Quality of Work Life

Introduction

People are becoming more quality conscious as of

their work, the products & the quality of their work
life. The efficiency of each activity depends on the
quality of work life of the people. Quality of work life
is not based on a particular theory nor does
advocate a particular technique for application.
Instead quality of work life is concerned with the
overall climate of work. Quality of work life will be
varying from place to place, industry to industry and
culture to culture
Definition

Robbins (1989) defined QWL as "a process by

which an organization responds to employee
needs by developing mechanisms to allow
them to share fully in making the decisions
that design their lives at work"
Specific issues in quality of
work life
Klott, Mundick & Schuster suggested 11 major quality of
work life issues
 Pay & stability of employment
 Occupational stress
 Organizational health program.
 Alternative work schedule.
 Participative management
 Recognition
 Congenial worker supervisor relation
 Grievances procedure
 Adequacy of resources
 Seniority& merit in promotion
 Employment on permanent basis
Firm’s obligations towards
employee
1 Compensation or Wages
2. Job satisfaction
3. Working environment
4. Job profile
5. Health and Safety
6. Growth prospects
7. Job Rotation
Mains issues in Firm’s
Obligations
 The fairness of wages and
 The fairness of employee working conditions.
Fairness of Wages
A number of factors that should be taken into account in determining wages
and salaries:
 The going wage in the industry and the area Although labor markets in
an industry or an area may be manipulated or distorted they generally
provide at least rough indicators of fair wages if they are competitive and if
we assume competitive markets are just. In addition, the cost of living in the
area must be taken into account if employees are to be provided with an
income adequate to their families needs.
 The firm’s capabilities In general, the higher the firm’s profits, the more it
can and should pay its workers, while the smaller its profits, the less it can
afford. Taking advantage of cheap labor in captive markets when a company
is perfectly capable of paying higher wages is exploitation.
 The nature of the job Jobs that involve greater health risks, that offer less
security, that require more training or experience, that impose heavier
physical or emotional burdens, or that take greater effort should carry higher
levels of compensation.
 Minimum wage laws The minimum wages required by law set a floor for
wages. In most circumstances, wages that fall beneath this floor are unfair.
 Relation to other salaries If the salary structure within an organization is to
be fair, workers who do roughly similar work should receive roughly similar
salaries.
Employee’s obligation to
the firm
The employee’s main moral duty is to work toward the
goals of the firm and to avoid any activities, which
might harm those goals

Why this happens

Conflicts of Interest: Conflicts of interest in business
arise when an employee or an officer of a company
is engaged in carrying out a task on behalf of the
company and the employee has a private interest in
the outcome of the task:
The employee should avoid the following
activities while working in any of the
organisation

 Commercial Bribes and Extortion

 Accepting Gifts
 Employee Theft
 Computer Theft
 Trade Secrets
How to Improve Outcomes
from Work-Life Initiatives by
Attention to the Role of
Managers/Workplace Culture
1. Training and Support
2. Accountability
3. Resourcing
4. Creating a Culture of Acceptance and
Encouragement
Training and Support: by developing a toolkit for managers which lays out the
basic skills and knowledge which they need to successfully implement
flexible working. For example, setting goals and objectives, monitoring
progress and measuring success, redesigning work, managing team
dynamics in a flexible workforce, maintaining and improving team
communication, managing performance and career planning, and providing a
demonstrated business case for flexible working. This should be followed up
with support for managers managing teams that are working in new and
diverse ways.
Accountability :Managers should be made accountable for achieving work-life
balance goals and objectives which are linked to core business objectives.
This can be done by linking performance appraisal, pay and promotion to
achievements on the written work-life strategy action plan.
Resourcing: Resourcing need to be made available for the implementation and
measurement of progress and outcomes on the written work-life action plan.
This includes resourcing for training managers and communicating strategies
and plans, rationale and objectives to all staff.
Creating a Culture of Acceptance and Encouragement :Starts with making
the business case to senior management to get their commitment and
leadership through role modeling, resourcing and supporting other managers
to implement the work-life strategy. Focus then needs to shift to
communication of business objectives, training, support and accountability
for mangers and supervisors. Finally, putting the work-life strategy into
practice through a written action plan, which includes an assessment of the
work-life needs of staff in a particular organization or local branch, and
monitoring of progress and outcomes.
Results of QWL
Positive results of QWL have been supported
by a number of previous studies, including
reduced
 absenteeism,
 lower turnover, and
 improved job satisfaction.
Not only does QWL contribute to a company's
ability to recruit quality people, but also it
enhances a company's competitiveness.
Operational System for
Improving QWL
 Job Enrichment
 Job Rotation
 Quality Circles
 Worker’s Participation
 Organizational Development
 Labour Welfare
Quality Circles
A Quality Circle is a volunteer group composed of
workers (or even students) who meet to discuss
workplace improvement, and make presentations to
management with their ideas, especially relating to
quality of output in order to improve the performance
of the organization, and motivate and enrich the
work of employees.

Typical topics are improving occupational safety and

health, improving product design, and improvement
in manufacturing process. The ideal size of a quality
circle is from eight to ten members.
Advantages of a Quality
Circle
1. It is a voluntary forum of workers, Hence it does not
evoke their resistance which is usually found when such
forums are created by the government or management.
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.