39 Quality of Work Life

Pragya Dheer

Learning Outcomes:

Integrating the socio-psychological needs of people in the organisation, the process the unique requirements of a particular technology, the structure & processes of the organisation & socio cultural milieu are the purposes of quality of work life. From the shop floor, the concept of quality of work life spread to other parts of the organisation covering white collar employees & even managerial personnel. Among its aims were the following:

1.  Full employment & rising living standard.

2.  Employment in occupation that enable workers to enjoy the satisfaction of utilizing their skills & make a distribution to common well-being.

3.  Justified distribution of wages, hours & other benefits including training opportunities.

4.  Decent working conditions & the minimum living wage for all employed.

5.  Recognition of the right to collective bargaining & to cooperation between management & labour.

6.  Safe & healthy work environment.

39.1. Introduction:

Rapid technological advance & their applications in business have resulted in a situation in which employees have started developing the feeling of powerlessness, meaninglessness, normlessness, social isolation & self estrangement. In additional, organisations, in the past gave more importance on advanced technology for the higher productivity surpassing the needs & mental state of its employees. This created a negative impact on the working environment among the employees. Thus, it was realized that societal support works in harmony with technical innovations.

                                  

Such a feeling may result into lesser increase in productivity. This forced the academician & practitioners to see the workplace problems with a different perspective, that is, social perspective which revealed that productivity of employees was not only affected by the type of technology but also by the environment that prevailed at workplace. This led to the emergence of concept of quality of work life (QWL) during 1970’s.

Quality of work life denotes all the organisational inputs which aims at the employee’s satisfaction& enhancing organisational effectiveness. Quality of work life (QWL) is, however, not only the concern of the individuals & of psychological researchers. This concern was demonstrated globally by the United Nations sponsored International labour Organisation (ILO). At the core of ILO’s social agenda is the creation of more & better job opportunities.

39.2 Meaning & Definition:

In the late 1950’s the term Quality of work life (QWL) was used to stress the prevalling poor quality of life at workplace & it was first defined in terms of people’s reaction to work, particularly an individual’s job satisfaction & mental health. It also refers to favourableness or unfavourableness of the job environment for people.

Quality of Work Life is a philosophy, a set of principles which holds that people are the most important resource in the organisation as they are trustworthy, responsible & capable of making valuable contribution & they should be treated with dignity & respect (straw & Heckseher, 1984). Quality of Work Life (QWL) encompass mode of wages payment, working conditions, working time, health hazards issue financial & non financial benefits and management behaviour towards employees (Jslam Q Sienagthi, 2009). Transforming the workplace proactively using a combination of well designed Quality of work life (QWL) initiatives for both male & female employees will yield competitive advantages & will increase employee satisfaction. (Tabassum, Rehman & Jahan, 2011)

The management in every organisation should sincerely invite their employees to suggest ways to improve their operations & the quality of their work life, only if these ideas are received in a spirit of appreciation. The employees should then be asked to participate in studying the feasibility & recommend appropriate means of implementing each suggestion that survives such review. The quality of life at work probably would then be enhanced. A management practice that manifesto concern about job enrichment, employee security, career opportunities & the opportunities for employees to have voice in matters which affect them is entirely consistent with meticulously controlled operations in the interest of efficiency, effectiveness, quality assurance, customer service, profitability & high employee morale.

Quality of work life is not to be confused with some socio-political concept of ‘democratic management’.

Managers who have evidence of concern for quality of work life continue to be accountable for carrying out their responsibilities effectively. If they learn that inviting opinion or collective wisdom in problem solving or decision- making from the persons they supervise is likely to lead to better quality & acceptance of those solutions or decisions, they can become better managers.

39.2.1 Definition:

Suttle has defined quality of work life as “the degree to which members of a work organisation are able to satisfy important personnel needs through their experiences in the organisation.”

J.Richard& J.Lloyd define QWL, “the degree of favourableness or unfavourableness of a job environment for people.

One expert defines quality of working life, “as a process of joint decision-maqking collaboration & building mutual respect between management & employees”.

According to the American Society of Training & Development, it is “a process of work organisation which enables its members at all levels to actively participate in shaping the organisation’s environment methods & outcomes. This value based process is aimed towards meeting the turn goals of enhanced effectiveness of organisation & improved quality of life at work for employees.

