This project is done on the topic of employee turnover rate at UOB Centre of Excellence.

The most
challenging job for any organization is to retain their employees. Employee retention involves taking
measures to encourage employees to remain in the organization for the maximum period of time.
Corporations are facing a lot of problem in employee retention these days. Due to high attrition, it is
important to find the root cause and to know the extent of dissatisfaction of the employee. The study
also includes various trends and practice followed by the organizations and its effect on the problem of
attrition. A survey of around 25 staff in UOB Centre of Excellence reveals that staffs are generally
satisfied with their work, but are less satisfied on other facets of the job. This may include salary,
benefits, relationship between upper management and performance related outcome. This in turn
affects job performance of the employee, including engagement, teamwork, co-operation, turnover
intentions, and absenteeism. Staff turnover seems to be driven primarily by low morale and low support
from upper management. This breeds the perceptions of unfairness, the presence of obstacles to
performance, and job insecurity. By having staff with low morale and less enthusiastic this will in turn
influence staffs who are naturally committed to staying long term in an organization. This project paper
will look into the reasons of the high turnover, the effects of the turn over to the organization in terms
of finance, performance and reputation. Organizations trying to turn away a mass migration of eager
workers looking for better pay and better managers might need to guarantee that key players with
appeal aptitudes are locked in and esteemed. Loyalty is enhanced when organizations pick employees
who fit both the employment prerequisites and the corporate culture. Knowing why employees leave is
the initial phase in reducing the turnover rate. Thus, this study is conducted to find out directly from the
employees the factor that does not motivate them to continue employment with their organization.
With help of a self-developed questionnaire few factors are taken into consideration for the study. With
the help of the study, an attempt is made to redirect and reorganize the management method as to
support the employees growth and retention in the organization.
Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction1

1.1 Introduction to the study1

1.2 Background of the study1

1.3 Literature review2

1.4 Structure of the Project Paper4

Chapter 2: The Research Problem...5

2.1 Defining the area and specification5

2.2 Objectives of the study...5

2.3 Significance of study..6

2.4 Research Questions7

2.5 Scope of Study...8

Chapter 3: Data Collection...9

3.1 Sources of data for the study..9

3.2 Collection of Primary Data..10

3.2.1 Questionnaires...10

3.3 Problems Encountered in Data Collection...11

Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Presentation..13

4.1 Data Analysis...13

4.2 Data Presentation.13

4.2.1 Part A: Respondents demographic15

 4.2.8 Part B: Job Satisfaction.22

4.2.14 Part C: Work Experience28

Chapter 5: Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations.35

5.1 Findings...35

5.2 Conclusions..38

5.3 Recommendation.39

References and Bibliography..40

Appendices ...41

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Introduction to the study

Today the call centre have evolved from merely assisting customers during urgent needs to a part and
parcel of the daily life of some younger generation. The difficulties and development that the business
is confronting and will be involvement in the following era is something that have gone under
tremendous change in the couple of decades. But along with the technological advancement there is
also a growth is human influence in creating the personalized human touch. With this come the
elements of human errors and also problems faced in acquiring the human resources. This study will
focus on the human element in the call centre environment mainly the turnover rate. What is turnover,
exactly? Employees leave organizations for all types or reason. It might be reason such as different job,
moving to a job with higher pay, a raise in position, continuation of studies, moving with spouse, etc.
Then again there are other reason to quit such as getting angry with the employer or direct supervisor,
getting fired or retrenchment. All this reasons are the examples of employee turnover but they might
not have the same consequences to the organizations.

1.2 Background of the study

On this study, we focus mainly on the voluntary turnover at UOB Centre of Excellence. Its first
important to understand that this is an outsourced organization working for the parent company which
is United Overseas Bank Limited based in Singapore. United Overseas Bank Limited is a banking
institution that provides clients with financial services. These financial services include but not limited to
mortgage loan, personal financing, and investments. Although this is a financial institute the employees
at UOB Centre of Excellence are focused more on customer service as they are the primary service
provider for United Overseas Bank Limited clients over the phone. Essentially UOB Centre of Excellence
is a call centre operating in Malaysia. The duty of the employees at the call centre is to assist clients or
customers by providing them with solutions and assistance over the phone. This may include simple call
which will help customers within the same call or more complex calls which needs to be followed up
with customer. Now working in a call centre can be a challenging situation many if not all, which may
help us understand the reason behind the high turnover rate.

1.3 Literature review

To analyses and differentiate the consequences or implications we need to define the types of turnover.
Consider below diagram.

