A Summer Internship Project Report

On
“QUALITY OF WORK LIFE”
In

Submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Business

Administration (2018-2020) affiliated to
C.S.J.M. University

SESSION 2018-2020

INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Submitted to Submitted by
MS. AISHWARYA PATTANAIK VAISHNAVI VAJPAYEE
MBA 2nd YEAR

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

S.No. TOPIC Pg. No.

1. Declaration 4
2. Acknowledgement 5
3. Objectives of the study 6
4. Limitations of the study 7
5. Research Methodology 8-12
6. Organizational profile 13-22
7. Introduction to quality of work life 23-24
7.1. Evolution of Quality of Work Life (QWL) 25-26
7.2. Meaning and Concept of QWL 27
7.3. Theory of Motivation and Quality of Work Life 28
7.4. Definition of Quality and Quality of Work Life 29-30
7.5. Factors Influencing the Quality of Working Life 31-33
7.6. Dimensions of Quality of Work Life 33-35
7.7. Indian Approach to QWL 36-38
7.8. Quality of Work Life Parameters 39
7.9. Health and Safety 40-42
7.10. Welfare facilities 42-44

7.11. Working conditions 45

7.12. Compensation 47

7.13. Career Growth and Development 49

7.14. Grievance redressal mechanism 50-52

7.15. Social Integration at Work 53

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7.16. Social Relevance of Work Life 54

7.17. Who Needs Quality of Work Life? 55

7.18. Humanized work through quality of work life 56

7.19. Job Enlargement vs. Job Enrichment 57

7.20. The human resource department’s role 58

7.21. Motivation 59

7.22. Job satisfaction 60

7.23. Objectives of Quality of Work Life 61

7.24. Importance of Quality of Work Life 61-63

7.25. About QWL strategy 63

7.26. Quality of Work Life as a process 64-65

7.27. Problems of implementing Quality of Work Life 66

programmes
7.28. Strategies to improve Quality of Work Life 65-66

8. Findings 67
9. Impact of Quality Of Work Life-RSPL 68
10. Conclusion 69
11. Suggestions 70-71

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 12. Questionnaire 72-75
13. References 76

DECLARATION

I Vaishnavi Vajpayee student of MBA 2nd Year, CSJM University, Kanpur

do hereby solemnly declare that the research project report on Quality
of Work Life of Employees in RSPL LTD. is outcome of my efforts and
submitted by me in the partial fulfillment for the award of degree of
Master of Business Administration (MBA) session 2018-2020.

The same has not been submitted to any other university or institute.

VAISHNAVI VAJPAYEE

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is said that learning never ends. If a person has the ability& the curiosity to
learn, he or she may learn from any person at any place and by anything.

At the outset, I will thank my Parents who provided me better educational

facilities to study in good educational institutions would also like to thank my
College (Institute Of Business Management) for giving me opportunity to
undertake this training by making it mandatory in the curriculum of MBA.

I deeply thank Mr. Ikram Khan (DGM HR) who provided me time between his
busy schedule and important works, he identified my potential and encouraged
me to prepare good report and also gave knowledge on the topic and good study
materials.

I would like to thanks Ms. AishwaryaPattanaikwho guided and helped me to

understand about the topic. I appreciate the interest she took in providing
guidance to me. I have also learned tenets of humanity and values and she also
guided me in completing this study.

I would like to thank RSPLfor giving me opportunity for summer internship in their
Organization which was good environment for learning.

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 VAISHNAVI VAJPAYEE

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

 The objective of the study is to find out the quality of working life of the

employees in RSPL Ltd.

 The objective of the study is to help the organization to know the level of
satisfaction of the workers and executive’s at all hierarchical levels towards the
facilities and welfare amenities provided by them.

 The study is also aimed at reviewing the working conditions including the total
environment to bring in positive change for betterment of the Quality of Work
Life of employees.

 The objective of the study is also to find out the challenges and difficulties faced
by the management in providing better Quality of Work Life to the employees.

 The objective of the study is also to find out the thinking of the employees with
respect to the work culture in the organization.

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 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

 The time taken for my project study was 45 days to gather opinions from the
employees and the management.

 The data collected by me through primary source is constrained by the sample

size which is only 50 employees.

 The data collected other than the questionnaire is from the secondary source
only.

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 RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
RESEARCH DESIGN

“Research design is the plan, structure, and strategy of investigation conceived so

as to obtain answers to research questions and to control variance” According to
Kerlinger.

The plan is an outline of the research scheme on which the researcher is to work.
The structure of the research is a more specific outline or the scheme and the
strategy shows how the research will be carried out, specifying the methods to be
used in the collection and analysis of the data. Research design is the blueprint of
the research it lays down the method and procedure for the collection of
requisite information and its measurement and analysis with a view to arriving at
certain meaningful conclusions at the end of the proposed study.

Research design used in the project

The Research method followed in this project is ‘Descriptive Research’. I chose

the mentioned research method as the basic objective of the project was to
examine Quality of Work Life prevailing in the company, suggest some suitable
changes in existing system in order to make it more positive and meaningful in
achievement of desired organizational goals.

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 Descriptive studies

 Descriptive studies are undertaken when the researcher is interested in knowing

the characteristics of certain groups such as age, sex, education level, occupation
or income.
 It can also be conducted when he wants to know the proportion of people in a
given population who have behaved in a particular manner, making projections of
a certain things; or determining the relationship between two or more variables.
The objective of such a study is to answer the “who, what, where, and how” of
the subject under investigation.
 Descriptive studies are well structured. It is therefore, necessary that the
researcher gives sufficient thought to framing research questions and deciding
the types of data to be collected and the procedure to be used for this purpose.
 The data and records of the employees are also examined to understand the
purpose well. Then the research was designed as a good research design
facilitates the study and makes it an efficient as possible.

A systematic research with structured and specified steps in specified sequence

was designed and is as follows:

Step1: The objective is specified with sufficient precision to ensure that data
collected is relevant.

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Step 2: The data collection method to be used is questionnaires, interviews and
observations. While designing data collection procedure, adequate safeguards
against bias and unreliability are ensured.

Step 3: The questions are prepared in a clear, understandable manner.

Step 4: The sampling design used is stratified random sampling, under this
sampling design; every item of the universe has an equal chance of inclusion in
the sample.

RESEARCH TOOLS AND QUESTIONNAIRE

Sampling Design

Sample size: Random sampling technique was adopted to choose the

respondents for the sample. This technique was used keeping in view the scope of
the study, which try to cover different departments and cadres of people. The
sample drawn is 50 which are from the whole population.

Sample universe: RSPL LTD., FazalGanj, KalpiRoad, Kanpur.

Research tools: The instrument used by me for collecting the information is

QUESTIONNAIRE which contained questions covering various aspects related to
Quality of Work Life. It contained open ended questions and close ended
questions.

ACTION PLAN FOR DATA COLLECTION

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To obtain the data free from errors, I performed every step carefully while
collecting and recording information and tried to get complete, comprehensible
and consistent data The data for the present research study was collected
through two methods:

1. Primary data collection method

2. Secondary data collection method

PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION

The primary data are those which are collected afresh and for the first time.
These data are obtained by a study specifically designed to fulfill the data needs
of the problems at hand. Such data are original in character.

Methods of primary data collection:

The primary data has been collected through following methods:

1. Interview method:

 Direct personal interview method was used to collect the information from the
respondents (employees) by personally visiting and meeting the people from
whom data have to be collected. This method was used because the project
includes an intensive study of a limited field.
 Moreover, the data needed for the purpose is more of personal nature which
can be collected through directly communicating with the employees in order
to increase its reliability. The information thus collected is original, accurate
and in depth.
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  The interview was unstructured as it was characterized by flexibility of
approach to questioning and did not follow a system of pre-determined
questions and standardized techniques of recording information.
 The method of unstructured interview was chosen so as to have greater
freedom to ask, in case of need, supplementary questions or at times to
change the sequence of questions.

2. Questionnaire method:

In this method, a questionnaire was made consisting of a number of questions to

be answered and filled by the respondents (employees) on their own. This
method was used in order to enable the respondents to answer the questions as
per their convenience and to provide those adequate to give well thought out
answers. Thus this further increases accuracy.

SECONDARY DATA COLLECTION

The secondary data are those which have already been collected by someone else
and which have already been passed through the statistical processes. Thus such
data is not originally collected rather obtained from published or unpublished
sources.

