- 25/11/2012
- Posted by: essay
- Category: Free essays
Taking into consideration different job satisfaction theories, specialists (Mook, 1987) argue that the job satisfaction comprises diverse components. Different components of the job satisfaction influence the position of employees in organisations, such as call centres. In fact, employees working in call centres based in India can hardly avoid the impact of basic components that influence the job satisfaction. In this regard, specialists distinguish such factors as needs of employees, their cultural background and human resource management in call centres or any other organisation.
As it has been already mentioned above, needs play a crucial part in the job satisfaction of employees. According to Maslow’s theory, organisations should meet needs of their employees or create conditions in which employees can meet their needs on their own. At the same time, they need to be motivated to work effectively and productively and to be satisfied with their job. The role of employees’ needs increases respectively to their professional development because the more developed an employee is the higher are his or her needs and, therefore, the more difficult they are to be satisfied. As a result, call centres based in India should monitor the needs of their employees and do their best to meet these needs. Otherwise, the risk of the staff turnover arises because employees are dissatisfied with their job and they cannot realize their full potential (Hultin, 2003). The professional development of employees leads to the emergence of new needs that call centres have to meet to maintain the high level of job satisfaction in employees. At the same time, call centres have to motivate employees using diverse motivators. Otherwise, employees deprived of motivation can grow dissatisfied with their job. The growing job dissatisfaction will lead to the deterioration of employees’ and organisational performance and, thus, to the staff turnover (Adkins, 2001). Therefore, call centres based in India should pay attention to motivation and needs of employees to maintain the high level of job satisfaction.
Furthermore, the cultural background affects consistently the job satisfaction of employees (Patton, 1990). In this regard, employees of call centres based in India are not in an exceptional position and they are also inclined to a significant impact of their cultural background on the job satisfaction. In this respect, specialists (Thibodeau, 2006)
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point out that the work in call centres in India is very attractive for employees and many employees, regardless of their age, gender and even a social status, are eager to get employment in a call centre based in India because this job provides Indian employees with a relatively high level of income compared to other industries in India.
On the other hand, the call centre work is in many ways the epitome of what is commonly seen as “women’s work.” Providing good service on the telephone requires skills associated with hegemonic femininity, such as being nice, making customers feel comfortable, and dealing with irate customers (Mirchandani, 2005). In fact, this means that Indian employees view the work in call centres as a female job mainly. In this regard, specialists (Sassen, 2000a) argue that gender relations in India are very complicated and grounded on patriarchal principles. Therefore, women are traditionally in an inferior position compared to men but the work in call centres attracts both men and women. Consequently, while agreeing to work in a call centre, Indian men agree to perform the job which is considered to be a female job that contributes to the change of their views and their gender roles (Tomlinson, 1999). Naturally, in a highly conservative cultural environment such a change or shift of gender roles may lead to the poor job satisfaction and the growing anxiety in male employees of call centres. In addition, some call centres based in India prefer to employ females that lead to the discrimination based on gender policies of these call centres. As a result, men turn out to be in a disadvantageous position, especially taking into consideration the relatively high salary employees of call centres based in India receive according to local standards and average level of income.
At the same time, call centre workers in India are encouraged to perform traditional acts of femininity through the training they receive. Aside from process-based training (on the service and information they need to provide) and accent training, call centre operators are given training on how to provide good customer service (Mirchandani, 2005). Obviously, this trend enhances the shift of gender roles in India and in call centres based in India. In actuatliy, specialists (Thibodeau, 2006) argue that this trend to the shift of gender role can deteriorate the problem of the poor job satisfaction, whereas many male employees cannot always afford working and performing jobs where they have to perform traditional acts of femininity that leads not only to the job dissatisfaction but also to the staff turnover. At this point, it is possible to refer the study conducted by Mirchandani (2005), who revealed the fact that the number of male employees, who changed the job or were fired from call centres based in India, exceeds consistently the number of female employees, who lost their jobs in call centres based in India.
The complex cultural background and emerging contradictions and conflicts between gender role of employees working in call centres based in India lead to the long-lasting effects which affect not only the workplace environment of individuals but also their social life at large. In this regard, specialists (Mirchandani, 2005) argue that the performance of acts of feminine work in call centres based in India is often contextualized within the rhetoric of national responsibility, whereby India’s attractiveness as a location for subcontracting is said to depend on workers’ ability to satisfy the demands of foreign clients, particularly in the context of the fact that most foreign clients do not reveal their subcontracting arrangements to their customers (Mirchandani, 2005).
At the same time, the qualification of employees, their professional knowledge, skills and abilities often become prior to employers in India, i.e. to call centres based in India. In fact, the work in call centres based in India is promoted through organisational rhetoric, training facilities, and job advertisements as providing the opportunity for employees to gain technical skills involving a multinational corporation (MNC) (Mirchandani, 2005). In such a way, employers attempt to position the work in call centres not as a feminine work but, in contrast, as a prospective job that can open larger career opportunities for employees. In all probability, employers attempt to minimize the cultural shock and ease the tension caused by the traditional view on the work in call centres as a feminine work. Instead, employers attempt to change the traditional view on the work in call centre and present it as a unisex job or, in other words, the job that can be performed successfully by male employees and, what is more, employers attempt to position the work in call centres as the work that matches perfectly male employees.
Nevertheless, specialists (Suchan, 2004) insist that the gender and cultural stereotypes and biases still have a considerable impact on the job satisfaction in call centres based in India. In fact, some specialists insist that there are inherent connections between gender, skill, and jobs, but the movement of call centre work across national boundaries disrupts the frequent construction of this work as primarily women’s work (Mirchandani, 2005). In such a way, the major concern of employers, i.e. call centres based in India, should be the elimination of traditional biases and gender-related stereotypes concerning the work in call centres.
Finally, specialists (Sassen, 2000a) argue that the effective human resource management may have a significant impact on the job satisfaction of employees. In this regard, human resource management is one of the crucial components of the job satisfaction because human resource management defines policies conducted by call centres based in India in relation to its employees. Therefore, human resource management should contribute to the formation of positive relationships between managers and employees as well as positive interpersonal relationships between employees. Specialists (Sassen, 2000b) agree that the major goal of the effective human resource management is the formation of the healthy organisational culture, where employees can feel comfortable in their workplace and have positive interpersonal relationships with people working in call centres. At the same time, the effective human resource management should take into consideration cultural needs of employees as well as other needs and wants of employees. In addition, human resource management should focus on motivation of employees. In such a way, through the combination of meeting needs and wants of employees, on the one hand, and their motivation, on the other, call centres based in India can increase consistently the job satisfaction and maintain the redundancy of the personnel preventing the high personnel turnover.
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