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Telemarketers talk so much they have been making themselves
sick, a new study says.
Researchers have found a link between vocal health and overall
health among staff working in the pressure-cooker
environment.
The findings could help the $17 billion industry find ways of
improving call centres to boost the health and productivity of the
220,000 telemarketers employed across Australia.
The study looked at the health of nearly 600 people working in 14
call centres across the UK and Ireland.
Sickness levels among call centre staff were found to be abnormally
high.
They worked in stressful environments with excessive background
noise and constant sales targets, the study says.
Longer shifts led to workers suffering strained and sore vocal
chords, which then impacted their overall health and
performance.
In a period over six months, only 31% of call centre staff in the
study had not taken time off work for a voice-related condition,
the study says.
Report author Dr Diane Hazlett, head of communication for the
University of Ulster, says the link between vocal health and
overall wellbeing should be taken seriously as an occupational
health and safety issue for the industry.
One factor contributing to the high rate of sick leave was the
employees' perception of their health.
"When someone had perhaps light strain in their voice it appeared
as if they felt they were getting a throat infection or they were
getting a cold," Hazlett said.
"In a sense they overestimated the difficulties they were having to
some extent. This was much more likely to perpetuate them taking
time off work."
The findings were presented at Speech Pathology Australia's
national conference held in Melbourne this week.
Hazlett hopes the study can help call centres develop better
training for recruits, from using warm-up vocal exercises, limiting
background noise and encouraging staff to drink plenty of
water.
Call centre staff under these conditions are then more likely to be
happy, she says, leading to fewer sick days and better results for
the company.
While vocal programs have been developed for call centres in the
past, voice expert Jenny Oates of LaTrobe University says such
initiatives are not standard in the industry.
