Call center employee personality factors and

service performance
Olukemi O. Sawyerr
Management and Human Resources Department, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California, USA
Shanthi Srinivas
College of Business, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California, USA, and
Sijun Wang
Department of International Business and Marketing, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California, USA

Abstract
Purpose – The challenge of attracting and retaining high performing call center employees is significant. Research in general has shown a link
between personality factors and job performance. This study aims to focus on examining the relationship between personality factors and performance
using service performance indicators and further, to study the role of emotional exhaustion in this relationship in the context of call centers.
Design/methodology/approach – Using a structured questionnaire 194 call center employees and their supervisors were surveyed in eight call
centers in five companies in the insurance and telecommunications industries.
Findings – Results using structural equation modeling showed that, with the exception of extraversion/introversion, all of the personality dimensions
of the five factor model: conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness to new experience and emotional stability as well as locus of control were
significantly related to one or more of the performance measures. Emotional exhaustion mediated the relationship between emotional stability and
locus of control and intent to turnover.
Research limitations/implications – The study examined the mediating role of emotional exhaustion in the relationship between personality and
performance; the impact of stressors needs further study.
Practical implications – Insights gained from this study could be used to develop selection strategies, work redesign programs and training that
would benefit the organization by reducing employee costs and enhancing employee wellbeing.
Originality/value – This study uses service performance assessment data obtained from supervisors to establish the link between personality,
emotional exhaustion and service performance among call center employees.

Keywords Call centres, Performance measurement (quality), Emotional dissonance, Personality, Absenteeism, Employee turnover

Paper type Research paper

An executive summary for managers and executive
readers can be found at the end of this issue.
Introduction
Call centers are growing at unprecedented rates both
nationally and internationally and have become an integral
part of most companies’ marketing and customer service
strategies (Gilson and Khandelwal, 2005; Mahesh and
Kasturi, 2006). It is estimated that in 2006, there were
56,000 call centers in the USA that employed approximately
3.07 million agents (IBISWorld, 2008). The rapid rise of call
centers has also been accompanied by a significant challenge
in attracting and retaining employees. The estimated average
turnover per year is between 35 and 50 percent (IBISWorld,
2008). This high turnover rate is attributed to the very nature
of call center work with its high levels of stress, high workload
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
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and in many cases lack of employee training. The human
costs associated with job stress and burnout of call center
workers are well documented (Taylor and Bain, 2001).
Research has shown that customers’ perception of the
company is determined by the quality of the interaction with
its frontline employees such as those in call centers (Mattila
and Mount, 2003; Peccei and Rosenthal, 1997). Surprisingly,
several studies highlight the fact that minimal attention has
been paid to developing selection criteria to hire call center
agents (Bain and Taylor, 2000; Hutchinson et al., 2000). To
be in a position to develop selection criteria that can help
identify successful call center employees, it is first important
to understand the nature of the employees who are likely to be
high performers and those who are likely to persist in call
center environments. To that end, this paper examines the
role that personality factors play in predicting service
performance, absenteeism and turnover of call center
employees. Given the stressful nature of call center work,
we also examine the role played by burnout as measured by
emotional exhaustion and its relationship to the variables of
interest in this study.

Journal of Services Marketing

23/5 (2009) 301– 317 Received: October 2007
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 0887-6045] Revised: May 2008
[DOI 10.1108/08876040910973413] Accepted: July 2008

