Proposal for Quality of Work Life Essay

INTRODUCTION Human resources play a very important role in success of an organization and thus, management of human resource assumes importance. Many aspects affect the management of human resources. One such aspect is Quality of Work Life (QWL). It is a philosophy, a set of principles, which holds that people are the most important resource in the organization as they 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 the task, the physical work environment, social environment within the organization, Administrative system and relationship between life on and off the job. QWL consists of Opportunities for active involvement in group working arrangements or problem solving that are of mutual benefit to employees or employers, based on labor management cooperation. People also conceive of QWL as a set of methods, such as autonomous work groups, job enrichment, and high involvement aimed at boosting the satisfaction and productivity of workers. It requires employee commitment to the organization and an environment in which this commitment can flourish. Thus, QWL is a comprehensive construct that includes an individual’s job related wellbeing and the extent to which work experiences are rewarding, fulfilling and devoid of stress and other negative personal consequences. According to Gadon (1984), QWL programs have two objectives: (a) to enhance productivity and (b) to increase the satisfaction of employees. Thus QWL provides healthier, satisfied and productive employees, which in turn provides efficient and profitable organization. Quality of work life (QWL) is viewed as an alternative to the control approach of managing people. The QWL approach considers people as an ‘asset’ to the organization rather than as ‘costs’. It believes that people perform better when they are allowed to participate in managing their work and make decisions. This approach motivates people by satisfying not only their economic needs but also their social and psychological ones. To satisfy the new generation workforce, organizations need to Concentrate on job designs and organization  of work. Further, today’s workforce is realizing the Importance of relationships and is trying to strike a balance between career and personal lives. Successful organizations support and provide facilities to their people to help them to balance the scales. In this process, organizations are coming up with new and innovative ideas to improve the quality of work and quality of work life of every individual in the organization. Various programs like flex time, alternative work schedules, compressed work weeks, telecommuting etc., are being adopted by these organizations. Technological advances further help organizations to implement these programs successfully. Organizations are enjoying the fruits of implementing QWL programs in the form of increased productivity, and an efficient, satisfied, and committed workforce which aims to achieve organizational objectives. The future work world will also have more women entrepreneurs and they will encourage and adopt QWL programs. Whilst there has, for many years, been much research into job satisfaction (1), and, more recently, an interest has arisen into the broader concepts of stress and subjective well-being (2), the precise nature of the relationship between these concepts has still been little explored. Stress at work is often considered in isolation, wherein it is assessed on the basis that attention to an individual’s stress management skills or the sources of stress will prove to provide a good enough basis for effective intervention. Alternatively, job satisfaction may be assessed, so that action can be taken which will enhance an individual’s performance. Somewhere in all this, there is often an awareness of the greater context, whereupon the home-work context is considered, for example, and other factors, such as an individual’s personal characteristics, and the broader economic or cultural climate, might be seen as relevant. In this context, subjective well-being is seen as drawing upon both work and non-work aspects of life. However, more complex models of an individual’s experience in the workplace often appear to be set aside in an Endeavour to simplify the process of trying to measuring â€Å"stress† or some similarly apparently discrete entity. It may be, however, that the consideration of the bigger, more complex picture is essential, if targeted, effective action is to be taken to address quality of working life or any of it’s sub-components in such a way as to produce  real benefits, be they for the individual or the organization. Whilst Quality of Life has been more widely studied (4), Quality of working life, remains relatively unexplored and unexplained. A review of the literature reveals relatively little on quality of working life. Where quality of working life has been explored, writers differ in their views on its’ core constituents. It is argued that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts as regards Quality of working Life, and, therefore, the failure to attend to the bigger picture may lead to the failure of interventions which tackle only one aspect. A clearer understanding of the inter-relationship of the various facets of quality of working life offers the opportunity for improved analysis of cause and effect in the workplace†¦.This consideration of Quality of working Life as the greater context for various factors in the workplace, such as job satisfaction and stress, may offer opportunity for more cost-effective interventions in the workplace. The effective targeting of stress reduction, for example, may otherwise prove a hopeless task for employers pressured to take action to meet governmental requirements. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY GENERAL OBJECTIVES * To study the level of satisfaction of employees towards the quality of work life. * To study the importance given by the organization to quality of work life * To study suitable measures to improve the quality of work life. * To identify the major areas of dissatisfaction if any, and provide valuable suggestions Improving the employee’s satisfaction in those areas. * To study the role and importance of good quality of work life of employees in an organization SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES: * To study the present and overall quality of work life in the  organization. * To understand the relationship between QWL and employee satisfaction. * To study quality of work life contributed for employees personal and professional development STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The major factor which has influenced the increasing importance of provision of quality of work life is employees themselves. Workers are changing. They have become more educated and independent. Close attention to QWL provides a more humanized work environment. Hence it is very essential that every organization ensure that their employees have a positive quality of work life. Quality of Work Life in an organization is essential for the smooth running and success of its employees. The quality of work life must be maintained effectively to ensure that all employees are running at their peak potential and free from stress and strain. The Quality of Work Life can affect such things as employees ‘timings, his or her work output, his or her available leaves, etc. Quality of Work Life helps the employees to feel secure and like they are being thought of and cared for by the organization in which they work. An organization‘s HR department assumes responsibility for the effective running of the Quality of Work Life for their employees. This being the real fact and since there was absenteeism and lack of job satisfaction among the workers in an organization, the researcher has made an attempt in this regard and has undertaken the current study to analyze the Quality of Work Life in this organization and to offer suitable suggestions for the organization to take necessary steps to improve the Quality of Work Life among its Workers. NEED OF THE STUDY There is a much about the quality every aspect viz. quality product, quality of material and inp uts there in, quality of packing, quality of product development and quality of service. The quality of work life and quality of life, which is pivotal aspects in everyone’s work life. This also brings employee satisfaction You can obtain man’s physical presence at a given place, and a measured number of skilled muscular motions per hour or day. But the enthusiasm, initiative, joy, loyalty, you can’t obtain by devotion  of hearts, mind and souls. Apart from this if the employee is provided with other extrinsic and intrinsic benefits then this will lead for high productivity and results in employee satisfaction too. To introduce the hard practices in to the organization it is the important to have encouraging atmosphere. QWL is one of the most important factors, which leads to such favorable atmosphere. It produces more humanized jobs. It attempts to serve the higher order needs of employees are human resources that are to be developed rather than simply used QWL leads to an atmosphere that encourages than to improve their skill. It also leads to have good interpersonal relations and highly motivated employees who strive for their development. QWL will ensure enthusiasm work environment with opportunities for every one to give is best. Such job will provide job satisfaction and pride to the company. DEFINITIONS CONCEPTUAL DEFINITION * According to R.E.WALTON(1973) â€Å"Quality of work life is a process by which an organization responds to the employees needs for developing mechanisms to allow them to share fully in making the decisions the design their lives at work† * According to THOMAS S. BATEMAN AND SCOTTA.SNELL(2003) â€Å"Quality of work life refers to programmes designed to create a workplace that enhances employee well-being† OPERATIONAL DEFINITION * â€Å"Quality of work life defined as the level of employee’s satisfaction or dissatisfaction on   Working conditions at the work place† * â€Å"Quality of work life can be define as â€Å"The quality of relationship between employees and the total working environment† RESEARCH DESIGN Descriptive research design – This is used â€Å"to describe systematically the facts and Characteristics of a given population or area of interest, factually and accurately† One of the main benefits of descriptive research is that fact that it uses both quantitative And qualitative data in order to find the solution to whatever is being studied. This in turn can help to describe and give an answer to certain life experiences. For example, when carrying out a case study descriptive research allows various sources to be Considered such as personal accounts. With this in mind, it enables a wider view of an issue As opposed to strict numbers and figures which can only account on facts rather than Experiences. UNIVERSE For the purpose of this study the employees may belong to any manufacturing company in Chennai. SAMPLE SIZE In this study the sample size is 50 SAMPLING METHOD Non Probability Sampling: Non Probability sampling refers to methods of selecting individuals to include in a study where some elements of the population have no chance of selection, or where the probability of selection can’t be accurately determined. Non Probability sampling methods include accidental sampling, quota sampling and purposive sampling. SAMPLING TECHNIQUE PURPOSIVE SAMPLING. Purposive sampling starts with a purpose in mind and the sample is thus selected to include people of interest and exclude those who do not suit the purpose. This method is popular with newspapers and magazines which want to make a particular point. This is also true for marketing researchers who are seeking support for their product. They typically start with people in the street, first approaching only ‘likely suspects’ and then starting with questions that reject people who do not suit. The universe is very large and the sample size is relatively small (50). The samples to be taken  Purposively from manufacturing sector. Purposive sampling technique facilitates data collection on the basis of availability of the samples and convenience of the researcher. METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION Essentially two types PRIMARY DATA AND SECONDARY DATA Primary data are those which are collected for the first time and are original in character. Data which are originally collected by the investigators are called primary data while the secondary data are collected through some other sources. For example, information collected by an investigator from a. student regarding his class, caste, family background, etc., is called primary data. On the other hand, if the same information collected about the student from the school record and register, then it is called secondary data. TOOLS OF DATA COLLECTION The tool to be used to collect data here is the interview schedule. INTERVIEW SCHEDULE An interview schedule is a list of questions to ask the interviewee. It should start with more open questions. An interview schedule is prepared to effectively find out useful and accurate information. CONCLUSION This research proposal serves a small outline about the future project on the topic Quality of work life. This is the current emerging problem that most of the sectors Are working towards to improve it.