Diagram 1

To manage the employee rate in any organization we must first have an understanding of the reason
behind the resignation and the ways the management can retain valuable employees. It's important to
understand that while there are impacts to the organization on high turnover, there are some positive
notes. Given the certain employees are not performing and bringing down the performance of the
organization as a whole, the opportunity to hire replacements can be a positive experience. Getting new
hires can be beneficial as they might come with fresh vigor and ideas to support the organization. As per
above diagram 1 we need to identify first if the reason is voluntary or involuntary. Its important to
differentiate between voluntary or involuntary resignation as the management strategies will differ in
each situation. Voluntary turnover is referring to those who move from the company willful, for
instance, resignation. Involuntary turnover is referring to those workers who asked to move, for
instance, termination, retrenchment, and death. Avoidable turnover means to prevent the employees
from leaving the association. Functionality turnover refers to the loss of performance or profit to the
organization upon the employee leaving the organization. The positive impact is enabling the
replacement of unproductive employees with productive employees. The negative impact is that the
organization is losing asset (Perez, 2008).

Today the service industry has evolved in many folds in contrast to its early beginning. This demand
attributes to the increased level of education amongst the public. There is also increased awareness on
consumer rights and the expectation on products and services paid. Call centers facilitate flow of
information and communication between firms and their remote customers via the telephone
(Malhotra & Mukerjee, 2004).

As per Computerworld (March 2008), Malaysia has demonstrated the most grounded development rate
contrasted with all its ASEAN partners. Call focus industry development rate in Malaysia is 17%
contrasted with 15% for the ASEAN area. The development rate in Singapore is 8%; India is 10% while
Thailand is 15%.

By and large, the call centre industry tends to offer low wages, particularly to customer service
representative. Most employees in this industry are young and utilize a call centre work as an entry level
position and after that proceed onward to more lucrative fields. Likewise, call centres have a tendency
to anticipate that new employees will fall short of the requirement which prompts to poor morale
among employees. A blend of poor service execution and unsatisfied clients regularly makes workers
quit and keep turnover rates high.

1.4 Structure of the Project Paper

Front Page

Acknowledgement

Statement of Declaration

Executive Summary

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: The research Problem

Chapter 3: Data Collection

Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Presentation

Chapter 5: Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations

References and Bibliography

Appendices

Chapter 2: The Research Problem

2.1 Defining the area and specification

UOB Centre of Excellence is a call centre which is experiencing high employee turnover rate. High rate of
resignation is affecting the morale of other employees and affecting the attendance of other employees.
This is also affecting the organization in terms of performance which leads to loss of revenue. This study
is aimed at finding the cause and to take corrective measures.

2.2 Objectives of the study

The quality versus quantity issue has been observed to be debatable in any call centres. Another
comparable issue is the proficiency versus efficiency of call received. The high technological headway in
the business has frequently, incited operator's performance in measuring the quality yields of the call
centres. For example, hold time, abandon calls, time taken to answer to every call and others are at
present generally utilized as key markers of call centre operators. The performance markers put much
negative stress on the agents as opposed to the competitive spirit that was initially expected. With all
being said as with all business its vital that management and administrators completely comprehend
their part in dealing with the human resource assets in call centre. This study focuses on the issue of the
root cause of the turnover rates and how is it effecting the organization. Employee turnover not only
affects an organization financially but it also affects the organizations reputation and the image.
Typically, employees working in the call centre environment tend to reintegrate back to the same field.
Meaning to say that employees will be familiar with other call centre practices and will tend to compare
with the current organization. We will attempt to find the cause of the turnover and how the
organization and its administration can turn the situation around. The study will also provide valuable
input in terms of employee retention and talent sourcing. In the meantime, however there is no general
culture that will help all organizations. For instance, the sales and marketing office may have an
alternate culture then that of other division say that of the operation side or customer service.
Notwithstanding the nature, culture is a capable constrain in deciding the organization general
performance and objective. Organizations that can create and keep up a solid culture in observed as
better of then its rivals. (Ricky W.Griffin, 2012)

2.3 Significance of study

Call centres in Malaysia are developing at fast rate particularly since it offers cheap labor. Truth
be told, numerous utility and telecommunications, banks and other such organizations are expanding
their admission of agents in an exceptionally positive pattern. The high number of call centres operators
being utilized represents a worry particularly to whether the administration organizations would really
execute positive hierarchical changes and that will guarantee quality administration is conveyed to
clients through their "representatives".