301
 Employee personality factors and service performance
Olukemi O. Sawyerr, Shanthi Srinivas and Sijun Wang
While there are many jobs that involve interaction with
customers either face-to-face or through the telephone, call
center work is unique in several ways. In call centers, as
Houlihan (2001) points out, the work environment is
mediated with the use of technology which determines the
pace and volume of work. To a large extent, this system also
allows extensive monitoring of employee performance
(Hutchinson et al., 2000). The call center work
environment is characterized as being similar to assembly
line production (Taylor and Bain, 1998). In most call centers,
work involves dyadic interactions between employees and
clients rather than teamwork among groups of employees.
The exchanges between employees and customers in a call
center are highly scripted and there is no face-to-face
interaction between them, thus resulting in low levels of
perceived job control (Varca, 2001).
Previous research studies on call centers have focused on
macro issues such as the organizational structure (Callaghan
and Thompson, 2001; Houlihan, 2000) and employee
training strategies (Callaghan and Thompson, 2002). Micro
issues including the stress and burnout related to call center
work have also received considerable attention (Houlihan,
2000; Knights and McCabe, 1998; Taylor and Bain, 2001).
One area of research on call center workers that has received
minimal attention is the relationship between individual
characteristics of call center employees such as personality
and employee service performance. This study attempts to
examine and identify those personality factors that may be
predictors of service performance among call center workers.
According to Barnes (2001, p. 3), the high turnover that is
endemic in the call center industry has been exacerbated by
the “recruitment of staff of the wrong personality type”. Thus,
from a theoretical perspective, identifying the personality
characteristics of individuals who are successful in the call
center environment will make important contributions to the
call center literature. From a practical perspective, the results
of this study can aid service firms in creating a better fit
between employees and the call center environment, thereby
improving organizational outcomes through improvement in
customer service quality and reduction of the financial and
human costs associated with poor service performance, high
absenteeism and high turnover rates endemic to call centers.
Theoretical development and hypotheses
Personality and employee service performance
The personality-performance literature has a long and
controversial history with believers and skeptics pointing to
the usefulness, or lack thereof, of examining this relationship
(Hogan, 1998). However, several meta-analyses of research in
this area have concluded that personality factors are indeed
valid predictors of job performance (Barrick and Mount,
1991; Salgado, 1997; Tett et al., 1991).
The five factor model (FFM) is frequently used to describe
the structure of personality. The FFM has been used in
different countries, in various organizational settings and
across rating sources (Digman, 1990). The FFM consists of
five dimensions of personality, namely, conscientiousness,
agreeableness, emotional stability, extraversion, and,
openness to new experience. The five dimensions in the
FFM have been defined using various characteristics of
individuals: conscientiousness refers to being hardworking,
responsible, careful and persevering; agreeableness refers to
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being cooperative, trusting, flexible and caring; emotional
stability refers to being relaxed, stable, tolerant of stress and
secure; extraversion refers to being outgoing, energetic,
talkative, sociable and enthusiastic; and openness to new
experience refers to being broadminded, imaginative,
intellectual and curious (Mount et al., 1998).
Research specifically using the FFM of personality to
predict job performance has been extensive (see for example,
Barrick and Mount, 1991; Mount and Barrick, 1998; Stewart
and Carson, 1995; Thoresen et al., 2004). A meta-analysis of
11 studies (Mount et al., 1998) showed that all five
personality dimensions were positively correlated with job
performance. Mount et al. (1998) did find that the nature of
the job moderated the extent of these relationships for some
of the personality dimensions. For instance, the relationship
between job performance and the two personality factors of
agreeableness and emotional stability were stronger in jobs
that involved teamwork. It is important to note that only one
of the 11 studies included telemarketers (the type of work
many call center workers typically do) as its sample. This is
significant since call center environments are unique and
research findings from other work environments may not
readily apply to this environment.
A more recent study by Skyrme et al. (2005) used a
performance measure based on the number of accepts and
rejects that the employees received when they called to obtain
participants for a research study. They found that three of the
big five personality variables – conscientiousness,
agreeableness and emotional stability were related to
performance. Clearly, further research is needed to establish
the relationship between personality factors and performance
in the context of a customer relations management call center
environment.
Barrick and Mount (1991) conducted a meta-analysis on
studies that used several occupational groups of professionals,
including police, managers, sales, and skilled and semi-skilled
workers. Results indicated that only conscientiousness was
positively related to all performance criteria (job proficiency,
training proficiency and personnel data) across all
occupational groups. The correlations for the other
personality dimensions varied by occupational groups and
performance criteria. McCrae and John (1992) found that
conscientiousness has been associated with characteristics
such as being organized, diligent, willing to take on
responsibility, reliable and thorough. Further, Barnes (2001)
stated that those most suited to be call center agents tended to
be dutiful, perfectionists and role conscious. Given the nature
of call center work with its emphasis on providing quality
customer service it is likely that those characteristics
associated with conscientious individuals that are identified
above will serve them well when engaging in this type of work.
In terms of matching the characteristics of the person to the
requirements of call center jobs, it is reasonable to expect that
conscientious call center agents will perform better. Thus, we
predict a positive relationship between conscientiousness and
service performance among call center workers.
Agreeableness has been shown to relate positively to
performance (Mount et al., 1998; Skyrme et al., 2005). Call
center work involves dealing with customers who can
frequently be demanding. The characteristics such as
tolerance, good nature and flexibility that are associated
with agreeable individuals (Judge et al., 1999) are particularly
suited to the demands of the job in a call center environment.
 Employee personality factors and service performance
Olukemi O. Sawyerr, Shanthi Srinivas and Sijun Wang
Thus, we expect that individuals who score high on
agreeableness will demonstrate high service performance. As
noted above, prior research (see for example, Mount et al.,
1998) has shown that the agreeableness – job performance
correlations were stronger in those jobs that involved
teamwork. Teamwork is certainly not a significant
component of most call center work (Mount et al., 1998)
and thus, the agreeableness – job performance correlations
may not be as strong as in prior studies.
Emotional stability has been found to relate positively to job
performance (Mount et al., 1998; Skyrme et al., 2005). Call
center workers have been called “emotional labor” (Taylor,
1998) to refer to the combination of these workers’ needs to
manage their feelings and attitudes as well as possess product
knowledge to provide service in terms of quality and quantity
to enhance customer satisfaction. In addition, call center work
environments have been characterized as stressful (Bain and
Taylor, 1999; Deery et al., 2002; Holman, 2002). Given the
nature of this work environment, it is likely that individuals
who are anxious, less tolerant of stress, unstable and tense
would not be as successful as those individuals who are calm
and secure. Therefore, we expect a positive relationship
between emotional stability and service performance for call
center workers.
Although earlier studies found a positive relationship
between extraversion and job performance, especially for
jobs that involve social interaction (see for example, Tett et al.,
1991), Stewart and Carson’s(1995) study showed that
extraversion and performance were negatively related.
Further, Barnes (2001) stated that those most suited to be
call center agents were introverted. Call center workers
typically tend to work alone without much face-to-face
interactions with others. Extroverts on the other hand are
characterized as being talkative, sociable and outgoing. When
providing customer service, call center agents are expected to
follow a script and keep conversations to a minimum so as to
meet the call volume expectations of the organization. Thus,
we expect a negative relationship between extraversion and
service performance in call centers.
Openness to new experience has been found to relate to job
performance only under certain organizational conditions
(Griffin and Hesketh, 2004; Tett et al., 1991). Prior research
has shown that openness to new experience is significantly
related to some measures of performance, especially training
proficiency rather than job proficiency (Barrick and Mount,
1991). Further, openness to new experience may be
significantly related to successful employees working in
organizational settings that foster learning, imagination and
creativity (Bing and Lounsbery, 2000). Given the nature of
call center work where interactions with customers are
scripted and work is routine and closely monitored, we expect
a negative relationship between openness to new experience
and job performance.
While the big five personality traits have received
considerable attention in the literature, locus of control
(LOC), which refers to the degree to which people believe
that they have control over a wide range of factors in their
lives, has received somewhat less scrutiny. Rotter (1966)
indicated that with regard to LOC, people could be divided
into internals and externals. Internals, or those with an
internal LOC, tend to feel a strong link between their actions
and their consequences. These individuals also believe in their
ability to control the external environment. Externals by
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contrast use a more passive approach in dealing with their
environment. They believe that outcomes are quite often the
result of luck or fate. LOC has been found to relate to several
work outcomes such as job performance and satisfaction. A
meta-analysis conducted by Judge and Bono (2001) found
that internal LOC related positively with both job satisfaction
and job performance. In a study of internal auditor job
performance, Patten (2005) found that internal LOC
employees outperformed those with external LOC.
In the context of a call center environment, LOC would be
particularly relevant as a predictor of employee service
performance since the pace and nature of work are quite often
customer driven. Internal LOC individuals would perhaps be
better at identifying ways in which to shape the nature of
interactions with customers, especially the difficult ones, and
taking a more proactive approach to their work. Thus,
internals may be more effective than externals in dealing with
difficult customers and at problem solving. There is some
evidence (Yukl and Latham, 1978) to suggest that internals
tend to set more challenging goals and have a greater need for
achievement than externals. Also, research shows that
internals may be more likely to exhibit helping behaviors
when engaging in interpersonal interactions (Ng et al., 2006).
This may be of particular relevance in the call center
environment, especially in-bound call centers, such as the
ones examined in this study, where quite often the call center
employee’s role is to answer questions and solve problems
posed by customers. In addition, the inherent stressful nature
of call centers may be better suited to employees with an
internal LOC. When individuals believe that they are in
control of a situation, it is less likely that they will perceive the
situation as stressful or threatening (Chan, 1977). Thus,
employees with an internal LOC may be less affected by the
unique characteristics of call center environments with their
attendant elements of hectic schedules, constant interaction
with a variety of customers and extensive monitoring of work
as compared to those with an external LOC.
Based on the above evidence from the extant literature, we
predict the following:
H1a. Call center employee personality characteristic of
conscientiousness will be positively associated with
supervisor rating of employee service performance.
H1b. Call center employee personality characteristic of
agreeableness will be positively associated with
supervisor rating of employee service performance.
H1c. Call center employee personality characteristic of
emotional stability will be positively associated with
supervisor rating of employee service performance.
H1d. Call center employee personality characteristic of
internal LOC will be positively associated with
supervisor rating of employee service performance.
H1e. Call center employee personality characteristic of
extraversion will be negatively associated with
supervisor rating of employee service performance.
H1f. Call center employee personality characteristic of
openness to new experience will be negatively
associated with supervisor rating of employee service
performance.
H1g. Call center employee personality characteristic of
external LOC will be negatively associated with
supervisor rating of employee service performance.
 Employee personality factors and service performance
Olukemi O. Sawyerr, Shanthi Srinivas and Sijun Wang
Personality factors and employee absenteeism
Conscientiousness has been shown to relate negatively with
absenteeism (Judge et al., 1997). Individuals who are
conscientious tend to be more rules bound and thus less
likely to demonstrate withdrawal behavior. Thus we expect to
find a negative relationship between conscientiousness and
absenteeism.
Prior research linking agreeableness to absenteeism is scant.
One could speculate that agreeableness could be negatively
related to absence since such individuals tend to be tolerant
and flexible. Individuals high on the agreeableness scale may
be willing to go with the flow and try to make the best of the
situation by showing up to work even when conditions are not
optimal. Again lack of prior research makes it hard to make a
strong prediction of the nature of this relationship.
LeBreton et al. (2004) found emotional stability as well as
job-specific affect to be strong predictors of lower
absenteeism. These authors conducted a study of call center
employees where the relationship between self-reports of
employees’ personalities and absenteeism levels were
examined. Their results showed that those individuals who
were high on emotional stability indicated that they were
absent less. Given the stressful nature of call center work it is
reasonable to expect that those who are emotionally stable are
less likely to experience the negative side effects of stress and
thus may not find it necessary to stay away from work as
often. Consistent with prior research we expect to find that
emotional stability will be negatively related to absenteeism.
Extraversion was found to positively predict absence among
service workers in the context of a university setting (Judge
et al., 1997). This is likely to be true in the case of call center
workers as well. As indicated above extroverts are not
particularly suited to this type of work environment (Barnes,
2001). Furthermore, extroverts have several social
commitments that would tend to compete with their time at
work. Thus, we expect extraversion to be positively associated
with absenteeism.
Prior research linking the personality dimension of
openness to new experience to absenteeism is scant. Thus,
it is hard to predict the nature of these relationships. One
could speculate that openness to new experience may possibly
relate positively to absenteeism, since such individuals are
likely to find their call center jobs restrictive and may try to
stay away on occasion to pursue other interests.
Individuals with an internal LOC are more likely to believe
that their environment is under their control. This perception
of greater control is likely to lead to lower amounts of
experienced stress among internals. These statements are
consistent with the findings from the Ng et al. (2006) study
that found a positive relationship between internal LOC and
attendance and hours worked in the company. Stated
