INTRODUCTION TO QUALITY OF WORK LIFE

Quality of Work Life: its Meaning and Definition

The present era is an era of knowledge workers and the society in which we are living has come,
to be known as knowledge society. The intellectual pursuits have taken precedence over the
physical efforts.
Some knowledge workers work for more than 60 hours a week. As a result of this, their personal
hobbies and interests clash with their work. Life is a bundle that contains all the strands together
and hence the need to balance work life with other related issues.
One must have both love and work in ones life to make it healthy. Gone are the days when the
priority of employees used to be for physical and material needs. With the increasing shift of the
economy towards knowledge economy, the meaning and quality of work life has undergone a
drastic change.

Meaning:
Quality of work life (QWL) refers to the favorableness or unfavourableness of a job environment
for the people working in an organization. The period of scientific management which focused
solely on specialization and efficiency, has undergone a revolutionary change.
The traditional management (like scientific management) gave inadequate attention to human
values. In the present scenario, needs and aspirations of the employees are changing. Employers
are now redesigning jobs for better QWL.

Definition:
A few definitions given by eminent authors on QWL are given below:
1. QWL is a process of work organizations which enable its members at all levels to actively;
participate in shaping the organizations environment, methods and outcomes. This value based
process is aimed towards meeting the twin goals of enhanced effectiveness of organizations and
improved quality of life at work for employees.
The American Society of Training and Development

2. QWL is a way of thinking about people, work and organisations, its distinctive elements are
(i) a concern about the impact of work on people as well as on organisational effectiveness, and
(ii) the idea of participation in organisational problem-solving and decision making. Nadler
and Lawler
3. The overriding purpose of QWL is to change the climate at work so that the humantechnological-organisational interface leads to a better quality of work life.
-Luthans
4. QWL is based on a general approach and an organisation approach. The general approach
includes all those factors affecting the physical, social, economic, psychological and cultural
well-being of workers, while the organisational approach refers to the redesign and operation of
organisations in accordance with the value of democratic society.
Beinum

From the definitions given above, it can be concluded that QWL is concerned with taking care of
the higher-order needs of employees in addition to their basic needs. The overall climate of work
place is adjusted in such a way that it produces more humanized jobs.
QWL is viewed as that umbrella under which employees feel fully satisfied with the working
environment and extend their wholehearted cooperation and support to the management to
improve productivity and work environment.
QWL programs are another way in which organizations recognize their responsibility to develop
jobs and working conditions. The elements in a typical QWL program include - open
communications, equitable reward systems, a concern for employee job security and satisfying
careers and participation in decision making.

8 Important Scopes of the Quality of Work Life: By Walton

Some of the important scopes of the quality of work life, according to Walton, are: 1. adequate
and fair compensation 2. Safe and healthy working conditions 3. Opportunity to use and develop
human capacities 4. Opportunity to growth and security 5. Social integration in the work
organization 6. Constitution in the work organization 7. Work and total life span and 8. Social
relevance of work life.

1. Adequate and Fair Compensation:

The salary structure of employees should be just, fair and equitable. It should ensure reasonable
wages to employees so that they can keep a desirable standard of life. Payment of Wages Act,
1936 and Minimum Wages Act 1948 safeguard the interests of the workers regarding payment of
wages
It should be clearly understood that for QWL, cash payment is not the only answer. However,
hefty salaries are being paid to the knowledge workers so as the meet their basic and higher level
needs for improving their QWL.

2. Safe and Healthy Working Conditions:

In India, Factories Act 1948 contains a number of provisions relating to safety and health of
employees. Employers are increasingly trying to provide better working conditions to their
workers as compared to their competitors. Flexi-hours of work, zero risk physical conditions of
work and safety against noise, pollution, fume, gases etc. go a long way in effecting the quality
of work life.

3. Opportunity to use and Develop Human Capacities:

The QWL will be better if the jobs allow sufficient antonomy and control to its employees. The
workers must be given an opportunity to use their skills, abilities and initiative in planning and
implementing the work. The senior persons can keep a watch and a constant control and also
provide immediate feedback to the workers. Corrective measures can be taken immediately in
the light of this feedback.

