Case Study: Call Centres In The Financial Sector

Unibank

Unibank was founded in the West Midlands during the late nineteenth century and by 1990 had become a traditional national high street bank with branches in most UK towns and cities. Its main business is in personal banking and financial services for individual customers and small businesses. It has subsidiary business units which handle personal insurance, mortgages, and share dealing, but these are managed separately from the high street concern.

By the mid 1990’s all traditional banks were feeling the pressure of fierce competition in financial services, intensified by the arrival of new entrants such as supermarkets and other well known brands. With an eye to the growing commercial success of direct line banking organisations, Unibank decided to enter the telephone banking sector, and has recently been able to improve shareholder value by switching a significant proportion of its general account management and enquiry activity to a dedicated call centre, named Unicall. This resulted in the closure of many smaller, unprofitable branches and the consequent need for redundancies. Unibank attempted to redeploy existing employees where possible, but also needed to recruit new staff to work in the call centre. True to its origins, and mindful of the relatively high unemployment rates in the West Midlands, Unibank decided to relocate Unicall just outside Birmingham. However, none of this was achieved easily, since the press and public expressed concern and dismay at the closure of so many small local branches, and there was strong trade union resistance to the job losses. Thus it is true to say that currently staff morale is low, that there is considerable anxiety and discontent with the new arrangements and that the staff at Unicall itself are beginning to feel somewhat exposed as the debate about branch closures rages in the media.

At present Unicall employs 200 staff and operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on a 4-shift system. The majority of staff work on the daytime shifts.

Staff work at sets of 4 desks, wear headsets and microphones to take calls and operate terminals with access to all the required account and product information. Supervisors are responsible for each shift and there are three call centre managers and a deputy manager, one of whom is always either available at the centre or can be contacted by mobile phone. Pay scales are standardised: there is a starting rate of £18,000 which applies to newly recruited staff during their six month probationary period, after which they are placed at the bottom of a 4-point scale which rises by increments to £22,000. Employees proceed up the scale by annual increments until they reach the top point, after which further increases are dependant on promotion to supervisory or managerial work. Supervisor’s grades start at £25,000 and rise similarly to £30,000. There is no performance management system in place and as yet the idea of an appraisal scheme has not been developed. Unicall is located in pleasant, airy open-plan offices which are nicely decorated and have good basic facilities including a snack and sandwich service, a rest room, and a kitchenette for the preparation of hot drinks and snacks; thus the “hygiene “ factors are fairly good.

The development of Unicall

The history of Unicall has been mixed. After a patchy first six months, it seems to be picking up business very rapidly as customers begin to see the advantages of this service. While this is encouraging, it has led to a new range of problems. The existing number of Unicall staff is now clearly inadequate for the growing demand for the telephone banking service.

Recruitment is under way but this is likely to place existing induction and training programmes under strain. Complaints are beginning to be heard from customers who are being “put on hold” for anything from 30 seconds to 5 minutes during busy periods (especially early in the evening and at weekends)

There are also problems associated with the use of the computer system itself; these centre on the apparent inability of some staff to extract accurate information about relatively simple enquiries, or the length of time that such interrogations take. Monitoring systems which measure the number and duration of different types of call add to these complaints, with enquiries relating to standing orders and direct debit arrangements appearing to take up to 50 per cent longer than they should, according to the authors of the software. There have been customer complaints about rudeness, staff’s apparent inflexibility when dealing with complex account problems and the fact that different operators seem to give different answers to the same questions. There are additional knock-on effects for customers who prefer to visit their local branch. Here the problem seems to be that branch staff themselves have to telephone the call centre in order to deal with certain very simple transactions such as opening new accounts, and that they too are often kept “on hold” to the annoyance of clients and their own considerable frustration.

The call centre staff are also beginning to complain about aspects of the work. Unibank carried out a staff survey 6 months after the start of the operation and again after a further 3 months and the findings of the second survey reflect the increased pressures by revealing a higher degree of discontent than that noted in the first survey. Workers say that they often feel very isolated from their colleagues, which leads to a certain unhealthy rivalry both within and between shifts. Many feel that they are like ‘battery hens’ working in an intensive manner, with little control over the number and types of calls which they receive and limited opportunity to recover from one call before receiving the next. They are also under constant surveillance, with calls being monitored to determine the productivity of the operators and to check the accuracy of the information given and general quality of their work. This causes some resentment and it appears that operators often find informal ways to control the number of calls they receive and the time between calls. Some groups have worked out a method by which calls can be redirected to one of their number, thus allowing them all to appear busy while only one is actively taking calls. This way they take it in turns to give themselves an informal break from calls while still giving the appearance of working. On occasion, this has been used to ‘soak’ new or unpopular members of staff who find themselves the victims of such redirection, not realising that they are the only person on their team who is actually busy and appears to have a backlog. Supervisors are aware that this is happening, but find it very difficult to detect.