alternately, those with an internal LOC are likely to have
lower levels of absenteeism.
Based on the above evidence from the extant literature we
predict the following:
H2a. Call center employee personality characteristic of
conscientiousness will be negatively associated with
supervisor rating of employee absenteeism.
H2b. Call center employee personality characteristic of
agreeableness will be negatively associated with
supervisor rating of employee absenteeism.
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H2c. Call center employee personality characteristic of
emotional stability will be negatively associated with
supervisor rating of employee absenteeism.
H2d. Call center employee personality characteristic of
internal LOC will be negatively associated with
supervisor rating of employee absenteeism.
H2e. Call center employee personality characteristic of
extraversion will be positively associated with
supervisor rating of employee absenteeism.
H2f. Call center employee personality characteristic of
openness to new experience will be positively
associated with supervisor rating of employee
absenteeism.
H2g. Call center employee personality characteristic of
external LOC will be positively associated with
supervisor rating of employee absenteeism.
Personality factors and turnover
Conscientiousness has been shown to be negatively correlated
with intent to turnover (Barrick and Mount, 1996; Salgado,
2002). Conscientious individuals tend to feel a greater sense
of obligation to be reliable and may have a feeling that they
are letting their managers down by quitting. Thus, they may
have a greater tendency to remain with the company. There is
some evidence to show that individuals who are flexible tend
to have a lower propensity to quit (Day et al., 1998), thus, the
personality dimension of agreeableness is also likely to be
negatively related to intent to quit.
Among the big five personality traits, emotional stability
appears to be the most important predictor of turnover
(LeBreton et al., 2004). Individuals who score low on the
emotional stability dimension are more likely to quit call
center jobs since the work environment to begin with is
stressful and their low tolerance for stress may make it more
likely that they will quit. Thus, we predict a negative
relationship between emotional stability and intent to quit.
The relationship between extraversion and turnover or
intent to leave has been examined by Day et al. (1998). As
mentioned earlier, extroverts tend to be outgoing and
assertive. It is likely that they have a greater social network
than introverts. It is also likely that they have greater access to
knowledge of job opportunities due to their larger social
circle. Thus, they may be more likely to leave their current
position and even more so if they are not matched with the
job.
Individuals who score high on the personality dimension of
openness to new experience may be likely to have a greater
propensity to quit especially in the context of a call center
environment. These individuals may find the call center
environment too restrictive and narrow. Openness to new
experience has been associated with the need for autonomy
(Ashton et al., 2000). Clearly, with the highly scripted nature
of call center work there is not much room for expressing
one’s imagination or autonomy. Thus these individuals may
not have their needs being met in the context of a call center
environment and thus may be more likely to seek other types
of work opportunities.
Research indicates that LOC plays a significant role in
turnover. Prior studies show that internals tend to have lower
intentions to quit. According to Bernardi (2003), individuals
with an internal LOC tend to experience a greater sense of
 Employee personality factors and service performance
Olukemi O. Sawyerr, Shanthi Srinivas and Sijun Wang
achievement and thus are more likely to stay in the job as
compared to externals. In addition, LOC affects the manner
in which an individual reacts to stressful situations. Chiu et al.
(2005) found that internals tend to have better coping
mechanisms to deal with stressful work situations compared
to externals. This in turn affects the motivation levels of
internals and their propensity to stay with the company, thus
leading to the likelihood that internals will exhibit lower
turnover behavior. Those with an external LOC, however,
have fewer buffers to deal with stressful situations and are thus
more likely to display lower levels of motivation in a stressful
environment, thus leading to greater intent to turnover. These
findings are particularly relevant to the call center
environment which has frequently been referred to as
stressful.
Based on the above findings from the literature, we predict
the following:
H3a. Call center employee personality characteristic of
conscientiousness will be negatively associated with
supervisor rating of employee turnover intention.
H3b. Call center employee personality characteristic of
agreeableness will be negatively associated with
supervisor rating of employee turnover intention.
H3c. Call center employee personality characteristic of
emotional stability will be negatively associated with
supervisor rating of employee turnover intention.
H3d. Call center employee personality characteristic of
internal LOC will be negatively associated with
supervisor rating of employee turnover intention.
H3e. Call center employee personality characteristic of
extraversion will be positively associated with
supervisor rating of employee turnover intention.
H3f. Call center employee personality characteristic of
openness to new experience will be positively
associated with supervisor rating of employee
turnover intention.
H3g. Call center employee personality characteristic of
external LOC will be positively associated with
supervisor rating of employee turnover intention.
The role of burnout in the call center environment
Burnout has been identified in the literature as a common
phenomenon occurring in people-oriented professions (Jamal,
2005). It is a term used to characterize a particular type of
stress or strain that leads to emotional exhaustion and apathy
toward one’s work. These symptoms are a response to the
stressors present in the work environment. Gaines and Jermier
(1983) describe the burnout process as one where individuals
experience work stress which leads to burnout, specifically to
feelings of being emotionally exhausted which in turn leads to
apathy toward one’s work. Previous studies have frequently
reported a connection between stress and customer contact
work in the services context (Behrman and Perreault, 1984;
Goolsby, 1992).
Maslach and Jackson (1981) define burnout as consisting
of three main dimensions: emotional exhaustion,
depersonalization and feelings of lack of accomplishment.
Emotional exhaustion refers to mental and emotional fatigue
and a feeling of being drained of energy. Depersonalization
refers to feelings of apathy and negative attitudes toward
others to whom one provides service. Lack of accomplishment
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refers to a feeling of low self-esteem and a negative evaluation
of oneself. Of the three, emotional exhaustion has been
identified as playing a key role in the burnout experience
(Cropanzano et al., 2003), especially in a high stress
organization (e.g., Gaines and Jermier, 1983). In addition,
Lee and Ashforth (1993) found that in empirical studies,
emotional exhaustion tends to have stronger relationships
with significant outcomes when compared to the other two
components of burnout. For these reasons, in the present
study, only emotional exhaustion is used to measure burnout.
Also, given the stressful nature of call center work it appears
that this component of burnout would be most relevant in this
context.
The stressful nature of call center work has been well
documented by Belt (2002) and Lanshear et al. (2001). Bain
and Taylor (1999) point out that the inherent nature of call
center environments that involves repetitious work and
lowered employee autonomy frequently leads to burnout
among employees. Deery et al. (2002) found that the use of
scripts in call center work, as well as the routine nature of
work, leads to emotional exhaustion, which is one of the
critical components of burnout.
While the call center work environment may be inherently
stressful and thus more likely to lead to employee burnout,
there is research that indicates that not all people who work in
such environments are susceptible to burnout (Folkman and
Lazarus, 1988; Layman and Guyden, 1997). Personality type
has been identified as a factor that may affect whether or not
an individual experiences burnout. Individuals who are
conscientious tend to experience less emotional exhaustion
(Burke et al., 2006; LePine et al., 2004). These individuals
have been known to be cautious and organized and engage in
planning (Watson et al., 1994). Thus these individuals may
have better coping skills when dealing with stressful situations
(Watson and Hubbard, 1996). Individuals who are agreeable
tend to report less feelings of emotional exhaustion (Burke
et al., 2006; Piedmont, 1993). These individuals tend to be
more pleasant and cooperative. They may have a greater
social support network and thus better coping skills when it
comes to dealing with stressful situations. Further, Maslach
(1982) found that those individuals who are submissive and
anxious were more susceptible to experience burnout.
Individuals who are extroverted were found to be less likely
to experience burnout compared to introverts. Extroverts
tend to draw energy from interactions with people while
introverts may find themselves in a role overload situation
caused by extensive contact with others. This overload in turn
could exhaust an introvert’s reserves of energy (Layman and
Guyden, 1997). Individuals who are high on the personality
trait openness to new experience tend to experience greater
levels of emotional exhaustion (Bakker et al., 2006; Burke
et al., 2006). These individuals may be prone to taking more
risks and thus may enter into areas where they may not have
too much control over the situation, thus increasing their
feelings of emotional exhaustion.
LOC has been found to be related to the experience of
burnout. Individuals with an external LOC tend to experience
more stress (Evans and Coman, 1993; Jennings, 1990) and
burnout, especially the component of emotional exhaustion
(St Yves et al., 1989). Externals tend to perceive the work
environment as not being within their control and this feeling
of lack of control leads to higher levels of emotional
exhaustion. Internals on the other hand tend to believe that
 Employee personality factors and service performance
Olukemi O. Sawyerr, Shanthi Srinivas and Sijun Wang
they have greater control over work outcomes and thus may
have learned coping mechanisms that could make them less
susceptible to burnout.
The link between burnout and organizational outcomes
such as performance, absenteeism and turnover is a strong
one. Maslach and Jackson (1981) point out that burnout has
been found quite consistently to lead to diminished quality of
service as well as higher turnover and absenteeism. Research
shows that those employees who felt emotionally strained or
exhausted were more likely to take one or two days off work
(Deery et al., 2002). Further, researchers have found that
those workers who are emotionally exhausted tend to leave the
organization (Lee and Ashforth, 1996; Wright and
Cropanzano, 1998). Schaufeli and Bakker (2004) found that
burnout was positively related to turnover. In a study of
registered nurses, Parker and Kulik (1995) found that higher
burnout levels were associated with lower supervisor rated job
performance and greater incidences of absence. Similar
results for job performance were found in other research
studies (see for example Wright and Cropanzano, 1998;
Wright and Hobfoll, 2004).
In this section so far we have examined the link between
burnout and personality variables and the link between
burnout and organizational outcomes such as service
performance, turnover and absenteeism. However, the role
of burnout as a mediating variable between personality factors
and service performance, turnover and absenteeism has
received scant attention in the literature. This mediating role
is an important one especially in the call center environment
where the stress levels tend to be high and a higher rate of
burnout has been observed (Zapf et al., 1999). We expect that
certain personality types will perceive the environment as
more stressful and thus be more likely to experience burnout,
which in turn may lead to lower service performance, higher
absenteeism and turnover. The present study will add to the
call center literature by examining the mediating role of
burnout, as measured by emotional exhaustion, in the
relationship between personality and performance.
Based on the extant literature we predict the following:
H4a. Burnout, as measured by emotional exhaustion, will
mediate the relationship between call center employee
personality characteristics and supervisor rating of
employee service performance.
H4b. Burnout, as measured by emotional exhaustion, will
mediate the relationship between call center employee
personality characteristics and supervisor rating of
employee absenteeism.
H4c. Burnout, as measured by emotional exhaustion, will
mediate the relationship between call center employee
personality characteristics and supervisor rating of
employee intent to turnover.
Figure 1 depicts the expected relationships between the seven
personality variables, the three performance variables, and the
mediating role of emotional exhaustion.
Method
Participants and procedure
We conducted the survey at eight call centers in five
companies in the insurance and telecommunications
industries. The call centers surveyed were cost centers and
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the employees were principally engaged in providing
information in response to customer calls. The eight call
centers had a total of 521 employees. We distributed 521 call
center employee surveys and 521 call center supervisor
surveys. We received 194 useable pairs of surveys for a
response rate of 37 percent. The employee sample is 29
percent male, with an average age of 35 years, three-year
tenure in the current position and three years of post-
secondary education.
Avoiding same source bias
A common criticism of survey research is common method
variance (Crampton and Wagner, 1994; Podsakoff and
Organ, 1986). We addressed this problem in this study by
following Podsakoff et al.’s (2003) suggestion of obtaining
measures of the predictor and criterion variables from
different sources. The call center employee survey
administered to the employees obtained data on their
personality characteristics as well as data on their intent to
turnover. The supervisor call center survey completed for
each employee by his or her supervisor included measures of
employee service performance, absenteeism, and turnover
intent. We used the data provided by the employees to
ascertain the accuracy of the supervisors’ perceptions of
employee turnover intent. We found a positive correlation
between both measures (r ¼ 0:319, p , 0:01) and proceeded
to use the supervisors’ ratings of turnover intent.
Measures
The correlation coefficients for all constructs of interest can
be found in Table I. In addition, the survey items for all the
variables used in the study are presented in Table II.
Personality variables
We used the FFM and LOC to measure personality. We
measured the FFM variables using items from the
International Personality Item Pool (Goldberg, 1999). For
the sake of parsimony, we measured conscientiousness using
five items and the rest using four items each. Each scale
demonstrated a reasonable reliability; 0.87, 0.91, 0.81, 0.88,
and 0.86, respectively, for conscientiousness, agreeableness,
emotional stability, extraversion/introversion, and openness to
new experience. These are similar to those obtained by
Goldberg (1999): 0.81, 0.85, 0.81, 0.88, and 0.79,
respectively, for conscientiousness, agreeableness, emotional
stability, extraversion/introversion, and openness to new
experience. We measured internal and external LOC using
three items adapted from Levenson (1974). The Cronbach
alphas were 0.79 and 0.84 each for internal and external
LOC. This is comparable to 0.88 for internal and 0.81 for
external LOC obtained by Chung and Ding (2002). The
ratings for all seven dimensions were on a seven-point Likert
scale ranging from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 7 (Strongly agree).
Mediating variables
We measured job burnout using eight items that constitute the
emotional exhaustion scale adopted from Maslach and
Jackson (1986). We asked respondents to indicate the
frequency with which they experienced certain feelings
related to their job (e.g., I feel emotionally drained from my
work) on a seven-point scale ranging from 1 (never) to 7
(everyday). The measure demonstrated acceptable reliability
 Employee personality factors and service performance Journal of Services Marketing
Olukemi O. Sawyerr, Shanthi Srinivas and Sijun Wang Volume 23 · Number 5 · 2009 · 301 –317