Methods of secondary data collection:

 Company’s Website
 Magazines & Journals
 Internet
 Books and newspapers
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The collection of the secondary data was done through published sources and
Unpublished sources of Work Life.

ORGANIZATIONAL
PROFILE

Introduction

RSPL Limited - Company does the manufacturing and trading of detergents, toilet
soaps and other FMCG products. Poonam Developers & Infrastructure India
Private Limited -This Company is involved in the business of construction and real
estate. Calcutta Detergents Private Limited -This Company does activities of
manufacturing and trading of detergents. All the Companies are under the
supervision and control of the same management, thereby making its recognition
as the “GHARI GROUP”.

Ghari Detergents brand is one of the fastest growing in the stagnant FMCG
market. The Ghari Group, in spite of such competition, is making great strides in
the Indian Detergent Industry and is currently ranked as third largest brand in its
category with more than 16% market share (approx.) and is striving to better its

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position byconstant endeavor.

With the passage of time, by adopting latest technology and using premium
quality raw material, it developed a product under the brand name ‘GHARI’ to the
liking of the masses and achieved a group turnover Of more than Rupees 1000
Crores in the financial year 2006-07, are continuing with an average growth rate
of 15 to 20%.

Today, Ghari is one of the fastest growing brands with a market share of around
40% in UP and Bihar with close to 10% volume share on an all-India basis. It caters
to the mass market through a wide network of 300 distributors and a million
retail outlets spread from the smallest rural village to the largest metro with a
strong base in North India.

KTC clocked a sales turnover of Rs 840 crore in ’05-06 with a net income of Rs 35
crore. It has projected a net profit of Rs 60 crore in the current fiscal, on a
turnover of over Rs 1,000 crore. The funds raised through the private placement
route would be used to finance KTC’s ongoing projects in Uttaranchal and other
parts of the country.

Currently, KTC makes Ghari detergent at its plants in several locations including
Kanpur, New Delhi, Indore, Sahibabad and Alwar.

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KTC is also setting up an IT park in Noida on 1.5-2 lakh sq ft. With the valuation
ruling high, industry watchers say this is an ideal time to offload equity.

Brief history

The leading brand “GHARI” and some other brands in the detergent segment
were earlier owned by KTC Private Limited, the marketing company of the group.
The company has been merged with Leayan Over-seas Private Limited; another
group company engaged in the manufacturing and marketing of leather shoes
under the brand name of “RED CHIEF” and finished leather. Pursuant to the
Scheme of amalgamation becoming effective, the name of the company has been
changed to “Ghari Industries Private Limited”. The activities of the merged entity
are now broadly into two segments, the marketing and trading of Ghari detergent
cake/detergent powder and manufacturing and marketing of leather shoes and
finished leather.

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Footwear range of Ghari Industries Pvt. Ltd. was launched under the brand name
Red Chief in 1997 to meet the growing demand for branded high quality leather
footwear at an affordable price. Starting with a handful of employees in 1997, Red
Chief now has a workforce of more than 350 dedicated employees.The company
has recorded an impressive growth through its enthusiastic and highly motivated
marketing team and an efficient distribution network covering nearly the whole
of north & west India. For future growth the company is now all set to explore
overseas market.

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Mission & core business / functions

RSPL’s Core Ideology

OUR MISSION

To be a part of consumer’s daily life by giving them best value for money through
well researched and ever evolving excellent products.

OUR CORE VALUES

 Consumer Centricity
 Continuous Improvement
 Integrity
 Thorough Planning & Execution

Ghari group has diversified into other businesses with firm foot in leather, wind
energy, construction, and toilet soap.

With a view to backward integration of raw materials (Alpha olefin suffocates,

optical brightener and integrated packaging unit for captive consumption) the
group has allocated rupees 50 crores for this purpose and has managed its
funding with its internal accruals and borrowing from financial institution. Rs
35crores approx. have already been invested.

The group with its commitment to quality control to utmost level has setup a
fleet of tankers and trailers to stop adulteration and to manage its logistics more
efficiently and cost effectively.

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To avoid double taxation and transport cost group has established their
production units and depots in different locations across the country.

The company has a very strong market presence in major parts of India;
however some parts had been left untouched hitherto. Steps are being taken to
strengthen and increase our already strong dealer network of 2500 dealers, so
that they are able to penetrate those markets where we have little or no
presence. By the next two to three years, they hope to have a significant share
of the Indian Detergent market. Initiatives are being taken to set up modernized
units in order to meet the growing consumer demand for our products and fulfil
the age-old adage of ‘value for money’.

Organizational Chart

Board of Directors

Sl. Name Designation

No.
1. Shri MurliDhar Executive Chairman

2. Shri Bimal Kumar Managing Director

3. Shri Manoj Kumar Managing Director
4. Shri Rahul Gyanchandani Joint Managing
Director
5. Shri RohitGyanchandani Director

Registered office
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Address: 119-121(Part) Block P&T

FazalGanj,KalpiRoad, Kanpur,208012 U.P.

Telephone No: 0512-2221201 to 205

Fax No: 0512-2221229-30

Email: info@gharidetergent,com

Corporate office

Address: Plot No.124 Sector-44.Gurugram-122003(Haryana)

Telephone No: + 91 –124- 2544186 to 88, 7518204740-41.

Executive summary

 The project work entitled “BRAND AVAILABILITY” is carried out in the

purview of Fast Moving Consumer Goods market. The objective of the
project work was to identify the presence of brands of FMCG sector of
RSPL.

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  If we look upon the overall industry then we see that industry is witnessing
exceptional growth rates.

 The market will get transformed into a mass market phenomenon that
relies on economies of scale. Overall penetration and market opportunity
will increase, but with thinner margins. Operators will struggle to find a
balance between yield and growth to fulfill growth expectations. Value
added services such as a service differentiator and as an important revenue
stream that will help to cushion the pressure on overall service revenues.

 In such conditions, the new augmented products, effective service delivery,

technologically updated value added services and customer relationship
management will be crucial for each of the players in the tractor services
industry.

 After making the comparative analysis of BRAND AVAILABILITY we come to

know that only the brand Ghari is so famous &Xpert& Venus is also going
well. But MR2 is not doing well.

 The advertisement strategy of RSPL is not too good.

FMCG Industry

These are the five most important things which are in involved in FMCG industry.

This is the Porter’s five forces model regarding FMCG industry.

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 Rivalry among Competing Firms: In the FMCG industry, rivalry among
competitors is very fierce. There are scarce customers because the industry is
highly saturated and the competitors try to snatch their share of market. They
use all sorts of tactics from intensive advertisement campaigns to promotional
stuff and price wars etc. so overall the intensity of rivalry is very high.

 Potential Entry of New Competitors: The industry does not have any
measures with which it can control the entry of new firms. The resistance is
very low and the structure of the industry is so complex that new firms can
easily enter and also offer tough competition due to cost effectiveness. Thus,
potential entry of new firms is highly viable.
 Potential Development of Substitute Products: There are complex and never
ending consumer needs and no firm can satisfy all sorts of needs alone. There
are plenty of substitute goods available in the market that can be replaced if
consumers are not satisfied with one. The wide range of choices and needs
give a sufficient room for new product development that can replace existing
goods.

 Bargaining Power of Suppliers: The bargaining power of suppliers of raw

materials and intermediate goods is very high. There is ample number of
substitute suppliers available and the raw materials are also readily available.
There is no monopoly situation in the supplier side because the suppliers are
also competing among themselves.

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 Bargaining Power of Consumers: Bargaining power of consumers is also very
high. This is because in FMCG industry the switching costs of most of the goods
is very low and there is no threat of buying one product over other. Customers
are never reluctant to buy or try new things off the shelf.

Abstract

In modern era, it has been observed that stress management has become one of
the most substantial conceptsin the professional environment. It is also seen that
working efficiency has degraded to some extent as professionals are unable to
maintain a balance between their personal and professional lives.

This difference has made organizations to formulate such policies that lead to
better job performance which results in job satisfaction moreover employee
satisfaction.

This degree of satisfaction has been referred to as QUALITY OF WORK LIFE.

Quality of work life is a process in an organization which enables its members at
all levels to participate actively and effectively in shaping organizational
environment, methods and outcomes.

This study focuses on the subjective matter of QWL i.e. its key elements like job
security, job performance, employee satisfaction etc.

