Original Research

Exploring antecedents and consequences of burnout in a call centre

Willie A. Visser, Sebastiaan Rothmann
SA Journal of Industrial Psychology | Vol 34, No 2 | a734 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v34i2.734 | © 2008 Willie A. Visser, Sebastiaan Rothmann | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 14 July 2008 | Published: 23 October 2008

About the author(s)

Willie A. Visser, North-West University, South Africa
Sebastiaan Rothmann, North-West University - Potchefstroom Campus, South Africa

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between six characteristics of call centre work environments, burnout, affective commitment and turnover intentions. These characteristics were competing management goals, work overload, electronic performance monitoring, lack of career opportunities, lack of skill variety and emotional labour. A convenient sample of employees (N = 146) was obtained from a call centre. Multiple regression analysis showed that work overload, lack of career opportunities, skill variety and emotional labour were the most important predictors of burnout. Burnout had a direct effect on turnover intentions. Affective commitment partially mediated the relationship between burnout and turnover intention.

Keywords

burnout; antecedents; call centres; affective commitment; turnover intention

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