Page 1 of 8
Archives of Business Research – Vol. 9, No.3
Publication Date: March, 25, 2021
DOI: 10.14738/abr.93.9888.
Naseem, H. I., & Fatima, S. Z. (2021). Determinants of Call Centre Employee’s Turnover in Pakistan - An Exploratory Study. Archives of
Business Research, 9(3). 217-224.
Determinants of Call Centre Employee’s Turnover in Pakistan -
An Exploratory Study
Hafiza Iram Naseem
Syeda Zain Fatima
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to find the determinants of call
centre employee’s turn over in Pakistan. This study would
answer Why employees quit call centres job in Pakistan and
does not last for long. Little is known about the employs
experience and real issue, that why did they quit. Eight
employees were interviewed who have worked in the call
centres. The interviews were qualitative and were analysed by
drawing on the phenomenological method. The employees
revealed that there are limited career opportunities in the call
centres. Most participants stated that time schedule, stressed
working environment and excessive work load were that major
factor which urged them to quit the job too early. Participants
stated the time schedule as a major factor which negatively
impacted on their social and personal lives. In conclusion, this
research provides the basis for human resource management to
work on the real factor which spark the employee turnover in
call centres of Pakistan.
INTRODUCTION
Employee’s turnover is exorbitant to the company, with substitution costs assessed to run
from 32 to 114 percent of an employee’s annual earning (Collin, Collins, McKinnies, &
Matthews, 2015) . Employee’s turnover cost reaches beyond the actual cost of hiring new
employee, which negatively affects efficiency of the business operations and client services.
(Park & Shaw, 2013). Call centres are rising as the major source for client access for
numerous organizations and are quickly turning into a key wellspring of client behaviour
learning and becoming major wellspring of competitive advantage in an inexorably client
driven world (Anton, 2002) . A study of The Economist estimates the yearly development
of call centres of the south Asia at 35% and in Western Europe at 45%. Noteworthy gain
related to call centres are characterized by an expanded chance to convey, sustain, and
retention of consumer loyalty. Call centres can also be seen as a nexus of client data that
can be converted into promotional tactics and extracted client or customer information can
be used as tool to develop the better products and services (Peppers, Rogers, & Dorf, 1999).
The development of call centres has been powered by the advanced communication means
and information technology to focus on the client services and product feedback (Dormann
& Zijlstra, 2003). The achievements of a call centre depend on the blend of technological
Page 2 of 8
Naseem, H. I., & Fatima, S. Z. (2021). Determinants of Call Centre Employee’s Turnover in Pakistan - An Exploratory Study. Archives of Business
Research, 9(3). 217-224.
218
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/abr.93.9888.
advancement, administrative attitude, Committed and loyal employees (Ananthram, Teo,
Connell, & Bish, 2017). The most widely recognized assessment for the call centre
employees is short reaction time (responding telephone calls rapidly) and worker
efficiency to satisfy the customer in a given timeframe (Suff, Reilly, & Mercer, 2005).
Employee’s turnover is a major issue that call centres confront (Taylor & Bain, 1998).
Average employee’s turnover in the call centers lie between 35 to 50% every year
(IBISWorld, 2008). Call centers employee’s turnover increases the cost of business
operations (Choi, Cheong, & Feinberg, 2012). Holman, Bat, & Holtgrewe (2007) states that
33% of the call center employees quit the job less than a year. Call center Personnel are the
salient workers who communicate with clients that are constantly judged and checked by
administration (Mahesh & Kasturi, 2006).
Call centres are prospering in the marketing services to gain the competitive edge (Gilmore,
2001). Call centre employees have the ability to retain the existing customers, attracting
new customers and establishing solid bond between clients and the company (Malhotra &
Mukherjee, 2004). Excellent call centre services can play a vital role in success of the
business. Call centre employee’s primary task is to interact directly with customers, note
down their requirements and answer their questions regarding the product (Blau, Zapf,
Isic, & Bechtoldt, 2010). Employee’s turnover in the call centre industry can be costly to the
products and services of the organisation (Hillmer , Hillmer, & McRoberts, 2004).
Purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the determinants of call centre employee’s
turnover in Pakistan. Why tenure of call centres employee’s is very short (Wallace,
Eagleson, & Waldersee, 2000). This study would answer “Why” employees quit call centres
job in Pakistan and does not last for long. The target population involves for this research
are employees worked in the call centres located in Lahore, Pakistan. The objective of this
exploratory research is to provide the reasons of employee turnover to HR experts to
manage the issue. HR experts in call centres are dependably looking for best courses
through which they can develop the strategy to control the turnover proportion in the call
centres.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Every organisation has different employee turnover rate. Unlike government sector,
private sector has higher turnover of employees (Bajwa, Yousaf, & Rizwan, 2014).
