you are more likely to feel healthier emotionally and behave more rationally and
productively.
The behavioral, relaxation and cognitive techniques described above have been determined to be
effective ways to manage and cope more effectively with stress. The techniques give the control
back to the individual and empower him/her to manage the inevitable stressors that will occur in
life.

FACTORS THAT CREATE A STRESSFUL CALL CENTER

Stress in the Call Center will affect the agent, manager, director, or anyone in the call center
when they let stress gain control. When this happens, they lose self control and have the feeling
of being overwhelmed. The first step in gaining control is and identifying what the stressors are
and understanding the causes and effects. Stress is caused by many things. Time pressures, high
expectations, lack of communication, high call volume, inexperience, ill- prepared, to name a
few. The effects are decreased productivity, anxiety, low morale, poor customer service levels,
and increased turnover. When faced with these stressors, training is the tool to resolve the issues.
You must go to your training programs and processes and ask yourself if the training you are
providing the call center employees delivers the tools required for them to accomplish their goals
without the negative stress. Approach dealing with the stress in the Call Center with
assertiveness and confidence. One of the most effective things I have done, in my own call center
experience, as well as seen in other call centers, is to have a specific workshop covering stress.
Let employees voice their specific stressors and develop actions to overcome them and resolve
what is inhibiting their performance. Their minds are then clear and mentally prepared. It will
then be motivated for training to make them a more confident and capable call center employee.
LACK OF COMMUNICATION
This is a call center disease that some call centers just gravitate to simply because
everyone is too busy with their job duties and with doing someone else's jobs that we simply
forget to communicate. Sounds harmless but if you don't address it could slowly but surely drag

down your center's morale, employees' self esteems, work life balance, job security, employees'
productivities, etc.
HIGH VOLUME
This one is a little tougher because the causes could be variety of different issues. The more
common symptom of high volume is poor workforce mgmt. Put, workforce team needs to be
very proactive in correctly forecasting your volume two weeks in advance
(within 98% of the actual volume) and be ready with a staffing analysis of how efficient CSR
schedules are by day for you. If this is every week from your workforce team, you will be well
aware of your holes every day for the next two weeks and you can make staffing decisions before
the day happens. If your workforce team is good, then you will better prepare to handle
spikes/lull in your volume.
Another symptom of high volume is poor attendance/retention - if you consistently don't have
the reps that you planned for, then you might as well stay home too. Issues like these are harder
to address because the root causes are never the same. You have to go the employees and find out
why they are not coming to work or why they are leaving you. Once you have an idea of the root
causes, then you and your team can creatively find solutions or create new policies to address
them.
High volume is a self feeding animal - if you don't get control of it, it will surely brings down
your operation. Your frontline supervisors will have to help out on the phones all the time and
they can't work with their CSRs. Employees are constantly going from one call to the next
without much breaks in between. Your boss is constantly on you for high ASAs and Abandon
%s, blah - the story goes on and on and the picture doesn't look pretty.
Common causes include understaffing, impossible service levels, inappropriate or oppressive
management style, mis-match between agent skills and job requirements, mis-match between the
stated aims of the job and the actual work being done (e.g. a sales centre that is swamped with
technical service complaints), jobs that require no thought on the part of the operator and that
could/should be automated (directory enquiries, bank balance requests etc).
EMOTIONAL LABOUR
"Emotional labor is defined as the effort expended (and the concomitant physiological arousal) to
manage or regulate ones emotional reactions at work. This effort is necessary for exhibiting
those performance behaviors valued by the organization, and suppressing the expression of less
acceptable behaviors. Service employees are particularly vulnerable to a demand for emotional
labor, because their jobs generally require maintaining a friendly and positive demeanor despite
job characteristics that may engender negative emotional reactions (e.g., irate customers,
complex problem solving, or hectic work pace). Any work setting which engenders negative
emotional reactions from employees, while requiring the suppression of certain behaviors
associated with these emotions (e.g., yelling, abruptly hanging up the phone, or scowling), is

fertile ground for emotional labor. The stereotypical customer service call center is such a work
place."

SUGGESTIONS
HANDLING THE ABUSE
Agents handle an average of 110 calls a day, and 80 percent of the calls that come in have some
level of emotion. Usually a caller is calling in because they're frustrated, angry, upset, concerned
something has happened and they're not happy.
Therefore, it is crucial that agents and especially the call center manager note these occurrences
and become better prepared and informed on handling them for the sake of their workers and
their callers. In these situations the task should become how to handle this type of emotional call
rather than instantly labeling it "abusive" and not acceptable.
JOB ROTATION
We instituted job sharing/intern program in our call center. CSRs who meet or exceed job
expectations are eligible to do a rotation for three months in other groups. CSRs work half a day
on the phones, the other half in the Correspondence Dept, or in the Research Dept, Work Force
Management, or Quality Assurance. This breaks up their day, teaches them new skills, &
provides us with a pool of trained staff whenever we need it. have a job rotation program that
alternate telephone staff to do administrative tasks to break up the day to day grind.
SPORTS ACTIVITIES
In our call center, what we followed recently is that we organised a sports week where we asked
the agents and their supervisours to organise and also take part in the same. This has brought a
change in their working performance as far as we can see. I personally
feel that you should organise something that will allow the agents change their daily routine and
do something routine.
BUDGET FOR ACTIVITIES
If employee turnover is a major problem, you may want to budget money for employee activities
/ incentives. I have a activity commitee that plans birthday decorating, holiday potlucks, contests,
etc. Involve the staff to join and participate in the commitee.
WEEKLY EMPLOYEE FOCUS GROUP
Any employee can come to a weekly or bi weekly focus group with the call center manager and
human resource manager. Questions from the employees are posted publicly and the date that the

issues were addressed. Over time, I have seen focus groups that started with very serious issues
slowly evolve to sessions that become more like rap sessions - more fun and less serious.
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FROM THE COMPANY
Yes, this is a time consuming endeavor but if done right and done consistently, could be a great
medium to communicate new/revised policies, reward employees/teams, train your employees,
and build strong team spirits.
DAILY DEPARTMENT HUDDLE
Each team/department should be highly encouraged to have this quicky huddle daily with their
employees. This goes a long way in building that strong bond between employees and
supervisors and yes, you can also use this time to communicate.