Figure 1 Expected relationships between the seven personality variables, the three performance variables and the mediating role of emotional
exhaustion

Table I Descriptive statistics and correlations for all variables in the study
Variables Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
1. Conscientiousness 5.50 1.01 1.00
2. Agreeableness 5.66 1.09 0.32 * * 1.00
3. Emotional stability 4.93 1.13 0.54 * * 0.35 * * 1.00
4. Locus of control (internal) 5.76 0.93 0.37 * * 0.14 * * 0.52 * * 1.00
5. Extraversion/introversion 4.75 1.31 0.30 * * 0.31 * * 0.37 * * 0.21 * * 1.00
6. Openness to new experience 5.23 1.07 0.49 * * 0.35 * * 0.55 * * 0.43 * * 0.44 * * 1.00
7. Locus of control (external) 2.96 1.44 2 0.11 0.02 2 0.19 * * 2 0.31 * * 0.02 2 0.06 1.00
8. Emotional exhaustion 3.70 1.66 2 0.09 2 0.12 2 0.34 * * 2 0.13 * * 2 0.13 2 0.15 * 0.25 * * 1.00
9. Service performance 4.76 1.01 0.12 2 0.02 0.09 0.09 0.06 2 0.03 2 0.07 0.06 1.00
10. Absenteeism 5.26 1.68 0.02 2 0.03 0.09 2 0.09 2 0.01 0.01 0.04 2 0.07 0.02 1.00
11. Turnover 2.39 1.57 2 0.03 0.09 0.05 0.10 0.13 0.01 0.11 0.22 * * 0.05 0.12 * 1.00
Notes: * Indicates that the correlation coefficients are significant at p , 0:05; * * indicates that the correlation coefficients are significant at p , 0:01

