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CHAPTER 3

QUALITY OF WORK LIFE – A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

3.1 INTRODUCTION

In this chapter an attempt has been made to present the origin,

development and the present state of the concept quality of work life. The

fundamental, social, economic, political and technological permutations taking

place today inevitably affect the attitudes of two main groups of people with

whom an organization has to deal; its customers and its employees. Nowadays

both are demanding. The ‘professional customer’ of today expects a high

standard of individual service as well as good quality products and competitive

prices; today’s employees expect not only to earn a decent living, but also to

get some personal satisfaction out of their job. They are concerned about the

quality of their working experience, just as customers are concerned about the

quality of the service they receivei.

Gone are the days when employees are treated as part of the machine.

Today a new awakening has emerged. Organizations have now realized that

employees are human beings and if they are treated well and their talent is

developed, they can be of immense help to them in fostering organizational

growth. This has given rise to the emergence of a new relationship between

employees and management.

When an organization wants to sustain its position and flourish in the

most competitive and lucrative business world, it has got a very big

34

responsibility of keeping its men under satisfactory level, because a satisfied

employee is a full employee and he contributes his best to the organization. The

organization can be successful only when the efforts of various individuals are

integrated into teamwork. Human resource plays the most critical and

significant role in achieving organizational goals and objectives. Human capital

is recognized as the organization’s ‘lifeblood’ which needs to be developed

continuously in keeping pace with the development in all other areas of today’s

dynamic world.

Organizations are of the people and function through the people.

Without people, organizations cannot exist. The resources men, materials and

other equipment collected cannot fulfill the objective of an organization. They

need to be united into a team. It is through the combined efforts of people that

material and monetary resources are effectively utilized for the attainment of

common objectives. Human resource is considered to be the most important

factors of production. Human capital is regarded as an asset to any

organization. So in no case can it be replaced with figures or logarithmsii.

Akio Morita, the founder of Sony Corporations, once said, ‘There is no

magic in the success of Japanese companies in general and Sony in particular.

The secret of their success is simply the way they treat their employees”.

Organizations exist because of individuals. Without individuals, industries or

business enterprises cannot be staffed and managed.

35

Certain values were attributed to work in the past. Work was worship

and people had sincerity and commitment to work. But today’s employees will

not believe in such values of work. He works for his salary, he works hard if

the conditions of works are conducive and congenial and terms of employment

are favorable to him. As such, the work norms have been changing from time

to time. Owing to various work norms, employee’s role in industry is different

from his role in the family, a superior knows the best and he has the right to

impose on the subordinate, rules for the employees and they have to follow

them, employer has the right to layoff the worker due to marketing and

technological factors, the managerial personnel at the middle and higher levels

in the organizational hierarchy face a variety of problemsiii .

The workers at lower levels are not happy with their work due to tight

schedule of work, speed of machine, close watch and supervision and less

social interaction. Even the ministerial staff complains that they are unhappy

with the job due to the routine nature of work and fixation of schedules and

standards. Thus job discontent is due to the limited scope of the job, short

cycle of operations, lack of opportunity to exercise discretion, existence of

bureaucratic controls, oppressive supervision, low wages, poor working

conditions, etc. Job discontent and job pressures have their substantial effect on

employee’s health in the form of reduction in general happiness, increase in

smoking, drinking, putting excess body weight, etc. Frustration results in heart

diseases, joint pains, etc. and are mainly due to absence of recognition, tedious

work, unsound relations with co-workers, poor working conditions, low self

36

esteem, occupational stress, workload, monotony, fatigue, time pressures, lack

of stability, security, etc. So the present employees are much concerned about

high wages, better benefits, challenging job, etc.

During 1700’s and early 1800’s great changes took place in the lives and

work of people in several parts of the world. Industrial Revolution began in

Great Britain and that created enormous increase in the production of many

kinds of goods. It was a period of sudden changes; machines were given more

importance. After the Industrial Revolution, machines were given more

importance than other factors of production. Human beings were considered

just another tool for production. As the years passed by, the organization

became busy with routine matters and activities to meet the goals of the

organizations. Their main concern is what is done rather than who has done it.

As a result, the human beings tend to become de-motivated and dissatisfied.

Many behavioral scientists have been trying to study what really makes

an employee contribute more to the organization. They have found out from

their research studies that money alone is not a motivating factor. An

employee needs good working climate, better interpersonal relationship,

understanding and appreciation from his colleagues and superiors and work

related salaries.