Richard E. Walton refers to quality of work life in terms of eight broad conditions of employment which are also the measuring factors of Quality of Work Life (QWL). They are:

(i)  Adequate & fair compensation

(ii)  Safe & Healthy working conditions

(iii)  Opportunity to use & develop human capabilities

(iv)  Opportunity for career growth

(v)  Social integration in workforce

(vi)  Constitutionalism in the work organisation

(vii)   Work & quality of life

(viiii) Social relevance of work

Hence, Quality of work life improvement refers to any activity for greater organisational effectiveness through the enhancement of human dignity & growth process through which the work force of betterment to determine for them what actions, changes & improvement are desirable & workable.

The concept of QWL is based on assumption that a job is more than just a job. It is the centre of a person’s life & a worker has a whole individual rather than a half human & half machine personality of Jekyli Hyde type. In recent years there has been increasing concern for QWL due to several factors:

(a)  Increase in education level & consequently jobs aspirations of employees.

(b)  Association of workers

(c)  Significance of human resource management

(d)  Widespread industrial unrest

(e)  Growing of knowledge in human behaviour etc.

                                                       

Source: Rich Strand, “A systems paradigm of Organisational Adaptation to the Social Environment”, Academy of Management Reviews, Vol 8, No.1 (January, 1983), Pg no.95

39.3. Characteristics of Quality of Work Life (QWL):

    1. Sustained Commitment from management to the open non-defensive modus operandi of sincerely inviting collaborative inputs from the workforce regarding problem identification & suggestions for improving any aspect of the organisation or the policies, practices & structure of work with incentive provided for such participation.

2. Invited involvement of member of task groups in recommending resolution of identified problem.

3. Training of supervisor to equip them to function effectively in a less authoritative style.

4. Implementation of practicable suggestion & explanation for rejected ideas.

5. Feedback & recognition for the good results achieved.

6. Selection of personnel who can be motivated under appropriate to strive for excellence in task performance

7. Evaluation & analysis of results, including failures, leading to renewed efforts towards continual improvement in modus operandi.

                                                        

The concept of inviting workers to have choice & influence in all aspects of a task, the setting up of autonomous works team & providing of open channels of communication at all levels does means giving up some of the conventional authority exercised by the company or union leader.

39.4. Conceptual Model of Quality of Work Life (QWL):

Following indices may be used to judge the quality of work life in an organisation:

39.4.1. Job Involvement: It represents the degree of an individual’s identification with or ego involvement in the job. The more central the job is to the individual’s life, the greater is his involvement. Therefore, the individual spends more time & energy on the job.

39.4.2. Job Satisfaction: It implies the worker’s satisfaction with the environment of his job environment consisting of nature of work, quality of supervision, pay, co-worker, opportunities for promotion etc. Job satisfaction is related to job involvement & people involved in their jobs are satisfied with their jobs & vice versa.

39.4.3. Sense of Competence: It refers to the feelings of confidence that an individual has in his own competence. Sense of competence & job involvement reinforce each other. An individual acquires a greater sense of competence as he engages himself more & more in work activities. When he feels more competent he become more involved in his job & becomes better motivated.

39.4.4. Job Performance:- When an individual job involvement, job satisfaction, sense of competence increase, there is a rise in job performance.

39.4.5. Productivity:- When the level of job performance increase, the output per unit of input goes up. Thus, match between job characteristics & productivity traits of employees generally results in higher productivity.

                                           

39.5. Dimensions of Quality of Work Life (QWL):-

Quality of work life is a multi dimensional concept implying a concern for the members of an organisation. The basis underlying QWL is the humanization of work which means developing a work environment that ensures dignity to the employees, stimulates his creative abilities & facilities self growth.

According to Richard Walton, the main aspects of QWL are as follows:

    39.5.1. Adequate & Fair Compensation:-

    There should be a first & equitable balance between effort

&   reward. The compensation should help the employee in maintaining a socially desirable standard of living & should be comparable to the pay for similar work elsewhere. Factors consider for determining such compensation are ability of the organisation to pay, demand & supply of labour, cost of living, productivity of labour, job evaluation etc.

39.5.2. Safe & Healthy Working Conditions:-

Quality of work life cannot be high unless the work environment is free from all hazards detrimental to the health & safety of employees. Reasonable hours of work, cleanliness, pollution free atmosphere, risk free works etc. are the main elements of a good physical environment for work.

39.5.3. Opportunity to use & develop human capabilities:

The job should contain sufficient variety of tasks to provide challenge & to ensure the utilization of talents. Today work has become repetitive & mechanical so that the worker has little control on it. Quality of autonomy performance & uses a wide range of skills.

  39.5.4. Opportunity for career growth:

The work should provide career opportunities for development of new abilities & expansion of existing skills on a continuous basis.

39.4.5. Social Integration in workforce:

The worker should be made to feel a sense of identify with the organisation & develop a feeling of self esteem, Openness, trust, sense of community feeling, scope for upward mobility, equitable treatment are essential for this purpose.

