Quality of Work Life

Quality of Work Life

A multi-faceted concept It means having a work-environment where an employees activities become more important implementing procedures or policies that make the work less routine and more rewarding for the employee There exists a relationship between Q.W.L and productivity

Quality of Work Life

Mass-production technology has made workers job monotonous and it is of little meaning to them Results of low Q.W.L are absenteeism, low performance, poor morale and occasional sabotage. Ultimately it is the organization that suffers.

Quality of Work Life-Origin of the concept

After Industrial Revolution, the importance of human factor reduced because of the vast mechanization. Various problems like job dissatisfaction, boredom, absenteeism, lack of commitment etc came up. Most mgt theories gave emphasis on production, manipulating the skills of the employees

Meaning and definition of Q.W.L

Q.W.L is any conscious effort for improving working conditions, work content, and its safety, security, wages and benefits, etc. Q.W.L can be said to be all the original inputs which aim at improving the employees satisfaction and enhancing organizational effectiveness Q.W.L is a concern not only to improve life at work, but also life outside work

Quality of Work Life

Simply speaking, through Q.W.L the people involved get a sense of satisfaction in their work. Work then becomes not a burden but a means by which the abilities of a person can find expression

Objectives of Q.W.L
To improve the standard of living of the employees To increase the productivity To create a positive attitude in the minds of the employees To increase the effectiveness of the organization (Profitability, goal accomplishment etc.)

Factors affecting Quality of Work Life

Some people consider Q.W.L as the existence of a certain set of original conditions and practices. They agree that high Q.W.L exists when Democratic management practices are prevalent in the organization When employees jobs are enriching They are treated with dignity and safe working conditions are present Others equate Q.W.L with the impact of working conditions on the employee's well-being

HR solutions for Work-life Balance

On the job training Surveys of employee work /life issues Set priorities for all work Train line managers to recognize signs of overwork Seminars on work life balance

Countries that practiced Q.W.L initially

Sweden Denmark Holland Switzerland Australia USA

Companies practicing Quality of Work Life

General Motors Ford Motors with UAW XEROX IBM BHEL TISCO

Measuring of Q.W.L
Questionnaires and interviews are relevant here. In General Motors the management gives a questionnaire of 16 critical dimensions of Q.W.L to its employees each year. The responses are then used to measure the employees perception of their work life.

Implementation of Q.W.L
Management and Employees co-operation- A worker-Mgt committee on work improvement can function effectively to increase co-operation Action plans developed must be followed to completion Support ot middle-managers by top management and bottom-level employees to implement the programme The objectives of Q.W.L should be a joint one, i.e., for workers it is to improve Q.W.L; for management it is to improve organizational efficiency

Barriers to Q.W.L
Resistance to change both by mgt and employees There is a general perception that Q.W.L implementation will cost much to the organization Continuous increase in Q.W.L may result in less productivity, i.e., after a certain level the productivity will not increase in proportion to the increase in Q.W.L