The relationship between work engagement, self-efficacy and optimism among call centre agents

Magister Commercii - MComThe costs of occupational health and well-being are increasingly being considered as sound ‘investments’ as healthy and engaged employees yield direct economic benefits to the company.The concept of Work engagement plays a vital role in this endeavour because engagement entails positive definitions of employee health and promotes the optimal functioning of employees within an organisational setting. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between work engagement, self-efficacy and optimism amongst call centre employees in a retail organisation in the Western Cape. Over the last several years, most call centre research has predominately been focused on the aspects and causes of stress, burnout, and the deterrents of employee’s well-being. In response to the prevailing preoccupation with negative aspects, the research focused on more positive aspects of human functioning and experiences. The sample comprised of ninety three call centre employees who are employed in the customer service department in a major retail organisation in the Western Cape. Convenience sampling was utilised. The measuring instruments included the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, The Life Orientation Test-Revised and The General Self-Efficacy Scale. Statistically significant relationships were found between work engagement, self-efficacy and optimism. It was found that call centre agents displayed average levels of work engagement and optimism however they displayed high levels of self-efficacy. It was furthermore found that a moderate percentage of the variance in work engagement can be explained by self-efficacy and optimism. The implication of the results is that interventions that focus on the personal resources (viz. efficacy beliefs,optimism, hope and resiliency) and job resources (viz. physical, social or organizational aspects of the job) will contribute to increasing levels of work engagement