What motivates contact centre employees? Publication Article May 2011

Transcription

1 What motivates contact centre employees? Publication Article May 2011

2 What motivates contact centre employees? Publication Article May 2011 Contact information: Author: Ellen Litjens Supervisor: Maarten van Nieuwland Coach: Robert Gielissen Markteffect BV Fontys University Keizersgracht 21c Rachelsmolen GC Eindhoven 5612 MA Eindhoven The Netherlands The Netherlands Room 3.12 R Motivating contact centre employees Page 2 of 47

3 Table of content 1. INTRODUCTION RELEVANCE OF THIS THESIS THEORETICAL RELEVANCE PRACTICAL RELEVANCE RESEARCH QUESTION LITERATURE STUDY MOTIVATION IN GENERAL MOTIVATION ON THE WORK FLOOR QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY DESCRIPTION OF THE SAMPLE RESULTS HYPOTHESES CONCEPTUAL MODEL QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH THE QUESTIONNAIRE DESCRIPTION OF THE SAMPLE RESULTS FINAL CONCLUSIONS, REFLECTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FINAL CONCLUSIONS, DISCUSSION AND PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH REFERENCES APPENDIX 1 QUESTIONNAIRE (DUTCH) APPENDIX 2 OVERVIEW OF INDEPENDENT VARIABLES AND SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES Motivating contact centre employees Page 3 of 47

4 1. Introduction Employee motivation has been an important concept in organisations for many years. According to Vinke (1999), motivation is the key success factor for a company. Especially in contact centres, where operational employees are for a huge amount responsible for sales generation, motivation is an issue which needs to be optimized. Motivation has been researched by psychologists and others for many years. However, no successful solution is found. Drucker (1999) even stated: We do not know anything about motivation. The only thing we do is writing books about it. Contact centre managers use different motivation techniques because they do not seem to know what actually motivates their personnel. Consequently, information about how contact centre employees get motivated is of great importance. Therefore, this thesis aims to provide more insight into Dutch contact centres employees motivators to work as efficient, effective, quality oriented and customer oriented as possible. Motivating contact centre employees Page 4 of 47

5 2. Relevance of this thesis 2.1 Theoretical relevance Most studies investigate motivation in general. These studies all have different opinions on how motivation actually works. Whereas some authors strongly believed that an incentive system with bonuses and commissions leads to high performance, others are firmly convinced that rewarding employees with financial incentives will in the end only demotivate. I believe that it is necessary to extend this knowledge in several ways. The conclusions of prior research are all based on different kind of studies. Many models are only based on interviews, questionnaires or experiments, whereas it is of major importance to combine qualitative and quantitative research to be able to give a proper answer to the research question. Therefore, both methods will be used in this study. The qualitative method allows detecting new relevant factors influencing Dutch employees motivation, which could not have been found in foreign studies. According to Hofstede (1980) cultures, business management and employee behaviour differ among countries. Because most research was conducted about one specific country, like the United States or South-Africa, those findings might be not applicable to Dutch employees. Besides, Rietdijk (2009), even concluded that motivational factors differ among industries and companies, which makes it difficult to implement the factors of motivation from other studies about motivation in other industries in the Netherlands. After the qualitative method, a quantitative research will be conducted to examine which factors significantly affect the motivation of Dutch contact centre employees. Due to the contradictions in previous research, it is impossible to find out which system will work in contact centres in the Netherlands. Other studies only focus on general motivation, which is not directly applicable to either contact centre employees or Dutch employees. This thesis will therefore identify the motivational factors of employees in the Dutch contact centre industry. Motivating contact centre employees Page 5 of 47

6 2.2 Practical relevance Due to the fact that contact centres are for a great part dependent on the performance of their employees, it is of major essence that these companies gain insights in how their employees can be motivated best. These operational employees have the first contact with customers and leads, which makes it even more important that they perform well. Besides, Mayo (1939) concluded that repetitiveness of tasks, which is the case in contact centres, lead to reduced motivation. So, especially in contact centres it is very important to know how to keep employees motivated. When motivational factors in this industry in the Netherlands will be found, and managers thus know how to motivate their employees theoretically, it is possible to implement this information in a practical management system. This information is thus useful in order to increase customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction. This will in the end result in more sales and profit for the contact centre industry. 2.3 Research question This thesis aims to provide more insight into the motivation of Dutch contact centre employees. The output of the research will in the end form a guide for contact centre managers to motivate their employees. The research question is formulated as followed: What should the motivational system for contact centres in the Netherlands look like, in order to increase the motivation of contact centre employees so they can work as efficient, effective, quality oriented and customer oriented as possible? Motivating contact centre employees Page 6 of 47

