Quality of Work Life (QWL)

Presented by

Pratap Kumar Pathak

Welcome

Conceptualizing Quality of Work Life

Context of Quality of Work Life

• Happy and satisfied, and productive workers are the basic outcomes of QWL.

• Four things are important for QWL– Firstly, employees must take the work pleasing

and challenging– Secondly, they must be fit for it.– Thirdly, they must not do too much of it.– Finally, they must have a sense of success.

Increasing Concerns over QWL

• QWL is based on sociotechnic approach to management dealing with stagnating productivity– Focus on production, office operations and other areas with close

relationships between the technical system and people.

– Emphasis only on blue-collar and lower-level work, ignores much of other managerial knowledge.

• QWL rose to prominence only in the 1970’s, there are now hundreds of case studies and practical programmes and a number of QWL centers, primarily in the United States, Great Britain and Scandinavia

• It has received enthusiastic support from a number of sources since it is regarded as a promising means of dealing with stagnating productivity, especially in the United States and Europe.

Increasing Concerns…continued• It is a participatory means of improving working conditions

and productivity

• It is used as an operative means of justifying higher pay

• Government agencies have been attracted to QWL as a

means of increasing productivity and reducing inflation

• Way of obtaining industrial democracy, maintaining industrial

peace, achieving decent work.

• Close attention to QWL provides a more humanized work

environment.

Quality of work life is the sense of betterment and happiness at work, and the extent to which employees

can enhance their personal lives through their work environment and

experiences.

Quality of Work Life• QWL is the most interesting approach to motivation

concentrating on physical and mental satisfaction throughout the life in job.

• It refers to the favourableness or unfavourableness of a total job environment for people at work.

• Through QWL programmes, organizations recognize their responsibility to develop jobs and working conditions that are excellent for people as well as for the economic health of the organization.

• It is systems approach to job design and a promising development in the broad areas of job enrichment, combined with a grounding in the sociotechnical systems approach to management of human resources.

• It is an interdisciplinary field of inquiry and action combining industrial and organization psychology, industrial engineering, organization theory and management development, motivation and leadership theory and industrial relations

Basic Elements of QWL

• Supportive organizational behaviour and climate– Open communications– Equitable reward systems– Adequate concern for employee’s job security and satisfying careers– Caring supervision– Participation in decision making– Cooperative labour-management relations

• Job enrichment and job enlargement– Job enrichment is related to Herzberg’s theory of motivation in which recognition,

autonomy, capacity and accountability are seen as real motivators– Efforts to change the scope and breadth of job– Vertical and horizontal loading of job contents and responsibility– Making the job challenging and meaningful

• Development of employee’s professional capacity: job and behaviour• Safe and healthy working conditions• Protection of individual interests and rights

Different Approaches to QWL

Impacts of QWL

Impacts of QWL Interventions

• A study was done in 1973 by US Department of Health, Education and

Welfare based on analysis of worker attitudes and the quality of

working life.

• The study concluded that

– The primary cause of worker dissatisfaction is the nature of their work and the

quality of their working life

– Blue-collar workers will work harder if their jobs are enriched and expanded

so as to give them greater autonomy and control over their work.

Impacts of QWL…continued

• The major impacts of QWL initiatives included– Productivity was increased– Organic system in the organization activated– Absenteeism and turnover reduced– Morale of employee improved – Participation of employees enhanced– Sense of achievement and accomplishment – Raised the concern over the needs of workforce diversity, OSH

and social protection– Become the basis for outsourcing and contingency employment

Factors of Job Satisfaction as Core Need of QWL

• Internal Factors– The work– Job variety– Autonomy– Goal determination– Feedback and

recognition

• External Factors– Achievement– Role definition and

clarity– Opportunity and

prospects– Job security– Social interactions– Supervision– Organizational culture– Matching work

schedules– Seniority and expertise– Compensation

Factors…..continued

• Personal and Individual Factors– Commitment– Expectations from work– Job involvement– Equity– Influence of coworkers– Job comparisons– Valuing the job– Personal outlook– Age factor

Measuring Quality of Work Life

Measurement Criteria for QWL

Measuring Quality of Work Life: Different Indices

• Brief Index of Affective Job Satisfaction• Work-related Quality of Life Scale– Stress at Work– Control at Work

