Why are Call Center jobs so Stressful? Key Factors
It’s no secret that many call center agents are stressed. But Why are call center jobs so stressful?
According to an industry study, as many as 74% of contact center agents are at risk of burnout. The widespread nature of this problem has even led some commentators to wonder whether chronic workplace stress is the “new normal.”
Our take? While stress isn’t hard to find in call centers and elsewhere, it doesn’t have to be that way. Here, we dig into the sources of call center agent stress and break down a range of techniques agents can use to manage stress and overcome anxiety in the call center.
Read on to learn techniques for handling call center stress. Be sure to share these insights and strategies with your team.
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Why are call center jobs so stressful?
Call center stress is the result of factors in the work environment that pressure agents.
The intensity of stress in the call center industry can vary depending on whether the agent handles outgoing or incoming calls.
How?
Usually, outbound sales calls can create a more stressful, target-driven environment because agents focus on converting potentially disinterested people. But inbound calls can be equally stressful as the agent must try their best to retain a dissatisfied customer by solving their issues.
Similarly, agents working in demanding industries like healthcare or tech must comply with rigorous training standards and the high cost of non-compliance.
This can negatively impact agents’ mental health, causing anxiety, anger issues, and insomnia.
High-stress levels can also reduce agent productivity, cause absenteeism, and decrease employee retention rate.
But most importantly, it can lead to agent burnout.
What’s call center burnout?
Burnout is the feeling of exhaustion or lack of energy, negativity related to the workplace, and reduced efficiency. Call center employees may suffer from burnout when they experience continuous stress over long periods.
Moreover, according to the World Economic Forum, burnout can also lead to a monetary loss of $322 billion annually.
That’s why it’s necessary to identify what can cause call center burnout and take appropriate measures to control it.
6 Common Call Center Stressors
There are several sources of why are call center jobs so stressful. Let’s look at a few of the most common stressors:
1. Unclear job expectation
Your agents might find it difficult to work if they aren’t aware of their job responsibilities and duties.
They may feel confused about attempting certain tasks, which can be demotivating and cause them to doubt their abilities. This can lead to stress.
2. Intrusive monitoring
Call monitoring lets you gather critical performance and quality data.
However, if done improperly, it can cause stress.
Your agents might find it too demanding, and the fear of doing something wrong can be overwhelming. In addition, it can lead to anxiety, depression, and reduced job satisfaction — which, in turn, can increase the turnover rate.
3. Improper management
An abundance of rules and regulations can confuse rather than prevent it.
Moreover, it can create an environment that values obedience over originality.
Call center agents may find their job highly inflexible if you ask them to:
- Follow the call center script strictly.
- Take fewer breaks.
- Meet ambitious sales targets.
- Undergo rigorous training.
This could mean that they have very little freedom at work, which can eventually cause chronic stress or even employee burnout.
4. Not realizing the importance of their work
Most call center agents fail to recognize the importance of their work in an organization’s success.
They don’t realize their role and the value of their job, which can lead to low self-esteem. If the agent feels like a mere cog in the system, they’ll be demotivated to put their best foot forward. All of this can lead to call center stress.
5. Too much workload
Providing customer support or cold calling is a stressful job that can keep an agent mentally occupied, even during breaks.
Handling high call volumes and difficult customers while meeting goals can be tiring and stressful.
The lack of proper resources like a good computer system, ergonomic office chairs, etc., can cause physical discomfort and mental stress.
Such environmental factors can discourage your employees from working, leading to reduced performance rates.
Common challenges in the work environment can be:
- Concentrating on computer screens.
- Continuously sitting for long hours.
- Working through night shifts.
- Wearing headsets.
This can lead to exhaustion, back pain, headaches, or even short-sightedness in the long run. The high physical cost of working in the high-pressure setup of a call center discourages people from continuing long-term.
Effective ways how do you handle stress in call center?
As a call center manager, you can follow some measures to help reduce stress in agents.
They are:
1. Allow agent autonomy
Understandably, agents need to follow the script while assisting a customer.
However, enforcing these guidelines strictly can limit their critical thinking. As a result, agents might feel stressed while dealing with off-script situations.
To avoid this, you can use scripts as a reference and interact with the customer naturally.
You can also allow agents to choose their work timings or location.
