The greatest challenge to the working environment of the call centre industry Christina Jonsson Ergonomist HCI Central Supervision Departement Phone: President of the Ergonomics Society of Sweden, ESS

Organising the call centre work with regard to variation and recuperation The greatest challenge?

Background: Work Environment at Call Centres A 2-year project by the Swedish Work Environment Authority In focus: Organisation of the work with regard to closely controlled, restricted or monotonously repetitive phone and computer work.

Mental and physical variation High mental demands on the employees – quickly resulting in tiredness and performance deficiencies Physically inactive work. But, depending on the work content, it can also be mentally monotonous. Variation is a key factor for the operator’s ability to perform Lack of variation

Recuperation Call centre work is often perceived by the employees as closely controlled, restricted and monotonously repetitive phone and computer work. Work tasks without phone and computer incl. opportunities for physical variation Recuperation – short and frequent breaks are necessary. Breaks every 30 or 60 minutes may be needed to be vigilant and efficient. But breaks can very well mean doing other work tasks which give physical and mental variation. Variation is important for recovery at work

A sound working environment at call and contact centres

Guidelines for healthy work at call centres Aim: Provide call centre managers and staff advice on how to improve health and productivity at call centres The guidelines are available in a short and a full-text version on the website of the Swedish Work Environment Authority, Developed by a joint committee of researchers, experts from the authority, the union, the employers organization and representatives from the Swedish call centre organizations

Opportunities for professional development, e.g. different sorts of project Different tasks such as administration, planning, training and practical service work Decreasing the time the operators are logged on per day – may increase the time actual taking calls Increase variation, reduce pressure, enhance the work content e.g. by: Involving the employees in planning/scheduling Increasing job control and decision latitude Frequent meetings between management and employees Discuss quality aspects – skip the statistics, it speaks for itself

Take a stretch between calls Alternate between sitting and standing while working – stand for at least 10 min per hour Arrange exercise breaks and lunchtime walks TIPS for enhancing variation and recovery at work Allow employees responsibilities for organising staff activities, ordering and performing practical service tasks, maintenance of equipment and facilities Provide training and coaching sessions Divide the time between calls and other tasks, e.g. dealing with /post

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