Enhancing Quality of

Work Life

• Quality of work life (QWL) is viewed as an alternative to the control approach of managing people.

• The QWL approach considers people as an ‘assets’ to the organization rather than as ‘costs’.

• It believes that people perform better when they are allowed to participate in managing their work and make decisions.

• This approach motivates people by satisfying not only their economic needs but also their social and psychological ones.

• To satisfy the new generation workforce, organizations need to concentrate on job designs and organization of work.

• Further, today’s workforce is realizing the importance of relationships and is trying to strike a balance between career and personal lives.

“QWL” means different things to different persons

• to a clerk in dispatch

• To a mineworker

• Shop floor workers

• A probationary officer

Video 1

Determinants

• Employee pay• Benefits• Schedule flexibility• Working conditions

Fact• Johnson & Johnson, for example, reported that

its employees who used flextime and family leave were absent 50 % fewer days than its regular workforce.

• Moreover, 71 % of those workers using benefits said that the policies were "very important" to their decision to stay with the company

Employee Involvement Practices• Quality Circle• Suggestion System• Employee Participation in

Management • Empowerment• Survey Feedback • Autonomous Work Teams• Flexible Organization Structure

Other Tools

• Flextime• Flexi place• Part-time Employment• Job Enrichment• Job Rotation• Job Enlargement

QC in India

• The Ramchandrapuram unit of BHEL at Hyderabad is perhaps the first to have pioneered the quality circle movement in India.

• The company today has nearly 1700 quality circles involving about 17,000 workers who have tackled over 6000 problems

• Some others are J.K. Jute, Bharat Electronics & HMT

Quality Circles Advantages

1.It is a voluntary forum of workers

2. It makes full use of a worker’s potential.

3. It provides the worker autonomy and sense of achievement.

4. It ensures greater participation and involvement of a worker in the day-to-day functioning of his department.

5. It helps in finding solutions to several problems and in removing cobwebs and bottlenecks in daily functioning.

6. It helps in creating cohesive groups with improved morale.

Suggestion SystemDirect benefits of a suggestion scheme are the

following:• It can make work more easy• It can make-work more safe• It can remove mistakes• It can improve quality• It can increase efficiency• It can decrease rejects• It can reduce costs• It can give more satisfaction to customers

through better service

Suggestion SystemIndirect benefits of a suggestion scheme are as

follows:• It increases employees’ work morale• It develops their capabilities• It activates communication• It improves human relations• It identifies work-related problems• It raises the level of group activities.

SS in India

• Hindustan Aircraft Ltd

• Hindustan Steel Ltd

• Hindustan Unilever

• Larsen and Toubro

• Maruti Udyog Ltd

SS in Maruti Udyog LtdPrize (Rs) Benefit to Company

10 0

25 <500

50 >or =500

100 >or =1000

200 >or =2000

300 >or =3000

500 >or =5000

1000 >or =10000

1500 >or =15000

2000 >or =20000

Employee Participation in Management

• Subject matter of participation.

• Level of participation.

• Personal characteristics.

• Extent of participation.

Employee Participation in Management• TISCO in India provides an example of the type

of partnership which needs to exist between management and workers’ union

in any organization. • Here the Tata Workers’ Union is involved in

almost every institutional matter and the union president is treated as part of the top level of the company.

Empowerment

Merits• Speed in Decision Making• Morale• Compensation for limited career paths.

Demerits• Greater potential for chaos• Breakdown of hierarchical control• Demoralization

Video 2

Quality of work life - IBM

• Wages & benefits • Working Hours• Nondiscrimination & harassment • Respect & dignity • Freedom of association • Health & safety • Communications • Support for employees & community

involvement

Quality of Work Life – TATA Group

• Gifts & donations • Health, safety & environment • Ethical conduct • Concurrent employment • Citizenship • Integrity of data furnished • Reporting concerns

Quality of Work Life – ING Mutual Funds

• CSR-Pratham-orphanage• Regular Offsite• Lunch with CEO• Interdepartmental Lunches• Ideation Box (Suggestions)• Product Champions (SWOT of product)• Skip level meetings• QC-Implementing• Health Safety and Environment

Quality of Work Life – Principal India AMC

• Family Day- Wednesdays• 5 Days working week• Annual Rejuvenation with families• Monthly Birthday Celebrations• In House Gym• Paternity Leave, Wedding Leave,

Bereavement Leave• Yoga • Gymnasium Reimbursements• Health Safety and Environment

New Methods QWLPrayer and Meditation in the Workplace

• The American Stock Exchange has a Torah Study Group

• Boeing has Christian, Jewish and Muslim prayer groups

• Apple Computers office has a meditation room and employees are given 30 minutes to meditate or pray.

• Prentice-Hall Publishing has a quiet room for employees where they can take mental retreats

New Methods QWLWorldwide

• Marriott International’s 10,000 workers dedicate a day of service to their local communities each year

• IBM funds childcare centers at 60 of its locations• Intel offers 22 weeks of maternity leave• SAS has low absenteeism and only 3% turnover

due to no-lay-off policy, 35-hour workweeks, flexitime and on site amenities like Gym, medical clinic and message therapists.

• Volvo Changed its assembly line system which led to greater job satisfaction-low absenteeism and turnover

Video 3

Checklist of quality-work goals

• Decent living standard & economic security• Mutual trust among employers & workers• Participation in decision making • Healthy & safe work environment• Work-life balance• Encourages initiative & creativity• Building commitment to high quality work

environment• Negotiate clear roles & responsibilities for

mgt, govt, unions, professional associations

• Benchmark job quality, analyzing impact on employees & results

• Diagnose areas of strength & weakness, develop strategies to address latter, track progress

• Evaluate impact of organizational change on employees & results

• Build quality work environment goals into business plans, showing links to results

• Provide incentives for managers to contribute to specific job quality goals

Thank You