• Job and Career Satisfaction Scale• General Well-being Scale• Home-work interface Scale• Working Conditions Scale

Different Indices for Measuring QWL

Factor Analysis in QWL

• Job factors• Psychosocial factors• Systemic factors• Economic factors• Relational factors• Developmental factors

Enhancing Quality of Work Life

What Influences QWL• Adequate and fair compensation

– Sufficient for maintaining a reasonable standard of living– Performance and competency based salary/benefit structure– Benefits comparable to amounts received by others in similar

positions

• Safe and healthy working conditions– Regard for occupational safety and health concerns– Measures for protection from hazards, chemical exposures,

discrimination and all forms of abuses

• Opportunity for career development– Addressing employee’s self-esteem– Developing skills and knowledge to support work performance– Place for creativity and innovativeness– Optimizing career prospects– Addressing the strategic career needs of workforce diversity

What Influences….continued• Decent work

– Rights at work, dignity and respect– Decent employment– Social protection– Social dialogue for grievance handling and dispute settlement

• Utilization of human capacity: acquired and potential– Recognition of human capacity– Opportunity for utilization of skills and competencies– Fair appraisal of performance– Involvement and participation in organizational decision making– Challenging task through job enrichment and advancement

What Influences…continued• Opportunity for continued growth and security

– Work as path to advancement– Job perceived as achievement– Economic and social security

• Ownership building– Sense of belongingness– Team-building– Accountability and responsibility

• Work and total life space– Integration between personal life and job life– Integration between family roles and organizational roles

• Social relevance of work life– Social responsibility of organization– Organizational outputs relevant to employee’s pride and social value– Ethical and moral considerations of organization’s performance

Key Issues in QWL

Improving the QWL: Different Approaches

• Job reengineering Approach– Job enrichment: attempt to build into jobs a higher sense of

challenge and achievement– Job enlargement– Job rotation– Feedback and reinforcement

• Decent work Approach– Dignity of work– Productive employment– Social protection– Participation and dialogue

Improving QWL…continued

• Motivation and morale Approach: Job Satisfaction• Empowerment Approach

– Involvement in decision making– Capacity development– Authority delegation– Autonomy– Feedback and reinforcement

• Human Capacity Approach– Job skills and competencies– Behavioural skills and competencies

Aspects of Improving Quality of Work Life

• Flexible work schedules• Job redesign• Opportunity for development• Autonomous work groups• Employees participation in management• Job security• Equitable justice in disciplinary action, career

development and management of human resources

Increasing Quality of Work Life

• Avoid micromanaging while managing workforce

• Recognizing good work• Set goals and reward the best performers• Put employees in challenging situation• Entertainment and food for refreshment

Innovative Ways to Achieve QWL

• Performance-based and production-based compensation plans

• Making job enrichment more effective– Better understanding of what people in organization really want.– If productivity increases are the main goal of enrichment, the QWL

programme must show how workers will benefit.– People like to be involved, to be consulted, and to be given an

opportunity to offer developmental feedback. Therefore workers should be considered as important part.

– Concern with worker’s welfare, provide developmental feedback to support better performance, appreciation and recognition for the work done by workers.

Innovative Ways…continued

• Flextime and flexplace– Flextime allows employees to begin their normal workday at whatever

time they wish, often within a predermined window– Flextime enables employees to better balance work and family

responsibilities– Flexplace allows regular employees to work at home or at another

location away from the organization in convenience.

• Flexible benefits for employees– Employment benefit options available for employees best suited to

their personal desires and individual and family situations

• Vocational guidance and counseling

Innovative Ways….continued

• Compressed workweek– From 5/40 to 4/40 workweek

• Contingent employment– Flexecutives - interim assignments for professional soundness

• Job sharing– It is a synergic partnership of two or more employees for performing a

job.– It is a type of part-time work that allows two or more employees to

split a traditional 40-hour-a-week job.

• Right-side-up organizations– Putting client or customer at the top of the organization that

enhances job satisfaction and thereby reinforcing the quality of work life.

Management Techniques to Improve QWL

Any queries, comments and feedback…..PLEASE.

Thank You for your attention, support and inspiration