Bldg.

223 – 225, Al-Baljourashi Street,

Suleimania District, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

A Correlative Study between the Use of Social Media and Work Productivity of Female

Call Center Agents in the Services and Customer Care Department of

Al Jazirah Vehicle Agencies for Ford

In partial fulfillment for the requirements in Inquiries, Investigations, and Immersion

Dela Rosa, Rachelle Danya

Dionisio, Lien Ysabel

Gonzaga, Angel Marie

Roxas, Millicent

Ms. Jemaima H. Hangalay

Research Adviser
 CHAPTER I

Rationale and Background of the Study

1.1 Introduction

The call center environment is one of the most rapidly growing areas of work globally

(Abraham, 2008). According to Bakker, Demerouti and Schaufeli (2003) about two thirds of

customer interaction takes place through call centers and most companies create and re-

enforce relationships with clients through call centers (Batt and Moynihan, 2002). The

problem that arises with outsourcing is the fact that the quality of service, thus the

performance of the call center agents, is difficult to manage. In the context of this study it can

be managed if the correct Key Performance Areas are identified. The key performance

indicators will indicate expected performance.

According to TeamLease World of Work Report, an average of 2.35 hours is spent

accessing social media at work every day and 13 per cent of the total productivity is lost

owing to the social media indulgence alone. Studies show that employees can spend up to

32% of their work day on social media every day for personal work. Since these figures are

likely to not change as the influence of social media is only growing, it is imperative, and

strategic that companies become aware of how the use of social media affects the

productivity of a call center agent.

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1.2 Statement of the Problem

This study directs to answer the specific questions:

1. Is there an existing correlation between the use of social media and work productivity of

the female call center agents in the Services and Customer Care Department?

2. How does the use of social media during working hours affect the productivity of the call

center agents?

3. How frequent do call center agents use social media for personal use in a day?

4. Which social media sites are commonly used by the call center agents?

5. How long do the call center agents use social media sites during their working hours?

6. What is the average number of calls completed by the call center agents in the Customer

Care and Services department in a day?

7. What is the call volume of each call center agent within 1 month?

1.3 Research Objectives

The capacity to contend in the worldwide economy will turn out to be progressively

dependent on the capability of companies to fulfill the requirements of customers. Clienteles are

the main growth developer of every company wherein the company's main goal is to ensure

customer satisfaction, overflowing buyers, a highly recognized reputation and gain control in the

highly competitive world of business.

It is greatly essential to know and learn the state of company affairs within a company in

order to provide quality services to the customers. Which cannot be done without effectively

distinguishing the variables that drive work productivity in call center specialists. Therefore, this

study aims to:

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  Determine if there is a correlation between the variables.

 If there is an existing correlation, determine how strong that correlation is.

 Identify how frequent call center agents use social media during work hours through a

short questionnaire and classify them according to their responses.

 Establish the connection between the use of social media and productivity of the call

center agents.

1.4 Hypothesis

1.4.1 Null Hypothesis

There is no significant correlation existing between the use of social media and

the productivity of the female call center agents in the service and sales department of Al

Jazirah Vehicles Agencies Company.

1.4.2 Alternative Hypothesis

There is a significant correlation existing between the use of social media and the

productivity of the female call center agents in the service and sales department of Al

Jazirah Vehicles Agencies Company.

1.5 Conceptual Framework

Key Performance
Frequency of the use of Work productivity of
Indicator
social media during work workers

hours

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1.6 Significance of the Study

This study primarily aims to widen and contribute to the existing knowledge if the use

of social media during work hours does really affect the work productivity of workers,

specifically call center agents. Further learning about this topic may benefit call centers

particularly, which can help them assess the working performance of the agents and how it

affects the services being provided by their company. Managers and supervisors may also

consider whether they can integrate the use of social media in the workplace for personal use

and develop some policies and guidelines for the employees to prevent them from potential

loss of productivity. Further understanding about this topic may also benefits the call center

agents themselves, as they can become more aware of their responsibilities as an employee,

and the factors which may affect their job performance.

