Onsite Versus Remote Working: The Impact on Satisfaction, Productivity, and Performance of Medical Call Center Workers

Abstract

Job satisfaction is determined as the measure to know the individuals’ feelings toward their work. The working conditions that can affect satisfaction and performance of the call center agents have received particular concern. This study aimed to determine the role of remote call center working on agents’ satisfaction compared to onsite workers. A cross-section study was conducted between December 2020 and April 2021 that include 124 agents working in a governmental medical call center in Saudi Arabia. Each agent was receiving a questionnaire that investigates his/her satisfaction with the job nature, supervisor support, job autonomy, job productivity, and performance. Seventy-seven physicians working onsite were compared to forty-seven physicians remotely working in the medical call center. The mean age of the physicians included was 43.17 ± 8.4 years, and most of them were male (>70%), married (>85%), and family medicine specialists (>50%). The mean years of experience in the medical field of the physicians included was 16.87 ± 8.07 years, and the mean years of experience in the medical call center was 1.44 ± .97 years. Onsite agents were more satisfied concerning job nature, supervisor support, productivity, and performance compared to remote agents (70.82 vs 53.47%, 63.38 vs 55.05%, and 66.51 vs 56.03%, respectively). However, onsite agents were less satisfied regarding job autonomy than remote physicians (46.81 vs 53.19%, P-value = .128). Overall, general satisfaction was more seen in physicians working onsite as opposed to remote workers in the medical call center in Saudi Arabia (64.90 vs 54.25%, P-value < .01).

A Comparison of Working Conditions and Workers’ Perceptions among On-Site, Telework, and Hybrid Workers in Ecuador during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Contrary to participants in the on-site modality, people in the hybrid modality perceived a decrease in productivity, an increase in daily working hours, and fewer time-management abilities. Businesses and institutions need to understand the relationship between productivity and work modality because previous research on satisfaction and productivity during the pandemic has had mixed results [ 18 , 21 , 24 , 36 , 37 ]. Regarding other working conditions, such as the sense of accomplishment of goals and objectives, satisfaction with their institutions’ actions to face the pandemic, quality of communication with peers, and colleagues’ trust, the current study did not find any significant differences in modalities.…”

“…Several studies examined the engagement and productivity of on-site workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, one study from Poland found that on-site workers reported no significant differences in their work engagement compared to the other work modalities [ 21 ]. Another study from Argentina shows low work satisfaction among hospitalist doctors [ 22 ].…”

“…Another study from the United Kingdom reported that on-site construction workers claimed that their productivity improved even though some construction projects reduced overall productivity and pushed back the schedule [ 8 ]. However, more studies are still needed, given that results vary and are still inconclusive [ 21 , 24 ].…”

Supervisión, desempeño y satisfacción en el contexto del teletrabajo: Una propuesta conceptual

“…No obstante, tal como lo señala Nakrošienė et al ( 2019) para que el trabajo genere mayor satisfacción laboral en los individuos, es necesario que haya un lugar idóneo en el cual se ejecute el trabajo y tanto la confianza como el apoyo del supervisor son determinantes para gestionar dicho factor. Contrario a lo expuesto hasta el momento, Alfaleh et al (2021) estudiaron la aplicación del teletrabajo en médicos e indicaron que los que trabajaban en consultorio físico declaraban mayor satisfacción laboral que los doctores que ejercían de forma remota. Por otra parte, Danker et al (2021) hallaron que el teletrabajo no generaba impactos positivos en la satisfacción laboral de los policías de oficina en Singapur, e incluso los agentes que debían cumplir con tareas de cuidado de niños se encontraban menos satisfechas en la modalidad virtial.…”

“…Compromiso: genera mejoras en el proceso de cooperación con equipos de trabajo, en la comunicación y la productividad laboral, además, el individuo teletrabajador se podría sentir más satisfecho con el trabajo que desempeña (Dimitrova, 2003;Kim et al, 2021;Talukder et al, 2018) Autonomía: brindar mayor libertad y confianza para desarrollar actividades de distintas formas podría mejorar la productividad laboral, aunado a ello, es posible que dicho factor mejore la capacidad para equilibrar la relación vida-trabajo (Alfaleh et al, 2021;Dimitrova, 2003;Gajendran & Harrison, 2007;Golden et al, 2006) Equilibrio vida-trabajo: podría ser afectado por el apoyo de la supervisión para gestionar límites, ya que, mantener un equilibrio entre las tareas y elementos generales de la vida personal y las obligaciones laborales puede afectar positiva o negativamente la productividad laboral (Greer & Payne, 2014;Kazekami, 2020;Lautsch & Kossek, 2011;Talukder et al, 2018) Confianza: especialmente entre el supervisor y el teletrabajador debería haber confianza en el cumplimiento de las funciones, pues, la falta de confianza podría afectar la satisfacción laboral, además, la construcción de confianza es esencial para innovar en las modalidades de trabajo (Cascio, 2000;Dimitrova, 2003;Kim et al, 2021;Kurland & Egan, 1999;Nakrošienė et al, 2019) Sensación de aislamiento: los trabajadores a distancia podrían sentirse menos visualizados y alejados de los grupos de trabajo, los supervisores y los gerentes, lo cual puede afectar la satisfacción con el trabajo, además, dicho aislamiento laboral y social puede alterar la productividad debido a posibles falencias en la comunicación (Cascio, 2000;Cooper & Kurland, 2002;Mulki & Jaramillo, 2011;Nakrošienė et al, 2019).…”