• International Journal of Technology (IJTech)
  • Vol 8, No 2 (2017)

An Ergonomic Study on the ‘Morningness’ and ‘Eveningness’ of Call Center Agents and Its Effect on Cognitive Performance

An Ergonomic Study on the ‘Morningness’ and ‘Eveningness’ of Call Center Agents and Its Effect on Cognitive Performance

Title: An Ergonomic Study on the ‘Morningness’ and ‘Eveningness’ of Call Center Agents and Its Effect on Cognitive Performance
Alma Maria Jennifer Gutierrez, Satrina Arga, Kea Cruz, Beatrice Jison

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Published at : 29 Apr 2017
Volume : IJtech Vol 8, No 2 (2017)
DOI : https://doi.org/10.14716/ijtech.v8i2.6132

Cite this article as:
Gutierrez, A.M.J., Arga, S., Cruz, K., Jison, B., 2017. An Ergonomic Study on the ‘Morningness’ and ‘Eveningness’ of Call Center Agents and Its Effect on Cognitive Performance. International Journal of Technology. Volume 8(2), pp. 221-229


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Alma Maria Jennifer Gutierrez Department of Industrial Engineering, De La Salle University, 2401 Taft Avenue, Malate, 1004 Metro Manila, Philippines
Satrina Arga Department of Industrial Engineering, De La Salle University, 2401 Taft Avenue, Malate, 1004 Metro Manila, Philippines
Kea Cruz Department of Industrial Engineering, De La Salle University, 2401 Taft Avenue, Malate, 1004 Metro Manila, Philippines
Beatrice Jison Department of Industrial Engineering, De La Salle University, 2401 Taft Avenue, Malate, 1004 Metro Manila, Philippines
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Abstract
An Ergonomic Study on the ‘Morningness’ and ‘Eveningness’ of Call Center Agents and Its Effect on Cognitive Performance

The increasing adaptation of shiftwork in the Philippines and its reported adverse effects had encouraged research studies among Filipino workers. This study aims to identify the circadian clock behavior of the shiftworker and its relationship together with the shift schedule against the level of performance. The subjects used in this study were call center agents. Subjects were initially asked to answer a compilation of survey from the Standard Shift work Index (SSI) and Swedish Occupational Fatigue Inventory (SOFI). During the experiment proper, three laptops with head microphones were used where each laptop contained the software and programs in measuring the speech ability, reaction time and memory of participants. Majority of the respondents belong to the morning type and only one belonged to the intermediate type. The General Health Score (SSI) of the agents was generally poor in the aspect of their psychological health. The Swedish Occupational Fatigue Inventory (SOFI) scores showed that the respondents did not experience excessive fatigue. Based on the two-way ANOVA, it was found that the three speech ability measures and reaction time were significant in terms of the performance deterioration at each schedule in relation to the body clock of the individual.

Call center agent; Circadian clock; ‘Eveningness’; ‘Morningness’; Shift work