Some of the redeployed staff remain unhappy about the type of service they are being asked to give and find it too impersonal. On the other hand, some of the new recruits, especially in the younger age groups, believe that they work better and more effectively than other staff, and are beginning to feel that the standardised pay structure does not recognise or reward their individual skills and efficiency. Some are concerned about their employability and want formal recognition for their skills which would be transferable to other similar employers, of which there is an increasing number in the region. Indeed Unicall has already lost a number of its staff to other local call centres which have a more varied clientele and better career prospects.

Unibank remains aware of the way in which the banking and personal finance sector is likely to develop and management recently decide to expand the service at Unicall to include the provision of mortgages and insurance, thus providing more of an integrated ‘one stop shop’ service. Furthermore, work has already stated on the development of an online banking system, ‘Uniline’, in parallel with the telephone service. Unibank has been somewhat late in the realisation of the importance of online banking, and thus finds itself at something of a disadvantage here. The new operation, Uniline, is located in the same set of buildings as Unicall, and urgently needs programming staff and other with knowledge of banking and financial services that can help both to develop and run the initial trials of Uniline. It is also clear that if the local labour market is unable to supply this type of expertise at a competitive rate, then the bank will have to consider alternative approaches.

Unibank recognise the UNIFI trade union. Membership increased at the start of the bank closure programme, but has been affected by redundancies and is starting to decline. Membership was always low at Unicall, where the workforce is relativity transitory and predominantly female. In addition, workers at Unicall felt that the union was concentrating too hard on resisting the branch closure programme to take an interest in the call centre, particularly since the call centre was partly responsible for job losses at the branches. However there has been rumours about the possibility of further job losses, this time at Unicall. This is because competitors in the banking and financial services industry continue to outsource work abroad, and because Uniline is likely to take over more of Unicall’s business and this is causing UNIFI to start recruiting more steadily at Unicall.

Write a report should select one or two key people management issues identified in the case study since the business environment described is complex and involves several different HR issues discussed during the module. You do not have to address all of the people management issues raised in the case study.

You must indicate in your report which issues you have selected and the report should draw upon the theories, principles, tools and guidelines for people management.

Unibank

A call center typically takes thousands of calls per day. Not only calls, a financial call center is responsible for maintaining the multi-site environments and maintaining of the telecommuting programs (Kabay and Magazine 2014). The call centers employ various types of people who can make use of advanced network services and have the voice processing capabilities. They usually have quick access to the information through the use of specialized database programs. The call center employees have access to the current status of the customer accounts, their products, services and other crucial information (Kabay and Magazine 2014). The call centers have their own share of management concerns such as forecasting calls, calculation of the staff requirements, management of the environment in real-time and employing the right people in right places.

The call center managers seek out for recruiting the best personnel so that they can handle the call volumes in a better way (Kabay and Magazine 2014). This duty involves the recruitment and hiring of the various call center representatives. However, call centers are characterized by high turnover rates as the pay structure of the call centers are pretty poor. They also deal with the development of skills of the customer care representatives, since they need to develop good communication skills so that they can interact with the staffs well. HR managers working at the call center also need to take care of the absentee rates as well as advise the supervisors so that they can ensure suitable call center coverage. The call center managers should ensure that the floor is properly staffed so that they can handle the workflow and give adequate call center coverage. They also require handling the scheduling changes if there are instances of coverage lag. HR managers of the call centers also need to write down clear job descriptions in which the competencies and the expected behaviours would be identified. However, there are certain issues that are being faced by the call center HR managers. There are severe physiological damages to the employees and the HR manager has to take care of it. Since HR of the firm is responsible for ensuring the health and safety issues of the employees, hence they have to deal with the mental as well as physical problems of the employees working in the call center. There are issues such as depression, anxiety, hearing loss, disturbed appetite, loss of weight, obesity and others.