7 3. Literature study 3.1 Motivation in general Motivation has been studied by psychologists for many years. According to Oxford dictionaries (2011), motivation is defined as: a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way or desire or willingness to do something. The word motivation originally comes from the Latin word moveers which means to move. In this study, motivation includes the acting and behaving to work as efficient, effective, quality oriented and customer oriented as possible. One of the first psychologists who researched motivation, was Maslow (1943). He spent about 25 years to extend en test his theory. Maslow s classic hierarchy of needs model, proposed that there are five fundamental needs. According to Maslow, a persons motivation is based on physiological, safety, belongingness and love, esteem and status and self-actualization. Self actualization is thus the highest need, which he forceful describes as What a man can be he must be. Due to the generally applicability to humans in general, this model might be too broad and not applicable to Dutch contact centre employees specifically, due to the finding that motivation differs across countries (Rietdijk, 2009). 3.2 Motivation on the work floor Herzberg (1959) extended Maslow s theory to the work situation and highlighted the importance of job content factors. Herzberg s dual factor theory distinguished extrinsic factors, which can cause dissatisfaction but cannot motivate, from intrinsic factors, those which can cause positive motivation. According to Herzberg, physical working conditions, security, salary and interpersonal relationships at work are considered to be extrinsic factors, and these could thus not lead to positive motivation. In contrast, attention should be made to true motivators. These include the nature of the work itself which allows the person to make some concrete achievement, recognition, responsibility and the interest value. Herzberg s theory is based on a landmark study in which he asked only 203 accountants to describe a time when they Motivating contact centre employees Page 7 of 47

8 felt especially satisfied and a time when they felt especially dissatisfied with their jobs. A few years later, Vroom (1964) concluded that an employee's performance is based on individual factors such as personality, skills, knowledge, experience and abilities. The expectancy theory says that individuals have different sets of goals and can be motivated if they believe that there is a positive correlation between efforts and performance. However, this qualitative study is entirely based on managers self-reports of decision making behaviour. McClelland (1961) was convinced of a humans need for achievement. High need achievers want frequent and specific feedback about performance. They are often found in jobs such as sales representative or real estate agent. This may be a sign that the need for achievement is active for outbound contact centres employees and less for inbound employees. According to McClelland (1961) people also have the need for affiliation. These persons get motivated by friendly relationships, joining groups, participating in pleasant social activities and enjoying shared activities. A workplace and behavioral psychologist, Adams (1963) put forward his equity theory on job motivation. He states that when people feel fairly or advantageously treated, they are more likely to be motivated; when they feel unfairly treated they are demotivated. Another variable that may affect motivation is goal setting. Locke (1979) stated that goal setting is a simple, straightforward, and highly effective technique for motivating employee performance. He concluded that when goals are set unilaterally by the supervisor or together with employees, goal setting significantly increases the level of production. Locke based these conclusions on experimental research in the wood industry, whereas employee motivation may differ between industries. According to Investors in People (2006), a good incentive system results in motivated employees. This statement is based on their conclusion that employees who do not receive a promotion within half a year they work for the company, tend to leave their employer soon after this period. This statement is in contradiction with Kohn s report Why incentive plans cannot work (1993). Kohn suggests that rewards succeed only on a temporary basis. When it comes to producing lasting change in attitudes and behaviour, incentive plans are ineffective. Motivating contact centre employees Page 8 of 47

9 Rietdijk (2009) concluded that rewarding good behaviour works, as long as managers involve their employees in the settings of their bonuses. He also recommends that both financial and social rewards should be implemented in their management. Rustenburg (2002) mentions, that the way to choose the best incentive system in order to increase the motivation of your employees is dependent on the culture of the organization, the strategy of the organization, the market situation and the character of the sales representatives. This might explain a part of the contradictions that some managers are confirmed that incentive systems motivate, whereas others are against using them. A study into sales force practice did try to find out what are the best motivation techniques. They did this by asking sales managers to rank eight factors that could be effective in stimulating their salespeople to better their usual performance. Individual meetings between manager and salesperson were thought to be the most effective, followed by regular accompaniment in the field by their manager (PA Consultants, 1979) However, these conclusions are based on the response of managers, instead of sales representatives. Motivating contact centre employees Page 9 of 47

