Los factores de recursos humanos en la satisfacción del cliente en centros
de llamadas de emergencia de empresas de distribución de energía
Human resource factors on customer satisfaction in emergency call centers of power
distribution companies
Mahmood Bonyadi
1a
, Hossein Bodaghi Khajeh Noubar
2
, Mojtaba Ramazani
3
Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran
123
Orcid ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5599-1874
1
Orcid ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2083-5040
2
Orcid ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0700-9396
3
Recibido: 20 de febrero de 2020 Aceptado: 15 de agosto de 2020
Resumen
El presente estudio tuvo como objetivo explorar los factores humanos asociados con los
empleados que configuran la satisfacción del cliente en el campo de los centros de llamadas de
emergencia de las empresas de distribución de energía. La literatura se revisó en una variedad
de disciplinas diferentes, incluida la calidad del servicio, la gestión de recursos humanos y el
marketing. La población estadística de este estudio está compuesta por todos los empleados de
los centros de llamadas de emergencia de las empresas de distribución de energía, entre los
cuales, según la tabla de Krejcie & Morgan (1970), el tamaño mínimo de la muestra para este
estudio es de 285 personas. El método de muestreo de este estudio fue un método aleatorio
completo y los cuestionarios se distribuyeron entre la muestra seleccionada. Se utilizó el
cuestionario de Dorna et al., (2018) para medir las variables. Los resultados del estudio
muestran que los factores de la gestión de recursos humanos conducen al plan de trabajo, la
satisfacción del empleado, la eficiencia del empleado, la satisfacción del cliente, la retención
del empleado, la capacitación, el desempeño del empleado y, en última instancia, el desempeño
organizacional. Los gerentes de los centros de llamadas de emergencia de las compañías de
distribución de energía deben tener en cuenta que invertir en prácticas de recursos humanos
ayuda a mejorar la satisfacción del cliente en los centros de llamadas de emergencia de las
compañías de distribución de energía.
Palabras clave: Satisfacción del cliente, Centros de llamadas de emergencia de empresas de
distribución de energía, factores de recursos humanos, ecuaciones estructurales.
Abstract
The present study aimed to explore the human factors associated with employees shaping
customer satisfaction in the field of emergency call centers of power distribution companies.
The literature was reviewed in a range of different disciplines including quality of service,
human resource management and marketing. The statistical population of this study is consisted
of all employees of emergency call centers of power distribution companies, among whom,
a
Correspondencia al autor
E-mail: m.bonyadi60@yahoo.com
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386
Apuntes Universitarios, 2020: 10(4), octubre-diciembre
ISSN: 2304-0335 DOI:https://doi.org/10.17162/au.v10i4.521
apuntesuniversitarios.upeu.edu.pe
according to Krejcie & Morgan (1970) table, the minimum sample size for this study is 285
people. The sampling method of this study was complete random method and the questionnaires
were distributed among the selected sample. Dorna et al. (2018) questionnaire was used to
measure the variables. The study results show that the factors of human resource management
lead to job plan, employee satisfaction, employee efficiency, customer satisfaction, employee
retention, training, employee performance, and ultimately organizational performance.
Managers of emergency call centers of power distribution companies should note that investing
in human resource practices helps to improve customer satisfaction in emergency call centers
of power distribution companies.
Keywords: Customer Satisfaction, Emergency Call Centers of Power Distribution Companies,
Human Resource Factors, Structural Equations.
Introduction
Undoubtedly, the present world is the world of organizations, and the directors of these
organizations are human beings; human beings who bring souls to the body of organizations,
move them, and run them. Without human resources, organizations not only have no meaning,
but also cannot be managed. Even as organizations become technologically advanced and
transformed into a mass of hardware, still the role of human as a vital and strategic factor in
survival of organizations is quite evident. Accordingly, human resources are considered to be
the most valuable resource of today’s organizations because they shape organizational
decisions, solve organizational problems, and materialize efficiency. Increased efficiency of
organizations and their increasing development requires growth and efficiency of employees as
well as strengthening their motivation. Some management scholars have referred to motivation
as the driving force or driving engine of human beings.
Among the resources that organizations have, many researchers have pointed to the
importance of human resources in organizations. stated that “the most important asset of any
organization enters the organization early in the morning and leaves it at the end of the working
time” (Farsijani et al, 2011). According to Farsijani et al. (2011) and Shafiee-Nikabadi et al.
(2011), employees of organizations and their management are essential elements in achieving
competitive advantage for organizations. Given the increasing competition of organizations and
environmental changes, organizations are looking for ways through which they can gain
competitive advantage through their human resources. Meanwhile, human resource
management can be mentioned. Human resource management leads to provision of more job
responsibilities and challenges for employees. Human resource management enables employees
to have required authority for decision-making in their work. Human resource management is
directly related to motivational factors as well as employee satisfaction. Research has shown
that human resource management leads to increased job satisfaction and motivation of
employees and reduced employee absenteeism (Moghaddami & Zare, 2008). On the other hand,
emergency call centers of power distribution companies are one of the sensitive service centers
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which are based almost entirely on voice-to-voice encounter between employees and customers
at the other side of the telephone line. In general, customers are less satisfied with the services
they receive from call centers than the customers with face-to-face service interactions
(Bennington et al., 2018). Academic researchers attribute this lack of interest in call centers to
a variety of reasons such as cultural acceptance of technology (Bennington et al., 2018), general
lack of experience in relation to technology, and problems experienced by older customers in
the field of technology (Macarm, 2009). In addition, people often feel uneasy when dealing
with automated answering machines; and during these calls they encounter moody staff and
have to spend a long time to achieve their response and at the same time, they also receive poor
services. Although the concept of call centers has been proposed as a communication marketing
tool, but it is widely accepted that customer satisfaction is not usually associated with call center
operations (Bennington et al., 2018).