Human Resource Development is a much debated topic today.

Employers and employees have started realizing the importance of overall

development of human resource. In spite of the tremendous development in

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the areas of technology, marketing and finance, the overall organizational

situation cannot be improved unless good human resource development

practices are introduced. In recent years HRM has been gaining momentum all

over the world as the most effective approach to accelerating the productivity

and profitability of organizations, even under widely differing environmental

variables. The adoption of HRM by most of the outstanding firms across the

world, especially by the most successful Japanese corporations, has had a

major impact on the current management philosophy, policy and strategy

which are being reformulated to suit the changing requirements of high

productivity and standards of performance.

As a distinct managerial approach, HRM is based on the fundamental

premise that people are the core resource of an organization and it is the

responsibility of the entire organization to develop and utilize them for their

effective realization of individual and organizational goals.

Quality of work life is one of the most important elements of HRM

which leads to better conducive atmosphere for employees. Good quality of

work life leads to an atmosphere of good interpersonal relations and highly

motivated employees who strive for their development. Humanization of work

environment which will improve the life of workers on the job is called Quality

of Work Life. It is a new labour relation scheme. The favorableness or

unfavorableness of a job environment for people is called Quality of Work life.

Though the concept Quality of Work life appeared in print only in 1970 in the

USA, the concept was being given potential importance right from 1950’s. The

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scope of the term quality of work life is so vast, that it covers almost all areas

of HRM. As such, it continues to be vague, though many researchers tried to

define it.

Richard Walton (1979) who had taken up extensive research on QWL

can be considered as the major contribution to this concept. In fact, measuring

of QWL has become easy and practicable with the 8 factors/elements that

Walton proposed. According to Walton,” QWL is the work culture that serves

as the corner stone”. He says that the work culture of an organisation should be

recognized and improved to improve QWL in the organisation.

QWL is primarily an initiative of management and its consultants, along

with academics and government bureaucrats. QWL provides employers with

one method of permanently reducing the workforce, introducing automated

technologies while still maintaining control of the workplace. The QWL

philosophy proposes a socio-technical view which matches worker and

technology. Workers are social, psychological and physiological beings, not

just automatons, and the technical aspect of work must be compatible in

analyzing their work and environment so that the social and technical aspects

can be optimized.

The term Quality of Working Life was probably coined originally at the

first international conference on QWL at Arden House in 1972 (Davis and

Cherns, 1975). Quality of Work Life is the extent of relationships between

individuals and organizational factors existing in the working environment. It

39

is the extent to which workers can satisfy important personal needs through

their experiences in the organisation. It focuses strongly on providing a work

environment conducive to satisfying individual needs. It is assumed that if

employees have more positive attitudes about the organisation and their

productivity increases, everything else being equal, the organisation should be

more effective. The present study is an attempt to know the QWL of

employees in the selected manufacturing industries in Kerala. The quality of

work life is a generic phrase that covers a person’s feelings about every

dimension of work including economic rewards, benefits, securityiv.

MEANING OF QUALITY OF WORK LIFE

In general QWL refers to the favorableness or unfavourableness of a job

environment for people. It exposes the quality of relationship between

employees and the total working environment. QWL has assumed increasing

interest and importance in both industrialized and developing countries of the

world. In India, its scope seems to be broader than all labour legislations

enacted to protect the workers. It focuses on job security and economic growth

of employees. The concept of QWL views work as a process of interaction and

joint problem solving by working people- managers, supervisors, and workers.

This process is cooperative rather than authoritarian, evolutionary and changing

rather than static, open rather than rigid, informal rather than rule - based,

interpersonal rather than mechanistic, problem solving win rather than win lose

and, based on mutual respect.

40

The American Society of Training and Development established a task

force on the QWL in 1979. This task force defined QWL as “a process of work

organizations which enables its members at all levels to actively participate in

shaping the organization environment, methods and outcomes. This value -

based process is aimed at meeting the twin goals of enhanced effectiveness of

organization and improved quality of life at work for employees”v. In deeper

sense, QWL refers to the quality of life of individuals in their working

organizations.

There are no generally acceptable definitions about this. However,

some attempts were made to describe the term quality of working life. It refers

to favorableness or un- favourableness of a job environment for people. Work

has an important place in the life of men engaged in all productive pursuits.