Toward the day's end, client results, for example, fulfillment and dedication will be dictated by these call
centre specialists. It is in this way that organizations in Malaysia comprehend the significance of
components that would prompt to administration quality conveyed by the call centre operators. Many
researches on call centers have been done in United Kingdom and India. Truth be told many reviews like
Mukerjee and Malhotra (2006), and others have connected organizational duty, worker fulfillment with
administration quality conveyed by representatives. As said before, work labor is the most astounding
aspect to call centre spending plan. Worker turnover rate has been observed to be impressive high in
Asia. This review was planned to relate past reviews done in different nations with the Malaysian
environment and to help organizations to recognize the key representative administration calculates
that will in the long run prompt to quality support of outside clients.

Like most call centres everywhere throughout the world, call centres in Malaysia are additionally setting
much focus on the efficient and profitability measures. The trouble in measuring the qualitative
measures of organization by the call centre specialists has demonstrated to make an exceptionally
undesirable turnover rate in Asian call centres. organizations spend a ton of cash every year on
recruitment and preparing; in this way, it is critical for them to enhance the administration environment
at the call centres to lessen related labor cost and making high quality organization for clients.

2.4 Research Questions

 For the most part, when work satisfaction increases after some time, employees will expect
parts of their work that shape their satisfaction to continue improving later on. Consequently, they will
be more than willing to remain with their present organization. But, when work satisfaction diminishes
after some time, employees may expect parts of their work to keep on getting bad later and
subsequently they will be more inclined to look for other employments (Chen, Ployhart, Thomas,
Anderson and Bliese, 2011). The question raised based on this remark will focus on the critical
relationship between job satisfaction and turnover rate (Question 1).

HR practices are a vital component which can affect turnover rates. For instance, rewarding employees
for their achievements gives encouragement and motivation to the employee. Giving the employees
ongoing training and preparing projects for employees to upgrade their career advancement may make
them more inclined to remain with the organization. Thus, enhancing HR practices can lessen the
turnover rate. This proves there is a critical relationship between HR practices and turnover rate
(Question 2) (Kim S., 2012).

In the work environment, social qualities and relationship between employees and management plays a
vital role. Since considerable time is spent dealing with people within the organization its important for
an individual to have interpersonal skill. Interpersonal skills as the ability to communicate, and to
understand each other. With the rights sets of skills and relationship with managers and subordinates,
the manager is able to steer the employees in the mutual direction of organization success. When an
employee is content with the relationship he or she is able to devote the energy to the organization
wellbeing. As well as promote the willingness to stay with the organization. The results of a good
relationship can reduce the turnover rate. Which means there is a significate effect on the turnover rate
based on the relationship between employees and managers or immediate supervisors (Question 3).

2.5 Scope of Study

The scope of this study is kept to the customer service department in the call centre. The study sheds
light through important proposal to reduce turnover rate in the organization. This study can help the
organization to know which reasons employees tend to change their employment, whether through
disappointment, dissatisfaction or unmotivated in the organization. This study will assist the
organization to minimize the turnover by providing suitable suggestion and solutions.

Chapter 3: Data Collection

3.1 Sources of data for the study

In this section, the method used to look at the relationship between employees and organization, is
discussed in depth. Data collection strategies can be grouped into two, which are primary data and
secondary data. Primary data is characterized as the information that can be gathered from surveys or
from direct from the source. We can get primary data from survey, questionnaires, observation, focus
group and so on. Secondary data in this research was collected before primary data because of the
questions have been answer by other researchers. The secondary data is mostly internet or search
engine sources such as Google, to obtain the up-to-date articles and information. In addition, online
database is also one of the vital sources of obtaining secondary data. For this situation, our primary data
is the outcome from the questionnaires that was filled by our respondents. There lies a common
misunderstanding between qualitative research and quantitative research techniques. Qualitative
research is essentially about strategy. It is utilized to pick up underlying reasons, opinions, and
motivations. Qualitative research is additionally used to reveal differences in thought and problems.
Qualitative information collection incorporates focus group, interviews, and participation/observations.
The sample size is regularly little, and respondents are chosen by the researchers. Quantitative research
is utilized to evaluate the issue by method for creating numerical information or information that can be
changed into useable measurements. It is utilized to evaluate opinions, behaviors, practices, and other
characterized factors. Quantitative research utilizes quantifiable information to plan actualities and
reveal numerical information in research. Quantitative information collection strategies incorporate
different types of studies online studies, paper overviews, portable reviews and, eye to eye interviews,
phone interviews, and surveys.