Turnover intension is believed to be as rational procedure of reasoning, planning, and
craving to leave work (Mobley W. , 1977). Modern researchers explain that there are two
paths by which employee quits the job, voluntary and involuntary turnover (Hom, Mitchell,
Lee, & Griffeth, 2012). Voluntary turnover means when employee quit the job intentionally
and willingly in the absence of internal or external pressure (Hom, Mitchell, Lee, & Griffeth,
2012). Involuntary turnover means when there are some external or internal pressure on
the employee to quit the job (Hom, Mitchell, Lee, & Griffeth, 2012). Previous researches
indicate that job satisfaction has a greater impact on the employee’s turn over (Bluedorn,
1982)and the tendency to quit (Griffeth, W. , & Gaertner, 2000 ). It has been approved by
the literature that there is strong negative relationship between employee turnover and job
satisfaction (Lee & Rwigema, 2007).The same conclusion had also been proposed earlier by
Page 3 of 8
219
Archives of Business Research (ABR) Vol 9, Issue 3, March-2021
Lee, Mowday (1987) & Tett, Meyer (1993) that intention to quit was negatively but
significantly related to job satisfaction, also suggested that quitting the job and job
satisfaction has significantly negative relationship. Quitting job and intension to quit has
the same value in the eyes of employer.
There are some other factors has also been identified by the researcher, which urge the
employees to leave the job, that includes Job Security and assurance, organizational
behaviour and individual’s experiences, Employee’s performance, other Job options, and
external factors such as family, location Etc. (Lee & Mowday, 1987).
Along with other factors, employees’ demographics have significant impact on the
employee’s turnover. There are some specific organisations which prefer to hire employee
according to their demographics, industries where physical health is more important as
compare to mental health. Those organisations hire youngster, on the other hand some
organisations prefer to hire middle age and experienced employee rather youngster
(Madera, Dawson, & Neal, 2014).
Quality function deployment model (QFD) to identify the employee turnover risk factors by
Wang, Wang, Xu, Ji, (2014) used to categorize the factors influencing turnover as external,
internal, and employee status. External factors include new job availability, Economics
conditions and company’s location, where Internal factors include growth and increment,
organisational environment, Organisational culture and organisational politics and the last
one is Employee status includes individual’s experience, family friends, academic
background, health issue, and personality traits (Wang, Wang, Xu, & Ji, 2014).
Employee turnover is not only a significant tangible cost but also an intangible or hidden
cost associated with loss of skills, inefficiency and replacement costs (Lashley & Chaplian,
1999). There are some other researches has also been conducted to explore the factors of
employee turnover and found that firms who are investing more in R&D and producing
more commercial product have higher rate of employees turnover. Moreover, employees
who learn skills in the organisation, they switch the job rapidly for higher salaries
(Eriksson, Qin, & Wang, 2014). Studies have shown that loss of productivity caused by
employee turnover accounts for more than two-thirds of the total turnover costs (Tracey &
Hinkin, 2010).As turnover escalates, service quality shrinks as it takes time to replace
departing employees (Lynn, 2002). Some modern resarcher have aloso found that found
that fun activities had a favourable impact on performance and manager support for fun
had a favourable impact in reducing turnover (Ruppel, Clarke, & Yuropa, 2014).
Researches in different fields of work have discovered likenesses and contrasts in
explanations behind the individual leaving their place of business. Some reasons for
employee’s turnover or intentions to quit include are Job satisfaction, salary and
increments, manager employee bond, job description and workplace environment (Mobley,
Griffeth, Hand, & Meglino, 1979). Factors influencing intention to quit or stay are not
opposite but are the same in different scenarios (Wendy, Augsberger, Auerbach, &
McGowan, 2014).
Page 4 of 8
Naseem, H. I., & Fatima, S. Z. (2021). Determinants of Call Centre Employee’s Turnover in Pakistan - An Exploratory Study. Archives of Business
Research, 9(3). 217-224.
220
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/abr.93.9888.
Researchers have worked a lot on the topic of employee’s turnover in different setups and
organisations however there are very few studies available which explore the real factors
of employee’s turnover in Call centres of Pakistan.