10 4. Qualitative research 4.1 Methodology In February 2011, ten semi-structured face-to-face interviews were held with Dutch contact centre employees and contact centre managers in different industries. Open questions are asked, giving the respondent the opportunity to answer each question within their own interpretation. This way, other possible independent variables can be determined. Furthermore, interviews offer the opportunity to ask for further explanation of the answers given, which offers a better understanding of their underlying motives to work customer-oriented and productively. Interviews with managers result in a better understanding of currently used motivation techniques. A checklist was used to be sure that all aspects are covered during the interviews. It was made sure that the sample had a quite equal distribution of levels of inbound/outbound, occupation, working hours and gender. The interviews, were recorded with a voice recorder and transcribes punctually in order to be able to analyze the answers of the respondents efficiently. Important fragments of the transcripts were put in a so-called folio, a categorized overview of the respondents answers. This way, it was possible to compare answers either within a specific characteristic and within one subject, for example: the difference in thoughts and opinions between males and females towards performance assessment. 4.2 Description of the sample Five of the seven contact centre employees were students who work in a contact centre as a side job. The other two respondents were fulltime contact centre employees. Of the seven contact centre employees, three were inbound employees, three were outbound employees and 1 did both. Ages were varying from 21 to 43. Also an equal division between males and females was made. Besides, respondents are working in different organizations and industries. Motivating contact centre employees Page 10 of 47

11 4.3 Results Evaluation process and performance assessment Setting and communicating targets towards employees seems to be a motivating factor. Employees feel motivated when they have to compete towards others, because they feel the drive to either excel their own prior achieved targets or to be better than their colleagues. Employees would like to receive their personal scores on a regular basis. However, some would like to receive this list every day, whereas others want to receive their scores only once or twice a month. Characteristics of a contact centre employee Because most contact centres work with a equally division of males and females, it would be interesting for them to know whether there is a difference in motivating factors. Moroccans and Turks seem to have a natural drive to perform, according to some managers. Because inbound and outbound employees seem to have different characteristics, it would be important to find out whether inbound and outbound employees get motivated in a different way. Besides, it would also be good to know whether some characteristics relate to some motivating factors. Job description The job content of the contact centre employees seems to affect motivation. Contact centre employees find their tasks quite monotonous, which decreases their motivation level. They mention that they would like to switch campaigns now and then. Both respondents and contact centre managers mention that varying tasks increases motivation. Salary and payment Salary seems to be an important motivator for students. According to full timers, this is less the case. Inbound contact centre do not work with bonuses, however some students would appreciate such a commission system for rewarding the best employee with incentives. Fulltime outbound contact centre employees seem to be less affected by bonuses than students. Whereas one outbound manager is firmly convinced that a bonus system is the best way to motivate staff, another outbound manager believes that incentive systems are not a good way of motivating personnel. This may be a clarification for the Motivating contact centre employees Page 11 of 47

12 finding that managers experience it hard to find a balance between payment per hour and bonuses or incentives. Career opportunities Fulltime staff appreciate options for career development. It would be interesting to find out whether there is a difference in motivation between different types of career opportunities. Students often think that they do activities below their competence level. However, they do not really mind about career opportunities because they see it as a side job and do not have ambitions to grow in their contact centre. Work environment The work environment seems to be an important factor in employees motivation. Contact centre employees want to receive enough attention and appreciation from their manager. Also regularly feedback and coaching on the work floor is asked. Personal contact between manager and employee seems result in a higher motivation level in a healthy work environment. Working hours Especially students seem to find it important that their company offers flexible working hours, so that they can fit their school schedule and working hours together. Besides, students mention that they find 8 hour work too much, because their tasks are very monotonous. Motivation techniques used by managers Managers motivate their staff by coaching and training on the work floor. Employees mention that they get motivated by this personal contact. However, they also mention that this occurs too less and irregularly. In some organizations, new employees must agree to undergo training before employment. Both managers and employees think setting targets is a motivating factor because they either get challenged by trying to improve their previous obtained result or to compete against others because they want to be better than colleagues. Motivating contact centre employees Page 12 of 47