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 INTRODUCTION TO QUALITY OFWORK
LIFE

7. Introduction to quality of work life

This topic serves as an introduction and provides the necessary theoretical

Framework for developing proper perspectives of the subject. Quality of Work
Life (QWL) is a relatively new concept which is defined as the overall quality of an
Individual’s working life. QWL is sometimes considered as a sub-concept of the
broad concept of quality of life, which refers to the overall quality of an
individual’s life.

Quality of life includes factors such as income, health, social relationships, and
other factors such as happiness and fulfillment. QWL being the main subject of
the present study meaning, definition, scope of the QWL, and QWL in the Indian
context, etc.,have been discussed.

The pursuit for improved productivity through human resources has its
foundation in the early nineteenth century with F.W Taylor developing Scientific
Management Theory and creating a new awareness regarding human resources.
Prior to the advent of Scientific Management, human resources were considered
as a mere instrument of production with regard to work from dawn to dusk. The
working conditions were paid scanty attention.

The labour was motivated by the lure of money. The Scientific Management
focused mostly on division of labour, hierarchy,close supervision and
management principles.

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These have no doubt brought several benefits to the society. From then onwards
continuous research and investigations have been undertaken to understand
human behavior at work and the ways to improve their job satisfaction, balanced
with the aim of the organizations to work for better productivity with job and
employee satisfaction. In order to achieve these twin objectives, different
approaches have been developed and applied for improvement of quality of
working life of workers.

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 7.1 Evolution of Quality of Work Life (QWL)

The Quality of Work Life refers to all the organizational inputs that aim at the
Employees’ satisfaction and enhancing organizational effectiveness. Walton R.E.
2(1973)1 attributed the evolution of Quality of Work Life to various phases in
history.

Legislation enacted in early 20th century to protect employees from risks inherent
in job and to eliminate hazardous working conditions, followed by the
unionization Movement in the 1930s and 1940s were the initial steps. Emphasis
was on ‘job Security, due process at the work place and economic gains for the
worker’. The 1950s and the 1960s saw the development of different theories by
psychologists

Proposing a positive relationship between morale and productivity, and the

possibility that improved human relations that would lead to enhancement of
productivity.

Attempts at reforms to acquire equal employment opportunity and job

enrichment Schemes also were introduced. During 1970’s, the idea of QWL was
evolved, According to Walton, as a broader concept than the earlier
developments, and something that includes the values, human needs and
aspirations.

An international conference was held at Arden House, New York in 1972. It dealt
in detail with the practice and theory of democratization of work place. In this
conference the term “Quality of Working Life’ was introduced, and the
International Council for Quality of Working Life (ICQWL) was formed to facilitate
research on and action for Quality of Working Life. During 1972 to 1980 the
concern for QWL gained momentum, and assumed the proportion of a

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movement. Some of the members of ICQWL wanted to hold another International
Conference, during the 1980s.

In Canada, QWL researches were gaining attention; and a weekend meeting was
organized in Toronto in 1980 to discuss ICQWL’s proposal. The first open
International Conference was organized in Toronto in August 1981 on Quality of
Work Life. A large number of managers, union representatives and academicians,
attended the conference. Jenkins (1981) observed that the Toronto conference
demonstrated that the Quality of Working Life is becoming an important issue of
the ongoing organizational reality to enhance the Quality of Work Life of
employees.

7.2 Meaning and Concept of QWL

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QWL is the favorableness or unfavorableness of a job environment for people; it
refers to the quality of relationship between employees and the total working
environment.
According to Harrison, QWL is the degree to which the working organization
contributes to material and psychological well-being of its members. The QWL as
“a process of joint decision making, collaboration and building mutual respect
between management and employees”; it is concerned with increasing labour
management co-operation to solve the problems, improving organizational
performance and employee satisfaction.

According to the American Society of Training and Development (1979), it is a

process of work organization which enables its members at all levels to actively
participate in shaping the organization’s environment, methods and outcomes.
This value based process is aimed towards meeting the twin goals of enhanced
effectiveness of the organization and improved quality of life for employees.

Broadly, the concept of QWL involves four major aspects:

1) Safe work environment,

2) Occupational health care,
3) Suitable working time, and
4) Appropriate salary.

The safe work environment provides the basis for a person to be happy at work.
The work should not pose a health hazard for the person. The employer and
employees are aware of their risks and rights, and could achieve a lot for their
mutual benefit.

7.3 Theory of Motivation and Quality of Work Life

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The ‘Quality of Work Life, (QWL) is a philosophy, a set of principles, which holds
that people are the most important resources. Straw, R.J., and C.C. Heckscher,
(1984) 8 started that in an organisation, people are trustworthy, responsible and
capable of making valuable contribution, and they should be treated with dignity
and respect. The elements that are relevant to an individual’s quality of work life
include:

1. The task,
2. Physical work environment,
3. Social environment within the organization,
4. Administrative system and
5. Relationship between the life and job

7.4 Definition of Quality and Quality of Work Life

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There are many aspects of quality and they fall into categories such as consumer
view point of quality, producer view point of quality, personnel, behavioural
quality, quality practices, reliability, education, training, team work,
communication and other such topics are always included in ‘quality’ discussion.
Quality is the totality of the features and characteristics of a product, service or a
person that bear on its or his ability to satisfy stated or implied needs.

Walton. R.E, (1973)21 who had taken up extensive research on QWL can be
considered as a major contributor to the concept of productivity and human
resources. He devised an eight point criteria to measure the ‘Quality of
WorkingLife’.

The categories are:

 Adequate and fair compensation,

 Safe and healthyworking environment,
 Opportunity to develop human capabilities,
 Growth and security,
 Social integration,
 Constitutionalism,
 Total life space and
 Social relevance.

According Lippitt, G.L. (1978) 22 the term QWL broadly referring to thedegree to
which work provides an opportunity for an individual to satisfy a widevariety of
personal needs to survive with some security, to interact with others, tohave a

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sense of personal usefulness, to be recognized for achievement and to have
anopportunity to improve one’s skills and knowledge.

Nadler, D.A. and Lawler, E.E. (1983)23 defined QWL as an individual’sperception

of and attitudes towards, his or her work and the total workingenvironment. In
simple words, QWL can be defined as an individual’s evaluativereactions to
satisfaction with his/her work and the total working environment.

Beukema, L. Groningen et al. (1987)24 expressed that QWL is defined as the

degreeto which employees are able to shape their jobs actively, in accordance
with theiroptions, interests and needs

7.5 Factors Influencing the Quality of Working Life

Many different factors influence the quality of an individual’s working life.

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These factors include working conditions, workplace-stress and job satisfaction.

1. Job satisfaction refers to how far the individuals are satisfied with theirposition
of employment. Factors such as workplace environment, peers, and income and
work duties influence how satisfied an employee is with the job. When job
satisfaction is positive, this contributes to a better quality ofworking life. An
individual who is satisfied with their job is more likely toexperience a higher
quality of working life than an employee who isdissatisfied or even resentful of
the work.

2. Workplace-stress refers to the amount of stress experienced by an employee in

the work environment. Workplace-stress is caused by numerous factors, including
what duties an individual must perform, or their peer group in a company, and
their overall workload. An employee who has stressful work related duties, such
as an emergency room doctor who is responsible for thelives of countless people
each day, is more likely to experience workplace stress. An employee, who has a
heavy workload, is also more likely to experience workplace-stress. Workplace-
stress often leads to the stress outside the workplace due to the attending to
other items of work in an individual’s daily life. This stress is the cause of
experiencing lower quality of work life.

3. Other factors which influence quality of working life are:

1. Individual Employees Wage,

2. Their Working Hours,
3. Workplace Conditions,
4. Fairness In The Workplace,
5. Personal characteristics such as anxiety or depression
i) An individual who is receiving a low wage, especially in comparison to how
difficult their job is, will have a lower quality of working life.
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ii) The working hours can also influence the overall quality of working life.
Employees who work for too many hours, too few hours or unusual hours are
more likely to report that they have a lower quality of working life. An individual
who has very few working hours at the work place is not likely to receive enough
money to maintain his standard of living, while an individual who is working for
too many hours is likely to experience workplace stress and decline in social
relationships. The unusual hours can cause a decline in the quality of life due to
the fact that individuals with unusual hours are more likely to see a decline in
social relationships as well as experience difficulty in attending to normal
activities.

iii) The wage of the individual employees should be related to the job they
perform, through fair compensation.

iv) Work place conditions are influencing the performance of their work, and it
consists of all the factors which act and react on the body and mind of an
employee. Working conditions refer to these as properly maintained as per the
norms of Factories Act and other enactments.

v) Fairness in the workplace refers to how fair a workplace is and how fairly it is
maintained. When a workplace is not managed fairly, it generally means that
every individual in the workplace is not treated equally. For example; if a certain
employee is continually late for work but does not receive a reduction in pay or
any other warning or punishment, while other employees are punished for being
late to work even once and their pay is cut for these days, then this is considered
unfairness in the workplace. When a workplace is considered unfair, this leads to
a decline in the quality of working life because an individual worker may feel
resentment at being unfairly punished or fired due to the workplace unfairness.