METHODOLOGY
The present study wants to shed light on the determinants of the call centre employee’s
turnover in Pakistan. It need to be explored the determinants of employee’s turnover in call
centres of Pakistan. Population of the study is employees worked in the call centres and
have quit the job. 8 Interviews were conducted with different participant to collect the data
(Benbasat, Goldstein, & Mead, 1987). Interview was chosen as the data collection technique
in this study because it allows the interviewer to completely explore the participant
responses. Participants were given opportunity to express their experiences. (Dörnyei,
2007) states that interview is natural and socially acceptable way to collect data.
Participant names and organisations will not be revealed at any point. (Alshenqeeti, 2014).
At 1st contact with participants author introduced himself as university research student.
Authors began the interview by providing brief introduction about the study. Participant
was interviewed by author (Hagens, Dobrow, & Chafe, 2009) and interview approximately
lasted 30 to 35 mints. it was recorded on mobile device with the permission of participants.
Recordings were listen carefully more than one time and Later transcribed for analysis.
DATA ANALYSIS
The analysis was based on a phenomenological method. This method consists of 5
following steps (Giorgi, 1992).
a) Listening and Transcription of interviews
b) Proofreading of Transcription
c) The breaking up of the data in the units of meaning.
d) The reorganization of the data drawing on categories of meaning emerging from the
data.
e) The synthesis of the data through the process of writing-up. The categories of
meaning captured the content of the interviews.
FINDINGS
This part of the study consists on findings of the study. Six major themes emerged from the
analysis of data. The themes that emerged from data are,
a) Career limitation
b) Working place learning
c) Hectic time schedule
d) Excessive workload
e) Less Challenging Job Nature
f) Stressed Working Environment
Career limitations
The analysis of qualitative interviews revealed that career limitation is one of the major
factor of employee’s turnover in call centres. Call Centre job is seen as part time job. Most of
the participants joined the call centre during studies or just after completing the degree. A
participant stated that
Page 5 of 8
221
Archives of Business Research (ABR) Vol 9, Issue 3, March-2021
“I was free from the studies and was applying for the job in different
organisations. One of my friend suggested me, why don’t you apply in the call
centre until you don’t get a proper job. “
another participant stated that
“I joined call centre during my studies to earn some extra money. I have good
communication skills so I decided to join call centre.”
Employees in call centre does not want to peruse their Carrere in this industry. It seems as
a temporary job, so when employees get the job related to their academic backroad they
quit.
Workplace learning
Another factor of employee’s turnover in call centre is that people join the call centre to
enhance their communication skills. After analysis of the interview it was found that most
of the call centres use English as the medium of communication. One participant revealed
that,
“to be very honest...... I .... joined the call centre to improve my English. That
was the only reason I joined and yea...... it paid my bills as well, almost 8
months later I quit and got the job related to my academic background.”
This is one of the major reason why employees quit call centre job is short time. Employees
don’t take call centre job as career opportunity.
Hectic Time Schedule
Participants revealed that they we not satisfied with the timings of the job. They felt that
timing in the call centres was exhausting. One participant stated that
“timing was strange, like it was in shifts, there was no fix time, it was rotating,
it was quite common that your time slot was form 7AM to 3PM and at the
same night they can call you from 12AM to 8AM. I wasn’t satisfied with the
timing. It was quite irritating. It even disturbed my social and personal life”
Another participant stated that
“I...... worked almost 4 months in the call centre and quit just because of the
timing.”
Analysis revealed that timings of call centers is one of the major factor that urge employees
to quit the job.
Excessive Workload
It was found after analysis of the interviews that excessive work load one of the main factor
which shorten the tenure of employee in call centers. A participant stated that
“sometimes work load increases like hell, it was very common that in 8 hours
shift I was 7 hours on the phone without any break. That was very
problematic. Sometimes my throat started to hurt.”
Page 6 of 8
Naseem, H. I., & Fatima, S. Z. (2021). Determinants of Call Centre Employee’s Turnover in Pakistan - An Exploratory Study. Archives of Business
Research, 9(3). 217-224.
222
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/abr.93.9888.
Less Challenging Job Nature
Participants revealed that their nature of the job was very disturbing. They felt that their
duty was very repetitive. Most of the participant stated that call center job is an
unchallenged work and It is waste of their potential & skills. A participant stated that,
“all day long, same work, ......calls, calls and call, there was nothing to gain. I
was fed up with the same tasks each day. I was told by the parent that
while sleeping Ispoke ‘how may I help you’ many times.”