13 5 Hypotheses Salary and payment As concluded from the qualitative research, salary per hour may be an important motivator, especially for students. Thus, remuneration per hour seems to affect motivation positively. Besides, some managers are firmly convinced that financial bonuses are the best way to motivate staff, whereas others believe that incentive systems are not a good way of motivating personnel. Therefore, this survey wants to find out whether financial bonuses increase motivation. Also the height of the financial bonus will be taken into account. Some contact centre employees also seem to appreciate rewarding the best employee with incentives, non-financial rewards. Besides, the interviews with contact centre employees found that they do not find it pleasant to be rewarded as a team. Employees mention that the motivation of high scoring employees decreases because employees who do not do their best receive the financial bonus as well. In conclusion, these findings led to the following independent variables and hypotheses: H1 A higher remuneration per hour affects motivation positively. H2a Receiving a financial bonus affects motivation positively. H2b A higher financial bonus affects motivation positively. H3 Non-financial rewards have a positive effect on motivation. H4 The way of rewarding influences motivation. Working hours Especially students and part timers are glad that their employer is flexible, so that they can plan their hours in adjustment with their study hours and other activities. Besides, particularly students mention that working 8 hours a day is too much, which decreases their motivation. This leads to the following two variables concerning working hours: H5 The number of working hours have a negative effect on motivation. H6 Flexibility of working hours has a positive effect on motivation. Job content Findings of the literature study concluded that job content affects motivation. According to Herzberg (1959), the nature of the work itself is the true motivator. According to interviewed contact centre employees, their tasks very monotonous. Besides, also the way employees rate their job content is likely to affect motivation. According to the interviews with contact center employees, people who do not like their job, are less motivated to work Motivating contact centre employees Page 13 of 47

14 productively and efficient. These are the following independent variables seem to affect motivation: H7 A higher diversity in tasks affects motivation positively. H8 A higher enjoyment in tasks affects motivation positively. Targets and goals As we have concluded in the literature study, Locke (1979) believes that goal setting is a highly effective technique for motivating employee performance. The qualitative research underpin these statements. Interviews showed that setting and communicating targets towards employees seems to be a motivating factor. This way, they either get challenged by trying to improve their previous obtained result or to compete against others because they want to be better than colleagues. Locke (1979) also concluded that whether goals are set unilaterally by the supervisor or together with employees, goal setting significantly increases the level of production. These findings led to the following independent variables about targets and goals: H9 A more challenging goal increases motivation. H10 Participation in goal setting affects motivation positively. Training According to the qualitative research, managers often motivate and stimulate their staff by coaching and training. Some contact centres ask new employees to do a one month during study first, before they start working in their company because they think this increases motivation because they feel more bonded with the company. So, the following hypotheses will be tested: H11 Training before employment affects motivation positively. Appreciation and involvement Adams (1963) states that people are more likely to be motivated when they feel fairly or advantageously treated. Also the qualitative research found that employees may be motivated by receiving a compliment from their manager regularly. They find it important to receive personal attention and appreciation for the work they do. They also mention to find it important to be taken seriously. Contact center employees feel motivated when they feel involved with the company they work for. Communication problems seem to be a demotivating factor. Employees find it very frustrating when they do not know where to go to with problems. In testing the hypothesis, a distinction will be made between the different types of appreciation and involvement. Based on these findings, the following hypothesis is created: H12 Appreciation and involvement affect motivation positively. Motivating contact centre employees Page 14 of 47

15 Work atmosphere According to McClelland (1961) people have the need for affiliation. They obtain great satisfaction from being liked and accepted by others, and prefer to work with others. During the interviews, contact centre employees mention to find it important to have a good relationship with colleagues and team members. These are the factors which may affect motivation: H13 A more positive work atmosphere between agents results in higher motivation. H14 A more positive work atmosphere between agent and supervisor results in higher motivation. Feedback McClelland (1961), who was convinced of the humans need for achievement, concluded that people want frequent and specific feedback about performance. This is in line with the conclusion from the qualitative research, where contact centre employees mentioned to find it very important to receive enough feedback and coaching from their manager. Therefore, the following independent variable will be included in the quantitative survey: H15 Receiving feedback frequently affects motivation positively. Career opportunities Maslow s classic hierarchy of needs model (1943) proposed that there are five fundamental needs. Self actualization is the highest need, which he forceful describes as What a man can be he must be. Besides, according to Investors in People (2006) concluded that when employees do not receive a promotion within half a year, they tend to leave their employer soon after this period. The qualitative study found that, especially full time staff, appreciate opportunities for career development like promoting to supervisor. Some students mentioned that the offering the opportunity to do an internship at the company they work for is motivating for students to show their employer their competence. In testing the hypotheses, a distinction will be made between different types of career opportunities. This is the reason that the following variables may affect motivation: H16 Offering career opportunities affect motivation positively. Socio-demographic variables Research which is attempted in order to describe motivation in general, often do not find significant differences in age or gender. Because motivation of contact centre employees is not studied before, these socio-demographic variables are still included in this quantitative survey. According to qualitative Motivating contact centre employees Page 15 of 47

