Stress and Stress Management in Call Centre's in India

Stress and Stress Management in Call Centers in IndiaPresented by:NameRoll No.Akshay Gandhi16Moksha Kotian28Introduction to StressToday vast majorities of people are in a state of Stress.

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.

STRESS! What is it???

Types of StressEUSTRESS

DISTRESS

HYPERSTRESS

HYPOSTRESS

EFFECTS OF STRESS ON AN INDIVIDUAL

Physical Effects

Increased heart rate and blood pressureSudden 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 AffectsDifficulty in concentrating Unable to spend leisure time productively Always anxious Bad decision making Mood swings Increased usage of food, cigarettes, alcohol and drugsDeveloping fears and phobias Feeling out of control and confused

About Call Centres

Business process outsourcing organizations, commonly known as call centres work when rest of the India sleepsEmployees working with Call Centres are involved in making and taking calls, handling the customers over phone, dealing with altered moods of customers, and working with computers and other electronic equipments constantly.

Factors that create a stressful CALL CENTERS

Lack Of Communication High Volumes Emotional Labour Time PressureHigh Expectations

KEY STRESSORSContinuous CallingQuality/Quantity ConflictIntensityTargets

Stress Management StrategiesIndividual Approaches Time Management Physical Exercise Relaxation Training Social Support

ContdOrganizational Approaches Selection and Placement Goal Setting Job Redesign Participative Decision MakingOrganizational Communication Wellness Program

Stress management techniques followed by call centers in indiaHandling The Abuse Job Rotation Recognition Of Employees Sports Activities Monthly Activities Weekly Employee Focus Group Daily Department Huddle Show Appreciation For AgentsLow-noise EnvironmentClassesResources

SURVEY ON CALL CENTRE STRESS

Dataquest (India) conducted a BPO employee survey. Respondents for the survey were the employees from different Call Centres all over India like ICICI Onesource, Daksh, HCL BPO, 24/7, Efunds, EXL Services, Sykes, Motif, HTMT, NIIT Smartserve, TransworksCauses of stress were as follows:

Stress: BPO Industry Stress FactorsPercentage employees who named these as the most important reasons for workplace stress. Multi-coded responses so total will be greater than 100%

Call Centre ailmentsThe following are the ailments that the respondents feel that call centre employees suffer from

Percentage employees who named these as the most important reasons for work-related ailments they suffered from. Multi-coded responses so total will be greater than 100%EXAMPLES OF STRESS MANAGEMENT IN CALL CENTRES

Feel good activities like an outdoor picnic or an official dinner once in three months.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. BPOs like Stream have appointed fun officers whose job is to arrange a party or a movie for the entire office once in a monthSimilarly, 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.

Contd..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. Sanjay Salooja, a Delhi-based counsellor visits BPOs to counsel the employees. Besides teaching those breathing exercises and yoga, the employees are taught to look at things from a different perspective

CONCLUSION

The stress related problems are acute and existent. Only thing that the call centre companies have to see it is how actively the problem can be solved by effective dealing.