39.5.6. Constitutionalistion in the work organisational:-

QWL provides constitutional protection to the employees. Management can be challenged. Constitutional protection is provided to employees on such matters as free speech, equity & due process.

39.5.7. Work & Personal Life:

There should be proper balance between work life & personal life of employees. The demands of work such as late hours, frequent travel, quick transfers are both psychologically & socially very costly & detrimental to quality of work life.

39.5.8. Social Relevance of Works:

Work should not only be a source of material & psychological satisfaction but a means of social welfare. An organisation that has greater concern for social causes like pollution, consumer protection, national integration, employment etc can improve the quality of work life.

39.6. Principles of Quality of Work life (QWL):-

In order to humanise work & to improve QWL, four basic principles are:

39.6.1. The Principle of Security:

Quality of work life cannot be improved until employees are relieved of the anxiety, fear a loss of future employment. The working conditions must be safe & fear of economic want should be eliminated. Job security & safety against occupational hazards is an essential pre-condition of humanization of work.

                                                             

    39.6.2. The Principle of Equity:

There should be a direct & positive relation between effort & reward. All type of discrimination between people during similar work & with same level of performance must be eliminated. Equity also requires sharing the profits of the organisation.

39.6.3. The Principle of Individualism:

Employees differ in terms of their attitudes, skill, potential etc. Therefore, every individual should be provided the opportunity for development of his personality & potential. Humanisation of work requires that employees are allowed to decide their own pace of activity & design of work operations.

39.6.4. The Principle of Democracy:

This means greater authority & responsibility to employees. Meaningful participation in the decision-making process improves the quality of work life.

39.7. Improvement of Quality of Work Life (QWL):

The Concept of quality of work life is to create a climate at the workplace so that human-technological-organisational interface leads to a better quality of work life. Climate is a set of attribute specific to a particular organisation that may be included from the way the organisation deals with its members. There are a number of factor involved in QWL, and these factors can be grouped in three categories: Individual factors, job factor & organisational factors. The characteristics of these factor affect the individual involvement in the job, his sense of competence which lead to job satisfaction & finally to job performance & productivity.

The Human Resource manager has to take the following steps for maintaining high order of QWL:

   39.7.1. Flexibility in work schedule:

Employees in the organisation requires the flexible work schedule as every employee is loaded with more than one work so if the organisation has flexibility in schedule, every employee can complete their appointed work within the time frame as per their own adjustment.

39.7.2. Autonomous Work Group:

Autonomous work group gives motivation to employees while working in the organisation. As in this employees get freedom &   rights to select their own team, team members, free to take their own decisions & methods for completing their scheduled work.

39.7.3. Job Enrichment:

Job enrichment enriches the job content, design & specification which in turn motivate & employees to work with their 100% productivity as employees becomes more interested to do job when job is designed different from routine job as routine job after a time becomes boring which is turn decrease productivity of an employee.

39.7.4. Opportunity for growth:

An every employee is growth oriented, so when an organisation provides opportunity of growth to an employee, employees works with full jeal and full commitment which helps the employee for improving their personality & personal growth.

                                                                 

39.7.5. Providing stability of employment:

When employees get stability in employment they work with loyalty, commitment & with full productivity. As when employee feels security in their job, that their job is not going to be ended at any moments, then employees are motivated to work for the organisation.

39.7.6. Participation:

While taking decision for employees rather for employees target or employees work schedule when top management allow the employees to participate in such decisions, employees get motivated as they feel responsible & appraised, which in turn makes the organisation culture friendly & work oriented.

39.7.7. Recognition:

Recognition is a very powerful tool to make employee motivated & responsible towards their own job, because to make an employee work with full commitment, organisation has to recognise employee as this is biggest truth that if you want some to work for you, you have to appraise him rather than punish him. This is psychology of human.

39.7.8. Congenial relationship:

If organisation wants a committed environment in organisation, there should be a friendly relation between employer & employee or employer & worker which is also known as participative working style which makes worker/employee fuel sense of association and belongingness.

39.7.9. Grievance Procedure:

When organisation allow their employee to place grievance regarding any issues and represent their problem, employees feel confident and homely, as they are cared by management as family member.

39.7.10. Occupational stress:

Stress is the main condition/cause due to which an employees productivity reduces, to overcome these situation manager/employer should make efforts to identify such situation which cause stress & should minimize the stress which has adverse impact on the organisational goal & organisation as well.