16 findings, age may affect motivation because students, which are mostly younger employees, may be less motivated then others. Also gender is taken into account in this survey because some contact centres prefer working with either males or females. There also seems to be a difference in outbound and inbound employees. As mentioned earlier, students may be less motivated then non-students. This is the reason why occupation is included in the survey as well. Also type of contract is seen as a socio-demographic variables which may affect motivation. This is based on the qualitative finding that employees with a indefinite contract are often more motivated than temporary or call workers. Besides, Rietdijk (2009), even concluded that motivational factors differ among industries and companies. Therefore, the type of industry is taken into account in this study. In addition, the qualitative research concluded that competences to be a good contact centre employee cannot be developed. Both managers and employees state that a person is or is not born with these characteristics. Because lifestyle describes the characteristics of a person, this variable is taken into account as well. Motivating contact centre employees Page 16 of 47

17 6 Conceptual model The literature survey and the qualitative survey has led us to the identification of several variables that may have an effect on the motivation of contact centre employees. The section before presented the possible relationships of independent variables and employee motivation. The figure below presents a conceptual model that integrates these relationships into a coherent framework. Motivating contact centre employees Page 17 of 47

18 7 Quantitative research 7.1 The questionnaire All variables presented in the conceptual model are covered in the questionnaire. This is shown in appendix 1. In order to pre-test the questionnaire, the contact centre employees respondents of the interviews were asked to fill out the questionnaire and to comment on it. The dependent variable, employee motivation. was measured on the basis of 6 ordinal variables with 7 categories each (Strongly disagree - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 - Strongly agree). The analysis of the reliability of this scale shows a Cronbach alpha coefficient of.902. Therefore, the total score of employee motivation was determined by calculating the average of the six items. The table which represents the ways of measuring of each independent variable is presented in appendix Description of the sample The population consists of 160,000 contact centre employees (Werkgeversvereniging Contactcenters, 2008). According to Sekaran (2003) a sample size of 384 is representative for an infinite population. After one month, 426 useable questionnaires were filled in online by employees of 67 different contact centers. Age As shown in figure 7.2.1, the distribution in the sample is quite affined. In this table, age is shown as ordinal data, because this makes is possible to compare with the information NCCBO provided. The analyses are conducted using continuous data. Age Sample Population < 25 years 43% 37.5% years 51.6% 51.5% > 50 years 5.4% 11% Table Age distribution in sample and populationªª (The numbers of the population are based on the outcome of NCCBO (Vereniging van Contactcenters Nederland, 2002) Motivating contact centre employees Page 18 of 47

19 Gender The sample consists of 208 males and 218 females, which is thus a division of 49% and 51% respectively. In the population, there are more females than males (respectively 67% and 33%). This small overrepresentation of males should be taken into account whether assessing the overall motivation score of contact center employees. Department Table describes the comparison of the distribution of the departments between the population and the sample. Comparing to the population, all departments are sufficiently represented to compare groups. Department Sample Population Inbound 49.8% 53.5% Inbound & 29.3% 13.5% Outbound Outbound 20.9% 33% Table Department distribution in sample and populationª ª The numbers of the population are based on the outcome of NCCBO and Datamonitor (Vereniging van Contactcenters Nederland, 2002) Occupation 105 respondents are working in a contact center and doing a study too (29%) whereas 260 respondents are non-students (71%). Unfortunately, no information of the distribution in the population is known. Type of contract Most contact center employees (42%) have a fixed term contract. 28% of the respondents have a indefinite contract, 23% are temporary workers and 7% of the respondents are call workers. Because no information is available of type of contracts in the population, the sample cannot be compared with the population. Industry As can be concluded from the figure 7.2.1, most respondents (30%) work in the telecommunication industry. According to NCCBP Datamonitor (2002), a perfectly representative sample would consist of 15% Telecom, 22% financial services, 6% government, 18% business services, 6% government, 7% information technology and 26% other. So, the industries are not ensured to have be equally presented comparing to the population, due to different Motivating contact centre employees Page 19 of 47