1.7 Scope and Limitations

This study is aimed at constructing a correlative measurement between the use of social

media and the productivity of the female call center agents. It shall be determined by the results

of the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for call centers and the computation of the average

number of social media use. However, the survey will only be taken by female call center agents

in the service and sales department of Al Jazirah Vehicles Agencies Company. The study is also

limited in terms of online sources and articles that are found within the Internet.

1.8 Definition of Terms

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1. Key Performance Indicator (KPI) – is a measurable value that demonstrates how

effectively a company is achieving key business objectives. Organizations use KPI’s at

multiple levels to evaluate their success at reaching targets.

2. Social Media – a term used to describe a variety of Web-based platforms, applications

and technologies that enable people to socially interact with one another online.

3. Work Productivity – refers to the measure of efficiency of a worker or group to finish to

accomplish work in a given period of time.

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 CHAPTER II

Review of Related Studies and Literature

2.1 Social Media

Social media is undeniably accessible almost everywhere, and millions of people are

certainly on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media platforms every single day.

These days, employees aren’t exemptions anymore. Now that social media is in everyone’s

pocket, it can most likely lead to distractions in the workplace.

2.1.1 Definition of Social Media

Social media is a computer-based technology where the users can transmit or receive

personal and social information, messages, ideas, videos and images which can be accessed

through the use of the Internet. It is not just a medium for communication now but also used for

businesses and work functions like advertising and customer service such that the use of it had

become inevitable to some. Globally, there are roughly 1.96 billion social media users. That

number is expected to rise to 2.5 billion by the end of 2018 in line with the statistics of

Investopedia.

2.1.2 Statistics

People can be seen hovering in multiple media sites in some of which, users worldwide

are familiar with. Listed below are the most popular social media sites in 2016 according to

Maina (2017)

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• Facebook • Snapchat

• Twitter • WhatsApp

• LinkedIn • Quora

• Google+ • Vine

• YouTube • Periscope

• Pinterest • BizSugar

• Instagram • StumbleUpon

• Tumblr • Delicious

• Flickr • Digg

• Reddit • Viber

As stated by the same author, Facebook has within 12 years managed to accumulate more

than 1.59 billion monthly active users and this automatically makes it one of the best mediums

for connecting people from all over the world. While Twitter has more than 320 million active

monthly users who make use of the 140-character limit to pass on information.

2.1.3 What do they use social media for?

As of June 2016, the Pew Research Center released the results of their survey that

garnered a total of 2,003 American adults (including 795 who are currently employed on a full-

time and part-time basis) conducted Sept. 11-14 and 18-21, 2014. According to the results, social

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media plays a role in the lives of many American employees. However, this role is not entirely

positive.

2.1.4 Advantages and Disadvantages

Social media nowadays is being utilized in the workplace, may it be work and personal

related. It may allow the employees to improve their communication skills and other advantages,

but it could also open up to some disadvantages (SHRM, 2012).

Advantages:

 Aids open communication, which leads to enhanced information discovery and delivery.

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  Improves employees’ networking capabilities

 Allows employees to discuss ideas, post news, ask questions and share links

 Accessible to anyone

 Uncovers valuable insights

 Great past time

Disadvantages:

 Results in loss of productivity of employees

 Time intensive

 Missed opportunities for skill building

 Inappropriate online behavior

 May lead to the possibility of employees falling prey to online scams, which results in

data and identity theft

2.2 Work Productivity

Productivity, or lack of it, is an important issue to consider for economies across the

globe. In this era, globalization is prevailing. The working institutions are developing by

dispensing tough competitions to each other in all conditions. In order for them to stay in the

market, the companies focus on the internal operations, like the productivity within the

workplace. Work productivity of the employees is essential to the success of the company

because the key asset in every business organization is human capital.

