Call centre agents’ emotional intelligence as predicators of their exhaustion and professional efficacy: The moderating effect of meaningfulness

Copyright: © 2021. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License. Introduction The call centre work that typifies the digital revolution requires high levels of sustained interpersonal interaction with customers, which has led to high levels of exhaustion and employee withdrawal (Anwar & Graham, 2019). Call centres in Africa have become notorious for having the highest attrition rate of any industry (Frost & Sullivan, 2018). The levels of exhaustion stem from requiring to deal with challenging and frustrated customers (Shkoler & Tziner, 2017). The emotional outbursts accompanied by irritability and anger are considered the main reasons for declining performance (Frost & Sullivan, 2018). Exhaustion and fatigue are evident in these work environments that lead to a decreased level of organisational commitment (Shkoler & Tziner, 2017). Changes in call centre agents’ behaviour include a reduced sense of professional efficacy which is characterised by low morale and an inability to cope (Frost & Sullivan, 2018).