Occupational stress

Occupational stress describes the physical, mental, and emotional reactions of workers who perceive that their work demands exceed their abilities and/or their resources (e.g.time, access to help/support) to do the work.

How does occupational stress affect you?

Unmanaged occupational stress in contact centres can result in:

• job dissatisfaction, low morale and workplace conflict
• low productivity
• increase in escalated calls
• absenteeism
• workers' compensation claims (both psychological and musculoskeletal)
• increased turnover.

How can occupational stress affect contact centre workers?

Occupational stress has been clearly identified as a significant health and safety issue for workers in contact centres.

Occupational stress risk factors include:

• high mental, emotional and/or physical work demands
• low control over work and the way it is organised
• low levels of support from supervisors and peers
• lack of role clarity or increased role confusion
• poorly managed workplace conflict
• poorly managed organisational change
• a poor workplace justice climate
• low levels of worker recognition and reward.

Ways to minimise occupational stress in contact centres include:

• ensure workers have adequate training to perform their tasks
• ensure supervisors are adequately trained to provide timely and appropriate performance management in a reasonable manner
• ensure work demands are realistic and within workers' abilities, particularly during peak periods
• regularly review workloads to ensure workers have sufficient time and support to meet their work demands
• review workloads during team meetings, through an informal check-in, or by undertaking a worksite assessment
• encourage workers to speak up at an early stage if they feel their task demands are excessive
• encourage workers to seek guidance from management about priorities
• ensure worker's concerns are recorded in a hazard register and actioned
• ensure procedures are in place to allow worker input on decisions about work design, rosters and safety issues
• implement processes which allow workers or their representatives more control over rotation/task variation opportunities
• consult with workers on decisions regarding control over the flow of calls or customer queues
• provide concise and clear scripting which allows workers some flexibility to adapt the information to their personal communication style
• provide flexibility around scheduled and personal breaks
• provide new workers with full induction training programs, including customer handling, conflict management, de-escalation techniques, and stress management
• provide workers ongoing training on effective communication and conflict resolution strategies
• provide software programs that are easy to view and understand and allow for efficient provision of services
• provide positive, supportive supervision
• ensure workers can access breakout areas to take a short break from emotionally demanding interactions with clients
• ensure staff appraisals/performance reviews:
• identify gaps in skills related to their role
• are based on workers' performance against the requirements of their roles.
• provide clear procedures about monitoring systems and how they are to be used
• ensure reward and recognition systems are based on agreed performance outcomes
• promote and encourage workers to engage in internal and external health and wellbeing programs and initiatives
• provide workers with access to support services including employee assistance programs or other counselling services.