2.2.1 Definition

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 Work productivity is the rating of the ability of an employee to actively execute the job

within the workplace in a given amount of time. It may be evaluated in terms of the gain of an

employee within the span of a specific period of time assigned to them by their employers.

Usually, it will be assessed in relation to an average for the other employees doing the same or

similar work. Due to the fact that the company’s success relies on the productivity of its

employees, it is an important consideration for business.

2.2.2 Productivity of Call Center Agents

Most call centers these days struggle with efficiency at one time or another. Since

efficiency is a key factor in minimizing overhead cost in call centers, it is a prominent challenge

for the company.

2.2.3 What factors affect productivity?

Employees are human beings, which means they differ in their personalities, and these

differences influence the way they react to the pressures that exist in any company. Most of them

use more that 50% of their waking hours at the workplace. Thus, the workplace environment

influences their productivity (Nag, 2016).

 Attitude is essential – when employees possess a positive working attitude, it would lead

to a greater sense of satisfaction with their job. It could also influence the other

employees to inhibit the same feeling, leading to a happy working place (Cross, 2017)

 Leadership – the management within the workplace can impact an employees’

productivity. If the supervisor blames his or her employees for mistakes, do not keep

promises, fail to provide positive feedback or ignore employee-productivity problems, it

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 would negatively affect the people working around him/her. Thus, proper management is

essential to produce a positive working environment (Cross, 2017).

 Health – one’s health is important can definitely affect someone’s ability to be productive

once it deteriorates. This can lead to absenteeism, low morale, and indifference to

organizational goals.

2.3 Relation between the use of Social Media and Productivity (Related Studies)

The use of social media affected the daily lives of people in such a way that they did not

even notice. Human beings are predisposed to create networks and communities that they feel

may contribute to creation and sharing of knowledge (Yeshambel, Belete, and Mulualem, 2016).

The rampant usage may cause indolence and loss of concentration when not restrained. They are

afraid to disconnect from social media for fear of missing out. (Perkins, 2017). Two-thirds of

the 1000 workers surveyed by Sprout Social in July 2016 say that they check social media while

on the job in the United States alone. A majority of employees regularly spend time surfing the

Internet on websites unrelated to work. Because “time is money,” every hour wasted has a direct

negative impact on the bottom line (Conner, 2012).

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 The statistics may differ from the geographical location and the scope of research hence

the formation of this study.

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 CHAPTER III

Research Methodology

3.1 Research Design

The research design of this study is Quantitative, since the proponents would make use of

Correlation research wherein the variables which will be used are in numerical data.

Correlational research helps in determining the extent of the relationships between two or more

relevant variables from a single type of population. It is a procedure which does not involve the

manipulation of the variables in order to be able to identify in what way and to what degree are

these variables interrelated.

3.2 Determining the sample size

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 The respondents of this study will include all female call center agents of Al Jazirah Ford,

CVP Department. Thus, no statistical tool will be used to determine the sample size since the

population itself is already limited.

3.3 Sampling Design

Purposive Sampling, also known as Judgmental, Selective or Subjective Sampling, is a

method of sampling under the types of Non-Probability Sampling or Biased Sampling.

It is selected based on the knowledge of a population and the purpose of the study which

is a technique that focuses on a specific type of characteristics of the population that are of

interest of the topic of the researcher. It is very useful in situations when you need to attain a

targeted sample quickly, which is what the researchers are currently facing.

3.4 Sampling units or respondents

The respondents of this research study will compose of the female call center agents

working in Al Jazirah Ford Vehicles Agencies, CVP department as they are the key factor in

determining if there is a correlation between the use of social media in the workplace and work

productivity.

3.5 Research instrument

This study will be gathering data through the use of an online survey, which was created

from a website called SurveyMonkey. It is an effective method for the data collection since it

allows the research to gather data in a more convenient organized manner. This method is also

less expensive and less time-consuming which makes it suitable for the nature of the study.