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vi) Quality of working life may be affected by personal characteristics exhibited by
an employee. Personal characteristics can affect a workplace through how it is
perceived, or how job duties are performed. An individual who is anxious in social
situations, for example, will report a lower quality of working life if this situation
requires constant, daily interaction with other people. Other personal
characteristics such as shyness, depression and general happiness can also affect
the overall quality of working life as these characteristics influence the way the
individual performs the duties sincerely.

7.6 Dimensions of Quality of Work Life

A number of attempts have been made to identify various dimensions of QWL by

the “Philosophers and Research Scholars”. Some have emphasized the
importance in working conditions leading to better quality of work life while
others feel a fair compensation and job security should be emphasized.”

(Mirza, S. Saiyadain, 1995)Hackman and Suttle (1977) described the QWL from
various viewpoints:

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(i)From a professional viewpoint, it is an industrial democracy increased worker
participation in corporate decision-making, or a culmination of the goals of
human relations,

(ii)From the management perspective, it is a variety of efforts to improve

productivity through improvements in the human, rather than the capital or
technological inputs of production,

(iii)From the stand point of the characteristics of individual workers: it refers to

the degree, to which members of a work organization are able to satisfy
important personal needs through their experience in the organization,

(iv)From union's perspective: it is a more equitable sharing of the income and

resources of the work organization and more human and healthier working
conditions,

(v)As a philosophy, it means the quality of the content of relationship between

man and his task in all its diversity;

(vi)The relationship can be approached from divergent view points, including the
man, the organization and the society, embracing job design work organization
basic human needs and values and societal concepts.

Gadon (1984) suggested that the QWL efforts include the areas of personal and
professional development, work redesign, building of teams, work scheduling,
and total organizational change.

MichallMaccaoby (1984) identified four factors to measure the QWL,

such as:

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 i) Security (right to work and working conditions),
ii) Equality (distributive justice)
iii) Democracy (autonomy and opportunity to useabilities) and,
iv) Individualization (perception of uniqueness).

Klott, Mundick and Schuster (1985)suggested 11 major QWL issues.

They are:

i) Pay and stability of employment,

ii) Occupational stress ,
iii) Organizationalhealth programs,
iv) Alternative work schedules,
v) Participative management and control of work,
vi) Recognition,
vii)Congenial worker supervisor relations,
viii) Grievance procedure,
ix) Adequacy of resources,
x) Seniority and merit in promotions and
xi) Employment on permanent basis.

Havlovic (1991)found in his study that the key elements of QWL

include:
I. Job security,
II. Job satisfaction,
III. Better reward system,
IV. Employee benefits,
V. Employee involvement and organizational performance.
7.7 Indian Approach to QWL

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Indian philosophy advocates self-actualization as the goal of life, and the work as
a way of life instrumental in achieving the ultimate goal. “Work-life, according to
the Indian view, is itself a spiritual discipline. The process of refinement to realize
this objective or the identity of the self is yoga or work”.

SwamyYaktananda (1980)48 says according to the traditional teachings, the work

place is a temple and work is worship, “The basic philosophy - the central theme
of Gita - is ‘Karma Yoga’. KarmaYoga is concerned with multifarious development.
The development of the self, the community, the society and industry is possible
only through Karma Yoga. Karma Yoga means action, duty or work which is not
prohibited, which is not harmful, and which is not performed with a selfish motive
but with the object of serving humanity.

Nishkama Karma proclaims the philosophy of performing one’s duty without the
desire for reward. Work in itself is considered as the reward. At this point, one
starts, wondering as to whether the quint-essence of this philosophy applies to
the employer as well or only to the employee, in the modern industrialized phase
of recent history. There is another theory of Indian school of thought which can
be called as ‘Sacrifice - ChittaSuddhi’ theory of work.

As Radhakrishnan (1976) has so aptly remarked, Work is the worship of the

supreme, man’s homage to God.50 It is the quiet nurturing of this attitude
towards work, deep within, through all the ups and downs,successes and failures
that can gradually stimulate movement towards perfection and progress in
respect of the nature of work.

Thus stress is not laid on the nature of work in the Indian school of philosophical
thought. If one accepts the principle- work is worship of God, then automatically a
good quality of work life prevails. For instance, there is a convention in the
Ramakrishna order, a universally recognized voluntary organization, in the
allotment of duties, e.g., a monk performing morning and evening puja in the
temple is assigned on one fine morning to ledger posting work in a hospital, or a
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college teacher is sent out for prolonged relief work in a drought-stricken desert
area. By this means, the Ramakrishna mission wanted its members to learn that
satisfaction did not lie in the nature of work alone, but in the attitude of the
workers.

Indian approach towards the quality of work life and work ethic is founded on the
premise that a man has a spiritual metaphysical dimension too to his personality,
a dimension inherently superior to that of his economic, biological and social
dimensions. Bulk of the task of improving the quality of work life and work ethics
has to be performed within the mind’s empire of each worker. For this, an
altogetherdifferent kind of education and training is required compared to what is
corner-stoneof QWL.
As a society, India has its roots in an agrarian culture; that in turn influences the
Indian industrial work culture. In an agrarian culture, the workplace and home are
not located far away. The work design provided space and time to take care of the
family and children, and maintain healthy social relations. The social system
perfectly matched the nature of work, festivals and celebration was related to
harvests, which enabled the people to relax and enjoy the outcome of their hard
work. In an industrialized society, the worker has to leave behind his home,
sometime his village as well, to reach the workplace. Coming to it required
considerable energy, and time.

The industrialized society also demands a discipline, which is new to the people.
Leaving aside the natural planning of a work culture, nearby work fields, peaceful
and pollution-free atmosphere and self-disciplined working times, the industrial
worker enters into a new unknown workplace and faces given tasks to be finished
in a given time, and in a fixed way to doing it. Nishkama Karma opts for
detachment from rewards while industrialization demands detachment from the
family. The life theemployee lives is highly determined by the nature of work life.
His family life, socialrelations, even routing habits and hobbies revolve round his
job. Suddenly afterleaving the job, the employee considers himself a stranger to
his family, and realizesthat this would not have been so if only he could have

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spent some time in earlier yearswith the members of his family. Hence, the QWL
has an intimate relation with thepattern of living and the job entrusted to the
employee. The organization cannot affordto ignore these.

7.8 Quality of Work Life Parameters

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In this research study the parameters of Quality of Work Life which influence the
adverse effects of changes in work environment to QWL with implications for
career development and human resource management are examined. Parameters
of QWL are also called constructs of QWL, and Hackmen and Oldham (1980) 51
highlight the constructs of QWL in relation to the interaction between work
environment and personal needs. This study extends and integrates the various
parameters of QWL considered crucial in modern organisations, describing their
importance and utility. In India, its scope seems to be much broader than the
provisions of the labour legislation enacted to protect the workers.

It is more than a sheer work organization movement which focuses on job

security and economic growth of the employees. The basic idea is to develop
work environments that are excellent for people as well as for the wellbeing of
the organization. Based on theforegoing factors influencing the quality of work
life, parameters like health and safety, welfare facilities, working conditions,
compensation, career growth and development, grievance redressal mechanism,
social integration and social relevance of work life are selected for this study.
These parameters are discussed briefly in this section.

7.9 Health and Safety

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The concept of health is a broader term. It may have both subjective and
objective interpretations.
According to Guyatt, the concept of health includes various aspects of life, which
may be evaluated either positively such as happiness, or negatively such as death.
Health and safety of the workers are quite important in every organisation.

In the Chapter IV of the Factories Act, 1948 its amendment 1987 has given
several provisions in factories to maintain the health and safety of the workers.
There are different aspects which enable health and safety of the workers in the
workplace and are maintained in accordance to the provisions of the Factories
Act, 1948.

They include social security measures such as Insurance of workers,

compensation on disablement or death, etc.

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The Factories Act also emphasized the different infrastructure such as Bathrooms,
rest rooms, urinals, first aid boxes, medical facilities, etc. to the workers in
industries. The laws also enable use of personal protective equipments, such as
helmets, hard hats, etc in the work place.

