Call Center Agents retention in the United States

Assessment I: Research Proposal

Proposed Title

Aspects influencing call center agents’ retention in the United States

Purpose statement

A call center refers to the designated area where calls from customers and other telephone calls are directed. In most instances, computer automation is used within call centers. The primary purpose of call centers is to enhance a centralized contact point for after-sales services, support and company telephone selling, or information helpline services. With increased client-centered services demand, call centers have undergone significant growth. Generally, the call center industry has tremendously improved globally, with an estimated growth of over 50% since 2000. Call centers are vital across all industries. However, telecommunication, banking, insurance services, and other financial service industries are considered the most prominent consumers of call center services.

According to experts’ analysis, the sector creates most jobs every year. Thus, confirming the fact that call centers currently form an integral part of every organization. On the other hand, according to a global study by Lee (2008), on average, call centers, on an annual basis, lose up to 61% of their employees. For instance, in the United Kingdom, the turnover rate is below 49%, while in South Africa, the turnover rate is above 50%. According to De Vos and Meganck’s (2009) findings, employers’ response to workers’ retention is reactive as they attempt to decrease workers’ desire to quit. However, such an approach is less fruitful because once staff has decided to leave, retention efforts seem to be a thoughtful idea that is too late to salvage the situation (Milner, Russell & Simers, 2010). Equally, according to (Pfau & Kay, 2002), there is a need for an alternative staff retention mechanism due to a shift in the competitive landscape if a company wants to prosper and succeed for an extended period.

Also, the shifting landscape has been triggered by the generation dynamicity of the current workforce. For instance, the current workforce has four generations with distinct values, attitudes, and characters towards socialization, operation approaches, skills, authority, and work. According to the literature, the diversity of generations at places of work is responsible for the management challenges and implications at the workplace. Thus, the need to find a proactive mechanism for workers retention. In response, Mendes and Stander (2011) suggest that businesses adopt a positive and healthy environment where the staff’s retention would be influenced by the organizational leadership’s ability to empower its employees.

Additionally, to enhance employees’ retention, employers need more attractive, flexible, and creative practices by employers to the workers. Theoretical perspective provides a framework for crafting a winning employee value proposition as a strategic approach to investing in the retention and development of workers. An employee value proposition encompasses all the experiences of an employee within an organization, including culture, values, ethics, extrinsic and intrinsic satisfaction. It also includes satisfying the company meets the workers, aspirations, needs, and expectations. Moreover, according to prior research, extrinsic and intrinsic factors were established to be critical parameters necessary for employee retention. According to Birt et al. (2004), four variables contribute to workers’ retention. They include work and development, work-life balance, company environment, and benefits and compensations. This study will explore those variables to establish factors influencing call center agents’ retention.

Aims of the Study

· To establish variables influencing the retention of call center agents.

· To identify whether age and gender differently impact retention of call center employees.

· To bridge the existing research gap on retention factors.

Research Questions

· What retention variables are considered as most essential by call center workers?

· Is there a disparity in retention variables considered essential by workers of various age groups?

· Is there a disparity in retention variables considered essential by workers of various gender groups?

Research Objectives

· Establishing retention variables is considered most essential by call center workers.

· Evaluate whether a disparity exists within different age groups’ essential retention variables.

· Evaluate whether a disparity exists within retention variables considered essential by different gender groups.

Research Hypothesis

Research hypothesis refers to a statement that assumes that a given correlation exists between two or more variables. The following are the research hypothesis for this study.

Hypothesis 1. There will be a significant difference in staffs retention variables depending on their gender.

Hypothesis 2. There will be a significant difference in staffs retention variables depending on their age.

Research Design

Creswell (2014) defines research design as a framework of techniques chosen by a researcher to handle the research problem efficiently. A research design is supposed to link the research objectives, study questions, empirical studies, conclusions, and study recommendations. A research design should provide a clear outline of how the study population must obtain the research findings (Bernauer, 2015). 