of 0.92, which is comparable to 0.90 obtained by Maslach
and Jackson (1986).
Dependent variables
We used three variables to assess employee performance:
service performance, absenteeism and intent to turnover. We
measured supervisor service performance rating using three
items developed from the extant literature (Witt et al., 2004;
Cleveland, 2007). The items measured accuracy of
information provided to customers, speed of response to
customer request and ability to solve problems. The items
were measured on a seven-point scale ranging from 1
(significantly below average) to 7 (exceptional). Coefficient
alpha for supervisor service performance rating was 0.85. We
measured supervisor’s absentee rating using a single item on a
seven-point scale ranging from 1 (significantly below average)
to 7 (exceptional). We measured supervisor’s rating of
employee intent to turnover by having the supervisors
indicate how likely it was that the employee would actively
look for a new job in the next year using a seven-point scale
with ranging from 1 (not at all likely) to 7 (extremely likely).
We also asked the respondents to indicate their intent to
turnover using the same scale. The correlation between the
two measures was positive and significant (r ¼ 0:319,
p , 0:01). To avoid same source bias, we used the
supervisors’ ratings to measure intent to turnover.
Data analyses and results
Measurement model analysis
We assessed measurement reliability and validity by
estimating a factor confirmatory measurement model, where
all seven employee factors (five personality factors and two
factors of LOC), the mediation variable (emotional
exhaustion), and performance were included. In the model,
we set each item to load only on its own factor, and allowed
the factors to correlate. All fit indices except the chi-square
statistic (Chi-square with 424 degrees of freedom ¼ 659:45,
p , 0:001) indicate support for the hypothesized model
(CFI ¼ 0:961, NFI ¼ 0:961, IFI ¼ 0:955, RMSEA ¼ 0:054,
SRMR ¼ 0:066 (Bollen, 1989)). These results indicate the
uni-dimensionality of the measures (Anderson and Gerbing,
1988). Further, all factor loadings were statistically significant
(p-value , 0:01) and the composite reliabilities of each
construct all exceeded the usual 0.60 benchmark (Bagozzi
and Yi, 1988). Thus, these measures demonstrate adequate
convergent validity and reliability. Moreover, all the cross-
construct correlations were significantly smaller than j1.00j
(p-value , 0:01), signifying the discriminant validity of these
measures (Phillips, 1981).
Testing H1-H3
H1-H3 predicted that employees’ service performance,
absenteeism, and intent to turnover are influenced by the
seven personality factors. As protection against escalating type

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Olukemi O. Sawyerr, Shanthi Srinivas and Sijun Wang Volume 23 · Number 5 · 2009 · 301 –317

Table II Survey items and reliability for measures in the study

Cronbach’s Item
Constructs (all used 1-7 anchor) Source alpha loadings
Conscientiousness Goldberg (1999) 0.869
I am always prepared 0.826
I pay attention to details 0.797
I get chores done right away 0.838
I like order 0.783
I follow a schedule 0.820
Agreeableness Goldberg (1999) 0.905
I sympathize with others’ feelings 0.873
I have a soft heart 0.883
I take time out for others 0.860
I feel others’ emotions 0.912
Emotional stability Goldberg (1999) 0.807
I seldom feel blue 0.779
I feel comfortable with myself 0.830
I readily overcome setbacks 0.804
I am relaxed most of the time 0.770
Locus of control (internal) Levenson (1974) 0.761
I am pretty much determined what will happen in my life 0.872
When I make plans, I am almost certain to make them work 0.865
When I get what I want, it is usually because I worked hard for it 0.832
Extraversion /introversion Goldberg (1999) 0.876
I feel comfortable around people 0.830
I start conversations 0.896
I talk to a lot of different people at parties 0.911
I do not mind being the center of attention 0.799
Locus of control (external) Levenson (1974) 0.815
I feel like what happens in my life is mostly determined by powerful people 0.860
People like myself have very little chance of protecting our personal interests
when they conflict with those of strong pressure groups 0.835
My life is chiefly controlled by powerful others 0.870
Openness to new experience Goldberg (1999) 0.862
I have a rich vocabulary 0.788
I have a vivid imagination 0.839
I have excellent ideas 0.869
I am full of ideas 0.872
Emotional exhaustion Maslach and Jackson (1986) 0.899
I feel emotionally drained from my work 0.895
I feel fatigued when I wake up in the morning and have to face another
day on the job 0.876
I feel burned out from my work 0.900
I feel frustrated by my job 0.825
Service performance Self-developed 0.850
Employee’s accuracy 0.900
Employee’s speed 0.839
Employee’s ability to resolve problems 0.913

I error that could be expected if each dependent variable was
analyzed separately, we simultaneously tested these 21 pairs of
hypothesized relationships using structural equation modeling
(SEM) technique programmed by LISREL 8.3 (Joreskog and
Sorbom, 1999). Table III presents information on the
direction of the hypothesized relationships and summarizes
information on the path coefficients and related model fit
indices. It appears that the hypothesized model fits our data
well; all fit indices except the chi-square statistic (Chi-square
with 424 degrees of freedom ¼ 659:45, p , 0:001) indicate
support for the hypothesized model (CFI ¼ 0:965,
IFI ¼ 0:966, NNFI ¼ 0:959, RMSEA ¼ 0:049, and
SRMR ¼ 0:061 (Bollen, 1989)). We also achieved a
reasonable R2 for each of service performance (5.7 percent),

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 Employee personality factors and service performance
Olukemi O. Sawyerr, Shanthi Srinivas and Sijun Wang
Table III Main effects of personality on employee performance
Employee performance
Service performance Absenteeism
Hypo-thesized Path Hypo-thesized
Personality variables Hypothesis direction coefficient Hypothesis direction coefficient Hypothesis direction coefficient
Conscientiousness H1a þ 0.121 H2a
Agreeableness H1b þ 20.031 H2b
Emotional stability H1c þ 0.222 H2c
Locus of control (internal) H1d þ 20.039 H2d
Extraversion/introversion H1e 2 20.019 H2e
Openness to new experience H1f 2 20.253 * H2f
Locus of control (external) H1g 2 0.004 H2g
R2 (%)a 5.7
Notes: a Total variance of dependent variables that can be explained by personality variables; * indicates that the path coefficients are significant at 0.10; * *
indicates that the path coefficients are significant at 0.05; italicized path coefficients indicate opposite directions to our hypotheses; Model fit indices:
Chi-square ¼ 659:45 (df ¼ 424) (p , 0:001) CFI ¼ 0:965, IFI ¼ 0:966, NNFI ¼ 0:959, RMSEA ¼ 0:049, SRMR ¼ 0:061
absenteeism (17.3 percent) and employee intent to turnover
(17.2 percent).
Hypothesized relationships – H1a through H1g
H1 focused on the relationships between call center employee
personality characteristics and supervisor rating of employee
service performance. H1a through H1d predicted positive
relationships between the personality characteristics of
conscientiousness (H1a), agreeableness (H1b), emotional
stability (H1c) and internal LOC (H1d) and supervisor
rating of service performance. These relationships were
largely unsupported by our data. H1e through H1g
predicted negative relationships between the personality
characteristics of extraversion (H1e), openness to new
experience (H1f), and external LOC (H1g) and supervisor
rating of employee service performance. The only supported
prediction is the negative relationship between openness to
new experience and service performance (b ¼ 20:253;
p ¼ 0:06) (see Table III).
Hypothesized relationships – H2a through H2g
H2 addressed the relationships between call center employee
personality characteristics and supervisor rating of employee
absenteeism. H2a through H2d predicted negative
relationships between the personality characteristics of
conscientiousness (H2a), agreeableness (H2b), emotional
stability (H2c) and internal LOC (H2d) and supervisor
rating of employee absenteeism. As hypothesized, we found
negative relationships between conscientiousness and
absenteeism (b ¼ 20:304; p ¼ 0:08), and internal LOC and
absenteeism (b ¼ 20:652; p , 0:001). Further, we found two
relationships that were in the opposite direction to our
hypothesis. Specifically, agreeableness was found to be
positively (rather than negatively) related to absenteeism
(b ¼ 0:284; p ¼ 0:027), and emotional stability was positively
(rather than negatively) related to absenteeism (b ¼ 0:754;
p ¼ 0:006). H2e through H2g predicted positive relationships
between the personality characteristics of extraversion (H2e),
openness to new experience (H2f), and external LOC (H2g)
and supervisor rating of employee absenteeism. Interestingly,
we found that these personality factors had no impact on
absenteeism ( b ¼ 20:202, p . 0:10 for extraversion;
b ¼ 20:092, p . 0:10 for openness to new experience; and
b ¼ 20:078, p . 0:10 for external LOC) (see Table III).
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Volume 23 · Number 5 · 2009 · 301 –317
Intent to turnover
Path Hypo-thesized Path
2 20.304 * H3a 2 0.040
2 0.284 * * H3b 2 2 0.231
2 0.754 * * H3c 2 2 0.868 * *
2 20.652 * * H3d 2 0.758 * *
þ 20.202 H3e þ 0.144
þ 20.092 H3f þ 0.515 * *
þ 20.078 H3g þ 0.124
17.3 17.2
Hypothesized relationships – H3a through H3g
H3 focused on the relationships between employee personality
characteristics and supervisor rating of employee turnover
intention. H3a through H3d predicted negative relationships
between the personality characteristics of conscientiousness
(H3a), agreeableness (H3b), emotional stability (H3c), and
internal LOC (H3d) and supervisor rating of employee
turnover intention. As predicted, we found a negative
relationship between emotional stability and intent to
turnover (b ¼ 20:868; p ¼ 0:007). However, contrary to
our predictions, we found a positive relationship between
internal LOC and intent to turnover (b ¼ 0:758; p ¼ 0:017).
We found no significant associations between
conscientiousness and agreeableness and intent to turnover.
H3e through H3g predicted positive relationships between the
personality characteristics of extraversion (H3e), openness to
new experience (H3f), and external LOC (H3g) and
supervisor rating of employee turnover intention. As
predicted, we found a positive relationship between
openness to new experience and intent to turnover
( b ¼ 0:515; p ¼ 0:024). We did not find significant
associations between extraversion and external LOC and
intent to turnover (see Table III).
Testing H4
H4 addressed the mediating role of burnout, as measured by
emotional exhaustion, in the relationships between call center
employee personality characteristics and supervisor rating of
employee service performance, absenteeism and intent to
turnover. To test this hypothesis, we ran a separate SEM
model by adding emotional exhaustion to the model while
maintaining the 21 links from the seven personality factors to
the three outcome variables (i.e. service performance,
absenteeism, and intent to turnover). As shown in Figure 2,
we added seven paths from seven personality factors to
emotional exhaustion and three paths from emotional
exhaustion to the three outcome variables.
Table IV summarizes information regarding the path
coefficients and related model fit indices. It appears that the
specification of additional links fits the data well. More
importantly, after adding the mediation factor we achieved a
higher R2 for each of intent to turnover (21 percent),
absenteeism (18 percent), and service performance (7.9
 Employee personality factors and service performance Journal of Services Marketing
Olukemi O. Sawyerr, Shanthi Srinivas and Sijun Wang Volume 23 · Number 5 · 2009 · 301 –317

