Quality of Work Life and Quality Circles

Quality of work life is a generic phrase that covers a person’s feelings about every
dimension of work including economic rewards and benefits, security, working
conditions, organisational and interpersonal relationships and its intrinsic meaning in a
person’s life. It is a process by which an organisation attempts to unleash the creative
potential of its personnel by involving them in decisions affecting their work lives.

Definition

“QWL is a process of work organizations which enables its members at all levels to
participate actively and efficiently in shaping the organization’s environment, methods
and outcomes. It is a value based process, which is aimed towards meeting the twin goals
of enhanced effectiveness of the organization and improved quality of life at work for the
employees.”

Scope of qwl

(1) Fair and reasonable pay- Qwl is basically built around the concept of equitable
pay. The employees must be paid their dues share in the progress and prosperity
of the firm.
(2) Favorable and safer environments- According to Walton, the qwl is nothing but
provision of a work environment absolutely free from various hazards arising out
of natural and unnatural things.
(3) Employment benefits- Workers have raised their expectations over the years and
now feel entitled to benefits that were once considered a part of the bargaining
process.
(4) Job security- Employees want stability of employment. They do not like to be the
victims of whimsical personnel policies of employees.
(5) Job satisfaction- The workers are living beings. They want to work on the jobs
that will utilize their talents and thus satisfy them.
 (6) Provision of autonomy as well as control for developing human resource- As the
nature of work has become highly monotonous, today the workers become more
mechanical towards the machines and lacks controls on them.
(7) Scope for better career opportunities- Now-a-days, workers is not only concerned
with their pay prospects, but also the scope for improving their technical and
academic skills. Therefore, it becomes imperative on the part of the management
to provide facilities for improving such skills.

Requirements or Pre-conditions for success of QWL

1.Management must be committed to an open and transparent style of operation that

includes sharing appropriate information with employees and sincerely inviting their
input regarding problems. Oppurtunities and implementation of improvement plans.

2.Employees must be given oppurtunities for advancement in the organisation.

3.Supervisors must be trained to function effectively in a less directive, more

collaborative style.

4.Traditional status barriers between management and workforce must be broken to

permit establishment of an atmosphere of trust and open communication.

5.Employees should receive feedback on results achieved and recognition for superior
performance.

6.Personnel should be selected or promoted for excellence in their performance.

7.Both positive and negative outcomes of QWL improvement programme should be

analysed and evaluated.
8.There is a continous need of research on quality of working life improvement.such
research effort should provide for systematic assesment of QWL improvement
programmes.

QUALITY CIRCLE

Definition

“A quality circle is a small group of employees doing similar or related work, who meet
regularly to identify, analyse and solve product-quality problems and to improve general
operations.”

Features of Quality Circle:

1.A quality circle is a voluntary group.

2.It represents a collective effort.
3.It intends to improve the quality of output.
4.It coordinates the activities of members towards improving the quality of work.
5.It facilitates frequent meet5ings and discussions of members for improving quality.
6.It has no discrimination against age, gender or position.

Objectives of Quality Circle:

1.Overall improvement of quality of products manufactured by the enterprise.

2.Improvement of production methods of the enterprise.
3.Self development of employees who take part in quality circles.
4.Encouragement of innovative ideas among the employees.
5.Building high morale of employees by dveloping team work in the organisation.
Benefits of Quality Circles:

1.Helps in bringing out innovations and changes in work methods and products.
2.It is a valuable tool for increasing productivity, quality and job satisfaction of the
employees.
3.Membership in a quality circle means a participative environment that provides
identification with the work group.Participation encourages commitment of the
employees in producing quality products.
4.Quality circles help in the development of participants as they are encouraged to
produce innovative ideas and find new ways to improve product quality.
5.Quality circles provide oppurtunities for better understanding among the members.
6.Quality circles create awareness of the potential of the workers.

Steps in the introduction of Quality Circle in the Organisation:

1.Selling the idea of quality circle.

2.Constitution of Quality circles.
3.Analysis of Quality problems.
4.Problem solving
5.Presentation of suggestions to the management.
6.Implementation and follow up.

Problems in implementation of quality circles:

1.Negative attitude of the employees and even the management.
2.Lack of Ability
3.Lack of Management commitment.
4.Non-implementation of suggestions.