This study will use non-probability by convenience sampling technique to collect data. Welman and Kruger (2001) illustrate that the convenience sampling technique involves gathering data from a population sample accessible with ease, readily available, and near for the study purpose. The availability and accessibility of the targeted respondents, together with the fact that it is both financial and time economical, substantiates the reason for selecting the technique. Sekaran (2000) supports the merit of the non – probability sampling method as it is argued to be less expensive does not consume much time, and is not complicated.

Sample

Welman and Kruger (2001) define a sample as a minute proportion of the whole set of persons, events, or objects that form part of the study subject. On the other hand, Green (2005) defines a sample as part of the population highlighted for exact involvement in the study. Following Sekaran’s (2000) sample decision generalized guidelines, a sample size (call center agents) of n=43 will be considered for the study to ensure an appropriate level of confidence and precision is attained. This sample size will be selected from a population group that will include 66 contracted and permanently employed call center agents.

Data Collection Method

A quantitative research technique is used for the study. Also, the administration of questionnaires will be considered as good data collection tool to evaluate call center agents’ retention.

Data Collection Tools

An adapted questionnaire will be used to evaluate call center agents’ retention. The questionnaire will comprise fifty close-ended questions. The benefit of using close-ended questions is that it is more convenient and less time-consuming. However, sometimes the respondents may not agree with either of the answers provided. The question will be divided into two sections, with the first section containing biographical questions. The second section will entail work-related variable questions.

Data Analysis

The study’s purpose will guide the data analysis plan for this research study. The most current version of The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) will be used to analyze the data in an interpretative and intelligible form. This will allow the researcher to study the correlation between research problems, tests, and conclusions. The data analysis will include inferential together with descriptive statistics.

Assessment II: Critical Review

Article 1: Generational Differences Impact on Leadership Style and Organizational Success.

Abstract. The author provides an abstract with a precise and concise overview of the research study. Also, the research problem is identified with various methods used in the study stated, including the research findings, discussion, and recommendations.

Introduction and Literature Review. The purpose of the research article is clearly stated. For instance, “to review scholarly works on generational disparities and their influence on organizational success and style of leadership.” According to the aim of evaluating the current leadership styles is well stipulated. On the other hand, the literature review provides various relevant current research studies. However, it fails to provide a balanced view on the effects of generational differences on leadership style. Also, even though the literature partially hinted at the need for the research study, it failed to identify research gaps that still exist.

Methodology. First, any research study should logically adhere to the appropriate steps during the study. In this article, the methodology begins with “participants,” which does not entail any significant information of value to the study. Failure to describe the research design indicates that the study was poorly conducted without following due procedures. Green (2005) defines a sample as part of the population highlighted for exact involvement in the study. Also, Ngechu (2011) describes a target group (population) as a set of people who are being investigated. Therefore, any viable research study must identify the population and state the specific sample the researcher would study while conducting the research. Absurdly, this article does not identify any samples or population for study.

On the other hand, even though the article indicates who the participants in the study were, there is no indication that participants were fully informed of the nature of the research. Carrying out a research study with participants who do not clearly understand the study’s nature is unethical (Salahuddin, 2010). It is unacceptable because every participant should be able to sign a consent form having understood what they intend to take part in. moreover, the article does not indicate whether or not participants got the necessary protection against any harm and if the confidentiality of their identities were guaranteed. Besides, research studies must always seek ethical permission from the appropriate bodies before conducting the research. Unfortunately, this article does not disclose whether such permission was granted.

In addition, although the article states instruments used in the research, it fails to identify appropriate instruments and instead discusses procedures of collecting data through questionnaires. The questions posed for respondents are also irrelevant and do not respond to the research question or topic. The researcher failed to test the accuracy or reliability of the questionnaire forms used as data collection instruments. Using a scale to collect data on participants’ preferences on various leadership styles also appears to be vague because 1 (one) is indicated as the highest, hence, likely to confuse the respondents.