Call centers are complex organizations which are characterized by high work-pressure, employee working under isolation, automatic allocation of huge work and tight scrutiny of work. Taking all these factors into consideration, it can be stated that human resource management in call centers is a complex practice and must be dedicatedly used to promote and improve worker’s behaviour and attitude towards the organization (Simons and Buitendach 2013).  Generally, the HR practice at the call centers gives preferences towards the quantity of the call rather than the quality (Ibrahim, L’Ecuyer and Shen 2016). However, the perfect HR practice must be quality oriented and not on quantity (Zhao and Ye 2014). In Unicall case, HR practice focuses on both quality and quantity of the call towards the process of development of performance management system.

The development of Unicall

The current report is based on the human resource (HR) issues that are being surfaced in call centre of Unibank and is hampering the overall work flow and causing high employee turnover. The two major HR issues that have been identified in Unicall is low rate of employee satisfaction or lack of motivation and employees well-being. The report here will try to highlight the factors which are causing low rate of employee satisfaction and unhealthy workplace condition. Upon identification of the factors, the report will try to recommend few strategies that will help the company (Unicall) to fight back against the gaps that are present in their HR policies. These recommendations will be done under the light of theories, principles, tools and guidelines for people management. The report will start by addressing issues associated with lack of employee motivation and then will be followed by unhealthy hygienic condition at the workplace. This report will sum up the theory as related to the HR policies in the conclusion.

The employees working in Unicall suffer from extreme low levels of motivation. Motivation is important for improving the employee performance. Employee motivation can be considered as the level of commitment, energy and the creativity for ensuring that the employees carry out their job responsibilities in the most perfect manner (Lazaroiu 2015). The economy is in a shrinking stage and hence the employees need to be motivated from time and again. It is not true that the small businesses would not be able to maintain their adequate levels of motivation. But, this is not true. The HR managers can rely on the emotional as well as tangible rewards so that they can make productive workforce (Lazaroiu 2015). People can usually survive on the productive as well as creative work environment in which the employees need to make a difference. Without satisfactory motivation levels, this won’t be possible.

The employees working at Unicall suffer from low satisfaction levels. This is often reflected in their attitudes, work styles and the professionalism of the employees. The employees behave rudely with the customers and they are pretty less flexible about the dealing with difficult situations. The employees have low levels of motivation and hence they express their discontent over trivial issues. The low levels of motivation also make the employees insecure about their positions in the organization, which has resulted in the unhealthy rivalry between the employees.

The motivation of the employees is one of the most important responsibilities of the HR manager. The motivated workforce would imply that there are highly efficient employees in the organization who would be able to achieve the business goals. Employers do understand the importance for fulfillment of the employee needs as well as expectations from the professional duties (Mostafa, Gould?Williams and Bottomley 2015). However, there are employers who fail to understand the importance of motivation in the accomplishment of organizational goals. Even if they understand the importance of motivation, they often lack the skill as well as knowledge to give them a good work environment (Mostafa, Gould?Williams and Bottomley 2015). There should be transparent as well as regular communication between the employees which makes them feel valued in the organization (Bellotti et al. 2015). It is important to understand the various employee motivation level theories so that they can be well implemented in the workplace.

The Daniel Pink theory is a modern theory of motivation, which is used to denote the modern organizational attributes(Shaw and Mitra 2017). Pink argues that the motivation factor of the individuals is concerned with the most basic cognitive challenge of the individuals where the conventional reward systems do not work (Shaw and Mitra 2017). The traditional higher compensation structures, which used to motivate the employees, no longer works best in an organizational setting. The employees expect from the company and hence this theory is the most appropriate. Pink agrees that the traditional motivational tools such as the financial rewards do work. The monetary rewards are also referred to as the external motivation methods (Gerhart and Fang 2014). They are considered simple and work in most organization. However, with the changing times and the increased exposures, the employees want more than mere monetary benefits. Once the employees perceive the fact their compensation is quite fair, then they start looking for the intrinsic factors (Shaw and Mitra 2017). They look for more benefits rather than simple monetary benefits and would be only motivated if they receive the extra benefits. Pink emphasized that there are three key elements in these intrinsic factors namely- Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose. Let’s discuss these three factors in details-

The work at Unicall

As opined by Allen, Adomdza and Meyer (2015), autonomy is considered as the desire of directing the day to day activities and the employees consider this factor as one of the most important means for gaining motivation. The managers of the organizations engage in the giving adequate amount of autonomy to the employees, which enhances their motivation level. The traditional view of the management relies on the fact the employees would be spoilt if they are being given more autonomy. But, Pink believes in the fact that the employees would be more engaged in their own tasks when they would be given more autonomy (Allen, Adomdza and Meyer 2015). They would be given more freedom to work on their own and this would be effective for the organizations in the long run.