Occupational health and safety is an area concerned with protecting the safety,
health and welfare of people engaged in work. A safe and hygienic working
environment shall be provided, and the best occupational health and safety
practice shall be promoted, bearing in mind the prevailing knowledge of the
industry and of any specific hazards.

Workers health and safety aim to protect the health, safety and welfare of
workers at work and other people affected by the work.

Quality of work life related to physical working conditions that ensure safety,
minimize risk of illness and other occupational diseases and provides special
emphasis on the well-being of the women and children. Industrial health and

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safety is one of the crucialcontemporary factors that influence QWL of
employees.

There is no denying the factthat safety is the primary responsibility of

management; it should be made a matter of high concern by all the echelons of
management, namely, plant manager, safety and maintenance engineers,
supervisors and the other authorities of concern. In tobacco processing units’
work place environment is fully loaded with occupational stress like extreme heat,
tobacco dust inadequate illumination, and noise vibration.

Wali, B.S and Raut,, their study pointed out the occupational stresses and hazards
caused due to tobacco dust, indoor environmental factors like noise, vibration,
poor ventilation, inadequate illuminated heat etc. and discuss various hazardous
conditions due to unhealthy practices and workplace of female tobacco workers.

The hazards of the workplace stress are coupled with poor living conditions, poor
socio-economic conditions, malnutrition, lack of medical facilities, and violence at
domestic which levels can affect physical and mental health of the body.

7.10 Welfare facilities

The concept of ‘labour welfare’ is flexible and elastic and differs widely with
times, regions, industry, country, social values and customs, the degree of
industrialization, the general social economic development of people and political
ideologies prevailing at particular moments.

The Committee on LabourWelfare (1969) 54 defined the phrase to mean, “such

facilities and amenities as adequate canteens, rest and recreation facilities,
sanitary and medical facilities arrangements for travel to and from, and for

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accommodation of workers employed at a distance from their homes, and such
other services, amenities and facilities including social security measures as
contribute to conditions under which workers are employed.”

The concept of labour welfare has received inspiration from the concept of
democracy and welfare state. Democracy does not simply denote a form govt. it is
rather a way of life based on certain value such as equal rights and privileges for
all.

The constituents of labour welfare included working hours, working condition,

safety, industrial health insurance, workmen’s compensation, provident funds,
gratuity, pension, protection against indebtedness, industrial housing, rest room,
canteens, and crèches wash places, toilet facilities, lunch, cinemas, music, reading
rooms, co-operative store, playground etc.

Employee welfare measures promote the physical, social, psychological and

general well - being of the working population. Welfare work in any industry aims
at improving the working and living conditions of workers and their families.

Welfare is the provision and maintenance of the conditions of life for individuals
by the community. Employee welfare is flexible and elastic and differs widely with
time and region, industry, social value and customs, degree of industrialization
the general social - economic development of the people and the political
ideologies prevailing at a particular time. It is also molded according to the age
groups, socio-cultural background, and educational level of workers in various
industries. Industrial progress depends on satisfied labour force and in this
connectionthe importance of labour welfare measures was accepted long back.

Way back in 1931 the Royal Commission on Labour stressed the need of labour
welfare primarily because of the harsh treatment meted out to the workers. This
need was further emphasized in Independent India by the Constitution,
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(1950)which lays down the following articles in this regard, “Article 42 explained,
The state shall make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work”
“Article 43 The state shall endeavor to secure by suitable legislation or economic
organization or in any other way, to all workers agricultural, industrial or
otherwise, a living wage, conditions of work ensuring a decent standard of life
and full enjoyment of leisure and social and cultural opportunities.

“Discussing the importance of the labour welfare” S.T. Edwards (1953) said, “One
can buy a man’s time, his physical presence at a particular space, even a few
muscular movements, but enthusiasm, initiative, loyalty and devotion to duty
cannot be bought. They will have to be created through right employer-employee
relations, provision of constructive opportunities for satisfying the major
motivating desires of human action”.

Welfare facilities help to develop loyalty among workers towards the

organisation. They tend to make the employee happy. These measures include
convenience and comfort during work, provision for rest hours, provision of
drinking water, canteen facilities, medical facilities, transport facilities, recreation
facilities, health insurance, provident fund, gratuity and pension, rewards and
incentives and family assistance in times of need, housing accommodation and
education facilities for the children.

Generally, it provides a psychologically satisfactory work environment. To meet

the legal requirements one must provide labour welfare facilities. Labourwelfare
aims at providing such service facilities and amenities as would enable the worker
in factories and industries to perform their work in a healthy congenial
atmosphere to maintain good health and high morale.

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 7.11 Working conditions

Quality of work life is dependent on various aspects of the employee’s work life.
The first and foremost important factor among them is economic aspects. The
second important aspect is working conditions. Thus order can be compared to
Maslow’s hierarchy of work motivation. Abraham Maslow arranged a person’s
motivational needs in a hierarchical manner. He believed that once a given level
of need is satisfied, the next level of need has to be activated in order to motivate
the individual. Once the employee is satisfied with the monetary benefits, he
aspires for higher level of needs to be fulfilled, i.e., good working and
employment conditions.

However, the hierarchical model need not be in the same way. Sometimes higher
order needs may emerge along with or prior to the lower level needs. This priority
depends upon requirements, culture and region where employees work. As such
physical working conditions may sometimes come prior to monetary aspects in
order of performance of employees.

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Working conditions come under Hygienic factors of Herzberg’s two factortheories
of motivation. As such, theories do not motivate an employee, non-existence of
good working conditions do dissatisfy him.

An employee normally spends 6 to 8 hours at his work place which is significant

part of the employee’s time. Hence, providing good working conditions play an
important role in reducing employee dissatisfaction about the job. A well
equipped building with good furniture and other facilities impact employees more
than anyone else.

The conditions under which a job is performed can be different - from those
completely comfortable to those very difficult and dangerous to employees’ life
and health. Different working conditions can be influenced by: i) external factors
that influence climate-meteorological conditions, temperature, humidity, drafts,
lighting in the workplace, noise and interference, gases, radiations, dust, smoking
and other harmful factors;

i)Subjective factors that influence gender and gas of the worker,

ii) Fatigue, monotony, unfavorable posture during work, etc.

iii) Factors related to the organization of production of production such as

duration of the work shift, work schedule, working time, work pace, excessive
strain etc.

Jobs with difficult working conditions may be performed only by those employees
who meet specific requirement in terms of age, sex, qualification, health physical
and mental condition and psycho-physiological and psychological capabilities.
Difficult working conditions influence employees’ performances. It is, therefore,
necessary to take measures to eliminate uncomfortable working conditions or, if

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not possible, to take appropriate safety measures. Safety at work is carried out to
ensure working conditions without danger to life of health, or to avoid accidents,
injuries, occupational diseases and, or at least mitigate their consequences.

In the context of safety at work reference is to the equipment that employees use
in their daily work. Equipment (machinery, equipment, plant, tools, supplies,
laboratory equipment, etc.) that employees use in their work has to be functional
and correctly to avoid injuries at work or reduced performances. It is important
that workers are trained how to work with the equipment because inadequate
equipment handling care may result in accidents or deviations in performance, no
matter how much equipment was proper. Training of employees should be also
oriented to the proper use of protective equipment and protection

7.12 Compensation

Compensation and rewards are motivational factors. The best performer is given
the rewards, and this builds competition among the employees to work hard and
to achieve both organizational and individual goals. The economic interests of
people drive them to work at a job, and employee satisfaction depends at least
partially, on the compensation offered. Pay should be fixed on the basis of the
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work done, responsibilities undertaken, individual skills, performance and
accomplishments.

Mirvis and Lawler (1984) highlighted that Quality of working life was associated
with satisfaction with wages, hours and working conditions, describing the “basic
elements of a good quality of work life” as; safe work environment, equitable
wages,equal employment opportunities and opportunities for advancement.
Oshagbemi, Sloane and Williams, highlighted that differences in remuneration
aspects received by the employee suddenly affect their work satisfaction and
work performance.

Drobnicet al.suggests that employees who have secured jobs and pay would
feelcomfortable at the work place and this affects their quality of life. Meeting
sociallydetermined needs and fair compensation can create an appropriate work
environment.

7.13Career Growth and Development

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A career is the evolving sequence of a person’s work experiences over time.
Career is typically defined as a ‘sequence of work roles or a sequence of a
person’s work experience over time.