Stressed Working Environment
Analysis revealed that call centers have extremely stressed working environment.
Employees constantly monitored through technology by supervisors. In case of any
negligence, system automatically report to supervisor which cause loss of point of the
employee. That negatively impact on the salaries of employees. A participant stated that
“sometimes I missed to attend the call of the customer, which could lead to cut
my point, and at the end of the month it caused to reduce my salary. call
center system is like, you need to satisfy the customer in one mint, which
lead to reward at the end of the month, if you are would not satisfy the
customer this also negatively impact on reward point. It was very common
that customers ask the question which make no scene but what to do.
Customers mostly demand to talk with higher authorities.in this case too
supervisor cut the points.”
Employees stated that this procedure demotivated them which cause to quit the job.
Stressed working environment found as the major factor of employee turnover in call
centers of Pakistan.
CONCLUSION
The current study addresses the question, what factors influence employee turnover in call
centres of Pakistan? This focal question is important because it addresses a relatively
under researched area of employee turnover of call centres in Pakistan. There are limited
studies dedicated to exploring the real issue in the context of the call centres. This
significant gap in the literature is indicative of a lack in understanding what are the major
reasons of employee turnover in Pakistan.
The research objective was accomplished through conducting the interviews with
employees who worked in call centres. In sum, this study addresses the major factor of
employee’s turnover in call centres of Pakistan. Findings suggest that employee enter in
call centres with the belief that there is limited career development in this sector. Call
centre job is not seen as the appropriate job by the employees where they can pursue their
career. Most of the employees join the call centre just because they can’t find other job as
according to their academic background. The findings indicate that timing schedule is one
of major reason of employee turnover. Hectic timings disturb the social life of employees
which cause the high turnover rate in call centres. Call centre is a stressed working place as
according to analysis of this study. This research has established the fact that there is great
need to work on the factors which has been explored in this study. In conclusion, this
Page 7 of 8
223
Archives of Business Research (ABR) Vol 9, Issue 3, March-2021
research provides the basis for human resource management to work on the real factor
which spark the employee turnover in call centres of Pakistan.
References
Alshenqeeti, H. (2014). Interviewing as a data collection method: A critical review . English Linguistics
Research , 3(1).
Ananthram, S., Teo, S., Connell, J., & Bish, A. (2017). Control and involvement HR practices in indian call
centres: still searching for answers. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 01-20.
Anton, J. (2002). Call center management: By the numbers. Purdue University Press.
Bajwa, E. U., Yousaf, M., & Rizwan, M. (2014). Employee turnover intention in services sector of Pakistan.
International Journal of Human Resource Studies, 4(2), 164-180.
Benbasat, I., Goldstein, D. K., & Mead, M. (1987). The case research strategy in studies of information systems.
Management Information Systems Research Center, University of Minnesota, 11(3), 369-386.
Blau, P., Zapf, D., Isic, A., & Bechtoldt, M. (2010, June 3). What is typical for call centre jobs? Job characteristics,
and service interactions in different call centres. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology,
311-340.
Bluedorn, A. C. (1982, February 1). A unified model of turnover from organizations. Human Relations , 35(2),
135-153.
Choi, S., Cheong, K., & Feinberg, R. A. (2012). Moderating effects of supervisor support, monetary rewards,
and career paths on the relationship between job burnout and turnover intentions in the context of call
centers. Managing Service Quality, 22(5), 492-516.
Collin, S., Collins, S., McKinnies, R. C., & Matthews, E. P. (2015). A ministudy of employee turnover in US
hospitals. The Health Care Manager, 32(3), 23-27.
Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics: Quantitative qualitative, and mixed
methodologies. Oxford University Press.
Dormann, C., & Zijlstra, F. (2003). Call centres: High on technology high on emotions. European Journal of
Work and Organizational Psychology, 12(4), 305-310.
Eriksson, T., Qin, Z., & Wang, W. (2014). Firm level innovation activity, employee turnover and HRM practices
— Evidence from Chinese firms. China Economic Review, 30, 583–597.
Gilmore, A. (2001). Call centre management: Is service quality a priority? Managing Service Quality: An
International Journal, 11(3), 53-159.
Giorgi, A. (1992). Description versus interpretation: Competing alternative strategies for qualitative research .
Journal of Phenomenological Psycholog, 119-135 .