The employee autonomy usually concerns with four basic factors such as technique, time, task and team. It depends on the organizations how to leverage to the employees. For example, when the employees are allowed to work from their homes or in their own convenient times, then they are automatically given more autonomy. They enjoy their work more and give more attention to their work. This is because of the fact that the employees would be able to devote more time to their families. Their personal as well as professional life would be satisfied, which ensures that they would be more productive. The organization can provide greater technological liberty to the employees so that they can perform in a better manner. It is the duty of HR to allocate suitable autonomy to the employees so that they are highly motivated in the organization (Allen, Adomdza and Meyer 2015). The autonomy should be deployed in such a matter that the organizational goodwill is not hampered. For example, if a HR manager instructs that the employees can login from any device be it laptop or smartphones and the organizational rules mention that only laptop can be used to login, then it would not be fair. In such cases, HR department may face serious consequences and the efficiency of the department may come under review.

Pink has said that the managers should focus on the following factors for enhancing autonomy such as-

Time- HR mangers should ask the employees to focus more on the outputs and not on the time or their schedules (Allen, Adomdza and Meyer 2015). This would allow the employees to maintain their own flexibility while completing their tasks.

Team- HR managers should ensure that employees get enough choices in formation of the work teams. The traditional views of management observe that the employees must have the liberty to assemble their own teams (Block 2016). They should understand the importance of interpersonal relationships between the employees so that they can work in an amicable manner.

Technique- The HR managers should encourage a culture in the organizations in which the supervisors do not dictate the way their subordinates completes the given tasks (Scott and Davis 2015). There should be minimum amount of freedom which would enable the employees to select their own suitable ways and yet give maximum productivity (Allen, Adomdza and Meyer 2015). The initial level of guidance can be provided to the employees, which would let them to know about the organizational policies. However, they should abstain from providing constant advices and instructions to the employees and let them to do their work in their own ways.

Problems with Unicall

Task- The human resource employees should encourage the creativity factor of the employees and they should engage the employees in tasks, which can foster their creative aspects. The tasks should be allocated in such a manner so that the employees do not feel burdened by the tasks and they participate happily in the process (Allen, Adomdza and Meyer 2015). This would not only improve employee motivation, but would also enhance the organizational productivity.

The mastery technique can be used to denote the desire of continuous improvement of something important. The human beings love to improve their skill set and they wish to climb the corporate ladders so that they can have a better career (Block 2016). The modern day employees are motivated if they see that their employers are genuinely concerned about their learning growth and development of skills. The organizations should allow the employees to enjoy a greater progress level which contributes to the development of their core potential. This can be done by implementing trainings to the staffs so that they can undergo continuous development. It is also important to understand their performance lags and devise the training schedules accordingly (Block 2016). The employees would be motivated if their soft skills are improved and the organizations take an active part in doing that. On the opposite side, if the employees feel that there is lack of opportunities in the workplace, then the employees would be highly demotivated. They are bound to feel bored and would feel that the employees are not bothered about their well-being. This should be done in an appropriate manner. The HR manager should take care of the fact that the tasks should be allocated in such a manner that they are neither too easy nor they are too challenging. They should aim at pushing the employees out of their comfort zones so that they are better at accepting new challenges (Block 2016). This would automatically allow them to accept the new arenas and accept the unconventional potential, which would lead them to develop new skills as well as new experiences. This can also be done by enhancing the workability of the employees that is the skills which are most important for gaining higher organizational outcomes.

The purpose is being considered as the act of doing things which are larger than the actual human beings. The employees would be motivated if they are aware of the fact that they have greater purpose in the organization. They need to be shown the larger picture in which the employees play crucial role. This should be characterized by the definition of means for achieving the greater benefits of career. The employees should be communicated about their work purpose and how they can benefit the organization (Olafsen et al. 2015). The HR managers should ensure that the mission and vision of the organization are properly communicated to all the employees. If the employees are unknown about the organizational aims and their individual roles, then they would never be motivated in the workplace. The employees should know as well as understand their work roles in the organization and the bigger picture they are playing in it. The employees should understand their role in fulfilling the organizational mission and how they can lead to organizational growth. The HR managers should make the employees understand their job descriptions and what is expected of them.

Unicall and Uniline, the future strategy

The HR managers should understand the fact that the human beings have an inherent right to be autonomous, self-determined and connected, so that they can be well motivated in the workplace. When this drive is being liberated, then the employees are able to achieve higher results and achieve greater career achievements.

