Recruiters should look for call centre operators who choose the trade as a lifestyle choice and not as a career.

That's the view of business psychologist Robert Myatt, who says that people who perform well in a call centre environment are those who work to an agreed set of stipulations.

"Many people find call centres frustrating because there's not much room for innovation," Myatt, of Bristol-based Kaisen Consulting, told Recruiter.

"But it's those people who work to a strict set of rules who thrive in the environment."

Myatt's view comes after electricity giant Powergen said it was closing its call centres in India, in favour of repatriating back to Britain.

The firm said it was not prepared to cut costs at the expense of customer satisfaction.

Myatt who has worked with Sky, Royal and Sun Alliance and William Hill staff, adds: "Recruiters should look for people who take working in a call centre as a lifestyle choice, rather than those who are looking to forge a career out of it.

"Recruiters for call centres say they are looking for young, dynamic people. Quite often what they need is not that - it's people who are looking to make the best of it over a short period of time."

The operators of call centres have traditionally suffered a poor reputation and the level of staff turnover is high. Yet Myatt claims research conducted by Kaisen at the beginning of this year showed that churn at Sky was down 59% on the same three-month period in 2005.

Strong team leaders were a key reason for this, Myatt adds.