The nature of work one is involved in has a profound impact on shaping his

personality, performance level and his commitment in the society.

The core of quality of work life concept is the value of treating the

worker as a human being and emphasizing changes in the socio technical

system of work through improvements in physical and psychological work

environment, design and redesign of work practices, hierarchical structure of

production process brought with the active involvement of workers in decision

making (Gain 1993). Thus integrating technological development with human

resource development is the basis of quality of work life improvement.

Through improvements in the quality of work life one can in turn improve the

social life with a high degree of commitment to the family and society.

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DEFINITIONS OF QUALITY OF WORK LIFE

According to Harrison, “QWL is the degree to which work in an

organization contributes to material and psychological well being of its

members”. Cohen and Rosenthal (1980) describe it as “internationally designed

effort to bring about increased labour management cooperation to jointly solve

the problem of improving organization performance and employee

satisfaction”.

J.Richard and J.Lloy define QWL as “the degree to which members of a

work organization are able to satisfy important personal needs through their

experience in the organization”. According to Takezawa “What constitutes a

high quality of working life may vary in relation to both the worker’s

aspirations and the objective reality of his work and society. It is ultimately

defined by the worker himself”.

In 1977, the staff of the American Center for the Quality of Working

Life developed the following definition; quality of work life improvements is

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 stakeholders 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 twin and simultaneous goals

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of an improved quality of life at work for all members of the organization and

greater effectiveness for both the company and the unionsvi.

The basic concept underlying the QWL is “humanization of work”. It

involves basically the development of an environment of work that stimulates

the creative abilities of the workers, generates cooperation and interest in self

growth. Bruce Warman, an organizational development consultant with

General Motors, defines QWL ‘as a goal and process. The goal is the creation

of more involving, satisfying and effective jobs and work environment for

people at all levels of the organisation. As a process QWL involves efforts to

realize this goal through active participation.

Glaser also sees QWL as a process by which all members of the

organisation, through appropriate channels of communication, have some say

about the design of their jobs in particular and the work environment in

general. Norton and others also view QWL as not only improving job content,

but also moving towards participant management.

RELEVANCE OF QUALITY OF WORK LIFE IN INDIA

Within the Indian context, De (1976) has rightly pointed out that “QWL

is an indicator of how free the society is from exploitation, injustice, inequality,

oppression, and restrictions of the continuity of growth of man, leading to his

development to the fullest”. One of the reasons for growing importance of

QWL could be realization on the part of employees about their rights and

43

growing unionism. Workers are no more illiterate. They do not completely

depend upon the mercy of management for their existence.

Most of the labour level workers also have primary education. They are

more united now than ever. Each and every worker tends to join some unions

or the other for their own protection and well being. Unions put in all their

efforts to educate its members to realize their rights and also to make them

understand what they can expect from management in return for what they

contribute. It is not only monetary benefits. Other elements like physical

working conditions, job restructuring and job redesign, career development,

etc. are gaining importance rapidly. As such the workers expect the

management to improve all these facilities thereby improving all these facilities

which in turn improve QWL.

Every organization is an interdependent social and technical system.

Socio technical system requires social and technical systems to be jointly

optimized. It is from this notion of socio technical system that quality of work

life has emerged. Management also has different views regarding QWL. Some

have come to a stage, where they see human resource as a critical factor in the

developmental process and thus strive to take all steps to improve it.

Meanwhile other organizations still do not realize the importance of human

resource.

Even if they realize it the improvement strategies confine themselves to

increasing pay scales and introducing some welfare measures. They ignore the

44

other aspects, i.e. the higher order needs of the employees. This is so,

especially in case of small and medium scale industries in backward states. At

the same time, large scale industries and Multi Nationals are fast realizing the

need for the improvement of QWL. The Government intervention in this regard

is minimal. But things are changing for better, especially after Human

Resource Ministry was set up by former Prime Minister Mr. Rajiv Gandhi in

1984 – 85. The Ministry is taking active steps to implement some of the

human resource development programmes and QWL improvement

programmes. What is most important in India at this stage is developing

consciousness among all sections of industry, i.e. workers, unions and

management which results in better quality of work life in the organisation.