Some of the most important key points from the Pink’s theory of motivation are given below-

• The most of the rewards come from a type of control and the results from either compliance or defiance. When the organization is giving rewards, then the employees are seen to be motivated for doing the activities.
• The HR managers should abstain from creating unrealistic goals and set goals which can actually be achieved by the employees.
• It has been found out that the employees would be mostly motivated by a combination of the mastery, autonomy and purpose.
• The HR managers should ensure that all the employees are subjected to the intrinsic factors apart from the financial component. They should be treated well in the organization and then only they can give highest production.

Maintaining work efficiency is one of the most necessary criteria for the associated employees within the workplace. In order to achieve the pre-determined goals and objectives, the high level of performance parameter is necessary from each of the employees. The efficient employee inputs depend on the considerable motivation, which can extract the best outcome as per the business requirements. According to Frederick et al. (2016), the theory of Frederick Taylor on the scientific management development helps in improving the work process efficiency. The theory develops the systematic analysis of the tasks, people, and work behavior that are needed for completing the allocated work within the stipulated time. It is noticeable that Taylor’s theory generally breaks down the works into smaller tasks and completes it by maintaining high quality assurance. Supporting such methods, Janicke et al. (2017) explained that this process is much beneficial in maintaining the high level of efficiency that eventually leads the organizations towards profitability.

Nhema (2015) opined that the methods used in this theory consist of several tests that helps in completing some of the optimal amount of tasks, which can be accomplished within a certain time period. It is noticed that the management theory developed by Taylor creates the motivational scenario for the existing employees to bring out the best outcome of their performance. The case study reflects the issues with the improper time scheduling. The customers are repeatedly put on hold during their busy period and the training programs are under strain. The employees are more likely working on different tasks all at a time due to which they cannot pay the individual focus on any task. Application of Taylor’s theory suggests the division of the tasks that enhances the efficiency level of activities performed by the employees.

It is also noticed that some of the employees are unable to operate the computer system that creates obstacle in extracting the accurate information regarding any concerned queries. Moreover, the inappropriate behavior of the employees creates the customer dissatisfaction, which is not so profitable for the company. It is necessary to break the tasks into small tasks, such that only one employee does not get pressurized (Oberoi 2012). According to Taylor's theory, workers should be paid according to their skills and the productivity (Manzoor 2012). Receiving the monetary benefits as per the designation and work efficiency creates the sense of motivations among the employees (Oberoi 2012). Taylor's method was widely adopted in business as it was successful in increasing the productivity levels of the employees. Notably Taylor's theory was implemented by Henry Ford, for making the Ford cars, which led the foundation of the mass production (Jensen 2017).  Hence Taylor’s method theories can be used to increase the motivation among the employees. Supervising the teamwork is essential for enhancing the performance level and developing the positive work environment. It can be seen from the case study that some teams of the call centre have been directing the calls to one of their numbers such that all of the employees appears to be busy, whereas only one is taking the calls actively. In order to control such malpractices, it is important to apply the theory of Winson Taylor. This would reduce the pressure on the person, which has been actively taking the calls.  Ashkanasy et al. (2016) have argued that Taylor's concept has a very close relationship with the autocratic leadership style, where the managers and the HRs just give the instructions and the employees are bound to follow them.

The equity theory of motivation defines the relationship between the perception of the employees about the fairly treatment within an organization. Lazaroiu (2015) defined that the extent of the fairly treatment helps in understanding if the employee is motivated or not. Developing the equity theory, Stacy Adams tried to perceive the job situation that demands the considerable input of the employees if they are motivated enough by the employers. The equity theory concentrates on the some of the specific elements that help in building the motivational aspects within the workplace and achieving the preset goals.

According to Burrai, Font and Cochrane (2015), work inputs are involved with the diverse and rich elements that contribute to the job success. For example, the expertise, loyalty, education, commitments, and loyalty are the necessary inputs expected from the employees. In case of Unicall, it is necessary for the associated workforce to become more focused towards works and develop the suitable workplace environment. The employees are expected to be more polite to the customers and knowledgeable enough to understand the queries of the customers. Allocating the tasks as per the expertise also ease the work practices of the associated employees.

The outcomes are perceived as the rewards the employees expect to receive from the employers. In general cases, it includes the fringe benefits, direct pay and bonuses, rewards and recognition, and job security (Round et al. 2017). Employees of Unicall expect such recognition from their company that would motivate them to be more focused towards their works.