In call centers, employees (call center operators) are the main connector between the
organization and the customer. Employees often need to understand many different tasks
simultaneously (Jasmand et al., 2012). They are expected to exhibit a reciprocal behavior that
is capable of fulfilling managerial requirements such as maintaining quality of services
including attention, understanding, accountability, and assurance, customer satisfaction
(Sergant & Frenkel, 2016), problem solving, handling large numbers of contact in a short time,
and ensuring first call clarity, and participation in other activities such as comparative sales
(Jasmand et al., 2012). All of these are often done in a stressful environment when dealing with
clients having problems and with a low-cost approach to human resource practices (Powder &
Madopalie, 2019). This is a very challenging environment and loss of control when doing the
activities causes fatigue and consequently staff displacement or absenteeism. It is worth noting
that the key role of employees of emergency call centers of power distribution companies in
customer relations has not been so much examined in academic research. These studies have
directly examined customer satisfaction in emergency call centers of power distribution
companies. Accordingly, the present study seeks to examine the employee-related paths that
lead to customer satisfaction. In other words, we seek to examine types of employee-related
factors and consider how these factors contribute to customer satisfaction in voice-to-voice
service encounters in emergency call centers of power distribution companies.
The structure of this study is as follows. First, in reviewing the literature, we sought to
identify and consider human (or employee-related) factors that influence or lead to customer
satisfaction. The literature is summarized and categorized in (Table 1). The next section
examines the key methods of examining the literature and formulation of central research
questions, which are also guidelines for development of our research method. In the
methodology section, the variables and the model estimation method are examined. In the final
section, the results and the discussion related to the findings as well as recommendations are
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presented (Powder & Madopalie, 2019).
Research background
Theoretical foundations
Identification of human factors affecting customer satisfaction in emergency call centers
of power distribution companies. The studies that were conducted to identify human factors that
shape customer satisfaction in emergency call centers of power distribution companies were
reviewed. First, the resources related to customer satisfaction and a wide range of factors
affecting this are identified. Some of these factors are more primitive in the context of customer
satisfaction and some others are more important, and there is a great deal of interaction between
these factors that results in emergence of a set of complex and reciprocal interactions.
Therefore, the resources are reviewed in order to find the relevant studies, in spite of lack of
focus on customer satisfaction; and some of the factors identified in the first phase of resource
search are also considered. As such, it is possible to further explore the surrounding factors and
shaping of customer satisfaction in emergency call centers of power distribution companies,
and the major factors can be examined and the interactions between environmental factors can
be taken into account. Some studies in this area are listed in (Table 1). Resources directly
dealing with customer satisfaction are grouped at the beginning of the table. The studies
identified in the second part of the table are those that do not deal solely with customer
satisfaction but are related to customer satisfaction issues. Resources from a diverse set of
disciplines such as sources of key performance indicators, performance-based resources, quality
of service resources, human resource management resources, and marketing resources were
also examined. Therefore, we categorized the categories listed in (Table 1) as the primary
sources of this study. In addition to (Table 1), the sub-section of resource review deals with
each of the categories identified in the table and they are grouped according to similar
instructions in the table.
Management strategies
According to sources, two important management approaches can be identified in
emergency call centers of power distribution companies. On the one hand, the production line
approach is focused on quality performance measures (such as handling a large number of calls
in a short amount of time) without considering service quality, customer satisfaction, or
employee well-being (Gilmour & Moreland, 2000). In other words, according to this approach,
the company homogeneously focuses its operations on sales volume and continuous monitoring
and control of employees, with an emphasis on recording quantitative results. On the other
hand, the customer orientation approach focuses on delivering quality of services by striving to
create employee commitment and motivation through empowerment and organizational support
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(Gilmour & Moreland, 2000). Although some studies report the use of both quantitative and
qualitative criteria to measure call centers’ performance (Bain et al., 2017), but there are
considerable evidences suggesting that call center managers are still primarily focused on
quantitative criteria (Gilmour & Moreland, 2000). Achieving these criteria usually has a
negative impact on employees’ ability to provide high-quality services (Diane & Rani, 2009).
In this regard, it is necessary to consider whether an emergency call center of power distribution
companies is regulated to achieve high-quality services or customer satisfaction or no.
However, emergency call centers of power distribution companies are usually regarded as a
functional tool to achieve greater customer satisfaction or as a CRM (Customer Relationship
Management) tool to emphasize customer orientation approach. Under the customer orientation
approach, the emergency call centers of power distribution companies move toward building
stronger relationships with customers by supporting and helping them to meet their needs. The
most appropriate option in order to achieve an optimum level between employee activities and
employee efforts is co-operation agreement (whereby the user pays the phone call and
participates in payment of part of the costs) and pay per call (in which the call centers divide
these costs for each phone call and shares the costs with the main company) (Aksin et al, 2019).
However, the topic of telephone call management strategies does not address the causes of
service quality and customer satisfaction, but discusses the intended outcomes for emergency
call centers of power distribution companies. Customer orientation approach is still considered
to be the most appropriate managerial approach for organizations whose goal is to ensure
quality of service or customer satisfaction (Carrie & Lyaon, 2008); (Gilmour & Moreland,
2000).
