Strategic responses to absenteeism by mobile telephony Call centres within Nairobi

Abstract

The telecommunication industry specifically the mobile communication industry has been one industry that has exponentially grown in just a matter of few years. Call Centre representatives work in unique environments since they constantly manage customer interactions and are expected to adhere to strict targets .They are subjected to high levels of monitoring and control resulting to high level of stress and absenteeism.This study was conducted to establish the strategic responses by mobile telephony call centers to absenteeism in Kenya. The first specific objective was to identify the causes of absenteeism in the call centers. The second specific objective was to determine the strategic responses to absenteeism by Mobile Telephony Call Centers in Kenya. It was conducted through a survey design and questionnaires issued to call center employees in each of the three companies that were included in the survey. Data collected was quantitative and was analyzed by use of SPSS program. The study found out that the major causes of absenteeism in the call center are lack of motivation, management/supervision style, nature of job, customer appreciation (or lack of), work target, shift work and task characteristics.