Cappelen et al. (2014) opined that equity theory generally predicts the imbalance in the relationships between the employers and the employees. In such regards, they seek regaining the balance that would bring more efficiency in the performance parameter. The imbalance created between the employees and administrative department of Unicall affected the appropriate work practices. Hence, this inefficient work practices led towards customer dissatisfaction. It is thus necessary to concentrate on the over-rewarded elements that may harm the morale of the employees.

Providing the considerable equity to the employees contribute to motivate the employees that is beneficial enough in ensuring accomplishment of the organizational objectives (Cappelen and Tungodden 2017). The equity element is one of the most helpful elements that determine the high level of motivation for the associated employees.

It has been observed that many employees feel un-rewarded if their contributions are unacknowledged. The appreciation received from the higher authority generates the sense of motivation that drives the employees towards achieving success. In case of Unicall, the employees even seek the similar acknowledgement. The management can provide the fruitful training and development session that can be fruitful enough in maintaining efficient work practices.

The above theoretical analysis provides the insightful knowledge about the employee motivation that leads the organizational towards achieving goals. Unicall has been receiving the continuous complaints from the customers due to improper and inefficient work practices of the associated employees. It is necessary for the management to identify the drawback in the employee motivation and accordingly adjust the inputs.

As mentioned by Theorell et al. (2015), unhealthy workplace condition can highly compromise upon the performance level within the workplace. The quality of performance is also decreased due to the efficiency that is not maintained in the workplace.  Robroeket al. (2013), have added that one of the ethical duty of all organisations is to ensure high level of health and safety for the employees. When the customers are complaining about the improper behavior of the employees during their calls, it creates the reputational damage for the company. The human resource department of the company thus needs to identify the core reason for the lack of motivation among the employees (Sørensen and Holman 2014). The inefficient employer-employee relationship affects the performance zone in a significant way. As per the case scenario, it has been observed that the associated staffs were also much dissatisfied with the work ambience. The survey conducted among the staffs revealed that the workers sometimes feel much isolated from the other colleagues (Boddy 2014). It created rivalry between the shifts and limited opportunity to receive calls after calls. This scenario is negatively impacting on the employee wellbeing that is considered as the greater source of dissatisfaction. As a result, the employees lacked the focus and the productivity of the company decreased in a significant manner.

The lack of adequate motivational factor creates the psychological disorders among the employees. The sense of insecurity about retaining their job or misbalance in the performance parameter impacts on the employee well-being. According to McMullen and Braithwaite (2014), due to unhealthy workplace condition, the chance of high level of employee turnover also increases. This can therefore compromise upon the reputation of the company’s in respect to the workplace environment. The insignificant and unhealthy working atmosphere affects the mental health of the existing employees within the workplace (Kim 2014). On the other hand, Deryugin et al. (2015), have stated that in general, the productivity can decrease for an individual employee, if they spend more than 40 hours in a week at the workplace. Another study of Flory et al. (2016), have concluded that individuals staying in the office for longer than 11 hours in a day is likely to encounter heavy level of stress and also have higher risks of experiencing symptoms of chronic depression. The extreme level of work pressure is also affecting the mental health of the employees. It is already discussed that the improper work scheduling creates the extra pressure on the employees that can be harmful to some extent. According to Shinde and Fleck (2015), absenteeism, is also one of the major issues that are caused by the unhealthy workplace conditions. Individuals are much concerned about their mental health, which is much necessary for increasing their performance level. The insignificant approach and inappropriate workplace environment may create the high rate of the employee turnover, which may create huge loss for the future prospects. Cartwright and Cooper (2014) observed that the unhealthy work environment increases the rate of the employee absenteeism, which creates the huge financial and resource loss for the company. The negative psychological health affects the coordination maintained between the employer and the employees (Shuck and Reio Jr 2014).

Duggirala et al. (2016), have added that in order to consider matters related to workplace safety, it is important to consider matters related to that of workplace safety. These include the hygienic conditions that are required to maintain high level of safety in the workplace. Extreme level of temperature and excessive noise are few of the important elements that can compromise upon the health and safety environment. Working under the unhealthy conditions can also lower the level of the ability of the employees to focus upon their particular tasks. Long term exposure to unsafe and unhygienic conditions can lead to permanent physical damage. This phenomenon is supported by the report of Epstein and Buhovac, (2014), who suggested that nearly one-third of all the employees suffering from mental health issues is reported to have resulted in permanent physical disorder. Defilement of the workplace health and safety environment can result in the violation of the guidelines that are being implemented by the World Health Association. The guidelines will be arranged in proper ways that are in accordance with the job profile in each if the organizations. There is also the risk of violation in terms of the ethical standards within the workplace. The Employment Act 2002 that was implemented by the UK government ensured that most employees will be able to work under safe and healthy environment and it is therefore the legal duty of every employer to provide the best possible workplace environment (Beehr 2014). Hence, violation of the safety environment in the workplace can lead to legal issues.