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Table 1
Classification of resources related to human factors in customer satisfaction in call centers
Researchers
Managem
ent
strategies
Quality of
services
Human
resource
practices
Human
resource
results
Performa
nce
Employee
efficiency
Customer
satisfaction
Customer
behavior
Company
results
(Broadvaj &
Rogun, 2008)
*
(Sharma et al.,
2010)
*
*
*
(Auxin et al.,
2016)
*
*
*
*
*
*
(Misiak &
Demarias, 2011)
*
*
*
*
*
(Brown &
Maxell, 2002)
*
*
*
(Macarm, 2009)
*
(Walsh et al.,
2012)
*
*
(Helms & Mayo,
2009)
*
*
(Paulson & Siditz,
2015)
*
(Mar & Parry,
2014)
*
*
*
(Jasmand et al.,
2012)
*
(Abdelatov et al.,
2011)
*
*
*
(Castilla, 2005)
*
(Butt & Kelvin,
2011)
*
*
(Connell et al.,
2009)
*
(Diane & Rani,
2009)
*
*
(Carrie & Lyaon,
2008)
*
*
(Schalk & Van
Rikersel, 2007)
(Eric et al., 2006)
(Bennington et
al., 2018)
(Diane, 2002)
*
*
(Raffley, 2008)
*
*
*
*
(Wood et al.,
2006)
*
*
(Aksin et al,
2019)
*
(Chin, 2019)
*
*
*
*
*
*
(Mukherjee &
Malotra, 2006)
*
*
(Vog et al., 2007)
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
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Quality of services
In general, previous studies indicate a direct cause-and-effect relationship between
service quality and customer satisfaction (Siavallino & Dahlgard, 2007); (Madren et al., 2007);
(Sharma et al., 2010). However, it seems that customer’s orientation or previous experience
with the organization manages this relationship (Dorna et al., 2018) and (Sharma et al., 2010).
In other words, regardless of the level of service quality, a negative ground inhibits customer
satisfaction (Sharma et al., 2010). In addition, managers, employees, and customers often
express different views on service quality (Gilmour & Moreland, 2000). For example, from the
customer’s point of view, quality of services of emergency call centers of power distribution
companies depends on the ability of the call center operator to adapt to each caller in terms of
empathy, attention, responsiveness, and authority, and relationships such as attention,
accountability, and understanding (Baradvaj & Ruggerion, 2008). However, managers usually
ignore customer orientation and preferential operational criteria such as response speed, number
of handled calls, etc. to measure service quality (Liu, 2010).
A number of studies have examined the quality of services in call centers from the
perspective of customer satisfaction versus customer dissatisfaction. According to this view,
lack of factors that lead to customer satisfaction do not necessarily leads to customer
dissatisfaction. For example, while customer satisfaction depends on the ability of employees
to ensure clarity of the first call (Abdolatov et al., 2011) or the level of services (Chong et al.,
2011), Other factors such as rude employees, slow or poor services are drivers of customer
dissatisfaction. Similarly, when customers are satisfied with the service, they do not tend to
refer to the service speed, but when they are not satisfied with the service, they will refer to the
issue of service speed (Helms & Mayo, 2009).
Although quality of services and the first clear call are largely dependent on the staff
and how they perform their duties (Abdolatov et al., 2011), there may also be a relationship
between the first telephone call and management strategies. In some cases, the tasks in
emergency call centers of power distribution companies are designed in a way that
responsibilities are distributed among the agents, such that employees often need to transfer
calls to other departments. Consequently, customers frequently face with technology barriers,
while in addition to having to pay for calls they also have to wait for the call. When the call is
transferred to a correct agent, the customer will only be satisfied if he/she receives high-quality
information and services (Garcia et al., 2012). Therefore, employees play a key role in actions
that lead to customer satisfaction. In fact, in order to achieve customer satisfaction in call
centers, we need to focus on quality of technology services and quality of human services
(Brown & Maxell, 2002); (Macarm, 2009); (Misiak & Demarias, 2011) and move forward in
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line with customer expectations as well as in consistency with the predicted managerial
strategies of companies. Therefore, achieving customer satisfaction is a complex process with
multiple factors and mutual relations.
Human resource practices
As mentioned earlier, often stressful environments in call centers can lead to employee
fatigue, displacement, or absenteeism in the workplace (Powder & Madopalie, 2019) which are
major internal problems associated with call centers (Pierciand Rich, 2009). In fact, it should
be noted that employee behaviors and their outcomes are largely dependent on human resource
practices. For example, some sources suggest that positive human resource practices improve
employees’ ability to provide high-quality services (Leith & Diane, 2006) or that human
resource practices based on training and evaluation of employees improve quality of services
as well as customer satisfaction (Carrie & Lyaon, 2008). However, it seems that in call centers,
adoption of self-sacrificing human resource practices and measurement of employee
performance based on “strict” quantitative measurements is a common issue. Subsequently, this
results in provision of negative outcomes, such as high employee displacement or low
commitment (Bain et al., 2017).
It has been widely accepted that adoption of customer-oriented approaches and
improvement of job quality leads to resolving of the main causes of these negative outcomes
(Butt & Kelvin, 2011; Mar & Parry, 2014; Wood et al., 2006). Job quality may be shaped by
external factors such as economic or political status or by internal factors such as training
programs, teamwork, employment of emotional staff (Powder & Madopalie, 2019), or type of
employment contract (Butt & Kelvin, 2011; Schalk & Van Rikersel, 2007; Macarm, 2009). For
example, employing emotional and compassionate employees who are able to cope with
stressful environments may improve phone call outcomes (Diane & Rani, 2009) and reduce
staff displacement and absenteeism (Powder & Madopalie, 2019; Tossend, 2007). The concept
of teamwork plays an important role in job design (Bharadwaj & Roggeveen, 2008) by
integrating dimensions such as group independence, solving the problems of decentralization,
team caution, and collective responsibility. However, in the field of call service centers, it seems
that teams are often understood as a tool to facilitate staff control and supervision (Schalk &
Van Rikersel, 2007). This may lead to a contradiction between quality and efficiency of services
(Raz & Blank, 2007). There are other concepts related to job quality and employee well-being
in call centers, including physical environment and company support (McGuire & McLaren,
2009), which in turn may contribute to achieving employee commitment (Butt & Kelvin, 2011).