3.6 MEASURING QUALITY OF WORK LIFE

Quality of work life is not based on a particular theory nor does it

advocate a particular technique of application, instead it is more concerned

with the overall climate of work place. The concept of quality of work life can

be viewed in two ways. One way is as a set of organizational objectives and

practices, encompassing job enrichment, democratic supervision, safe and

healthy working conditions and employee involvement in decision making.

The other way is from the employees’ perceptions that they are safe and able to

grow and develop as human beings. The quality of work life can thus be

defined in terms of employees’ perception of their physical and mental well

being at work.

45

Various criteria are evolved in the past two decades to measure the

quality of work life. Various researchers who carried out studies in this area

came up with various criteria which are not entirely different from each other.

Professor Richard E.Walton has identified eight dimensions which make up the

quality of working life framework. This is considered as the most

comprehensive criteria for measurement of QWL. The 8 point criterion of

Walton to measure quality of work life includes adequate and fair

compensation, safe and healthy working conditions, opportunity to use and

develop human capacity, opportunity for continued growth and security, social

integration in the work organisation, constitutionalisation in the work

organisation, work and total life space and social relevance of work lifevii.

The present exercise is an attempt to study the quality of work life of

employees of public and private sector manufacturing companies in Kerala

through these 8 dimensions of Professor Richard E.Walton. To make the study

more useful the superior subordinate relationship and welfare facilities are also

added. These criterions can be communicated as follows:

3.6.1ADEQUATE AND FAIR COMPENSATION

Remuneration is the compensation an employee receives in return for

his or her contribution to the organization. It occupies an important place in the

life of an employee. His or her standard of living, status in the society,

motivation, loyalty, and productivity depend upon the remuneration he or she

receives. To be specific, typical remuneration of an employee comprises wages

46

and salary, incentives, fringe benefits, perquisites and non - monetary benefits.

One of the biggest factors affecting industrial relations is the salary or wage an

employee receives for a fair day’s work. A majority of union management

disputes relate to remuneration.

A fair and equitable remuneration will attract competent personnel, help

to retain present employees, improve productivity, improve union management

relations, and also improve public image of the company. No organization can

expect to attract and retain qualified and motivated employees unless it pays

fair compensation. For employees, pay is more than a means of satisfying their

physical needs. It provides them a sense of recognition and determines their

social status.

What is adequate and fair is another question for discussion. What is

adequate at one place may not be same in the other. Organizations at rural,

semi urban regions can satisfy their employees with comparatively low levels

of compensation compared with their urban based counterparts. The urban

based organizations usually compensate the extra cost of living through higher

dearness allowances, keeping basic the same. Thus employee compensation is a

very significant issue from the view point of employers, employees and the

nation as a wholeviii . Money is by no means the only motivator of people, but

too little money demotivates powerfully, and financial reward remains a strong

incentive.ix

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3.6. 2 SAFE AND HEALTHY WORKING CONDITIONS

Safety means freedom from the occurrence or risk of injury or loss.

Industrial safety or employee safety refers to the protection of workers from the

danger of industrial accidents.1.x Health is a state of complete physical, mental

and social well being and not merely the absence of disease. It is the outcome

of interaction between the individual and his environment.

Workers spend a great deal of their time in industrial settings. In many

industries, workers are exposed to various types of health hazards. Unless the

working conditions are proper workers cannot concentrate on work. As a result,

productivity will be low. The ill health will force workers to be absent from

work and result in greater absenteeism and labour turnover. The quality of

work will suffer and the firm’s resources will be wasted. The major physical

factors influencing worker’s health are cleanliness, lighting, temperature and

ventilation, freedom from noise, dust control, working space and seating

arrangements.

Owing to rapid industrialization, mechanical, chemical, electrical and

radiation hazards have increased. Every year lakhs of employees are injured in

factories, mines, ports, railways, etc. leading to partial or total disability. An

industrial accident is a sudden and unexpected occurrence in an industrial

undertaking causing body injury to one or more persons and interruption in the

orderly progress of work. So every employer should pay due attention to

48

industrial safety and take adequate steps to prevent industrial accidents. Safety

policy, safety committee, safety education and training, etc. can be ensured to

prevent and minimize industrial accidentsxi. Physical conditions at work places

are second home for employees. Hence it is an important factor in measuring

QWL.

3.6.3 IMMEDIATE OPPORTUNITY TO USE AND DEVELOP HUMA N

CAPACITIES

An organization must be responsible for the growth and development of

its workers. This involves training, skill developments, recognition and

promotion. Work arrangements should be made challenging enough to expand

skills, abilities, and knowledge. They should create a positive effect on self

esteem, autonomy, involvement and motivation.