One of the major concerns visible in the organizations is the issues with health and safety parameter (Bakker 2015). Mäkikangas et al. (2016) opined that the employees face the mental disorder mostly due to the unhealthy work atmosphere that put the employees into the extreme level of stress. Complying with such issues, World Health Organization has developed the employee wellbeing framework that defines the protocols to promote the workplace safety and security. However, in order to develop this employee wellbeing framework, it is necessary to identify the potential risks based on the job profile (Cropanzano and Dasborough 2015). According to Siegrist (2016), there are certain global frameworks that need to be implemented in the matters of deciding upon the health and safety in the workplace. Health and safety environment can lead to enhance the level of performance within the workplace. The main objective of health and safety environment is that it can help to apply policy, which is needed for maintaining high level of workplace performance. It is also essential to maintain the effective communication that is also believed to be an effective part of occupational health (Siegrist 2016).

Lottrup et al. (2013), have stated that with the help of  job stress related theories that can be applied in the workplace to improve upon the status of social relation between the employees.  The theory of social support and that of psychological strain can be used in the given context. This helps to improve upon the degree of social and psychological integration between the employees and the level of trust. The type of social support that are being used within the employees to diminish the negative effects associated with that of excessive pressure.  In few occasions it has been seen that the level of stress is adjusted by depending on the outcomes of social dynamic. Political, economic and environmental condition also has a significant effect on the level of job stress within the environment of workplace (Beehr 2014).

The decision making system within the workplace also believed to have important role as a part of the level of stress that are encountered by the employees. Vakkayil, Della Torr and Giangreco 2016) explained that individuals who do not take part in the process of decision making seem to have higher risk of suffering from high level of stress. Person-Environment Fit theory is grounded in Kurt Lewin’s maxim in which the description of the person and environment functions are presented. Boddy (2014) stated that Person-Environment Theory based on the acceptability and the compatibility of the working environment as per the choices of associated individuals. Lack of resources is also one of the major causes of stress and other types of unhealthy workplace condition. It is also dependent upon the level of demand, which enforces the employees to deal with the excessive work pressure.

There is also the aspect of job control support theory, which aims to establish relationship between psychological job demand and job control. Psychological demands help to represent the workload and the expectation level of management. On the other hand, Uolamo and Ropo (2015) argued that there is a conflict between the level of cognitive and emotional demand. It is important to have a high level of job control that is needed to deal with high level of job stress. Hence, Nhema (2015) suggested that that lower level of job control can lead to high level of stress thereby leading to lower skill levels. This theory also recommends that high level of social support can act positively to deal with low level of control within the workplace.

The explanation of effort reward imbalance model also develops the insightful ideas about the employee wellbeing. Lazaroiu (2015) defined that the theory provides the glimpse of psychological contract related to that of social reciprocity, which is a considerable factor of employee motivation. According to Gross (2017), the efforts spent by employees will have direct impact upon the level of reward given to them. As an employee is able to deal with the high level of demand with the workplace, it is possible for them to get the proper forms of reward at the workplace.
The evaluation of Transactional Model highlights the considerable issues with the employee motivation. According to Burrai, Font and Cochrane (2015), the transactional model depends on the interaction between the associated employees. The employees need to make the most use of the resources that are available for performing organizational functionalities. Round et al. (2017) explained that the model describes the negative effects of the stress level that change the psychological and behavioral traits of the employees. The model predicts the complexity level of the work practices that affects the mental health of the employees in a recognizable way (Cappelen and Tungodden 2017).

As mentioned in the previous sections, unhealthy workplace conditions are believed to be one of the major human resource issues at UniBank. In order to improve the workplace reputation, human resource management need to take proper intervention for improving the rate of performance. The high level of stress is considered to be the major effects of unhealthy workplace condition. In order to improve the workplace conditions, at the job profile of the call center, it is essential to use effective measures of stress management techniques. For the management, it is essential to identify the exact causes of stress within the employees. Proper strategy needs to be implemented that can help to identify the major causes of stress among individual people. It is important to mention that flexibility at the workplace can help individual employees to work at suitable period. The flexibility program is also believed to be an essential part of work life balance. Productivity among the employees also believe to increase with the introduction of flexibility at the workplace. The employees will also have the opportunity to choose the timing of work depending upon the level of stress at each time. For example, in Unicall case, the employees can work in shifting duty. This will not force a single employee to work in a single timing, where the pressure of work is high due to increased demand of clients. It is also the duty of the management at Unibank to ensure that all the employees attend proper mental counseling sessions. This will help them to raise issues that are encountered at individual level, thereby compromising up on the level of mental health condition. Employees also needed to be encouraged to attend effective wellness program that are needed to deal with the issues related to high level of workplace stress.

