Playing Spoilsport Key Factors that create high levels of stress

Figures except base are percentage of employees who named these factors as the most reason for stress at the workplace

Stress: Insufficient Holidays
In 2003, this was not among the top 10 concerns, but last year it became one of the top five reasons for stress. However, the lack of sufficient holidays has emerged as the most critical contributor to high stress levels at Indian BPOs in the DQ-IDC E-Sat survey, 2005. Over 31% of the respondents felt that insufficient holidays was the chief reason for stress at work.

While BPOs work 24x7, executives work 12-14 hour shifts on an average: mostly at US or UK shifts. Going by the Indian Standard Time, people work nights. Staying up nights for days, weeks and months together adds not just to physical stress levels but to the psychological stress levels as well.

In addition, BPO executives are required to work on all other public holidays and during festivals, which only adds to the burnout levels. While satisfaction studies conducted globally may not put the lack of adequate leaves as one of the key parameters, what could be relevant at this point is to delve deeper into the Indian psyche. The level of bonding and attachment in Indian families is much higher than most other countries, especially in the West. Distance from families, especially during festivals, could badly rattle the Indian mind. A large number of companies offer additional incentives for work on holidays. While the bait looks attractive initially, the charm gradually wanes and the process of psychological burnout restarts.

Stress: Long Working Hours
Call center executives work 12 hours, on an average, every day. While the average executive in any industry works around 10 hours a day, what creates the vital difference is the timing. Twelve hours every night with hardly any break or a mere five-minute one, if any, can be extremely stressful. Nearly 22% of the respondents revealed that long work hours played an important part in creating high stress levels at the job. Motif is worst affected on this factor with 60% of the respondents citing it as the main cause of stress. iSeva has done well on this factor with only 8% of the respondents naming it as an important reason for stress, which is the lowest in the survey.

Stress: Repetitive Nature of Work
Monotony at work is always a demotivator, no matter which industry one belongs to. So there is no reason why it should be any different in case of the BPO industry. The industry is characterized by the repetitive nature of work with little possibility of change in the work profile even later. Over 28% of the respondents revealed that the repetitive nature of work is an important cause of stress.

Most BPOs in reality are call centers. The daily experience, therefore, tends to be repetitive, intensive and stressful, and this frequently results in employee burnout. This is hardly surprising as call centers are established by organizations to create an environment in which work can be standardized to create relatively uniform and repetitive activities so as to achieve economies of scale and consistent quality of customer service. Add to this the lack of authority or autonomy at work. The DQ-IDC Best Employers Survey that DQ conducts for the IT industry revealed that empowerment is a key component of satisfaction. Empowerment at work in the BPO industry is something that is not in the hands of the management. Operations are regimented and employees are required to work according to standards set by customers, with very little room for experimentation.

A significant proportion of employees from all participating companies complained of monotony at work. Interestingly, respondents from the larger and better-known companies (read HCL-Tech BPO, Progeon, eFunds) expressed higher levels of dissatisfaction with the repetitive nature of work. While this brings out the problems of scale as well as the mismatch between the levels of expectation from bigger names and what can actually be met on a realistic level; repetitiveness at work is also a concern for smaller companies like Motif.

Stress: Workload
The primary source of stress reported lies in the inherent nature of the job. Call center executives spend hours on the phone; deal with people on a continuous basis, day after day, and work under constant pressure to deliver quality service along with volumes on calls. They do not have the liberty to get off the phone and often have no time to recover from an awkward call or customer rejection.

Studies conducted on BPO employees worldwide reveal that employees often complain of burnout caused by the pressure of working exclusively "on the phones". Over 26% of the respondents in the DQ-IDC E-Sat Survey 2005 have complained of workload. In case of Genpact, the figure stands at 39%, the highest on this parameter, with respondents revealing workload as the most important cause of stress. Although one cannot do much as far as the operational aspects of the problem is concerned. However, some attention in this area could help the management figure out better as to why workload has emerged as the most important cause for stress.

Stress: Travel Time
Priorities have completely transformed for the average Indian BPO executive for 37% of the respondence now consider travel time as one of the key drivers of stress.

Most BPOs are located in the city outskirts.For example, at least 90% of the BPOs are located in Gurgaon, while the remaining 10% is shared between Noida and Delhi. If someone is required to travel from Noida to Gurgaon, the distance could be at least 50 km just one way. Qualis' that travel down the NH8 connecting Delhi and Jaipur via Gurgaon are often seen packed with BPO executives catching up on their much deficient sleep requirements.

The example may be confined to the Delhi region, but the situation would be similar to most other metropolis. The deficiency in sleep coupled with long travel hours undeniably adds to the high stress levels. The only participant that scores well on this factor is Motif, where only 13% of the respondents felt stress from travel and the factor did not even feature among the top 10 reasons for stress. Obviously, the Ahmedabad factor worked to Motif's advantage.

Stress: Health Issues
Health is one issue that has come to the forefront only recently. Industry analysts and the media have paid more attention to the flipside of the industry without really looking at the most relevant and practical concern-health.

Factors like long night shifts, stress, pressure to perform on metrics, high call volumes and irate customers invariably take a toll on the health of the BPO executive. Common ailments that emerge are insomnia, depression, visual and hearing problems, and digestive problems. An increasing number of BPO executives are seeking counseling from psychiatrists and psychologists today.

Although, 20% of the respondents have said that health is a critical cause of stress. Interestingly, smaller companies like Ajuba or iSeva, that are trying to scale at this point, are suffering more from the problem than the larger ones. This could be reflective of the fact that health hazards are faced more by freshers who are not only new to the operations of the industry but are also required to change their biological clocks to fit in to the ungodly work timings.

Stress: Pressure to Perform on Metrics
Call center executives are usually faced with contradictions. Organizational rhetoric in inbound calls centers in concerned with customer satisfaction (quality service). Yet these goals are juxtaposed with an ongoing pressure to keep call times down and call volumes up. This is guided by the logic of delivering quality on service while routinizing, centralizing, reducing costs and prescribing standards. Efforts to attain the desired balance between the quantity and quality of calls remains a perennial challenge.

Inbound call centers typically have targets for call durations; wrap time and daily call volume. Outbound call centers often also have sales or completion targets, which are closely monitored and pay could be partially linked to sales targets. BPO analysts argue that targets are a significant source of stress for the workers. Over 19% of the respondents felt that targets and pressure to perform on metrics is a challenge, up by nearly 8 percent from last year.

Stress: Overtime
Although this is not one of the larger concerns, call center executive feel stressed by the factor; with 16% of the respondents admitting the same. Most companies adequately compensate for working overtime, especially if one works on weekends.

Anything above regular earnings acts like bait, and a significant part of the working population tends to fall into this trap. A call center job, where one hardly gets breaks in between and works nights for days together, is stressful. Freshers often fall into this overtime bait to earn more money. However, the motivation tends to wear off after some time and stress
takes over.

Stress: Call Volumes/Number
Only 14% of the respondents think that high call volumes is a cause for stress. Call center executives are under great pressure to keep the call volumes high as well as keep call times low.

The challenge is to ensure both while delivering high quality on customer service. What is particularly stressful is that people on calls are hardly allowed breaks. A break, as short as five-minutes, could be a stress buster at this stage. The pressure to deliver targets, which can change at any point of time, along with quality; and without any breaks has a cumulative effect on the mind and body and keeps increasing the stress levels.

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