"Det var mitt ansvar, men inte mitt beslut" En studie om motivation och självledarskap i kundtjänstarbete

Sammanfattning

This study examines how customer service employees experience the relationship between self-leadership and motivation in their daily work, the significance of responsibility and control for this relationship, and how these experiences may vary between full-time and part-time employees. Customer service work is characterized by customer interaction, responsibility and expectations of independent action, while also being shaped by organizational structures, performance monitoring and performance demands. Previous research has examined self-leadership, motivation and job design in different contexts, but knowledge remains limited regarding how these phenomena interact in everyday customer service work. The study adopts a qualitative research approach and is based on twelve semi-structured interviews with customer service employees from six organizations. The material was analyzed through a thematic and interpretive analysis. The findings show that self-leadership and motivation are shaped by the interplay between responsibility, control, discretion, support and meaningfulness. Employment form emerges as a nuanced dimension. The study therefore shows that the relationship between self-leadership and motivation is not determined by responsibility or control in themselves, but by how these conditions interact with discretion, support and meaningfulness in daily work. Thus, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of motivation and self-leadership in organizationally controlled customer service environments.