MONTHLY LETTER FROM THE BOSS

It could be from the VP of Ops, or it could be from the CCM. The point is, the company will
have an opportunity every month to speak to the workforce.
STEPS TAKEN BY COMPANIES TO HANDLE STRESS FACTORS
Good Call Center Training Alleviates Stress
1. Acknowledge the Emotion
Listen to the caller and acknowledge that something has happened to make them emotional.
Acknowledge it and move on to the next step before it escalates to an abusive call.
2. Take Control of the Call
Strong words choices will immediately diffuse the emotional aspect of the call. By using strong
"I can" statements and proper word choices such as "Absolutely, I would be glad to help you
with ", "I can look that information up for you instead of emphasizing the "you" in statements
like, "can you tell me what happened?"--where the customer immediately feels like they're
speaking with the wrong personafter all they wouldnt be calling if they knew what was
wrong.
3. Transition into the Problem Solving Path
Finally, to get the caller out of their emotional state, transition them into a problem solving path.
Once they have had a chance to get through the emotional part, move on so their issues can be
resolved.

BPOs HELP STAFF COPE WITH STRESS

MUMBAI: Blame the nature of the job, deadline pressure or customer expectations. BPO jobs
undoubtedly involve high stress. Prashant Chawla, COO, Integreon, a Mumbai- based KPO, says
that there are three types of stress an employee may experience tight deadlines, repetitive
nature of the job and late night shifts.
Aashu Calappa, VP-HR, ICICI OneSource, says, Everything gets measured and this puts
employees under pressure. Companies are now making efforts to help their employees cope
with stress because it is an occupational hazard. For example, night shifts are rotated on a regular
basis. However, deadlines cant be controlled.
Most of the BPOs arrange feel good activities like an outdoor picnic or an official dinner once
in three months. This helps employees talk to their senior management in an informal
environment. Employees are also given recognition by being designated as employee of the
week and employee of the month. Vineet Mittal, president and MD, Stream, says that they
conduct in-house workshops at frequent intervals in which employees play games and indulge in
activities like dumb charades and scrabble.
Mr Calappa says they organise various events like family gatherings and Valentines Day
celebrations to lighten the atmosphere in the office. According to him, an employee could be
stressed because of a tough supervisor or if he is not able to perform well in his job. So, there is a
lot of emphasis on the training of team leaders (TL) and supervisors to avoid a strained
relationship between the employee and the TL.
BPOs like Stream have appointed fun officers whose job is to arrange a party or a movie for the
entire office once in a month. Similarly, ICICI OneSource has an executive who is required to
spend at least two hours daily at the shop floor talking to employees about their day-to-day life.
3Global, a Hutchison-Whampoa BPO, has also appointed an executive to arrange sports events
on a monthly basis.
Shirish Kerkar, general manager, HR, 3Global, says, We organise sports events like cricket
tournaments to ensure that our employees are engaged in physical activities. The company
recently concluded a cricket tournament where 300 employees participated (10 people per team).
Shilpa Shetty, a BPO employee, who heads a 200-member team says, Our deadlines are in
hours and not days or weeks. So the stress is obviously high. Im heading a large team. So,
managing it is a big challenge, which at times, may stress me out. She has adopted an
interactive way of dealing with workplace stress. She makes sure that she talks to her team
members on a daily basis, which may not necessarily be about work. I do a lot of catching up
with my team members, which helps me to understand them better, she adds.
Another BPO employee, Prashant Warrier, who interacts with the companys clients across the
globe says, People at my level are the first ones from the company to interact with the clients,
so its puts pressure on us to present our company well because clients are demanding. Sanjay
Salooja, a Delhi-based counsellor visits BPOs to counsel the employees.

He says generally, front-line employees and team leaders talk to him about both professional and
personal problems like long working hours and family demands. Besides teaching them
breathing exercises and yoga, the employees are taught to look at things from a different
perspective. They are encouraged to take ownership and be accountable for their job in the
organisation.
Traditionally, call centres meant only voice-based customer support. But now most call centres
are more of a contact centre, offering E-CRM services, that include voice based customer
support as well as e-mail response, web-based text-chat services and other customer interaction
channels. The call centre services can be 'inbound' where in calls are received from customers
enquiring about a service or product that an organisation provides. The call centre services can
be 'outbound' where in calls are made to customers to sell products or collect information/money
etc. Call centre services can also 'specialised' say in business processing where in calls are made
from one company to another company.
Some call centres stick to only domestic businesses dealing with customers within the country
called domestic call centres while others such as an International call centre mainly deal with
clients from abroad say from US, Europe etc. There is a great scope for
Call centres in India, with a large population of educated English speaking people. The wide
range of opportunities, comparatively well paid jobs for the minimum qualification it requires
and the facilities the companies provide like to and fro transport, subsidized meals and medical
facilities makes Call centres a good option.
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