20 descriptions of industries. Besides, due to the earlier finding in the literature study that employee motivation differs among industry and organization, it may be possible that some large organizations in the sample represent a large part of the industry. This finding should be taken into account when differences in industry are investigated. Industry 13% 6% 16% Financial services Information technology Government 30% 14% Business services Telecommunications 21% Other Figure Distribution of industries in the sample. Lifestyle The variable lifestyle was measured by Markteffect using 28 questions (11 questions use a 5-point scale and 17 questions use a 7-point scale). Based on the answers of the respondents from the age below 21, these respondents are assigned to one of the 5 lifestyle categories. A more detailed description of each of these lifestyle groups van be found at According to Markteffect (2010), the division of lifestyle within the sample are equal with those in the population. However, due to the small number of young employees below the age of 21 (n=43) it will be unlikely to find statistically significant findings per lifestyle, which has to be taken into account when conclusions will be drawn. Due to the small number of respondents within a particular type of lifestyle, it will not be possible to find any differences between groups. Because, in the next section, only conclusions are given if significant, lifestyle will not be covered in this thesis a lot. 7.3 Results Employee motivation On average, contact centre employees rate their motivation as a 5.6 (on a scale from 1 to 7) with a standard deviation of 1.1. As we look at the mean, (5.6), contact centre employees appear to be quite motivated, but if we look at the actual numbers, as shown in the graph, 23% rate their motivation below 5. Motivating contact centre employees Page 20 of 47

21 Also the positive Kurtosis value (1.444) tells us that the ratings of motivation are quite peaked, and thus vary. Employee motivation Figure Motivation of contact centre employees in the sample Differences in employee motivation between socio-demographic variables Gender An independent samples t-test was conducted to compare the ratings in motivations for males and females. Whereas males have an average motivation of 5.5 (with a standard deviation of 1.1), females have an average motivation of 5.8 (with a standard deviation of 1). According to the output of the t-test for equality of means, this difference in motivation is significant at level. This means that females are likely to be more motivated than males. However, the magnitude of the differences in the means was however quite small (eta squared=0.017), because only 1.7% of the variance in motivation is explained by the gender of the employee. Occupation The same test was also used in order to compare the differences in motivation levels between students and non-students. On average, non-students have a motivation of 5.8 (with a standard deviation of 1), whereas students have a motivation of 5.3 (standard deviation=0.9). The independent samples t-test proved that this difference in mean is significant at level. This means that non-students are likely to be more motivated than students. However, the magnitude of the differences in the means was quite small (eta squared=0.059), because only 5.9% of the variance in motivation is explained by the occupation of the employee. Motivating contact centre employees Page 21 of 47

22 Age The relationship between age and employee motivation was investigated using Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. There was only a small, positive correlation between the two variables (r=0.183, n=426, p<0.001). This means that older employees are more motivated than younger employees Answers to hypotheses H1 A higher remuneration per hour affects motivation positively. In order to give an answer to this hypothesis, a correlation analysis was conducted. The relationship between remuneration per hour and employee motivation was investigated using Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. There was no correlation between the two variables (r=-0.063, n=280, p=0.148). Therefore, we cannot state that a higher remuneration per hour results in higher motivation. H2a Receiving a financial bonus affects motivation positively. In order to test whether receiving a financial bonus affects motivation positively, an independent samples t-test was conducted. The statistics showed that the means between the employees who do receive financial bonuses and those who do not, did not differ. Therefore, it was no surprising result that the t-test for equality of means found this difference insignificant (p=0.497). This means that financial bonuses no evidence is found that financial bonuses affect motivation positively. H2b A higher financial bonus affects motivation positively. The relationship between the height of the financial bonus and employee motivation was investigated using Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. There was no correlation between the two variables (r=0.114, n=88, p=0.144). Therefore can be concluded that a higher financial bonus does not necessarily result in an increase of employee motivation. H3 Non-financial rewards have a positive effect on motivation. In order to describe the relationship between the number of non financial rewards and employee motivation, a correlation analysis was conducted. However, the number of non-financial rewards was not correlated with Motivating contact centre employees Page 22 of 47

23 employee motivation (r=0.032, n=426, p=0.255). This means that providing non-financial rewards does not result in more motivation. Besides, six independent t-tests were conducted in order to see whether specific non-financial rewards affect employee motivation. However, none of the non-financial rewards affected motivation significantly (coupons: p=0.293, tickets: p=0.856, gifts: p=0.939, Christmas gifts: p=0.962, company day out: p=0.674 and free beverages: p=0.715). So, none of the incentives has a positive effect on motivation. H4 The way of rewarding influences motivation. A one-way between-groups analysis of variance was used in order to see whether employees who only receive individual rewards, staff who only receive team rewards and employees who receive rewards which are based on both individual and team achievements differ in motivation. On average, all three types of employee have a motivation of 6.4. Unsurprisingly, the ANOVA output shows that a significance value of.980 (n=426), which means that there is no significant difference between the mean scores in motivation for the type of rewards employees receive. Therefore cannot be stated that participation in goal setting increases the motivation level of employees. H5 The number of working hours have a negative effect on motivation. The relationship between the number of working hours and employee motivation was investigated using Spearman s rho. There was however only a small, positive relationship between the number of working hours and employee motivation (r=0.182, n=424, p<0.001). This would mean that employees who work more hours a week, have a higher motivation level. A multiple regression in the next section will conclude whether this unexpected positive relationship actually exists. H6 Flexibility of working hours has a positive effect on motivation. A one-way between-groups analysis of variance is used in order to see whether employees who have flexible working hours, employees who have flexible working hours within specific standards and those who do not have flexibility in working hours at all, differ in motivation. An ANOVA test showed a significance value of 0.495, which means that there are no statistical Motivating contact centre employees Page 23 of 47