Career arises from the interaction of individuals with organizations and society.
Career is nota primarily a theoretical construct but is used in meaningful ways,
given meaning, and it creates meaning and also experience.

More specifically, career is referred to as a succession of related jobs, arranged in

a hierarchy of prestige, through which persons move in an ordered, predictable
sequence. There is also another side of career which is linked to the individual’s
“moving perspective” on their life and its meaning. Career growth and
development help employees expand their knowledge, skills and abilities, and
apply the competencies they have gained to new situations.

The opportunity to gain new skills and experiences can increase the employee
motivation and job satisfaction, and help workers to more effectively manage job
stress. By providing opportunities for growth and development, organizations can
improve the quality of their employees’ work experience, and realize the benefits
of developing workers to their full potential.

The purpose of career planning as part of an employee development program is

not only to help employees feel like their employers are investing in them, but
also help people manage the many aspects of their lives and deal with the fact
that there is a clear promotion track. Employers can no longer promise job
security, but they can help people maintain the skills they need to remain viable
in the job market.
Moses suggests that there is a comparison of employees’ perceptions of the
quality of working tasks, the degree of involvement in decision making, career

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opportunities, and job security to see whether the Scandinavian countries have a
distinctive pattern from other European Union countries.

7.14 Grievance redressal mechanism

Grievance is a disagreement between an employee and management on the

rules, terms or conditions of employment. The causes for a grievance may
include, but are not limited to, complaints concerning wages, hours of work,
working conditions, performance evaluations, job assignments, or the
interpretation or application of a rule, regulation or policy. According to the
International LabourOrganisation (ILO), “the grounds for a grievance may be any
measure or situation which concerns the relation between the employer and
worker or which affects or may affect the conditions of employment of one or
several workers in the undertaking when that measure or situation appears
contrary to provisions of an applicable collective agreement or of an individual
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contract of employment, to work rules, to laws to regulation or to the custom or
usage of the occupation, branch of economic activity or country, regarded being
faith”. It means that an act of omission or commission on the part of the
employer, which affects the morale of individual workers or a group of workers,
gives birth to grievances.

Grievance is all about violation of the contract, practices, rules and regulations. As
human beings are different, there are bound to be grievances among employees
leading to conflicts at the workplace. To avert any kind of conflicts within the
organization, there is need for a proper grievance redressal procedure so that the
employees feel that their grievances are addressed and redressed. The grievance
process must be clear and simple. It must be well-defined. It must conform to the
current legislation without any prejudice.

There should not be any delay in the grievance process it a might result into a
crisis. The sheer volume of grievances and disciplinary actions that arise will affect
the costs of managing an organisation. To the extent that management and
unions devote time and effort to these formal adversarial procedures, they limit
resources available for training, problem solving, communications, and other
activities linked toproductivity, human resource management, or organisational
development.

Consequently, volume of grievances and disciplinary actions should be

systematically related to other measures of the performance of an industrial
relations system.

High degree of conflict between labour and management lead to lower efficiency,
poorer quality and poorer organizational performance. Therefore, grievance and
conflict resolution measures serve important and useful functions for labour and
management for resolving the inevitable conflicts of employment relationships
and for protecting the individual rights of employees.

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Grievance is the seed of dispute and the management should give due
consideration to the employees’ day to day grievances. In order to maintain
industrial peace and harmonious relations, the management should take
proactive measures to settle the industrial conflicts and to avoid work stoppages.
The performance of grievance redressal mechanism in both the organisations is
well understood from.

The grievance committee and multistage grievance handling machinery are very
much effective in the organisations. It is also observed that the management is
successfully handling grievances to prevent dissatisfaction and frustration as well
as taking collaborative approach for quick and prompt resolution of conflicts.

Grievance
Process

7.15 Social Integration at Work

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The work environment should provide opportunities for preserving an employee’s
personal identity and self-esteem through freedom from prejudice, a sense of
community interpersonal openness and the absence of stratification in the
organisation.

The workers should be made to feel a sense of identity with the organization and
develop a feeling of self-esteem. Openness, trust, sense of community feeling,
scope for upward mobility, equitable treatment etc. are essential for this purpose.

Social integration in work organisation will definitely encourage workers to act as

a unity; and it provides them a lot of team spirit.

Social integration in the work force can be established by creating freedom from
prejudice, supporting primary work group a sense of community and
interpersonnelopenness, egalitarian and upward mobility.

Social integration is social relations that employees share at work place with his
superiors and subordinates. If he has strained relations with his superiors or his
colleagues his work life is naturally affected. The opportunity for socialisation with
colleagues is an important aspect of Quality of Work life.

7.16 Social Relevance of Work Life

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Social relevance is a distinct concept that relates to an employee’s desire
toremain with an organization out of a sense of loyalty, emotional attachment
and financial need (Meyer et al., 1989)67. Employees must be given the
perspective of how his/her work in the organisation helps the society. This is
essential to build relevance of the employee’s existence to the society he/she
lives in relationship between and among the employees is an indicator of healthy
work organisation.

Therefore, opportunities must be provided for formal and informal interaction. All
kind of classes’ religions, races, crafts, and designations must be treated equally
on asocial platform. In other words, it creates egalitarian environment. This leads
toorganizational commitment which can be defined as the relative strength of an
individual’s identification with and involvement in a particular organization.

Employees’ commitment can be characterized by at least 3 related

factors:

i) A strong belief in and acceptance of the organization’s goals and values;

ii) A willingness to exert a considerable effort on behalf of the organization,
and
iii) A strong desire to maintain membership in the organization.

Porter and Lawler (1983)identify two subscales:

i) Value commitment, (a commitment to support organizational goals), and

ii) Commitment to stay (a desire toretain organizational membership).

QWL is positively correlated with organizationalcommitment, job involvement,
motivation, organizational citizenship behavior, lifesatisfaction, mental health and
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job performance. It is negatively related to turnover, absenteeism and perceived
stress.

7.17 Who Needs Quality of Work Life?

We know that we just can't stop "working at it", discovering, creating and sharing
new stuff. We're all so busy psychologically; work has always been one of the
most significant of human experiences. But when for many people sex and
relationships are troublesome since they are often hazardous to our health work
plays an even greater role in keeping us "out of trouble." Regardless of how much
we earn, most of us have some kind of agenda or work plan.
And with so many people opening a home and a cyber-office, with mounting
levels of technology-related stress, owner turned content. Many of us end up
involved in more than one job, which we feel compelled to get done, spending
the greatest portion of our lives in what we consider our workplace. SoQWL is not
some notion of frivolous luxury.

QWL is just as real and useful as virtual reality itself. The brainchild of Quality of
Work Life Services, Manhattan-based, woman-created enterprise, QWL SPACE has
been occupied by equally experienced, open-minded, goal- king of free days
before national holidays have been separately stipulated.

The differences regarding the working time have been established for the persons
less than 18 years of age, pregnant women, breast-feeding mothers and the
person raising the disabled child.

The appropriate salary is agreed upon by the employee and the employer. The
Government of the Republic establishes each year the rate of minimum salary;
the employer should not pay less than that to the employee.Work represents
such a role in life which has been designated to it by the person himself.
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On the one hand work is an earning of one's living for the family, on the other
hand it could be a self-realization providing enjoyment and satisfaction. We know
that we just can't stop "working at it", discovering, creating and sharing new stuff.
We're all so busy psychologically; work has always been one of the most
significant of human experiences. But when for many people sex and relationships
are troublesome since they are often hazardous to our health work plays an even
greater role in keeping us "out of trouble." Regardless of how much we earn,
most of us have some kind of agenda or work plan.

Key elements:
 Promote human dignity and growth
 Work together collaboratively
 Participative determine work changes
 Assume comparability of people and organizational goal

7.18 Humanized work through quality of work life

One option is to re-design jobs to have the attributes desired by people, and re-
design organisations to have the environment desired by the people. This
approach seeks to improve QWL. There is a need to give workers more of a
challenge, more of a whole task, more opportunity to use their ideas.

Close attention to QWL provides a more humanised work environment. It

attempts to serve the higher-order needs of workers as well as their more basic
needs. It seeks to employ the higher skills of workers and to provide an
environment that encourages them to improve their skills. The idea is that human
resources should be developed and not simply used. Further, the work should not
have excessively negative conditions. It should not put workers under undue
stress. It should not damage or degrade their humanness. It should not be
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threatening or unduly dangerous. Finally, it should contribute to, or at least leave
unimpaired, workers’ abilities to perform in other life roles, such as citizen,
spouse and parent. That is, work should contribute to general social
advancement.