In summary, positive human resource practices are important in terms of hiring, training,
developing work team, ensuring corporate support and desirable physical environment,
reducing job problems, absenteeism or displacement in the workplace, and increasing
commitment among employees.
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Human resource outcomes
This section considers employee-based outcomes in implementation of specific human
resource practices in emergency call centers of power distribution companies. In other words,
we examine the consequences of human resource practices in terms of factors such as stress,
job satisfaction, and absenteeism in workplace. Although employee satisfaction is a
determining factor in customer satisfaction (as suggested by profit chain model) and quality of
services, but it seems that in emergency call centers of power distribution companies, this
relation is unilateral in both cases. On the other hand, sources suggest that even if employee
satisfaction leads to high-quality services, but the reverse is not true. In other words, in voice-
to-voice calls, most SERVQUAL dimensions appear to be negatively correlated with employee
satisfaction, which is mainly due to management requirements to ensure SERVQUAL criteria
that are considered as problems by employees and cause emotional dissatisfaction (Madren et
al., 2007).
On the other hand, very few studies have examined the direct relationship between
customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction in call center environments. According to the
studies by Dhaka (2019), this relationship is mutual and complex. For example, it should be
noted that in addition to employee satisfaction that leads to customer satisfaction, customer
feedback (in terms of cognition or abuse) can lead to employee satisfaction, dissatisfaction, or
emotional disturbance (Vog et al., 2007). For example, when employees deal with difficult or
problematic customers, the negative customer feedback also affects employees leading to staff
strictness or inability to perform their duties. Conversely, customer appreciation can lead to
employee satisfaction. Therefore, the relationship between customer satisfaction and employee
satisfaction is reciprocal in nature and, depending on the type of interaction the satisfaction may
be obtained by both parties or by each of them. In addition, in voice-to-voice calls, this
relationship can be influenced by external factors such as customer attitudes toward the
company (Sharma et al., 2010) or employees’ commitment to the organization. Thus, regarding
customers or employees who have negative attitudes, a negative relationship can be observed
between both parties that subsequently leads to customer dissatisfaction (Helms & Mayo,
2009), or employee dissatisfaction. Outcomes of other employees can be considered in terms
of whether employees are willing to stay in the company or no. In general, employee satisfaction
can increase employee retention in the company. Naturally, most employees tend to stay in their
jobs at emergency call centers of power distribution companies, and continue to stay in the
company by obtaining greater knowledge and awareness over time (Powder & Madopalie,
2019).
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Employee efficiency
In a number of studies examining customer satisfaction in emergency call centers of
power distribution companies, researchers have mainly focused on key performance indicators
(KPIs) that include: service level (calls answered at a specific time), average response speed,
average waiting time, average non-response rate, percentage of first clear call, schedule
adherence, average call time, average calls after working time, average employee displacement,
percentage of blocked calls, the time before waiting, and total calls. However, most of these
indices are derived from the SERVQUAL model and are well regarded as the criteria for
internal service quality of calls. These factors can be categorized as below: employee behavior
(displacement rate, program dependency), employee performance (service level, average
response speed), and technology performance (average response time, non-response rate),
which can actually be considered as part of quality of service.
Customer satisfaction
One of the most important evolutions in performance improvement in the last decade of
the twentieth century was the issue of recognition of measurement of customer satisfaction as
one of the main elements and requirements of management systems in business firms and
entities. The great effort that is being made today by researchers, experts, and managers of
business organizations in order to improve performance management tools and expand
customer-oriented attitude shows that customer satisfaction is now one of the most important
factors in determining success of organizations in business and profitability. Therefore,
establishment and implementation of customer satisfaction measurement and monitoring
systems, as the most important indicator in performance improvement, is considered one of the
essential needs of today’s organizations. However, it can never be overlooked that the main
drivers for business and service organizations such as banks which are looking for major
improvements in their development path are customers of that organization. In other words, no
business can survive without customers. Therefore, it is so vital for every business organization
to have a framework for understanding, analyzing, and evaluating its customer satisfaction
status (Ziviar et al., 2012). Customers are individuals or processes that consume or need and
benefit from the outcomes of a performance. As every performance in an organization certainly
has a purpose, so it has customers, too. Customer-oriented is considered as an important factor
in success of organizations. Customer satisfaction is one of the important theoretical and
empirical issues for most marketers and marketing researchers. Customer satisfaction can be
considered as the essence of success in today’s competitive world of business. Therefore, the
importance of customer satisfaction and customer retention and strategy formulation for
customer-oriented and market-oriented companies cannot be underestimated. Thus, customer
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satisfaction at a growing rate has attracted the attention of companies. Various concepts of
customer satisfaction have been introduced so far. In the past, it was enough to define the term
customer as someone who purchases the company’s product or service unit products. But this
traditional definition is no longer accepted by all today. The new definition is that customer is
someone that organizations and companies are willing to influence his/her behavior through the
values they create (Ziviar et al., 2012).