Moreover, the questions in the online questionnaire are translated to Arabic in order to

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accommodate respondents who not that fluent speaking in English. Lastly, the proponents had

utilized the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for call center agents wherein the work

productivity will be measured by the call volume of each call center agent.

3.6 Statistical Treatment/Instrument

The Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient will be used to evaluate

relationships among and the resulting magnitude of the relationship between selected variables in

both groups. The Pearson correlation evaluates the linear relationship between two continuous

variables. A relationship is linear when a change in one variable is associated with a proportional

change in the other variable.

Subsequently, the proponents of this study will utilize the IBM SPSS Statistics Data

Editor, a software which provides statistical analysis/reporting in order to determine whether

there is a correlation between the use of social media and work productivity of female call center

agents in the services and customer care department.

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 CHAPTER IV

Analysis and Discussion

4.1 Introduction

To complete this study, it is necessary to analyze the data collected as a means to validate

the hypothesis and the answer the research questions. Hence, this chapter consists of the

presentation, discussion, and interpretation of the analyzed data gathered from the respondents.

4.2 Charts and Graphs

Question 1: Do you use social media during working hours? (For personal use)

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‫هل تستخدم وسائل التواصل االجتماعي خالل ساعات العمل؟ (لإلستخدام الشخصي(‬

‫‪Figure 1‬‬

‫‪Page | 18‬‬
 The chart for Figure 1 shows that majority of the agents working in Al Jazirah Ford use

their social media accounts during work hours for personal use, wherein 76 % said yes and 24%

said no.

Question 2: If yes, what social media do you usually use? (E.g. Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat,

WhatsApp)

‫اذا نعمماهي وسائل التواصل االجتماعي التي تستخدمها عادة ؟‬

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Figure 2

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 The bar graph in Figure 2 shows the most used social media application by the call

center agents which is Snapchat, followed by WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook

being the least used.

Question 3: If yes, how much time do you spend using it?

‫اذا نعمكم من الوقت تنفق استخدامه؟‬

Question 4: If yes, what are the reasons for the use of social media during working hours?

‫ما هي أسباب استخدام وسائل االعالم االجتماعية خالل ساعات العمل‬

Figure 3

According to the bar graph in Figure 3, the most common reason why social media

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Question 5: If no, why not use social media?

‫إذا كان ال لماذا ال تستخدم وسائل االعالم االجتماعية؟‬

Question 6: If no, what do you usually do during your free time?

‫ماذا تفعل عادة أثناء وقت فراغك؟‬

Question 7: Do you think that the use of social media affects work productivity?

‫هل تعتقد أن استخدام وسائل التواصل االجتماعي يؤثر على إنتاجية العمل؟‬

Question 8: How many calls do you usually take in one day?

‫كم عدد المكالمات التي يتم استقبالها خالل اليوم ؟‬

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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ABRAHAM, M. (2008) Globalisation and the call center. International Sociology, 23(2) 197-

210.

BATT, R. and MOYNIHAN, L. (2002) The viability of alternative call center production

models. Human Resource Management Journal, 12(4) 14-34

Links:

http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/06/22/social-media-and-the-workplace/

https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/hr-

qa/pages/socialnetworkingsitespolicy.aspx

https://blog.commlabindia.com/elearning-design/negative-performance-factors

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/social-media.asp

https://smallbiztrends.com/2016/05/popular-social-media-sites.html

http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2016/30736/how-much-time-do-employees-spend-on-

social-media-at-work

https://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2012/07/17/employees-really-do-waste-time-at-

work/#411d292f5e6d

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanwestwood/2018/01/16/are-your-employees-wasting-time-on-

social-media-here-are-three-benefits/#19dc59be43ae

https://hiring.monster.com/hr/hr-best-practices/workforce-management/employee-performance-

management/social-media-at-work-us.aspx

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http://www.ijcaonline.org/research/volume135/number3/yeshambel-2016-ijca-907844.pdf

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