Apart from Grammarly mistakes throughout the methodology section, the articles also omit various significant sections of methods and procedure. For instance, no data analysis plan is provided (Salahuddin, 2010). Furthermore, no specific number of samples stated to have participated in the research study.

Results and Findings. The results are presented, though mostly in statement form. Presenting results in a visual form would be the most appropriate. However, it was a good thing for the inclusion of a table showing the ranking of various leaders by the participants. Nevertheless, the article does not provide any analyzed data with various visualization tools like pie charts, histograms, or graphs.

Article 2: Employee Engagement in Entrepreneurship Management: SMES Cases

The abstract provides a precise and concise overview of the research study. Also, the research problem is identified with various methods, including samples used in the study stated, including the research findings, discussion, and recommendations. For instance, the author states that the respondents’ number is 257, spread across the 92 SMEs in Indonesia (Sugandini et al. 2018).

Moreover, the author identifies the problem in the study in the introductory part of the article. When the author states that engagement of employees is known to have taken the attention of business practitioners, it implies how depth of literature the author has used to help develop a well-researched paper. Also, the pieces of literature used are current and relevant to the research topic. For example, the author states that the engagement criteria of the employees indicate similarity with the old criteria, though the definition overlaps sometimes.

Another important aspect is when the author states that prior research studies concentrated on organizational commitments like research, confirming the author’s balanced view of various works of literature used in the study (Sugandini et al. 2018). According to the author, only one study was found to have studied measurements of workers’ engagement. Most researchers who study employees’ engagement concentrated only on finding consequences and antecedents of workers’ engagement minus giving attention to the theory behind that relationship. With such a critical finding, the author was able to identify various gaps that still exist within the literature. Equally, the author identifies and substantiates the need for the research on Employee Engagement in Entrepreneurship Management: SMES Cases.

Consequently, the author failed to use the appropriate format on the research methods and instead described everything in essay format. Usually, for clarity, the author should title various methodology sections for conciseness and precision. The use of essay format with diverse topics and sub-sections is disgusting to the reader and hard to follow. Also, when the author begins by defining the paradigm of positivism, readers get confused. Alternatively, on a positive note, even though the author failed to follow the appropriate format, the population for the study was identified and samples selected. For example, the author identifies the population as the 92 centers of leather craft with a total employee of 400 people, while the samples are only 267 (Sugandini et al. 2018). Interestingly, the author also indicates 93 as the percentage of respondents who returned the survey from the sampled population.

However, there is no indication that participants were fully informed of the nature of the research. Carrying out a research study with participants who do not clearly understand the study’s nature. It is unacceptable because every participant should be able to sign a consent form having understood what they intend to take part in. moreover, the author does not indicate whether or not participants got the necessary protection against any harm and if the confidentiality of their identities were guaranteed. Besides, research studies must always seek ethical permission from the appropriate bodies before conducting the research. The author failed to disclose whether such permission was granted. Otherwise, the results were well presented.

Article 3: The Study of The Relationship Between Value Creation and Customer Loyalty with The Role of Trust Moderation and Customer Satisfaction in Sari Hospitals.

The abstract provides a precise and concise overview of the research study. Also, the research problem is identified with various methods, including samples used in the study stated, including the research findings, discussion, and recommendations. For example, the author states the sample number to be 196 patients chosen through convenient sampling between May and June 2014. Moreover, the author identified structural equation modeling software Smart PLS as the data analysis mechanism.

On the other hand, the authors’ statement that customers’ concerns are essential to health care practitioners due to global competition confirms the relevancy of various pieces of literature used in developing the article. This is further substantiated by scholarly findings that customers’ attitudes towards healthcare providers and their services significantly impact the future of healthcare organizations. Furthermore, the author identified the research problem as establishing and maintaining clients’ loyalty to promote health and improve market share (Rahmani et al. 2017). The creation of such value to customers would ensure client retention.