Review of literature
Although review of literature considers a wide range of cause-and-effect relationships
that begin with management strategies and human resource practices and end with customer
outcomes, but it should be noted that cause-and-effect relationships are not completely clear. In
this regard, further examination of some of the pivotal and environmental relationships is of
great importance. This analysis may be facilitated by identifying and analyzing classical
approaches that integrate all of these variables’ groups, especially those that predict firm
performance. These models include Lian technique, Balanced Scorecard, Six Sigma, and
service-profit chain model. However, most of these models require a qualitative approach (Lian
technique, Six Sigma, Balanced Scorecard), while our dataset is quantitative. Many of these
models were originally designed for manufacturing industry, but they have also been used for
different service industries including call centers.
A recent study shows that service-profit chain model is suitable for analyzing emergency
call centers of power distribution companies at an international level. Following this example,
we tested the service-profit chain model with some datasets. However, this model is not
appropriate, and therefore we do not present it here. These results suggest that we should
consider similar variables and take into account the possibility of different orientations in the
relationships among variables in the original model that are incompatible with the data.
Therefore, the researchers decided to take an exploratory approach to service-profit chain model
as the baseline model to test the nature of the relationships between variables. Indeed, service-
profit chain (SPC) model requires a quantitative approach, and although specifically designed
for service industry, but academic researches focus mainly on face to face encounter, while
applicability of this model to the specific area of voice-to-voice encounter is also important.
Performance
In today’s competitive world where efficiency has increased in all areas, only
organizations can remain in this turbulent world that make the best use of their resources and
have the most efficiency. One of the important organizational resources is human resource.
Performance evaluation systems lack required function in improving labor efficiency. Thus, the
need to shift from such systems to the new performance management systems is increasingly
felt. In recent years, performance management has been considered as one of the strategies for
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development and updating human resources and thus improving labor efficiency. Efficiency in
general is the criterion to measure that how effective and efficient has been the use of resources
as inputs to generate outputs needed in the society in the long run. If efficiency in its simplest
form is considered as the ratio of outputs to inputs or the same productivity or outcome,
obviously the lower the inputs, the higher will be the efficiency or productivity. This goal can
be achieved in three ways:
• Reducing the amount of inputs and obtaining the same amount of outputs given the
increased efficiency and improved system performance.
• Increasing the output amount by taking advantage of increased efficiency and
improved system performance and the same previous amount of inputs.
• Simultaneous increase of output amount by taking advantage of increased efficiency
and improved system performance as well as reducing the amount of inputs.
The workforce is considered the most important input in production of goods and
services. Labor efficiency is derived by dividing the value added by average number of
employees (or person/hour of work during a financial year). This indicator shows how much
value added has been generated by each working human force in average. The criterion for
measuring success of any organization is the amount of desirability of its employees’
performance. Therefore, in order to measure success of organizations, there is need for
progressive human resource systems that can increase efficiency of the whole system by
providing appropriate solutions and creating the required coordination among the goals of the
organization and goals of employees, and help the organization in achieving its goals and
moving forward as much as possible (Seyyedi & Akbari, 2009).
In order to make the best use of human resource factor, the necessary training needs to
be formulated, and coordination and empathy should be created among employees, and their
goals need to be aligned with the goals of the organization. Performance management by
creating a collaborative environment and communicating the organizational goals to employees
and ways to achieve them, as well as conducting employee evaluation and guidance sessions,
and also by utilizing performance-based payment systems, aligns employee and organizational
goals and increases workforce efficiency. In such a system, people feel more attached to the
organization. Satisfactory performance of tasks by employees enhances overall performance of
the organization. Therefore, a mutual commitment is created between employees and the
organization that its result is nothing but improved performance, efficiency, and productivity
of the organization. A kind of coordination is created between employee goals and
organizational goals that the more employees strive to achieve organizational goals, the more
their own goals, which are a mixture of compensatory rewards and more respect, are fulfilled,
and on the other hand, the organization also by its increased efficiency can better earn money
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in the competitive environment and provide better compensatory rewards and facilities to its
human force. Performance evaluation is considered an important task of human resource
management in facilitating organizational effectiveness. Much attention has been paid to the
role of performance evaluation in recent years. According to experts, an effective performance
evaluation system can provide many benefits to organizations and their employees. Seyyedi &
Akbari (2009) stated that performance evaluation system a) provides a specific performance
feedback to improve employee performance, b) determines employee training requirements, c)
provides and facilitates the ground for employee development, d) establishes a close relation
between personnel outcome and performance, and e) increases employee motivation and
efficiency. Roberts & Pavlak (1996) also believe that performance evaluation is used for a
variety of supervisory and development purposes, including a) evaluation of individual
performance based on organizational needs, b) prediction of feedback to employees in order to
correct or strengthen their behavior, and c) providing rewards and job promotions for people.
However, many common human resource and management systems today do not seem
to be appropriate and old models are considered inefficient. During the last decade, many
organizations have found that in practice they lack a performance evaluation system through
which they can transfer their priorities and goals to employees and pursue their improvement.
Human being is sensitive due to the wide range of cognitive domains and use of various tools
such as feeling, observation, perception, experience, and ability to belong and think in different
subjects, especially in evaluating and interpreting the behavior and performance of employees,
and all these factors influence how managers can achieve effective performance evaluation
(Roberts & Pavlak, 1996).
Materials and methods
Research model
(Figure 1) shows the conceptual model of the present study in which the relationships
between various variables that ultimately influence the action and interaction between human
resource factors and customer satisfaction are shown:
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Figure 1. Conceptual model of research
Research variables
In order to measure various elements related to human factors considered in review of
literature, taking into account the limitations associated with the use of secondary datasets, the
following measures are used to examine human factors that shape customer satisfaction in
emergency call centers of power distribution companies.