Mental counselors also need to be appointed that are needed to held personal sessions with every worker. This will encourage the workers to increase the private private and also help them to improve upon the level of communication, which is also one of the important strategies for dealing with high level of stress. it is essential to motivate the Uncial employees by letting them know that the employers trust them, by setting smaller goals for them to get accustomed with the pressure, being transparent to them, providing the necessary incentives, radiating positivity and prioritizing the work life balance of the employees. In order to deal with the high level of complications that are usually associated with that of the unhealthy workplace conditions and high level of stress, it is essential to have an effective level of balance between the demand of management and capability of individual employees. The human resource department of the organisation needs to work in collaboration with local health and safety department. This will help them to provide the best quality of health services. There can be many irrelevant policies that implemented by the organisation in the respect of health and safety matters. These policies can implement high level of stress within the employees as they will raise the burden of following extra workload generated from the excessive work pressure.

There are few of the important characteristics that are associated and can be implemented to maintain effective workplace relationship. High level of trust between the employees is considered to be one of the major element maintaining healthy relationship in the workplace. As seen in the case of UniBank, most the employees feel isolated in the workplace due to lower level of social interaction. With low level of Trust, it is not possible for the employees to freely share the issues of stress related at the workplace. With high level of trust, it is possible for the workers at Unibank to have mutual respect for each person and thereby can establish effective with of workplace coordination. The management needs to encourage the workers for opening up their minds so that they are able to deal with all forms of changes that are being implemented as a part of stress management techniques.

It can be recommended that the changes brought the leadership style would be quite helpful in managing the organizational functionalities. The supports derived from the efficient leaders increases the workplace practices in terms of health and safety parameter. It is notable that the human resource manager of Unicall takes the responsibility of promoting the effective strategy that improvises the healthcare practices. The positive workplace environment can be generated by improving the level of corporate culture awareness practice. Improvement of the workplace culture establishes the better level of communication with the colleagues. It is necessary for the leader to take proper feedback from the employees which will help them to implement change in the human resource policies. The detailed information about every employee and all forms of Human Resource policies need to be maintained within the company's database. This information will include report of performance level of every employee. Hence, it is possible to deal with the issues related to individual level of stress that are encountered at workplace. As the management will be able to deal with the issues related with that of individual weakness, they will be able to properly identify exact cause of stress.

As the cause of stress have been identified, it is possible to develop essential development plan. For example, in case of UniBank, the developmental plan need to incorporate policies of group discussion and team meetings, where the workers will be able to discuss issues interpersonal level. The final and the most crucial steps that are needed to improve upon the health and safety environment in Unibank. In order to improvise the safety and healthy environment within the workplace is essential to monitor the human resource policies. Managing the resources for performing organizational functions within the scheduled time would be fruitful enough in developing the systematic work practice. There need to be a fixed parameter that is needed to measure the level of performance of the employees. The human resource policy needs to be reviewed that is possible from the collective feedbacks of all workers.

Conclusion 

In the concluding note, it can be said that under the current situation the call center of UniBank, is facing human resource issues that are caused due to poor level of employee performance. The high level of stress at workplace has resulted in the unhealthy workplace environment thereby increasing the risk of mental health diseases. This can also increase the risks of dealing with the issues related with that of mental health diseases among the employees. There is also the issue of Poor level of motivation among employees. This is mainly caused due to poor pay level and ineffective quality of leadership that are provided within the call center.

In order to deal with the issues of poor level of employee motivation, it is important for the organization to make use of essential motivational theories that are implemented in the forms of practice. These are also effective to fulfill the needs of the employees at the individual levels. It is also important to deal implement the policies of workplace safety. These are needed to deal with the high level of stress that is encountered at the job profile of the call center. The Unibank also needs to improve upon the leadership quality of leadership that are needed to improve upon the work-life balance of workers at individual level. It is also important to mention about the fact that with the help of effective level of motivational theory such as Pink’s motivation theory, it is possible to improve level of employee motivation and henceforth the level of safety at workplace.

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