Job Autonomy

India is considered as the ‘electronic housekeeper’ of the world, the reason being rapid growth of call centres (Budhwar et al., 2006) both in numbers and size (Deery & Kinnie, 2004). Call centres have become an important part of service industry and represent a new form of work. They have been gaining attention of the researchers because of their unique and unusual nature of work. Call centres are characterized by the use of standardized information technology and highly controlled work environment with closely monitored performance resulting into low job autonomy, job scope and discretion of the employee (Hutchinson, et al., 2000: 66). These job characteristics of call centres influence work related attitudes (Deery, Iverson & Walsh, 2002;

It is considered as the major work characteristic which forms the attitudes, motivation and behavior of workers (Fried & Ferris, 1987). Recently, job autonomy has gained attention of the researchers because of the benefits it provides both to the individual and the organization.

Autonomy is defined as the “degree to which the job provides substantial freedom, independence and discretion to the employees in scheduling the work and in determining the processes to be used in carrying it out (Hackman & Oldham, 1980; p79). It is also defined as the choice and freedom inbuilt in the job to perform various tasks (Brey, 1999). It motivates workers to be accountable and take up responsibility resulting into high work efficiency (Langfred & Moye, 2004). This may be because individuals with high job autonomy are likely to face less situational constraints than the individuals who experience less autonomy (Gellatly & Irving, 2001). This is supported by Work Role Transitions Theory (Nicholson, 1984) which suggests that autonomous workers have complete control on their work, the timing, the beginning and the results (Black, 1988). They consider themselves to be skillful and creative in achieving their tasks (Saragih, 2011) and as a result, job performance improves. Parker et al., (1977) in their study in a manufacturing firm conjure that autonomy leads to more flexible, strategic and

So, if an organization wants to be successful, it has to make sure that its employees are satisfied (Berry, 1997) as satisfied workers are more productive and help the organization in making it more effective (Robbins & Judge, 2007).

Some researchers have found a positive relationship between job autonomy and job satisfaction (DeCarlo & Agarwal, 1999; Finn, 2001; Nguyen, Taylor & Bradley, 2003; Thompson & Prottas, 2005). Employees with high autonomy feel free to process the tasks, make their own decisions and are accountable for their actions. As a result, they feel motivated and satisfied. In fact, some researchers state that intrinsically motivating jobs lead to increased satisfaction among employees. Job Characteristics Model (Hackman & Oldham, 1976) postulates that the job with an element of intrinsic motivation lead to increased job satisfaction and explains an intrinsically motivated job as a job containing five job characteristics like, task identity, task significance, skill variety, autonomy and feedback. This study focusses on autonomy as one of the job characteristics leading to motivation and hence, satisfaction. Individuals take pride in the jobs giving them autonomy (Mehmood, Irum, Ahmed & Sultana, 2012). Spector (1986) reveals a significant relationship between autonomy and job satisfaction, organizational commitment and job performance. Job