Job plan (quality of services)
This structure is made up of various elements of human resource management practices
in companies. In the present study, these items were measured using job characteristics that are
specifically related to quality of work of emergency call centers of power distribution
companies; and, as explained in review of literature, it is focused on staff caution and their job
design (Wood et al., 2006). Therefore, three factors are applied as follows:
1. Authority is modeled as a reflective factor and is measured by three indicators: the
extent of employees’ authority in performing their duties, authority regarding use of working
methods, and authority related to job speed (all these are shown on 5-point Likert scale).
2. Job plan is modeled as a constructive factor and is measured by the percentage of staff
doing autonomous tasks or semi-automated teams and the percentage of staff with flexible
working arrangements.
3. Training is emphasized as one of the key human resource approaches in review of
literature and is considered as a determinant factor of customer satisfaction in emergency call
centers of power distribution companies. Training is a reflective structure that is measured by
two indicators: formal training for main staff with interpersonal or team skills and the number
of formal training methods received each year by main experienced staff.
To measure these, the questionnaire designed by Schalk & Van Rikersel (2007) was
used which examined all these on a 5-point Likert scale with 10 items.
Employee satisfaction
In order to measure this key dimension of human factor in terms of how it reacts to the
policies applied by the company, the two following key indicators were considered:
Since this study is an organization-level survey, we therefore followed the usual method
of replacing individual criterion of employee satisfaction by measuring proxy at organizational
level. Erigo & Pagani (2008) suggested that employee satisfaction may be considered as any
type of employee tool. In this regard, authority is one of these measures. Indeed, in their meta-
analysis, found a significant negative relationship between authority and job satisfaction, and
this relationship is more particular in the area of service-profit chain studies. Harley & Stalemy
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(2007) found that right job turnover is considered as a good criterion of employee satisfaction
in determining the relationship with job satisfaction. Then, these findings moved the researchers
toward using replacement rather than satisfaction as the criterion existing in organizations
against the significant costs involved in collecting job satisfaction data. Following these
recommendations, the variables used as indicators of employee satisfaction in this study are as
follows:
1. Authority (percentage of absent employees on normal business days) and job turnover
(percentage of employees who left the company in one year) both became positive indicators.
Employee satisfaction structure was modeled as a reflective factor.
2. Employee retention: Following the studies by Harley & Stalemy (2007), this structure
was measured by the following two items: the usual right of main employees and the percentage
of main employees with a right of more than 5 years. These items consider a reflective structure.
To measure these, the questionnaire designed by Dorna et al. (2018) which included 7 questions
was considered.
Employee efficiency
This factor is measured by two common indicators of efficiency of employees in
emergency call centers of power distribution companies: the percentage of calls answered at a
specific time (Harley & Stalemy, 2007) and the number of calls answered by the main
employees in a day. This factor was modeled as a constructive structure and was collected by
asking from the considered centers.
Employee performance
This is a reflective structure that is measured by a single index, namely, the percentage
of obtained performance. This indicator was obtained by asking from managers of emergency
call centers of power distribution companies about measuring overall performance of their
employees. This is a broader and more accurate criterion than employee efficiency which is
similar to measuring unanswered calls in emergency call centers of power distribution
companies, as this criterion records the specific requirements of how employee performance is
shaped at emergency call centers of power distribution companies.
Customer satisfaction
Since this study is a survey at organizational level, customer satisfaction is a single
criterion obtained from managers of emergency call centers of power distribution companies
which is based on the data related to their customers’ satisfaction, and was transformed into 5-
point Likert scale. This structure was modeled as a reflective factor.
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Company performance
In line with the studies by Aksin et al (2019) who suggested that the ultimate relationship
in service-profit chain is represented by corporate earnings growth, this study measured
performance in terms of percentages of decline or increase in sales amount during the last two
years. This criterion is considered as a reflective structure. The variables are categorized and
are used as indicators in order to indicate the strategy and the main type of call (input vs. output).
Statistical population and sampling method
The statistical population of the present study consists of 1100 employees of emergency
department of power distribution companies. According to Krejcie & Morgan (1970) table,
minimum sample size for the present study was 285 people (Krejcie & Morgan, 1970). In the
present study, systematic sampling method was used for data collection. After distributing 350
questionnaires among the employees, 291 questionnaires were identified to be appropriate and
the rest were excluded from analysis. (Table 2) shows demographic characteristics of the
respondents.
Table 2
Demographic characteristics of respondents
Items
Description
Percentage
Number
Gender
Female
0
0
Male
100%
291
Age
Under 30 years old
32%
93
31 to 40 years old
40%
116
41 to 50 years old
19%
54
51 years old and more
9%
28
Education
High school
15%
45
Associate degree
20%
58
Bachelor’s degree
56%
163
Master’s degree and PhD
9%
25
Results
In the present study, content and construct validity were used to assess validity of the
questionnaire. In order to evaluate content validity of the questionnaire, experts’ opinions in
this field were used who were all university professors. Confirmatory factor analysis was also
used to assess construct validity of the questionnaire. In order to examine the complex
relationships related to human factors, which lead to customer satisfaction according to the
literature, a sample of information was obtained at all emergency call centers of power
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distribution companies.
Evaluation of measurement model
In order to evaluate whether the latent structures are continuously measured by
observable variables or no, the convergence and differential validity were measured as shown
in (Table 3). Convergence validity measures internal consistency for a given block of indices
taking into account the level of composite reliability. Composite reliability is only applicable
to reflective indices and, according to Nonali (2008) studies, this parameter should be greater
than 0.7.