24 differences between any of the groups. Therefore, we cannot state that flexibility of working hours has a positive effect on motivation. H7 H8 A higher diversity in tasks affects motivation positively. A higher enjoyment in tasks affects motivation positively. In order to see whether enjoyment and diversity of tasks have a positive effect on motivation, a correlation analysis was conducted. Because it is very likely that these variables correlate with each other, a correlating analyses was conducted first to see to which extent diversity of tasks influences the enjoyment of tasks. These variables are, as expected, highly correlated (r=0.610, p<0.001), so there is a strong relationship between the diversity of tasks and the enjoyment of tasks. As can be concluded from the correlation table as well, there is a moderate, significant, positive relationship between the diversity of tasks and employee motivation ((r=0.399, n=426, p<0.001). This means that a higher diversity in tasks also leads to a higher motivation level. The same analysis was used to conclude whether enjoyment of tasks influences motivation. Unsurprisingly, there is a strong, positive correlation between the enjoyment of tasks and the motivation level of contact center employees (r=0.598, p<0.001). Also here, a higher rating of the enjoyment of tasks results in a higher motivation level. H9 A more challenging goal increases motivation. In order to describe the relationship between the defiance of goals and employee motivation, a correlation analysis was conducted. The test showed that there is was a medium positive correlation between the defiance of goals and employee motivation (r=0.478, n=391, p<0.001). Therefore we can state that more challenging goals result in more motivation. H10 Participation in goal setting affects motivation positively. Employees who do not have any goal setting at all, seem to have, on average, the lowest motivation level of all groups (mean=5.5). Employees with goal setting by supervisor also seems to score lower on motivation (mean=5.6). Employees who can participate in goal setting and those who can set their targets themselves seem to have the highest motivation level (mean=5.9 and mean=5.9). However, a one-way between-groups analysis of variance did not Motivating contact centre employees Page 24 of 47

25 find significant differences (p=0.282) between any of the groups. So, there is no evidence that participation in goal setting leads to a higher motivation level. H11 Training before employment affects motivation positively. An independent samples t-test was used to describe the relationship between training and employee motivation. Because of the finding that employees who did not had to do a training employment have the same average in motivation level as those who did had to do a training before employment (mean =5.6), it was unsurprising that the independent samples t-test did not show any significant differences (p=0.815). This means that we cannot state that training before employment has a positive effect on motivation. H12 Appreciation and involvement affect motivation positively. A correlation analysis was conducted in order to see whether appreciation and involvement affect motivation. The output showed that there is a strong, positive, significant relationship between appreciation and involvement and employee motivation (r=0.502, n=426, p<0.001). A correlation analysis including all three of the underlying variables involvement within the company, personal attention and direct and open communication, showed that especially involvement within the company shows a strong significant relationship with employee motivation (r=0.542, n=426, p<0.001). Personal attention and appreciation shows a medium positive relationship with motivation (r=0.465, n=426, p<0.001 ) and direct and open communication shows a medium relationship with motivation (r=0.318, n=426, p<0.001). This means that both involvement within the company, personal attention and appreciation and a direct and open communication results in a higher employee motivation. H13 A more positive work atmosphere between agents results in higher motivation. H14 A more positive work atmosphere between agent and supervisor results in higher motivation. Correlation analyses were used to see whether these relationships were significant. The output showed that there was a medium, positive correlation between the work atmosphere between agents and employee motivation (r=0.397, n=426, p<0.001). This means that a positive work atmosphere between agents results in more motivation. Also the positive relationship between employee motivation and the work atmosphere between agents was Motivating contact centre employees Page 25 of 47

