The Interrelation of Burnout and Emotional Intelligence in Call-Centre Workers

Call-centre is a physical location that receives calls from the company's clients. The main expectations from a call-centre operator are associated with effectiveness of his/her work - it includes stress tolerance and resistance to burnout, ability to maintain emotional stability and influence client's emotions. These abilities are associated with emotional intelligence competences. The research shows that higher level of emotional intelligence lowers intensity of negative emotions and lessens the risk of professional burnout. But the question of interrelation of emotional intelligence and development of professional burnout in call-centre workers remains understudied. The objective of the present research is to study the interrelation of emotional intelligence and professional burnout syndrome in call-centre workers. The sample consists of 198 participants, the workers of the contact centre of a telecommunication company, 188 operators and 10 team leaders. The following questionnaires were used: Professional Burnout and EmIn. The study showed that the emotional intelligence competences and professional burnout are interrelated. Interpersonal emotional intelligence is connected to all components of professional burnout. Intrapersonal intelligence, understanding of emotions and regulation of emotions are connected to emotional exhaustion and reduction of professional achievements. It is shown that higher level of professional burnout is linked to lower level of all components of emotional intelligence. The study helps to widen the understanding of interrelation of emotional intelligence and professional burnout in call-centre workers. The hypothesis was confirmed: there is an interrelation between emotional intelligence and professional burnout of operators. Further studies may be focused on clarification of the character of this interrelation, analysis of situational and personal factors that influence the components of emotional intelligence of employees, as well as on probability of development of professional burnout syndrome in the target group.