For example, agents can work remotely for a fixed number of days in a month. You can also keep shift schedules flexible to accommodate agent stress or emergencies.
2. Provide better training
Training is a vital part of human resource management as it familiarizes new agents with the software and techniques used at the call center.
However, it shouldn’t be restricted to the onboarding process.
Your agents will face new challenges frequently. That’s why they must be trained regularly to improve their skill.
The call center training process should:
- Provide tips to handle customer calls smartly.
- Help improve technical know-how.
- Explain customer persona, brand identity, and other client guidelines.
Training can help your agents deal with stressful situations like assisting a difficult customer or requesting supervisor escalation. This lets them maintain their calm when faced with similar problems.
Through training, you can also help them gain more self-respect, increase job satisfaction, and reduce the effect of stress. You can guide agents in solving customer problems with their interpersonal, communication, and relational skills.
3. Invest in better technology and resources
Call center software and technology can simplify call center processes, increase agent productivity, and improve customer experience.
But more importantly, it can make call center tasks easy, reducing agent workload and stress.
It can also enable automation of operations like attending inbound calls, collecting customer information, recording calls, etc., which makes working in call centers less stressful.
Some of the software you can use are:
- Automatic call dialer (ACD)
An ACD can automatically make phone calls to customers and connect them to a suitable agent as soon as they pick up. It helps save the time spent on dialing and connecting a call — reducing agent workload.
Some popular ACD tools include Ameyo, Exotel, and Bitrix24.
- Computer telephony integration (CTI)
A CTI acts as an interface for business communications by letting computers and telephones interact with each other. This way, your agents can easily access the information of a customer who is calling, helping them provide better customer service.
You can use CTIs like Tenfold, Jive, and RingCentral.
4. Reward achievements
Your call center agents work hard to achieve target metrics and provide quality customer service. That’s why acknowledging their efforts might make them feel valued.
Both verbal and non-verbal appreciation help increase employee satisfaction, job security, and agent loyalty — lowering attrition rates.
One way to do this is to appreciate them personally during performance reviews or office gatherings. This helps increase their job satisfaction and reduce performance-related anxiety.
You can also offer them bonuses, paid leaves, and non-monetary incentives like gift coupons and medical insurance.
5. Offer emotional support
High call volumes and ambitious targets can leave even an experienced agent stressed.
However, according to a study, agents who feel supported by their managers are 70% less likely to experience stress or burnout.
That’s why managers should be approachable to agents. This way, you can learn about the issues that cause stress and take measures to overcome them.
You can be supportive by:
- Engaging in non-work-related conversations.
- Giving constructive feedback and suggestions.
- Volunteering to share their workload or solve their issues.
- Verbally acknowledging their work efforts.
Such support can provide a sense of comfort and job security, allowing agents to focus on positive thoughts and diminish stressors.
6. Make work exciting
After some time, your agents may find their work repetitive and feel emotionally exhausted.
In such cases, they may be forcing themselves to work, causing stress. To prevent this, assign agents challenging projects that encourage them to pitch in fresh ideas.
You can also conduct team-building activities like virtual tours whenever possible to keep them interested in work.
7. Provide better work conditions
Call center jobs can be physically taxing due to untimely schedules and the nature of work. This can cause stress, reduce job satisfaction, and lower retention rates.
To help your agents work without stress, you should:
- Install proper seating.
- Provide good quality headsets.
- Create a comfortable work environment.
You can also improve their working experience by considering agent stress and burnout while setting deadlines and scheduling shifts.
8. Include enough breaks
Taking frequent short breaks can refresh your agent’s mind and help them concentrate on the task at hand.
They can use these breaks to have:
- Refreshments.
- Engage with their colleagues.
- Take a power nap.
However, you should caution your agents against using social media during breaks as it can cause high levels of stress — nullifying the purpose of breaks.
It’s important to note that frequent breaks need not impede an agent’s productivity. To ensure this, you can draft a well-thought-out break policy that finds a balance between resting agents and meeting targets.
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Wrapping up
As we wrap up, why are call center jobs so stressful? Employees from all fields experience stress at some point in their careers.
However, call center agents may experience a little more as they may have to deal with irate customers while maintaining a high service level.
With the help of some critical workplace changes and individual stress management techniques, your agents can manage stress with ease. Go through the tips we covered here to eliminate call center stressors to ensure your agents’ well-being.
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