Quantitative research is being utilized as a part of this project paper. Quantitative research is used to
distinguish the circumstances and end results so that our research can be more effective and reliable. As
a quantitative review, the results are produced using the questionnaires disseminated to our
respondents. Along these lines, measurable information is the medium that enables us to acquire
required data. Since a quantitative strategy was utilized for this paper, a questionnaire was planned
utilizing dependable measures received from past research. Information collection, methods and the
research instruments utilized as a part of the study is additionally pointed in this section. (Qualitative
versus Quantitative Research)

3.2 Collection of Primary Data

3.2.1 Questionnaires

For best outcomes, both primary data and secondary data was gathered keeping in mind to get more
dependable result. Questionnaires are utilized to get our essential information with the goal that we can
get reliable and dependable outcomes. The main reason the preferred method of using questionnaires
for the paper is that the information is ready to be gathered in a brief timeframe. Additionally, this
technique empowers the author to think about what is required and how to quantify the factors of the
project paper. Furthermore, it is less costly, utilize less time and require less abilities compared to
conducting an interview. In this paper the questionnaire is utilized as research instrument. questionnaire
made up with clear guidelines and space for replying. It has a reason identified with the objective of the
questionnaire which helps the respondents to answer easily. The survey is separated into three area, In
the first section, it covers the employees personal details. section 2 is regarding the factor of job
satisfaction. Section 3 is regarded on the work environment. The questionnaire is divided into three
parts, part A, part B, and part C. In part A, it is concerned on the demographic of the respondents. For
instance, gender, age, marital status, ethnic group, education background, working experience, and
salary range. It can create an understanding of character of the respondents which required. In part B,
there is 7 inquiries attributed to the component of occupation fulfillment. Part C is in respect work
environment part which has eight inquiries. These inquiries are composed with scales that comprises of
5 point. Each question is started from 1 point which means strongly disagree followed by 2 disagree, 3
neutral, 4 agree, and 5 point which is to strongly agree. According to popular research method
questionnaire was distributed to the respondents in person. The target group for the purpose of data
collection was around 30 respondents. The respondents were from the call centre department only
which included both the front liner or agents and as well as their immediate supervisors or team
manager. However out of the 30 questionnaires sent only 25 was returned and thus the result is based
on the 25 respondents returned questionnaire. The response rate based on the returned questionnaire
is at 83.33%. A sample of the questionnaire used is included in the appendix of this project paper.

3.3 Problems Encountered in Data Collection

As in many surveys, challenges were experienced amid the information collection period. Nonresponse
is the greatest problem. In studies that uses response of respondents reply rates fluctuate from as low
as 20% in some and as high as 95% depending on the subject and the target group (The International
Conference on Survey Nonresponse). Recruiting respondents members requires time and going through
organization. Respondents are hesitance especially in light of the fact that the research is sensitive.
Another challenge experienced was the members comfort level while information gathering. Apart from
respondent reluctance time was another major factor as not many respondents are free in any one time
in order to perform a survey in a group. Questionnaire was only able to be passed to respondents
individually. This takes up considerable amount of time.
Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Presentation

4.1 Data Analysis

After the questionnaire were analyzed and data processing, next is data analysis. Logical and analytically
way is utilized to look at the information gathered. It includes characterizing, coding, changing and
arranging data required with a specific end goal to give helpful data. This sort of data is vital for
proposing conclusion and supporting decision making. The data collected from the questionnaire were
analyzed by using table, graphs, and statements. Quantitively method was used to analyzed the
collected data based on the questionnaire. A descriptive report of the statistic qualities of the
respondents were examined to evaluate the gender, age group, ethnicity, education level, and, job
responsibility. A simple qualitative analysis and descriptive statistics using simple tabulations,
percentage, and graphs are used to further breakdown the accumulated data.

4.2 Data Presentation

Data Presentation will be done using three methods. The methods include frequency distribution table,
graphs, and short description. Data can be displayed in different structures relying upon the sort of
information gathered. A frequency distribution is a table demonstrating how frequently every value (or
set of values) of the variable being referred to occurs in the table. A frequency distribution table is
utilized to conclude numerical data. Frequencies are likewise exhibited as relative frequencies, that is,
the rate of the percentage number in an example. A bar graph presentation is a method for summarizing
an arrangement of data. Structured presentations can be shown on a level plane or vertically and they
are typically drawn with a gap between the