Service quality model and theoretical framework of the effects of turnover

Based on the review of service quality and contact center literature a model of contact center service quality is developed. Its dimensions – availability, substance and courtesy – will be discussed in relation to previous research and summarized in Table 1. After that a theoretical framework of the effect employee turnover has on contact center service quality will be presented.

2.3.1 Dimensions of service quality in contact centers

Availability

It is evident from the reviewed contact center literature that queue time is one of the decisive factors of service quality perceived by the customer in a contact center setting.

Bennington et al. (2000) found that customers also appreciate the simplicity of the voice menus and the overall phone system a contact center uses. These two factors are grouped the dimension called availability. The dimension could be linked to the responsiveness dimension in Parasuraman et al.’s service quality model (1988). In relation to Grönroos’ (1985) conceptualizations of service quality, availability would be more related to the functional quality than technical quality of the service.

Substance

As discussed above, in addition to getting through to the contact center quickly, customers obviously want to receive correct advice at the first contact as well. First call resolution has been shown to have a positive impact on customer satisfaction (Feinberg

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et al. 2000, Miciak & Desmarais 2001, Abdullateef et al. 2010). As Ossel (1998) points out, there are also internal standards against which the company will view service quality. The company wants customer service representatives to adhere to rules and instructions in order to follow the law, cut costs, ensure efficiency, protect the customer’s privacy etc. depending on the industry in which the contact center operates.

First call resolution rate, reliable advice as well as adherence to rules and regulations are factors grouped under the substance dimension. In Parasuraman et al.’s (1988) model this dimension would for the most part be a mix of reliability and assurance and in Grönroos’s theory this dimension would relate more to the technical quality although some factors like adherence to rules and regulations could be seen as relating more to the service production process and therefore be considered as aspects of functional quality as well (1984).

Courtesy

Also crucial to service quality are the various nuances of interpersonal communication that is a major part of the service production process. According to Bennington et al.

(2000) customers value caring and respectful conduct of customer service representatives as well as individualized service. Customer oriented behavior can also lead to higher customer satisfaction (Rafaeli et al. 2008). Although less easy to measure than for example queue time or first call resolution, these factors that in the suggested model are placed under the dimension ‘courtesy’ are at least as important for service quality.

The courtesy dimension would be most linked to the empathy dimension of Parasuraman et al. (1988) although it would have aspects of assurance and reliability as well. Courtesy would be mostly an aspect of functional quality as it has to do with the way service is produced rather than the outcome of it (Grönroos 1984).

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Table 1. Dimensions of service quality in contact centers and their relation to existing service quality research

2.3.2 Effects of turnover on dimensions of quality and theoretical framework

The effects of turnover on availability are expected to be mainly negative. Before new agents are recruited and trained there will be a shortness of staff that leads to longer queue times if contact amounts remain the same. New employees may at first only be able to master some of the skills required to answer customers’ inquiries. This may lead to the need to build more complex voice menus so that a limited amount of contact types can be routed to new employees. This in turn can lower customer satisfaction as they value simple menu structures.

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The substance dimension of service quality in contact centers refers to factors that can only be achieved when agents have sufficient skills and knowledge to perform their job well. Acquiring these skills requires time and new employees will still be in the process of learning and therefore be less skilled. Therefore turnover is expected to result in lower first call resolution rates and increase the chance that a customer is given incorrect advice. When it comes to the internal service quality standards or adhering to rules, mixed effects of turnover are expected. New employees may be more cautious and prone to follow rules and instructions carefully, rather than resulting to “common sense”. On the other hand new employees may not know all the rules and instruction as well as those who are more senior and may therefore be unable to adhere to them.

The courtesy dimension is expected to see the most positive results from turnover. As mentioned before work in a contact center can be stressful and emotionally straining.

Expectations from supervisors can be conflicting to those from customers’, there is little autonomy and an abundance of monitoring. The nature of the work can lead to the senior employees becoming tired and cynical and therefore less customer-oriented.

New employees in contrast may be more courteous, caring and helpful towards customers. On the other hand new employees may struggle to give as reliable an impression of themselves as more senior ones. Mixed effects regarding customer orientation are expected because on the other hand new employees are less likely to use industry jargon and more inclined to listen to the customer more thoroughly and not leap in to early conclusions about the nature of the customer’s inquiry. On the other hand as products, services and processes are less familiar to the new agents, they may not be able to provide the customer with the best possible solutions.

The expected effects of turnover on the contact center service quality dimensions are presented in Figure 6. In the next chapter we will turn to the methodology and research approach of this study.

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Figure 6. The expected effects of employee turnover on service quality in contact centers