Figure 2 Mediating effects of emotional exhaustion

Table IV Mediation roles of employee reported emotional exhaustion

Employee performance Mediator
Service performance Absenteeism Intent to turnover Emotional exhaustion
Conscientiousness 0.104 20.323 * 20.003 0.257
Agreeableness 20.051 0.227 * * 20.227 0.026
Emotional stability 0.336 0.797 * 20.655 * 2 1.064 * *
Locus of control (internal) 20.076 20.688 * * 0.652 * * 0.577 * *
Extraversion/introversion 20.001 20.197 0.143 2 0.004
Openness to new experience 20.269 * * 20.098 0.494 * * 0.123
Locus of control (external) 20.040 20.090 0.057 0.312 * *
Emotional exhaustion 0.110 0.057 0.225 *
R2 (%)a 7.9 18 21 31.6
a
Notes: Total variance of dependent variables that can be explained by personality variables; * indicates that the path coefficients are significant at 0.10; * *
indicates that the path coefficients are significant at 0.05; italicized path coefficients indicate opposite directions to our hypotheses; Chi-square ¼ 849:43
(df ¼ 544) (p , 0:001), CFI ¼ 0:960, IFI ¼ 0:961, NNFI ¼ 0:954, RMSEA ¼ 0:0494, SRMR ¼ 0:0628

percent). The model also suggests that 31.6 percent of the
variance in emotional exhaustion can be explained by the
seven personality factors.
Hypothesized relationships – H4a through H4c
H4 predicted that burnout, as measured by emotional
exhaustion, will mediate the relationships between call
center employee personality characteristics and supervisor
rating of employee service performance (H4a), absenteeism
(H4b) and intent to turnover (H4c). The results provided
partial support for this hypothesis. A comparison of the path
coefficients in Table III (also see Figure 2) with those in Table
IV shows significant paths indicating that the direct links
between employee personality factors and three outcome
variables, as reported in our main effect model, were also
significant and maintained the same signs in the mediation
model. We found three personality factors had their impact on
employee intent to turnover through either full mediation or
partial mediation of emotional exhaustion. We found that an
employee’s external LOC has a positive impact on intent to
turnover only through full mediation of emotional exhaustion,
i.e. external LOC has no significant direct impact on intent to
turnover aside from the mediation effects through emotional
exhaustion (External LOC ! Emotional Exhaustion
b ¼ 0312, p , 0:01; Emotional Exhaustion ! Intention to
Turnover b ¼ 0:225, p ¼ 0:06). Further, we found that an
employee’s emotional stability and internal LOC have their