7.19 Job Enlargement vs. Job Enrichment

The modern interest in quality of work life was stimulated through efforts to
change the scope of people’s jobs in attempting to motivate them.

Job scope has two dimensions – breadth and depth. Job breadth is the number of
different tasks an individual is directly responsible for. It ranges from very narrow
(one task performed repetitively) to wide (several tasks). Employees with narrow
job breadth were sometimes given a wider variety of duties in order to reduce
their monotony; this process is called job enlargement. In order to perform these
additional duties, employees spend less time on each duty. Another approach to
changing job breadth is job rotation, which involves periodic assignment of an
employee to completely different sets of job activities. Job rotation is an effective
way to develop multiple skills in employees, which benefits the organisation while
creating greater job interest and career options for the employee.

Applications

Viewed in terms of Herzberg’s motivational factors, job enrichment occurs when

the work itself is more challenging, when achievement is encouraged, when there
is opportunity for growth and when responsibility, feedback and recognition are
provided. However, employees are the final judges of what enriches their jobs.

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All that management can do is gather information about what tend to enrich jobs,
try those changes in the job system and then determine whether employees feel
that enrichment has occurred.

In trying to build motivational factors, management also gives attention to

maintenance factors. It attempts to keep maintenance factors constant or higher
as the motivational factors are increased. If maintenance factors are allowed to
decline during an enrichment program, then employees may be less responsive to
the enrichment program because they are distracted by inadequate maintenance.

The need for a systems approach in job enrichment is satisfied by the practice of
gain sharing. Since job enrichment must occur from each employee’s personal
viewpoint, not all employees will choose enriched jobs if they have an option. A
contingency relationship exists in terms of different job needs, and some
employees prefer the simplicity and security of more routine jobs.

7.20 The human resource department’s role

The role of human resource department in QWL efforts varies widely. In some
organizations, top management appoints an executive to ensure that QWL and
productivity efforts occur throughout the organization. In most cases, these
executives have a small staff and must rely on the human resource department
for help with employee training, communications, attitude survey feedback, and
similar assistance. In other organizations, the department is responsible for
initiating and directing the firm’s QWL and productivity efforts. Perhaps the most
crucial role of the department is winning the support of key managers.

Management support – particularly top management support appears to be an

almost universal prerequisite for successful QWL programs. By substantiating
employee satisfaction and bottom-line benefits, which range from lower

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absenteeism and turnover to higher productivity and fewer accidents, the
department can help convince doubting managers. Sometimes documentation of
QWL can result from studies of performance before and after a QWL effort.
Without documentation of these results, top management might not have
continued its strong support.

The department also has both a direct and indirect influence on employee
motivation and satisfaction.

The policies and practices of the department also influence motivation and
satisfaction indirectly. Rigorous enforced safety and health programs, for
example, can give employees and supervisors a greater sense of safety from
accidents and industrial health hazards. Likewise, compensation policies may
motivate and satisfy employees through incentive plans, or they may harm
motivation and satisfaction through insufficient raises or outright salary freezes.
The motivation and satisfaction of employees act as feedback on the
organization’s QWL and on the department’s day-to-day activities.

7.21 Motivation

Motivation is a complex subject. It involves the unique feelings, thoughts and past
experiences of each of us as we share a variety of relationships within and outside
organisations.
To expect a single motivational approach work in every situation is probably
unrealistic. In fact, even theorists and researches take different points of view
about motivation.

Nevertheless, motivation can be defined as a person’s drive to take an action

because that person wants to do so. People act because they feel that they have

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to. However, if they are motivated they make the positive choice to act for a
purpose – because, for example, it may satisfy some of their needs.

7.22 Job satisfaction

Job satisfaction is the favorableness or unfavourableness with which employees

view their work. As with motivation, it is affected by the environment. Job
satisfaction is impacted by job design. Jobs that are rich in positive behavioural
elements – such as autonomy, variety, task identity, task significance and
feedback contribute to employee’s satisfaction. Likewise, orientation is important
because the employee’s acceptance by the work group contributes to
satisfaction.

If better performance leads to higher rewards and if these rewards are seen as
fair and equitable, then results in improved satisfaction. On the other hand,
inadequate rewards can lead to dissatisfaction. In either case, satisfaction
becomes feedback that affects one’s self-image and motivation to perform. The
total performance-satisfaction relationship is a continuous system, making it
difficult to assess the impact of satisfaction on motivation or on performance, and
vice-versa.

7.23 Objectives of Quality of Work Life:

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 To increase in individual productivity, accountability and commitment.
 For better teamwork and communication.
 For improving the morale of employees.
 To reduce organizational stress.
 To improve relationships both on and off the job.
 To improve the safety working conditions.
 To provide adequate Human Resource Development Programs.
 To improve employee satisfaction.
 To strengthen workplace learning.
 To better manage on-going change and transition.
 To participate in management at all levels in shaping the organization.

7.24 Importance of Quality of Work Life:

Improved Quality of Work Life was not considered as important factor in India
until recently as there were important impending factors like resource deficiency,
environmental threats and some services of financial problems.
Quality of Work Life program has become important in work place for the
following reasons:
 Increase demands at work
 Loss of long term employee guarantees
 The need for enhanced work place skills
 Greater competition for talent
 Increased women in work force

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Good quality of Work Life leads to an atmosphere of good impersonal relations
and highly motivated employees who strive for their development. Though
monetary benefits still occupy the first place in the cost of elements like physical
working conditions, job restructuring and job re-designing, career development,
promotional opportunities etc. are gaining importance rapidly.

As such, workers expect the management to improve all these facilities which
thereby improve Quality of Work life. If provided with good Quality of Work Life,
employees concentrate more on both individual as well as group development
which in turn leads to overall development.
According to Walton (1975) proposed eight conceptual categories.
They are as follows:

 Adequate and fair compensation

 Safe and healthy working conditions

 Immediate opportunity to use and develop human capacities

 Opportunity for continued growth and security

 Social integration in the work organization

 Constitutionalization in the work organization

 Work and the total life span

 The social relevance of work life

Successful organization is turning through the introduction of Quality of

Work Life strategy to the people who work in them to maintain
competitive advantage. The benefits to both management and workers
include:
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 a. Improved organization performance through the development of
people.

b. Increased co-operation and team work within and across all the levels of
the organization including movement towards management or trade
union partnership.

c. Increased environment in doing a good job .

d. Improved quality performance.

e. Increased commitment to the values and goals of the organization.

f. The anchoring of the development of a quality organization

7.25 About QWL strategy:

 Improve communication with employees

 Strengthen family friendly programs
 Provide all employees with Internet access
 Increase investment in workplace learning
 Improve the effectiveness of supervisors and team leaders
 Evaluate the effectiveness of diversity management practices and
 Improve ability to manage change and transition

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The programs, policies and services through Quality of Work life
Programs:
 Support faculty and staff efforts to manage the competing demands of
work and personal life
 Support health promotions and wellness
 Express appreciation for faculty and staff contribution to the university,
highlight outstanding individual contributions and recognize long term
commitment.

7.26 Quality of Work Life as a process:

The concept of Quality of Work Life views a work as a process of interaction and
joint problem solving by work in people, managers, supervisors and workers.

This process is:

 Co-operative rather than authoritarian

 Evolutionary and changing rather than static
 Open rather than rigid
 Informal rather than rule based
 Problem solving

Quality of Work life programme has become important in the work

place for the following reasons:

 Increased women in work force

 Increased male involvement in dependent care activities

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 Increased responsibilities for elders

 Increased demand at work

 Loss of long term employment guarantees

 The need for enhanced work place skills

 Greater competition for talent

 The following are the some of the specific issues in Quality of Work life

 Pay and stability of employment

 Occupational stress

 Organizational health programme

 Alternative work schedules

 Participative management and control of work

 Recognition

 Grievance procedure

 Adequacy of resources

 Seniority and merit in promotions

7.27 Problems of implementing Quality of Work Life

programmes:

Bohlander has identified three common problems of implementing

Quality of Work Life programme. The three areas are:

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 Managerial attitudes

 Union influence

 Restrictiveness of industrial engineering

7.28 Strategies to improve Quality of Work Life

By implementing some changes, the management can create sense of

involvement, commitment and togetherness among the employees
which paves way for better Quality of Work Life.

