CALL CENTERS (CENTRES) - Faculty of Industrial Engineering and ...

complex and sophisticated social actors and introduce a new conceptual framework of the roles
customers play: as mythical sovereigns, functional transactants and moral agents, thereby offering
a more accurate representation of customer service and the role of the actors involved in it.
Keywords: Customer services, Call centers, Customer relations, Studies
78. Castilla, Emilio J. Social networks and employee performance in a call center, American Journal
of Sociology (AJS), 110 (5), 2005, 1243–1283.
Abstract. Much research in sociology and labor economics studies proxies for productivity;
consequently, little is known about the relationship between personal contacts and worker performance.
This study addresses, for the first time, the role of referral contacts on workers
performance. Using employees hiring and performance data in a call center, the author examines
the performance implications over time of hiring new workers via employee referrals. When
assessing whether referrals are more productive than nonreferrals, the author also considers the
relationship between employee productivity and turnover. This study finds that referrals are
initially more productive than nonreferrals, but longitudinal analyses emphasize posthire social
processes among socially connected employees. This article demonstrates that the effect of referral
ties continues beyond the hiring process, having long-term effects on employee attachment
to the firm and on performance.
Keywords: Call centers, Employees, Productivity, Performance appraisal, Labor economics, References,
Recruitment
(Appears also in Section III.)
79. Cordray, Kevin. High retention rates bring customer benefits at SITEL Direct, Human Resource
Management International Digest, 13 (4), 2005, 23–25.
Abstract. This paper explains SITEL Direct’s approach to staff retention and how successful
strategies to empower, encourage and promote employees provide business benefits to its
clients and their customers. It highlights the main benefits available to agents working in SI-
TEL’s bureau and fulfillment programs: varied work, flexible hours, good training and personal
development opportunities, and the chance to work in one of England’s prettiest towns. The paper
emphasizes the importance of having a settled team. It shows that SITEL has established a
monthly retention target of 95% for its bureau agents, but in 2004, there was an average monthly
retention rate of 97.2% in quarter one, 95.9% in quarter two and 94.3% in quarter three. Fulfillment
has achieved even higher retention rates. With a similar target of 95% monthly retention,
the program in 2004 achieved an average monthly retention rate of 100% in quarter one, 97.2%
in quarter two and 97.8% in quarter three. High staff turnover need not, in all cases, characterize
the call-centre industry. The agents working in SITEL’s bureau and fulfillment programs are
critical to the success of a client’s campaign, as they are the first people that consumers interact
with either directly or indirectly.
Keywords: Case studies, Human resource management, Employee turnover, Call centers, Customer
relations, Telecommunications industry
(Appears also in Section X.)
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