The sight of harried employees running to their desks and ripping their phones out of the cradles so they could start taking calls exactly on time -- even as they were still wearing their coats and holding bags -- struck Steffanie Wilk as a problem.
"That's not a good way to start," said the associate professor of management and human resources at Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business.
Any employer could tell you that, but Ms. Wilk and her research partner, Nancy Rothbard of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, found productivity isn't helped by punitive systems that can mean employees start off the workday on a bad foot.
Their study followed 29 call center workers handling calls made to a big insurance company. In a three-week period, the workers filled out forms tracking their moods and those of their customers at various points in the day. In addition, according to the study summary, independent observers listened to the calls and rated the mood of customers and how well employees handled them. Data on the number of calls handled and other details also were tracked.
Employees in bad moods handled fewer calls and needed more breaks. Little things bothered them more. They also weren't as smooth and facile in responding to queries, tucking in more "ums" and "uhs."
"We know that mood has a great impact on performance," said Ms. Wilk.
Organizations, especially those looking to be as efficient as possible and trying to keep payroll costs down, tend to need to see quantitative effects before taking action.
"These jobs require people to be positive," said Ms. Wilk.
Moods can change. In 17 percent of the cases, workers who started the day in a better mood than normal slid into a bad one after a tough call. In 40 percent of the cases, workers in a below-average mood started feeling better than usual after a positive call.
Still, it behooves companies to try to help their employees get off to a good start, Ms. Wilk said, and that doesn't have to mean doing a staff cheer every morning as some retail chains do.
The researchers suggested companies take a second look at the timing of shifts and set up them up so there's more flexibility, allowing for real life occurrences such as bad traffic or flat tires. "We can't assume that everyone is going to be abusive to this policy," she said.
If a wave of calls typically starts hitting at 8 p.m., don't start the shifts at the same time, not just to avoid the possibility of staff running late.
Another way to help get a person's workday off to a good start is to begin it with something small that can be done relatively quickly that sends him or her into the fray feeling accomplishment. It doesn't take much, said Ms. Wilk.
Managers can do their part with upbeat comments at the start of the day that may acknowledge the challenges but don't make the staff feel defeated before they even get going.
Although the research was done in a call center, Ms. Wilk said she has received calls from people in other industries, including health care, who said they face similar issues of time clocks and starting out scrambling.
The fact that a positive customer can be such a day-changer for employees has Ms. Wilk altering her own behavior when she calls for customer service. She noted many systems have trained customers that they have to be negative -- even angry and loud -- to get action since call center reps are taught to avoid passing along a call and then to upsell that disgruntled caller.
"Imagine the effectiveness of people who are selling who are in a bad mood," Ms. Wilt said.
Lately, she said, she tries to tell the person on the other end of the line exactly what she needs to solve her problem and calmly insists on talking with whomever can help her. She reassures them that they aren't at fault: "It's not you."
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