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Olukemi O. Sawyerr, Shanthi Srinivas and Sijun Wang
impact on intent to turnover through partial mediation of
emotional exhaustion, i.e. these two factors have both direct
and indirect effects on intent to turnover. From Table IV (see
also Figure 2) one can tell that an employee’s emotional
stability has its negative, direct effect on intent to turnover
(b ¼ 20:655; p ¼ 0:06) and its negative, indirect effect on
intent to turnover through emotional exhaustion (Emotional
Stability ! Emotional Exhaustion b ¼ 21:064, p , 0:01).
Similarly, an employee’s internal LOC has its positive, direct
effect on intent to turnover (b ¼ 0:652, p , 0:01) as well as a
positive, indirect effect on intent to turnover through
emotional exhaustion (Internal LOC ! Emotional
Exhaustion b ¼ 0:577, p , 0:01).
Discussion
This study examined the relationships between personality
factors and service performance, absenteeism, intent to
turnover in the context of a call center environment. The
mediating role of emotional exhaustion in these relationships
was examined as well. Turning first to the relationship
between service performance and call center employee
personality factors, the results show a negative relationship
between openness to new experience and service
performance; that is, individuals who are open to new
experience were rated lower by their supervisors on service
performance as measured by accuracy, speed, and ability to
resolve problems. There were no significant relationships
between service performance and the other personality
variables. These results indicate that the strong relationships
that were found in prior research linking the big five
personality factors and LOC to performance may not
readily apply to the call center environment. Much of the
earlier findings (Mount et al., 1998) on personality factors
and performance were observed in work environments with
strong teamwork components. This was an important aspect
of the work environment that was missing in the call centers
that we examined. The results provide support for Mount
et al.’s (1998) finding that the nature of work moderated the
relationship between personality and performance. It could be
that the nature of call center work affected the relationships
between personality characteristics and performance. The one
exception to this was the expected negative relationship that
we found between openness to new experience and
performance. Prior research (e.g., Bing and Lounsbery,
2000) has shown that this link is positive in cases where the
work is conducted in an organizational setting that fosters
learning, imagination and creativity. The finding from our
study is consistent with this finding from the perspective that
when the environment is restrictive, individuals who score
high on the openness to new experience scale may not
perform so well. We can extend the implications of these
findings to suggest that when the work environment is
restrictive, individuals who are high on openness to new
experience may perform poorly. This is indeed what we found
in our study.
Turning second to the relationship between absenteeism
and call center employee personality characteristics, as we
predicted, conscientiousness and internal LOC were
negatively associated with absenteeism; however, contrary to
our prediction, agreeableness and emotional stability were
positively associated with absenteeism. Extraversion,
openness to new experience and external LOC were not
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Volume 23 · Number 5 · 2009 · 301 –317
associated with absenteeism. Our findings for
conscientiousness are consistent with those of Judge et al.
(1997) in that this personality factor was negatively related to
absenteeism. One can expect that individuals who are
responsible and hardworking are less likely to be absent.
This was certainly the case in our findings. Our findings for
internal LOC are consistent with the findings of the Ng et al.
(2006) who found a positive relationship between internal
LOC, attendance and hours worked. Contrary to our
expectations, both emotional stability and agreeableness had
direct positive effects on absenteeism. Emotionally stable
individuals are described as being relaxed, stable, tolerant of
stress and secure. For individuals who scored high on this
dimension, a possible explanation for our findings may be that
in a stressful work environment such as in a call center it is
important to maintain a sense of emotional equilibrium and
thus it may be necessary for employees to take some time off
when they find themselves in situations that are affecting their
sense of emotional wellbeing. Previous studies have shown
that absence may serve as a behavioral coping mechanism to
restore one’s mental health balance (e.g., Tourigny et al.,
2005). Agreeable individuals are those who are cooperative,
trusting, flexible and caring. In the absence of direct support
from the literature, we speculate that these characteristics of
agreeable individuals may indicate that they have a greater
tendency to engage in helping behaviors towards people
outside of the work environment, which may be a cause for
the higher rates of absenteeism. Judge et al. (1999) suggest
that individuals who are extremely agreeable may be willing to
forego their job success to please others. Thus one
explanation could be that these individuals may be more
likely to succumb to peer pressure and follow the lead of
coworkers who are absent from the job.
Third, our findings for the relationship between intent to
turnover and call center employee personality characteristic
showed, as predicted, a negative relationship between
emotional stability and intent to turnover and a positive
relationship between openness to new experience and intent
to turnover. Contrary to our expectations, however, we found
internal LOC to be positively associated with intent to
turnover. The remaining four personality factors of
conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and external
LOC were not associated with intent to turnover. The finding
for emotional stability is supported by prior research.
According to LeBreton et al. (2004), emotional stability
appears to be the most important predictor of turnover.
Individuals who score high on this dimension show higher
persistence rates due to their greater tolerance for stress. For
individuals who are open to new experience, when there is a
perceived lack of match between their interests and the work
environment they may be more likely to quit the organization.
This may be happening to those individuals working in a call
center environment who happen to be high on the openness to
new experience personality scale. Internal LOC had a direct
positive impact on intent to turnover. This is contrary to
earlier findings by Bernardi (2003). However, Kren (1992)
found that internals take a more active role in managing their
environments. When internals feel dissatisfied they tend to
take steps to leave the organization. On the other hand,
individuals with an external LOC tend to be more passive and
wait till they are forced to leave the organization. This is
consistent with the findings of Allen et al. (2005) who note
that the relationship between turnover intention and actual
 Employee personality factors and service performance
Olukemi O. Sawyerr, Shanthi Srinivas and Sijun Wang
turnover is stronger for internals than it is for externals. This
is due to the fact that internals, compared to externals, tend to
try to control their environments and are more likely to act on
their intentions.
Finally, a look at the mediating effects of emotional
exhaustion on the relationships between call center employee
personality factors and performance, absenteeism and intent
to turnover provide some interesting results. In the second
SEM model (see Table IV), all the main effects, which we
discussed above, remain. Burnout, as measured by emotional
exhaustion, partially mediated the relationship between
emotional stability and intent to turnover. Emotionally
stable individuals are less likely to be emotionally exhausted
and are thus less likely to turnover. Considering that
emotionally stable individuals are relaxed, stable, tolerant of
stress and secure, this result makes sense. If we simply observe
the main effect of the personality factors on intent to turnover
and absenteeism it is clear that emotional stability has the
strongest impact on both of these performance measures.
This is particularly relevant since these observations were
made in an environment that is generally considered a
stressful one. In addition to the direct effects, the partial
mediation through emotional exhaustion makes emotional
stability an important personality characteristic in relation to
turnover intentions in the call center environment.
Emotional exhaustion also partially mediated the
relationship between internal LOC and intent to turnover.
Individuals with an internal LOC displayed higher levels of
emotional exhaustion and thus were more likely to turnover.
This is contrary to our expectations. We had expected that
internals would be less susceptible to emotional exhaustion
since they take a more active role in managing their
environments and are thus more likely than externals to
have developed mechanisms to cope with emotional
exhaustion (Chiu et al., 2005). As a retrospective thought,
we suspect that this unexpected finding could be explained by
the attribution style of individuals who are high in internal
LOC. That is, internals tend to attribute negative incidents
(failures) to factors internal to them, rather than factors
outside their control (Zimbardo, 1985). In a call center
environment, a good percentage of employee-customer
interactions are related to negative incidents. Thus,
employees with a higher internal LOC may take the failure
internally, leading to higher emotional exhaustion.
Further, it should be pointed out that the relationship
between LOC and emotional exhaustion was much stronger
for externals (p , 0:05) than it was for internals (p , 0:10).
Internals, more so than externals, tend to try to control their
environments and are more likely to act on their intentions to
turnover (Kren, 1992). It could be that they are less
successful in managing their environment when it is
characterized by high levels of emotional exhaustion, such
as is present in a call center, and may thus be more susceptible
to emotional exhaustion. As indicated above, internals tend to
take steps to leave the organization when they experience high
levels of dissatisfaction, such as the inability to control the
external environment (Allen et al., 2005).
Emotional exhaustion fully mediated the relationship
between external LOC and intent to turnover. Individuals
with an external LOC were more likely to be emotionally
exhausted and thus turnover. This is supported by prior
research, which has found that individuals with an external
LOC tend to experience more stress (Evans and Coman,
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Volume 23 · Number 5 · 2009 · 301 –317
1993; Jennings, 1990) and burnout, especially the component
of emotional exhaustion (St Yves et al., 1989). Those with an
external LOC are also more likely to display greater intentions
to turnover because they have fewer buffers to deal with
stressful situations and are thus more likely to display lower
levels of motivation in a stressful environment.
The results seem to indicate that emotional stability,
internal LOC and openness to new experience are important
personality characteristics in a call center environment. It
appears that individuals who are emotionally stable display
the lowest level of emotional exhaustion, the lowest level of
intention to turnover, and the highest level of absenteeism.
Individuals with an internal LOC display low levels of
absenteeism, high levels of intent to turnover and emotional
exhaustion. Individuals who are open to new experience
display low levels of performance and high levels of turnover
intentions. Our findings indicate that extraversion/
introversion is not associated with any of the performance
measures nor with emotional exhaustion. This is contrary to
our expectations that introverted individuals would function
more effectively in a call center environment. We discuss the
managerial implications of these findings below.
Managerial implications
The findings from the present study add to the body of
literature on the study of call centers by examining the
personality dimensions that are related to performance. From
an applied standpoint, we know that the number of call
centers is increasing. We also know that the human costs
associated with call centers in terms of job stress, absenteeism
and intent to quit are higher than in other industries. The
insights gained from this study could be used to develop
recruitment and selection strategies, work redesign programs
and training that would ultimately benefit the organization by
reducing employee costs and enhancing their wellbeing.
In terms of recruitment and selection strategies, given the
nature of call center work with its emphasis on interacting
with people, there may be a tendency on the part of recruiters
