The teleoperators adjustment strategies with the stress generated by the electronic performance monitoring in call centers[Les stratégies d’ajustement de téléopérateurs de centres d’appels face au stress généré par le monitoring électronique des performances]

The electronic monitoring performance (MEP) is at the epicentre of managerial practices implemented in call centers. If the official target is to improve the "performance", the concrete practical implementation of such a system leads to behavioral control process and generates the "stress" for call center operators. Our research focused on adjustment strategies used by employees monitored to deal with this stress, while questioning the human consequences of such practices, with particular update contradictory and paradoxical dynamic. A qualitative study was conducted in a call center (inbound and outbound calls) via semi-structured interviews with 12 teleoperators. Through a comprehensive and interpretativist approach our job is to propose a typology of adjustment strategies deployed by call center operators, based on the theory of coping. Four main types of behavior were identified: the "players" who are part of the social game of the monitoring to divert for personal purposes (first type) or seek to respect the rules of their way hoping to draw benefits in terms of career (second type); the "passengers" who are there only to food motivation and have no desire to make a career in a call center (often students); and "self-ethical", which does not fit into the social game but in a life narrowly approach.