(Table 3) shows that most of the latent variables in our model fulfill these requirements.
Differential validity is assessed using average variance extracted (AVE) that is detectable only
for reflective indices (Barclay et al., 1995) and must be greater than 0.5. This requirement is
met by all the structures in the model. In addition, it has been suggested that a structure has
good differential validity if its root mean square extracted for each structure is greater than the
correlation between the structure and each type of structure in the model. As you can see in
(Table 3), all the estimated structures in the model fulfill this condition, since each element in
the matrix has the related diagnostic element. Therefore, differential validity of the estimated
model is confirmed.
Table 3
Correlation matrix
Variables
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Human
resource
management
1
Job plan
0.63
1
Employee
satisfaction
0.69
0.73
1
Employee
efficiency
0.53
0.43
0.52
1
Customer
satisfaction
0.67
0.78
0.60
0.61
1
Financial
performance
0.53
0.61
0.68
0.62
0.58
1
Employee
retention
0.44
0.72
0.50
0.74
0.48
0.48
1
Training
0.63
0.52
0.45
0.70
0.70
0.49
0.63
1
Organizational
performance
0.12
0.72
0.78
0.36
0.55
0.62
0.53
0.72
1
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It should be noted that the standard error level for examining the relationships is 0.05
and the confidence level is 0.95. At 5% error level, the critical points in the normal curve are
1.96 and -1.96. If the significance coefficient of the regression test (T-VALUE coefficients) is
greater than 1.96, the null hypothesis is rejected and the hypothesis is confirmed, and vice versa.
In other words, in the normal curve, if the observed error level is within the range of 1.96 and -
1.96, the null hypothesis and lack of a significant correlation between the variables is accepted,
and if the observed error level exceeds the critical point of 1.96 and below the critical point of
-1.96, the hypothesis of existence of a significant relationship is accepted. (Table 4) below
provides a better representation of the relationships and coefficients of the model parameters
and significance of coefficients.
Table 4
Model estimation results and effectiveness of variables
Independent variable
Dependent variable
Effect size
Significan
ce
numbers
Hypothesis status
Human resource
management
Employee satisfaction
.0 047
5.050
Confirmed
Job plan
Employee satisfaction
0. 067
10.207
Confirmed
Employee satisfaction
Employee retention
0.105
14.550
Confirmed
Employee efficiency
Employee satisfaction
0. 127
7.652
Confirmed
Employee performance
0.163
12.068
Confirmed
Customer satisfaction
Financial performance
0.102
13.182
Confirmed
Employee retention
Customer satisfaction
0.093
12.717
Confirmed
Training
Employee efficiency
0.084
12.544
Confirmed
Organizational
performance
Employee retention
0.760
2.388
Discussion
The results in (Table 4) include path coefficient as well as the t values obtained by
bootstrap method in PLS. As suggested by Chain & Marcolides (1994), the standardized path
must be at least 0.20 in order to be significant. Both authority and job plan are significantly
related to employee satisfaction, at significance level of p<0.001 and p<0.01, respectively. The
effect of training on employee efficiency is also significant at p<0.001 statistical level. Also,
employee efficiency is significantly related to employee satisfaction at the significance level of
p<0.01 and also related to employee performance at the significance level of p<0.005. All of
these factors, namely employee satisfaction (at p<0.01 level and t-statistic=2.66) as well as
employee performance (at p<0.001 level and t-statistic=2.81), lead to employee retention.
Consequently, employee retention will also lead to customer satisfaction (at P<0.01
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significance level and t-statistic=2.69). Finally, customer satisfaction is significantly related to
company outcomes (at p<0.005 significance level and t-statistic=1.91).
The results of testing goodness of fit, in addition to estimating model coefficients and
errors, presents a set of fit indices that using these indices the researcher can test the overall
model and its fit. The fit indices of the model indicate that the model is in good conditions in
terms of fit indices; since the ration of chi-2 by degree of freedom (χ2/df) is equal to 1.79 which
is less than the permissible value of 3, and RMSEA value is also equal to 0.043 and 0.074 which
is less than the permissible value of 0.08, so, there is no need for much reform. P-value is also
equal to 0.000 which is less than 0.05. And all the significance numbers related to the model
parameters are greater than 1.96 and have become significant. The RMSEA value is equal to
0.000. The RMSEA permissible limit is 0.1. AGFI, GFI, and NFI indices are equal to 0.88,
0.92, and 0.88, respectively, indicating a very good fit (Table 5).
Table 4
Fit indices of the research model
Index
Standard value
Values
𝛘
𝟐
𝐝𝐟
⁄
Lower than 3
1.94
RMSEA
Lower than 0.1
0.000
AGFI
Higher than 0.8
0.89
GFI
Higher than 0.9
0.95
NFI
Higher than 0.9
0.95
In order to conduct this study, we examined employee-related paths that lead to
customer satisfaction. In review of the literature, we investigated the factors involved in shaping
customer satisfaction at emergency call centers of power distribution companies. We found that
the specific order of employee-related factors on customer satisfaction has not yet been fully
explored. In order to examine these complex relationships more closely, we first considered the
presented models such as service-profit chain that has been previously tested in call centers in
other areas (Chaiko et al., 2016). However, in fact, emergency call centers of power distribution
companies did not exactly match this model, and there is a need to discover a more accurate
system of these relationships. Therefore, the theory of structural approach was examined using
structural equation methods the results of which are given below:
In the first block of relationships, the interactions between human resource policies and
practices (job plan, authority, training, teamwork, etc.) and the most important outcomes in
terms of employee satisfaction and efficiency were examined. These relationships were
presented in the following way: employee satisfaction is not just the result of positive human
resource practices. Some human resource practices such as job plan and job authority may result
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in employee satisfaction. Some other things such as training also lead to employee efficiency.