to focus on factors associated with extraversion/introversion
when interviewing candidates. Whether or not an individual is
extroverted or introverted did not seem to have any bearing
on performance in the call centers we examined. Based on the
findings of the present study it is clear that the focus should
be on identifying individuals who are emotionally stable given
the stressful nature of call center work rather than on those
who are outgoing, friendly and strong in dealing with people.
Emotionally stable individuals appear to function well in a call
center environment because they are able to cope with the
high levels of emotional exhaustion as indicated particularly
by lower turnover intentions. The study also reveals that these
individuals may have a greater tendency to be absent probably
as part of their effort to cope with the stressful nature of work
in a call center and to maintain internal equilibrium. Thus
while emotionally stable individuals are less likely to quit, they
are on the other hand more likely to be absent on occasion.
Given that turnover rates are particularly high (35-50
percent) in the call center industry as reported earlier, along
with the attendant high training costs, it could be considered a
palatable tradeoff to have emotionally stable individuals
working in a stressful environment who are occasionally
absent, but who tend to stay with the company longer.
 Employee personality factors and service performance
Olukemi O. Sawyerr, Shanthi Srinivas and Sijun Wang
Further, given the restrictive nature of call centers with
scripts and work monitoring, those individuals who are
creative and who seek new experiences (openness to new
experience) may not be the most suited for call center work. It
appears that these individuals are not successful in a call
center work environment as indicated by their lower service
performance and greater intentions to turnover.
Research has concluded that personality factors are indeed
valid predictors of job performance (Barrick and Mount,
1991; Goodstein and Lanyon, 1999; Salgado, 1997; Tett et al.,
1991). However, the use of personality characteristics in
selection decisions is fraught with controversy (Arthur et al.,
2001). In order for personality characteristics to be used in
selection decisions, they must be demonstrated as valid
predictors of performance in the call center context.
Considering the human and organizational costs in call
centers, it may be a worthwhile investment for organizations
with multiple call centers to examine the validity of
personality characteristics, such as emotional stability and
openness to new experience, in predicting performance on the
job. The results from this study clearly indicate an association
between personality characteristics of call center employees
and important organizational outcomes such as service
performance, absenteeism and intent to turnover. If certain
personality types can be established as valid predictors of
on-the-job performance, then they can be incorporated into
the selection instruments currently employed in call centers.
These may include pre-screening personality tests as well as
structured interview questions that address the characteristics
associated with those big five personality variables that have
been shown to be related to job performance. For example,
one call center director that we spoke with indicated that she
routinely includes a question on emotional stability where she
asks the candidate to describe a difficult customer service
situation that the individual has experienced. She then follows
up with questions designed to draw out the candidate to
assess the level of emotional stability. It is important to
note that this inter view is done in conjunction with
pre-employment screening tests where personality variables
are assessed. This will enable call centers to select out
individuals with specific personality characteristics that have
been shown to predict poor on-the-job performance and
select in those individuals with specific personality
characteristics that have been shown to relate to successful
performance in call centers. However, human resource
practitioners must exercise caution in the way personality is
conceptualized and utilized in employment decision making.
According to Arthur et al. (2001, p. 676):
[. . .] those focusing on the practical utility of personality for personnel
decisions must be careful not to limit this utility by fixating on “typical”
selection practices. It is likely that the maximum impact in this area will not
stem solely from utilizing personality variables in selection practices, but
from the expansion of selection practices to meet the requirements of
personality theory.
In terms of work redesign, call center managers need to pay
attention to the nature of call center work. It appears that the
restrictive and scripted nature of work with very minimal
opportunities for interactions with co-workers, scripted
interactions with customers, and constant monitoring of
performance is a major source of the increased human and
organizational costs associated with call centers. Call center
managers may want to consider modifying the nature of call
center work in a manner that retains the efficiencies of the
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Volume 23 · Number 5 · 2009 · 301 –317
organization while increasing opportunities for collaboration
and teamwork. For example, Batt et al. (2006) found that call
centers that used what they referred to as the quality strategy,
that is, hired more highly-educated employees, paid higher
wages, provided more opportunities for employee judgment
and problem solving, and utilized less monitoring to manage
performance, experienced less turnover (quits and dismissals)
than those that did not. First, this indicates that call centers
can still function efficiently (at least as indicated by lower quit
and dismissal rates) without the characteristics of the
“electronic sweatshop” (Fernie and Metcalf, 1998; Garson,
1988). Second, that work in call centers can be redesigned to
give employees greater autonomy, greater opportunities for
collaboration, and less performance monitoring to reduce the
human costs associated with call centers in the form of
absenteeism, turnover and poor performance as well as to
improve organizational outcomes. Considering that
customers’ perception of a company is determined by the
quality of the interaction with its frontline employees such as
the customer service representatives in call centers (Mattila
and Mount, 2003; Peccei and Rosenthal, 1997), making the
investments necessary to assess and redesign the work
environment would be worthwhile for organizations with
call centers.
In terms of training, since much of the effects of the
personality factors on our performance measures appear to be
mediated through emotional exhaustion, organizations may
benefit from focusing on training techniques for their
employees to deal with the stressful nature of call center
work. Although personality is immutable, organizations can
provide employees with various tools in their tool kits to deal
with those aspects of call center work that produces the
greatest amount of stress. For example, Sawyerr and Srinivas
(2007), in a survey of call center employees, found that those
factors that were associated with time constraints appeared to
be the most stressful followed by the fact that the agents had
to deal with difficult customers. Organizations may find it
useful to engage their agents in designing the break policy for
employees including the length and frequency of breaks.
Additional training to deal with difficult customers so that
agents feel more in control and thus less susceptible to
emotional exhaustion may also prove to be productive.
Various employee health programs may also be emphasized to
act as buffers for the stressful nature of such work.
Limitations and directions for future research
We examined the relationships between personality
characteristics and service performance, absenteeism and
turnover intentions among call center employees. Clearly the
results of this research are not conclusive. While we found
some very strong associations between certain personality
characteristics and absenteeism and turnover, the associations
with service performance were weak, except for openness to
new experience. This may be due to the way we measured
service performance (accuracy, speed and ability to solve
problems), which may be a limitation of this study. As stated
by Malhotra and Mukherjee (2004), there are four
approaches to measuring the job performance of customer-
contact employees: employee-self-appraisal, peer appraisal,
supervisory evaluation, and consumer evaluation. Most
previous studies adopted the self-rating approach (Sergeant
and Frenkel, 2000). Although previous studies have reported
 Employee personality factors and service performance
Olukemi O. Sawyerr, Shanthi Srinivas and Sijun Wang
consistency between measures from different sources, future
studies should consider multiple-sourced measures to validate
our findings. In particular, we encourage researchers to
measure call center employee performance in a more itemized
fashion. Such itemized measures enable managers to identify
weaknesses of each employee. To avoid survey-bias, we also
encourage future studies to utilize secondary data information
such as call-center customer-employee conversational scripts
and supervisor reports. Another reason for the weak link that
we found between service performance and personality
factors may simply be due to the fact that the strong
relationships that were found in prior research may not readily
apply to the call center environment.
Another limitation of the study is the use of supervisor
perceptions to measure employee turnover intent. To
ascertain the accuracy of this measure we also collected data
from the employees on their intent to turnover using the same
scale. We found a positive correlation between both measures.
We chose to use the supervisor ratings to avoid same source
bias, a common criticism of survey research. Although we
took steps to ensure the accuracy of the supervisors’
perceptions, the way we measured turnover intent may be a
limitation of this study.
We found that some of the associations were not in the
direction predicted by our hypotheses, for example emotional
stability and agreeableness with absenteeism. Also,
extraversion/introversion and external LOC were not
associated with any of the dependent variables. Future
research is needed to parse out these relationships and shed
additional light on the role of personality on service
performance in call centers. Future research should also
examine the predictive nature of these personality
characteristics, for example emotional stability, in relation to
on-the-job performance in call centers. Our conversations
with call center managers showed the age old need to make
successful selection decisions particularly due to the high
turnover and absenteeism rates endemic in call centers.
Establishing certain personality characteristics as valid
predictors of on-the-job performance in call centers may
prove useful to these managers.
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About the authors
Olukemi O. Sawyerr is an Associate Professor in the
Management and Human Resources Department at
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Journal of Services Marketing
Volume 23 · Number 5 · 2009 · 301 –317
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. She
teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in strategic and
international management. Her recent research focuses on
organizational and individual factors that affect employee
performance. She has also published in the areas of strategic
and entrepreneurial issues facing firms in developing country
contexts. Her work has appeared in journals such as Strategic
Management Journal, Journal of Applied Social Psychology,
International Small Business Journal, Journal of Small Business
Management, International Executive, and others. She received
her PhD in Business Policy and Strategy from the University
of North Texas. Olukemi O. Sawyerr is the corresponding
author and can be contacted at: oosawyerr@csupomona.edu
Shanthi Srinivas is a Professor of Management in the
College of Business at California State Polytechnic University.
Her research interests focus on the effects of stress and
burnout on job commitment and decision making. She has
also published in the areas of women in management and
cross-cultural differences among professional women. Her
research work has appeared in various scholarly publications,
including the Journal of Applied Psychology. She received her
PhD in Business Administration from The Pennsylvania State
University.
Sijun Wang received her PhD in Marketing from University
of Alabama. She is currently Associate Professor in the
Department of International Business and Marketing,
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. She
studies services marketing and relationship marketing. Her
work has appeared in Organization Science, European Journal of
Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Services
Marketing, Journal of Interactive Marketing, and others.