4. Opportunity to Growth and Security:

When employees are offered opportunities to grow in an organization by providing promotion
ladder, it helps in improving the QWL. There is an inner desire in every employee for career
progression. If the job is dead-end, it must be made clear to the employee at the outset.

5. Social Integration in the Work Organization:

An employee develops a sense of belongingness to the organization where he works.
Discrimination among the employees on the basis of age, gender, cast, creed, religion etc. can act
as a hindrance in the way of social integration. Workers develop self-respect as a result of social
integration and it improves the quality of work life.

6. Constitution in the Work Organization:

Every employee should be entitled to some privileges such as personal privacy, right to
expression, right to equitable treatment etc. These should be governed by certain rules and
regulations. In short, there should be the Rule of Law as per the constitution of the enterprise.

7. Work and Total Life Span:

Certain employees are required to work for late hours or are frequently transferred or have to do
a lot of travelling as a part of their duty. This definitely affects their QWL as they remain away
from their families for a long period of time.

8. Social Relevance of Work Life:

Those business enterprises which are engaged in discharging their social responsibilities
contribute to QWL. If a concern does not care for social obligations, the employees of such
organization cannot expect a better QWL. Low quality products, no control on pollution, bad
employment practices are indicators of low QWL.

IMPORTANCE OF QWL TO EMPLOYEE AND

ORGANIZATION
The success of any organization depends on how it attracts, recruits, motivates, and retains its
workforce. Organizations need to be more flexible so that they develop their talented workforce
and gain their commitment. Thus, organizations are required to retain employees by addressing
their work life issues.
The elements that are relevant to an individuals quality of work life include the task, the physical
work environment, social environment within the organization, administrative system and
relationship between life on and off the job.
Providing quality at work not only reduces attrition but also helps in reduced absenteeism 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. Common beliefs support the
contention that QWL will positively nurture amore flexible, loyal, and motivated workforce,
which are essential in determining the company's competitiveness.

Effects of QWL
QWL affects job involvement, sense of competence, job satisfaction and job performance. A
favorable QWL results into positive consequences of these factors. Let us see how QWL affects
these:

a)

Job involvement: Job involvement indicates the extent of peoples identification with or
ego investment in the job. Job involved people spend more time on job and turn out better
performance. Challenging jobs, which have skill variety, influence employees to get
involved in their jobs. Similarly, people with high need for achievement and high work
ethic feel involved in jobs.

b) Sense

of competence: It denotes the feeling of confidence that one has in ones own
competence. Job design affects the sense of competence. As they engage themselves
more and more in work activities, they acquire a great sense of competence and
experience and higher level job involvement. This job involvement further adds to a
sense of competence. Thus, sense of competence and job involvement produce high job
satisfaction and productivity.

c)

Job satisfaction: It is a set of favourable or unfavorable feelings with which employees

view their jobs more specifically the nature of jobs they do, the quality of supervision
they receive, co-workers pay and perks and promotional avenues. Job satisfaction affects
job performance, employee turnover and absenteeism. High job satisfaction results into
high work performance, less employee turnover and less absenteeism.

d) Job performance and productivity: Job involvement, job satisfaction and sense of
competence affect job performance and productivity of employees. When the level of job
performance and productivity factors - Job involvement, job satisfaction and sense of
competence is high, we find that there is a fit among the predisposition of employees and
the types of jobs they are assigned to do.

CONCLUSION
To summarize, QWL is viewed as a wide-ranging concept, which includes adequate and fair
remuneration, safe and healthy working conditions and social integration in the work
organization that enables an individual to develop and use all his or her capacities. Most of the
definitions aim at achieving the effective work environment that meets with the organizational
and personal needs and values that promote health, well being, job security, job satisfaction,
competency development and balance between work and non-work life. The world economies
have recently recovered from recession blues and the continued restructuring, downsizing and
reorganization in the post recession scenario have created havoc for HR managers as they have to
struggle with preserving staff morale and job satisfaction . In this scenario, high quality of work
life is essential for organizations to continue to attract and retain employees. This is the reason
QWL concept has gained momentum recently and researches are going on worldwide to find out
inputs for framing effective QWL strategies