In turn, employee efficiency is significantly related to employee satisfaction. Thus, our study
shows that these relationships are relatively more complex than some of the other proposed
models.
The next block of relationships is related to the factors that lead to employee retention.
Once again, we point to more precise relationships that, through employee satisfaction, lead to
encouraging employees to retain them in the company (a vital aspect of call center sector is
characterized by high levels of job turnover); however, it does not necessarily encourage
efficiency. Consequently, on the one hand, employee retention is a main indicator that mediates
the relationship between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction. On the other hand,
employee retention mediates the relationship between employee efficiency and employee
performance as well as customer satisfaction. The final relationship of the model shows that
customer satisfaction leads to earnings growth in power distribution companies. This
relationship was also observed in our study, although with limited power.
The contribution of this study is to inform researchers dealing with employee-customer
interactions and need to examine the relationships between them. This is especially important
for any subject that seeks to link human resources and marketing. In this section, we have
discussed the main findings in this regard. Our study suggests that investing in employee
training leads to customer satisfaction, but this relationship is not a simple linear relationship.
What this study shows is that customer satisfaction is obtained as a result of employees’
satisfaction with their jobs, and that satisfaction is also obtained as a result of investing in staff
training and skill acquisition section. By investing in employee training, employee efficiency
is directly affected, which in turn affects employee satisfaction. These findings are consistent
with the primary studies by Porter & Lalers (1968) who found that employee efficiency depends
on employees’ ability to perform their tasks satisfactorily.
Here, discussing AMO framework is useful which has been widely accepted in the
literature of human resource management in order to explain the relationship between human
resource practices and their performance. In this model, performance is a function of
capacity/ability to do the job (in our study, obtained by training), the desire/motivation to do
the job (satisfaction in our study), and the opportunity to do the job (in our study, authority and
other features of job plan). Therefore, investing in human resource practices and especially in
terms of training the employees helps them in performing their duties and results in higher
employee satisfaction. These findings have important implications for management of
emergency call centers of power distribution companies. One method in which employees can
have more efficiency and therefore obtain more satisfaction is investing in employee training
and development. And ultimately, this increases the level of customer satisfaction. This is
consistent with previous studies saying that positive human resource practices improve the
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ability to provide high-quality services (Leith & Diane, 2006), and that human resource
practices based on employee training and evaluation improves service quality as well as
customer satisfaction (Carrie & Lyaon, 2008).
The major contribution of our study is to identify the weak relationship between
customer satisfaction and financial performance of emergency call centers of power distribution
companies. This is worthy of further consideration: first, in the case of call centers, the “hassle
factor” involved in the complaint or change of service provider is important. Consequently,
most customers, even those who are not satisfied, do not take any action. In other words, some
customers are not loyal to the company because they are satisfied with the company but face
with additional problems or costs when the service provider is changed. Therefore, customer
satisfaction or dissatisfaction may not have a significant impact on financial performance of
emergency call centers of power distribution companies. Second, in the area of call centers, it
seems that employees often deal with angry and dissatisfied customers (Helms & Mayo, 2009).
In this regard, an alternative path for corporate growth and performance may lead to satisfactory
customer management. Therefore, in call center sector, we may not expect strong levels of
satisfaction among customers; however, focusing on minimizing their dissatisfaction is of great
importance.
In terms of management practices, it should be noted that this study encourages us to
consider a wide range of factors throughout the business process. In other words, the traditional
separation of business practices may hinder the understanding that political decisions in human
resources have serious consequences for marketing and vice versa. In this regard, we tend to
develop more interdisciplinary models similar to the ones proposed by this study, to provide a
more comprehensive view of the processes across the whole business. As a result, the
sustainable growth experienced in retails and online services suggests that consumers are
buying more and more online (per product category) daily. Consequently, we are increasingly
facing customer support in online domain which is mainly done through call centers. This
means that face-to-face business interactions between employees and customers by service
encounters have been replaced by technology and online services. Therefore, customer
satisfaction is increasingly dependent on virtual encounters through emergency call centers of
power distribution companies which requires more knowledge and understanding of customer
satisfaction in an environment that is usually accompanied by negative experiences rather than
customer satisfaction. In fact, we still have relatively little information about human interaction
in traditional offline environments versus technology-driven online environments. This
knowledge is likely to change with our training in the area of online or telephone
communications and development of new technologies
Conclusion
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The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between human resource
management, customer satisfaction, and job performance of employees of emergency call
centers of power distribution companies. Organizations by human resources management of
employees can benefit from its positive results in the organization. Organizations can engage
in human resource management activities with employees. Organizations must ensure that all
the organizational goals are properly defined and understood by the staff. They also need to
provide the employees with awareness about their vital role in the organization and that
survival of the organization depends on providing desirable services to customers by them.
Organizations must provide their employees with sufficient resources to perform well; these
resources include information, material resources, training, and employee development. In
addition, organizations should provide a clear definition of reward for employees and explain
them the relationship between employee good performance and the received rewards. These
things cause that employees of organizations, especially employees of banks who perform
repetitive tasks, enjoy doing a rich work and do their best in performing their assigned tasks,
be committed to organizational goals, perform better, and provide customers with better
quality services which will result in greater profitability for the organization.
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