 Job enrichment and Job redesign

 Autonomous work redesign
 Opportunity for growth
 Administrative or organizational justice
 Job security
 Suggestion system
 Flexibility in work schedules
 Employee participation

Quality of Work life improvements are defined as any activity which takes place at
every level of an organization which seeks greater organizational effectiveness
through the enhancement of human dignity and growth. A process through which
the state holders in the organization, management, unions and employees - learn
how to work together better to determine for themselves what actions, changes
and improvements are desirable and workable in order to achieve the win and

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simultaneous goals of an improved quality of life at work for all members of the
organization and greater effectiveness for both the company and the unions.

FINDINGS

 Employees’ Level of Satisfaction towards Quality of Work Life in RSPL, in

Tests It is found that majority of the RSPL employees have maximum level of
satisfaction towards quality of work life.

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 It is found that majority of the female respondents have maximum level of
satisfaction than the male respondents.

 It could be found that upto 30 years aged respondents have perceived

maximum level of satisfaction towards Quality of Work Life. There is a close
relationship between age and level of satisfaction towards Quality of Work
life of employees.

 While analyzing the educational qualification the respondents, qualified upto

H.Sc. have perceived maximum level of satisfaction towards Quality of Work
Life. It is found from the analysis that there is significant relationship
between educational qualification and level of satisfaction towards Quality of
Work life of employees.

 In the case of monthly income level of the respondents, the employees

having above 25,000 income level have perceived highest level of satisfaction
towards Quality of Work Life. It is found that there is a close relationship
between monthly income level and level of satisfaction towards Quality of
Work life of employees.

 It is found, that supervisor cadre employees have perceived maximum level

of satisfaction towards Quality of Work Life. There is a close relationship
between employees’ cadre and level of satisfaction towards Quality of Work
life.

 It is pinpointed from the analysis that with 10 years experience in service has
perceived maximum level of satisfaction towards Quality of Work Life. There
is a close relationship between working experience and level of satisfaction
towards Quality of Work life of employees.

Impact of Quality of Work Life –RSPL

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 The study reveals that male employees are highly impacted than female
employees in the study area.

 The study reveals that the highly impacted employees belong to 31 to 40 years
age category.

 The study reveals that the employees who are qualified with Diploma level are
highly impacted with the Quality of Work Life.

 The study reveals that the employees who are earning below `25,000.00 were
highly impacted with the Quality of Work Life of the.

 It is found from the analysis that the managerial employees were found to be
highly impacted with the Quality of Work Life.

 The study indicates that the employees having 11 to 15 years of working

experience were found to be highly impacted with the Quality of Work Life.

CONCLUSION

 The above discussion has helped me to conclude that the identification of the
measures of quality of life is indeed a difficult task, though there is a sort of
common agreement on its concept of employee wellbeing.
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  Evidently there are objective (physical and structural design) factors that
provide work place setting and intervening policy factors that affect work
processes of employees.

 As regards the outcome factors the immediate effects on psychology of

employees (positive attitudes, commitment, and satisfaction) and ultimate
effects on performance of organization are being considered by researchers.

 Finally it is very true to say that high degree of QWL leads to job satisfaction
which ultimately results in effective and efficient performance.

SUGGESTIONS

 To improve the Quality of Work Life of the employees in RSPL Ltd., Work
Assessment Committees may be constituted in the organizations, headed by a
qualified professional. The Committee shall meet frequently and assess the
performance and appreciate the sincere efforts made by the professionals.

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 The employees may be given due participation while framing policies in the
organization they serve, which will give them a feeling of being a part of the
whole. This will help them to contribute to the achievement of the company’s
goals.

 Employees at entry cadres and junior level may be given on-the-job training to
make the job more qualitative and useful. Also efforts may be made to find out
the skills and talents and the area of interest of the employees so as to tap it for
the improvement of one’s own welfare and that of the organization, resulting
with improvement of work efficiency of employees and company performance.

 In the current scenario, the employees do not identify their position in the
organization they serve and in the society they live. To solve the identity crisis,
their present designations of Technician / Operator may be changed to
Supervisor; Supervisor may be changed as Managerial, etc.

 There shall be chances of open forums for employees to have better exchange of
their matters and discuss their problems to improve their service quality and to
make them satisfied in their job.

 The employees shall meet at short intervals in their work place to discuss their
official matters which will help them to make radical changes in their work
situation and may also help to find remedies in the crisis they confront in their
day-to-day professional life. This may improve the quality of work life of the
individuals. Fringe benefits given to the staff may be enhanced.

 The employees shall be provided with additional facilities in canteen, crèche,

recreation and entertainment, health facilities etc. in their work place. Employees
may be made very friendly with usages of modern information gadgets like
Internet and computer technologies.

 They shall be imparted proper training and orientation to equip themselves to rise
up and to meet the current requirements. Quality of Work Life and Occupation

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 Stress of employees are found significantly and negatively correlated. So reducing
the levels of stress is one of the best ways to enhance QWL.

 Hence it is suggested that, on the basis of the outcome of the study, effective
stress management programs may be adopted in steel industries to maintain the
stress at reasonable and acceptable levels.
2
 The capacities of the workers are to be utilized optimally by placing right man on
the right job. By this process, the management would use the capacities of the
employees by providing better quality of work life.

QUESTIONNAIRE

Regular assessment of Quality of Work Life can potentially provide organizations

with important information about the welfare of their employees, such as job
satisfaction, general well-being, work-related stress and the home-work interface.

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Please tick ( ) the relevant option:

 Gender: 1) Male 2) Female

 Age: 1) 18-30 2) 30-50 3) 50 above
 Marital status: 1) Unmarried 2) Married

Q1. Since how many years have you been working with this organization?

a. 0-5 Years
b. 5-10 Years
c. 10 to 15 Years
d. More than 15 Years

Q2. How is the physical working condition in the Company?

a. Good
b. Average
c. Poor

Q3. What do you think about the work load in the organization?

a. Work Load is very much and task are not finished on appropriate time
b. Work Load is very much but due to participative environment employees are
able to complete their task
c. Work Load is evenly distributed and employees are able to complete their task

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on time
d. Work Load is less as compared to other companies

Q4. Do you think Communication and information flow between the

departments is satisfactory?

a. Yes
b. No

Q5. Do the employees share experiences to help each other?

a. Yes
b. No

Q6. Does the company provide training for enriching the skills of employees?

a. Yes
b. No

Q7. Do you think proper training improves the productivity of the company and
employees?

a. Yes
b. No

Q8. Do you think there are good career prospect in your organization?

a. Yes
b. No

Q9. Are you free to perform your duties?

a. Yes
b. No

Q10. How is the working Environment?

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a. Participative
b. Autonomy
c. Whimsical
d. Red Tapism

Q11. How is the working hour of the organization?

a. Highly Satisfactory
b. Satisfactory
c. Dissatisfactory

Q12. Does the company take care of the employees working in night shift?

a. Yes
b. No

Q13. Does working in the organization give you a feeling of security and
improves your productivity?

a. Yes
b. No

Q14. Does the organization provide satisfactory Salary according to your Work?

a. Yes
b. No

Q15. Does the goals and task are clearly defined for increasing productivity?

a. Yes
b. No

Q16. Does the top management involve employees in the management

decisions?

a. Yes
b. No

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Q17. Do the facilities provided by the organization motivate you to improve
your productivity?

a. Yes
b. No

Q18. Which factor motivates you the most?

a. Salary increase
b. Promotion
c. Leave
d. Motivational talk
e. Recognition

Q19. What do you think that employees in the organization are skilled,
motivated and productive?

a. Yes
b. No

Q20. Do you think departments in the organization have cooperation?

a. Yes
b. No

Q21. Do you think quality of work life of the organization helps to improve your
productivity?

a. Yes
b. No

REFERENCES

Books:

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[1]. Robbins, S.P. Organizational Behavior: Concepts, Controversies, and
Applications, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs,

[2]. Klatt, Murdick and Schuster (1985), Human resource Management, Ohio,
Charter E.Merrul Publishing Company.

[3]. Casio, W.F,(1998), Managing human resources: productivity, quality of work

life, profits, Irwin: McGraw-Hill, Boston, MA.

[4]. Schermernrhorn, J.R., John, R, Management for Productivity, John Wily and
Sons: Inc

[5]. Hackman, J.R. and Oldham, G.R. (1980), Work Redesign, Addison-Wesley,
Reading, MA.

Websites

http://www.gharidetergent.com
http://www.qowl.co.uk
https://www.wikipedia.org

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