26 of medium strength (r=0.388, n=426 p<0.001). Thus, also a positive work atmosphere between agent and supervisor increases motivation. H15 Receiving feedback frequently affects motivation positively. A one-way between-groups analysis of variance was conducted to explore the impact of regularity of feedback on the motivation level of contact centre employees. There was a statistically significant different at level between employees who receive feedback regularly (mean=5.8), and those who receive feedback irregularly (mean=5.4). However, calculating the eta squared of 0.03 means that regularity of feedback only has a small effect on employee motivation. Although the motivation level of employees who do not receive any feedback at all is, on average, lower too (mean=5.4), this group did not statistically differ in motivation from those who receive feedback regularly. This may be explained by the small group count (n=31).the frequency of feedback did not influence motivation significantly, as concluded from an ANOVA test (p=0.849). Therefore, we cannot say that feedback affects motivation positively. H16 Offering career opportunities affect motivation positively. A correlation analysis investigated whether the number of career opportunities influences the motivation level of employees. This analysis indicates that more career opportunities lead to a higher motivation. (r=0.164, n=426, p<0.001). This means that providing more career opportunities results in more motivation. In order to see which type of career opportunities seem to be the most important for the motivation of contact center employees, three independent samples t-tests were produced. Personal development appears to influence motivation, because those who receive this opportunity have, on average, a motivation level of 5.8, whereas those who do not receive opportunities for personal development, have a motivation level of 5.5. These mean differences are significant at level. This means that providing employees the option for personal development, results in more motivation. However, calculating the eta squared of 0.02 shows a small size effect between these variables. Also the opportunity to promote to a higher function increases motivation. Respondents who have this opportunity have a significant (p=0.003) higher motivation level than those who do not (mean=5.8, mean=5.5 respectively). This means that when contact centers provide employees the option for Motivating contact centre employees Page 26 of 47

27 promotion, the overall employee motivation increases. Also the option to promote to a higher function only has a small effect on motivation. (eta squared=0.02) The opportunities for internships did not show any significant results (p=0.279) for influencing motivation. Some respondents even mentioned that they are not seen as career opportunities. This means that the option for internships not automatically result in more motivation New conceptual model As we have seen in the section before, there are some independent and socio-demographic variables that influence motivation. However, the tests which are conducted before, only gave us information about how many and which of the variables affect motivation. Multiple regression allows us to identify a set of predictor variables which together provide use a useful estimate of a contact centre employee s likely score on their motivation level. Multiple regression allows us to predict employee motivation on the basis of the independent and socio-demographic variables. Using this method, we can test models about precisely which set of variables is influencing employee motivation. Because remuneration per hour was not a compulsory question in the online questionnaire, this variable has 147 missing values. This makes it difficult to draw a coherent multiple regression model, including salary, because it only uses the cases in which all questions are filled out. Therefore, the 147 missing values have to be replaced by other numbers. This is done in the following way: Age was used to indicate the salary of the missing cases. The mean remuneration per hour for the younger age group (<26) is 8.90, whereas the average remuneration per hour for employees with an age of 26 and above is Therefore the cases with missing values for remuneration per hour are replaces by one of these means, affected by age. A multiple linear regression was employed to help determine which of the independent and socio-demographic variables could be used to predict the motivation score of contact center employees. An enter method was used to create the best model, because this makes it possible to control over the variables. Motivating contact centre employees Page 27 of 47

28 First, a multiple regression model was established with all variables. This showed an Adjuster R Square of In order to improve the model the independent variable which was least significance was taken out of the model. Every time, the least significant variable was taken out of the model and reassured the model fit until the best model (with the highest adjusted R Square) was found. Conducting this multiple regression made it possible to produce a new conceptual model, presented below. As can be concluded, enjoyment of tasks, appreciation and involvement, work atmosphere between agents, number of working hours, defiance of goals and the way of rewarding are seen as independent variables which all have a positive effect on motivation. Besides, also the socio-demographic variables gender and age affect motivation positively. Figure New conceptual model, based on quantitative research As can be concluded from the regression analysis, nine independent variables together produced a final regression analysis with an Adjusted R Square of (F=22,989, p<0.001) for the prediction of employee motivation. Together, these variables predict 49.1% of the variance. The strongest predictor was Enjoyment of tasks ( =.357), followed by Appreciation and involvement ( =.201), Work atmosphere between agents ( =.170), Number of working hours ( =.159), Defiance of goals ( =.136), Gender ( =.152), Individual way of rewarding ( =.105) and Age ( =.082). The way of rewarding was divided into dummy variables because it is a nominal variable. Team rewarding does not seem to influence employee motivation significantly, but is left in the regression equation because the other dummy variable individual is significant. Therefore, both dummy variables stay in the model and also take part of the regression equation. Motivating contact centre employees Page 28 of 47