Griffeth, R. W., W. , P. H., & Gaertner, S. (2000 , June 1). A Meta analysis of antecedents and correlates of
employee turnover: Update, moderator tests, and research implications for the next millennium. Journal of
Management, 26(3), 463-488.
Hagens, V., Dobrow, M. J., & Chafe, R. (2009). Interviewee tanscript review: Assessing the impact on
qualitative research. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 9(47).
Hillmer , S., Hillmer, B., & McRoberts, G. (2004). The real costs of turnover: Lessons from a call center. People
and Strategy, 27(3), 34-41.
Holman, D., Bat, R., & Holtgrewe, U. (2007, January 1). The global call center report: International
perspectives on management and employment. Cornell University ILR School-Research Studies and Reports,
01-49.
Page 8 of 8
Naseem, H. I., & Fatima, S. Z. (2021). Determinants of Call Centre Employee’s Turnover in Pakistan - An Exploratory Study. Archives of Business
Research, 9(3). 217-224.
224
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/abr.93.9888.
Hom, P. W., Mitchell, T. R., Lee, T. W., & Griffeth, R. W. (2012). Reviewing employee turnover: Focusing on
proximal withdrawal states and an expanded criterion. American Psychological Association, 138(5), 831–
858.
Lashley, C., & Chaplian, A. (1999). Labour turnover: Hidden problem-Hidden cost. The Hospitality Review,
1(1), 49-54.
Lee, G. J., & Rwigema, H. (2007). Mobley revisited: Dynamism in the process of employee turnover. The
International Journal of Human Resource Management, 16(9), 1671-1690 .
Lee, T. W., & Mowday, R. T. (1987). Voluntarily leaving an organization: An empirical investigation of steers
and mowday's model of turnover. Academy of Management Jounal, 30(4), 721-743.
Lynn, M. (2002). Turnover ’s relationships with sales, tips and service across restaurants in a chain.
International Journal of Hospitality Management, 21(4), 443-447.
Madera, J. M., Dawson, M., & Neal, J. A. (2014). Managing language barriers in the workplace: The roles of job
demands and resources on turnover intentions. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 42, 117-
125.
Mahesh, V. S., & Kasturi, A. (2006). Improving call centre agent performance: A UK-India study based on the
agents’ point of view . International Journal of Service Industry Management, 17(2), 136-157.
Malhotra, N., & Mukherjee, A. (2004). The relative influence of organisational commitment and job
satisfaction on service quality of customercontact employees in banking call centres. Journal of Services
Marketing, 18(3), 162-174.
Mobley, W. (1977). Intermediate linkages in the relationship between job satisfaction and employee turnover.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 62(2), 237-240.
Mobley, W. H., Griffeth, R., Hand, H. H., & Meglino, B. M. (1979, May). A review and conceptual analysis of the
employee turnover process. Psychological Bulletin, 86(3), 493-522.
Park, T. Y., & Shaw, J. D. (2013). Turnover rates and organizational performance: A meta-analysis. Journal of
Applied Psychology, 98, 268-309.
Peppers, D., Rogers, M., & Dorf, B. (1999, January). Is your company ready for one-to-one marketing? Harwad
Business Review.
Ruppel, G. A., Clarke, & Yuropa, C. (2014). The role of employee service orientation in turnover in the US hotel
industry. ournal of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflict, 18(2).
Suff, P., Reilly, P., & Mercer, M. (2005). Your call: Managing reward and performance in call centres.
Taylor, P., & Bain, P. (1998). An assembly line in the head: Work and employee relations in the call center.
Industrial Relations Journal, 30(2), 101-117.
Tett, R. P., & Meyer, J. P. (1993, June). Job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intention, and
turnover: path analyses based on meta-analytic findings. Journal of Personnel Psychology, 46(2), 259–293.
Tracey, B. J., & Hinkin, T. R. (2010). Contextual factors and cost profiles associated with employee turnover.
The Cornell School of Hotel Administration handbook of applied hospitality strategy, 736-753.
W. Z., Augsberger, A., Auerbach, C., & McGowan, B. (2014). A mixed-methods study of the impact of
organizational culture on workforce retention in child welfare. Children and Youth Services Review, 38, 36-
43.
Wallace, C. M., Eagleson, G., & Waldersee, R. (2000). The cacrificial HR ctrategy in call centers. International
Journal of Service Industry Management, 11(2), 174-185.
Wang, X., Wang, L., Xu, X., & Ji, P. (2014, April). Identifying employee turnover risks using modified quality
function deployment. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 31(3), 398–404.