Today work has become repetitive and mechanical so that the worker

has little control over it. Successful candidates placed on the jobs need training

to perform their duties effectively. Workers must be trained to operate

machines, reduce scrap and avoid accidents. It is not only the workers who

need training. Supervisors, managers and executives also need to be developed

in order to enable them to grow and acquire maturity of thought and actionxii.

Training and development constitute an ongoing process in any organization. A

formal definition of training and development is, Training and development

need = Standard performance – Actual performancexiii . In addition to these,

there is a need to impact ethical orientation, emphasis on attitudinal changes

49

and stress upon decision making and problem solving abilities. Taylor was

criticized that an employee provided optimum degree of freedom in work can

improve him on the job which gives him immense satisfaction. The job should

contain sufficient variety of tasks to provide challenge and to ensure the

utilization of talents.

3.6.4 OPPORTUNITY FOR CONTINUED GROWTH AND SECURITY

The employees have started seeking career growth recently. Job

security has ceased to satisfy employees. Employees tend to drift from a job

which does not promise career growth. Organisations are helping employees in

these directions by helping them draw their career paths. Not only drawing

career paths, but the organization helps employees to attain higher positions

through training. The employee is prepared to take up a higher position where

there is a possibility.

There must be employment which provides for continual growth, job

and income security. The work should provide career opportunities for

development of new abilities and expansion of existing skills on a continuous

basis. QWL provides future opportunity for continued growth and security by

expanding one’s capabilities, knowledge and qualifications. Here the focus is

on career opportunities as against the job.

3.6.5 SOCIAL INTEGRATION IN THE WORK ORGANISATION

An organization can possess supportive work groups and interpersonal

openness in other words ‘Industrial Democracy’ through establishing work

50

committees which intend to “promote measures for securing and preserving

comity and good relations between employer and workmen and to that end, to

comment upon matters of their common interest for concern, and Endeavour to

settle any materials differences of opinion in respect of such matters”.

This aims at developing a feel of self esteem in the organization.

Encouraging participative management schemes help in establishing industrial

democracy in the organization which in turn encourages social integration in

the organization and leads to better quality of work lifexiv.

3.6.6CONSTITUTIONALISATION IN THE WORK ORGANISATION

QWL provides constitutional protection to the employees only to the

level of desirability as it hampers worker’s satisfaction of doing the job beyond

that level. Constitutional protection is provided to employees on such matters

as free speech, equity and due process. Despite the abundance of laws designed

to ensure fair treatment at the workplace, employees are often treated in an

unethical manner. In some instances, employers skirt the law, in others; the

letter of the law is followed. One survey revealed that the most serious ethical

problems revolve around managerial decisions regarding employment,

promotion, pay, and discipline that are based on favoritism, rather than ability

or job performance. So there should be the right to personal privacy, free

speech and equitable treatment in the workplacexv.

Though employees consider work place their second home they may not

want to disclose or discuss their private lives at the workplace. As such

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management should take steps to maintain its employees’ privacy unless they

themselves come out with some problems, where the management can offer

some counseling or any other help. Enhanced QWL should also ensure zero

violation of the constitutional guarantee by organizational decisions.

3.6.7 WORK AND TOTAL LIFE SPACE

There should be proper balance between work life and personal life of

employees. The demands of work such as late hours, frequent travel, and quick

transfers are both psychologically and socially very costly and detrimental to

quality of work life. In other words family life and social life should not be

strained by working hours including overtime work, work during inconvenient

hours, business travel, transfers, vacations, etcxvi . QWL provides for the

balanced relationship among work, non-work and family aspect of life.

3.6.8 THE SOCIAL RELEVANCE OF WORKLIFE

An organization is an integral part of the society. It makes use of

resources of society. No business or organization can be successful in the long

run if it ignores the interest of the society. The standing of an organization in

the society can influence an employees’ value of his work and career. Work

should not only be a source of material and psychological satisfaction but a

means of social welfare.

An organization that has greater concern for social causes like

pollution, consumer protection, national integration, employment, etc. can

improve the quality of working life. QWL is concerned about the establishment

52

of social relevance to work in a socially beneficial manner. The organization’s

lack of concern for social causes like waste disposal, low quality product etc. in

turn affects the self esteem of workers. The worker’s self esteem would be

high if their work is useful to the society. The social responsibility of the

organization is an unavoidable determinant of QWL. As such, social relevance

of work of each employee is very important for better working condition.