39.7.11. Organisational health programme:

Organisation should organize health programmes which educate the employees about health problem which usually occurs, which is meant for maintain & improve health. The programme not only improve physical health of an employee but improves the mental health too. As because due to this programme employees generates a feeling of care towards employee by organisation which force employees to work with loyalty for organisational goal with ultimate satisfaction.

39.7.12. Adequacy of resource:

Organisation should take care of sufficient resources which are allotted towards achieving the quality of work life.

39.7.13. Seniority & Merit promotion:

Seniority should be taken for promotion of operating employees & merit is to be considered as advancement of managerial personnel. This policy should be fair & just for maintaining quality work life.

39.7.14. Communication:

To make quality of work life effective there should be two way communications i.e. employers should give orders, schedule & work to employees & on return employees should listen grievance, suggestion & solve the problem of employees. Which in return help organisation to grow in a rapid pace. In other words, in organisation which adopts two way communication & participative outlook can work effectively & can achieve their goals easily.

                                                           

39.8. The Role of the Supervisor in Quality of Work Life:-

The key role of the supervisor is quality of work life. The eight most closely related factor are:

1.  Having a nurturing supervisor

2.  Receiving adequate help, assistance etc.

3.    Having a few ‘labour standard performance’ (such as safety hazards, non availability of materials or poor transportation).

4.  Fair promotional policies.

5.  Supervisor not supervising too closely.

6.  Having a technically competent supervisor

7.  Autonomy in matters affecting work.

8.  A job with ‘enriching’ demands.

The supervisor influence quality work life directly or indirectly. He affects subordinates directly through his daily interaction with them. He can be supportive or disagreeable, friendly or distant, available to provide help or always busy.

There are two major roles of supervisor which are critical to high quality of work life are as follows:

39.8.1. Consideration:

This relates to the supervisor’s activities in providing a satisfaction work environment to the way he treats his employees on a day-to-day basis, his personal relations with them, his approach to the disciplinary process & the like. It should also be noted that:

(i)  Happy workers work harder.

(ii)  Consideration reduces frustrations & therefore reduces barriers to production

(iii)  Consideration is a reward for productivity

(iv)  Consideration may strengthen the effort-performance relationship.

(v)  Consideration makes performance-reward relationship seems more equitable.

39.8.2. Facilitation:

It is generally includes those things which the supervisor can do to make it easier for the worker to do the job. Without facilitation, work effort is wasted & in terms of expectancy theory there will be a little likelihood that work effort will be converted into performance. Facilitation can be improved by:

39.8.2.1. Establishing performance standards:

Performance standards may be qualitative or quantitative. They may be set arbitrarily by the boss, through group discussions or as a result of either explicit or implicit bargaining. New standards may be set every few minutes or on long term basis. There final comments as to standards & their use are:

(i)  High standards contribute to both productivity & satisfaction.

(ii)  Short- term standards are generally more motivating than long term standards.

(iii)  Standards are generally motivating if frequent feedback is provided to the subordinates.

39.8.2.2. Work Design:

It can be an effective tool for improving both the quality of work experience of employees & their on the job-productivity. Work redesign refers to any activities that involve the attraction of specific jobs with the intent of increasing both quality of work experience of the employees & their productivity. It includes the terms such as job rotation, job enrichment & socio- technological system design.

The redesign of the work differs from most other behavioural science approaches to changing life in organisation in at least four ways. Together these four points offer a rather compelling case for work redesign as a strategy for initiating organisational change:

(i)  Work redesign alters the basic relationship between a person and what he or she does o the job.

(ii)  Work redesign directly changes behaviour – & it tends to stay changed.

(iii)  Work redesign offers numerous opportunities for initiating other organisational changes

(iv)   Work redesign in the long term can result in organizations that re-humanize rather than dehumanize the people who work in them.

39.8.2.3. Participative Management:

Participation has been widely recommended as a means of improving the quality of work life & increasing the productivity. In theory, participation releases the creative energies & provides workers with the sense of accomplishment. Thus, it strengthen the path – goal relationship & also enhances the work environment. It offers a morally attractive solution to many of the problem of industrial life.

Thus each & every company is capable to undertake the quality review of work programme. But for these to be implemented, the top management has to work with patience& readiness to sustain a deep commitment. The activity may or will fail if it is not properly planned based upon careful diagnosis of problems & an assessment of learning readiness.

39.9. Popular QWL Programmes:

     Summary:

QWL means the relationship between employees and their total working environment. Job involvement, job satisfaction, sense of competence, productivity etc are used as indicators of QWL. Compensation, working conditions, opportunity for growth, social integration in work force, constitutionalisation, balance between personal and work life and social relevance of work are the main dimension of QWL.