3.6.9 SUPERIOR SUBORDINATE RELATIONSHIP

Harmonious superior - subordinate relations give the employee a sense

of social association, belongingness, achievement of work results, etc. This in

turn leads to better QWL. So there should be freedom from excessive

supervision and control and that implies owners or supervisors do not use

unreasonable pressure on employees to attain the scheduled target without

considering their health and ability constraints. An equitable treatment to all

workers within the organization and sound cooperation among coworkers and

supervisors will help in shaping better quality of work life.

3.6.10 WELFARE FACILITIES

Welfare means faring or doing well. It is a comprehensive term,

and refers to the physical, mental, moral and emotional well being of an

individual. According to the Oxford dictionary, employee welfare means “the

efforts to make life worth living for workmen”. Labour welfare refers to taking

care of the well being of workers by employers, trade unions and governmental

and non - governmental agencies.

53

In most organizations, welfare is the responsibility of welfare

officers. The Factories Act, 1948 mandates that every industrial establishment

must appoint welfare officer if the number of employees is 500 or more.

Welfare officers are educated and trained in the field and are, therefore, in a

better position to manage welfare well. But the problem with these officers is

that they are more concerned with compliance of statutory provisions than with

the genuine well being of workers. For the employee, welfare measures help to

counteract the negative effects of the factory systemxvii. These measures enable

the employee and his family to lead a good life. Welfare facilities like housing,

medical and children’s education, recreation, etc. help to improve the family

life of the employees. For the employer, welfare measures lead to higher

morale and productivity of labour. Welfare measures are also known as fringe

benefits and services.

3.7 DEVELOPMENT OF QUALITY OF WORK LIFE

Concern with life on the job is not of recent origin. There are a number

of schools of thought about enhancing life in the workplace, starting with the

‘human relations’ management of Mayo and McGregor, the job enrichment of

Hertzberg, the socio-technical systems of Thorsrud and Davis. In the United

States, the attempts to improve and change work environment began in the

early years of the century.

The labour union activities in the 1930s and 1940s, through collective

bargaining and legislation, led to improved conditions. Today’s aspirations for

54

an improved work life in America however go beyond continuing efforts to

improve benefits and working conditions. The new generation of workers with

better education and high expectations is now questioning traditional

managerial ways and means to participate in the decision making process that

directly or indirectly affects their welfare and work life.

Other factors which influenced the rapid development of QWL

programmes in 1970s include increasing recognition by management of social

issues of the workforce, that is social responsibility towards employees and

their working environment, changing attitudes towards authority, the

impersonal nature of some large enterprises and a widening gap between the

reality of work and employees’ expectations. To accommodate these changing

values and attitudes of the workers, many companies in the United States have

launched QWL experiments of projects. To name a few, they include General

Foods, Procter and Gamble, General Motors, Cummins Engine, Scott Paper

and General Electric.

Since World War II, there has been widespread development of QWL or

workers participation projects in Europe. These have ranged from a fairly

limited degree of workers involvement in France to an equal voice for

employees on boards of directors in West Germany, Norway and Sweden, right

up to full workers control in Yugoslavia. European industrial firms which have

implemented some form of QWL projects include Volvo (Sweden), Shell

(U.K), Phillips (Holland), Olivetti and Fiat (Italy).

55

In Canada a number of QWL experiments had been carried out in some

Canadian firms such as Kootenay Forest Products and Shell Canada. In Japan,

QWL projects and experiments are more widespread because of historical and

cultural factors. In other countries including India efforts are being made to

improve the quality of work life of the employees.

3.8 STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVEMENT OF QUALITY OF WORK

LIFE

Quality of work life suffers from barriers like any other new scheme.

Management should develop strategies to improve quality of work life in view

of barriers. The various strategies for improvement of quality of work life can

be as follows: self managed work teams, job redesign and enrichment, effective

leadership and supervisory behaviour, career development, alternative work

schedules, job security, administrative or organizational justice, participative

management. Implementation of these strategies ensures a higher level of

quality of work life. The present study is an attempt to know the quality of

work life of public and private sector manufacturing industries in Kerala.

56

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