Improving the quality of work life and employee satisfaction. Improving the quality of working life of the organization’s employees Expansion and enrichment of work
Improving the quality of working life
Employee satisfaction
One of the most important recent developments in the field of human resource management is programs and techniques for improving the quality of work life. J.R. Hackman and J. Suttle define quality of working life as “the extent to which members of an organization can satisfy their important personal needs through work in the organization.”
In the United States, interest in this concept has been stimulated by a number of public and private institutions, in particular the National Center for Quality of Work Life, the American Work Institute, the Ohio Center for Quality of Work Life, and the Center at the University of California. J. Suttle states:
The workforce today is interested not only in stimulating, but also in participating in the development of organizational changes aimed at improving the quality of working life. A clear indication of this interest, and perhaps a result of it, is that more than two thousand public and private organizations, both for-profit and non-profit, as well as state and municipal governments, have become involved in active official activities aimed at improving the quality of working life. The number of individual factories, institutions and workplaces involved in this process is, in all likelihood, much larger.
Interest in the quality of working life has also increased in other industrialized Western countries.
Working life is characterized by high quality in the following cases.
1. The work is interesting and difficult.
2. Workers are adequately rewarded and recognized for their contributions.
3. Workplaces are clean, well lit, and there is no excessive noise.
4. Supervision is minimal, but immediately available when needed.
5. Workers are involved in decisions that affect them and their work.
6. Labor safety is ensured; an environment of friendly relationships with colleagues is formed.
7. Workers are provided with opportunities for improved welfare and health care.
Based on a 1984 review by a research organization Conference Board, 80% of American workers reported job satisfaction, with 27% reporting great satisfaction. Of the 20% dissatisfied, 6.5% were very dissatisfied. Quality of work life can be improved by changing any organizational variables that affect people. For this, in particular, the methods we have already discussed are used: decentralization of power; attracting employees to leadership, training, advanced training of management personnel, career management and training employees in methods of effective communications and relationships in the group. All this allows people to satisfy their active personal needs and increase the effectiveness of the organization in achieving its goals.
Labor reorganization
Next, we will discuss in detail the issues of improving the quality of work through its reorganization. Many early management ideas revolved around designing work tasks to take full advantage of division of labor, technology, and automation. As American workers became more economically secure, educational, cultural, and social values changed, and companies began to struggle with the nature of work. It became increasingly clear that highly specialized, monotonous tasks were causing fatigue and demoralization to workers. The number of absenteeism and staff turnover increased, and there were even cases of sabotage. As a result, the benefits of increased productivity due to narrow specialization were sharply reduced. To remedy the situation, a number of progressive firms began experiments with the reorganization of work, trying to ensure that work brought people greater internal satisfaction and provided more opportunities to satisfy their highest needs: achievement, self-realization and personal development. Of course, organizations expected that this would lead to increased productivity and reduce losses due to absenteeism, high turnover and loss of quality.
Expansion and enrichment of work
The most common methods of reorganizing work are the expansion and enrichment of work, associated with an increase in the volume and depth of work assignments, respectively.
Workload is the number of different tasks performed by a worker and the frequency of their repetition. If there are only a few operations and they are often repeated, the amount of work small(for example, working on an assembly line); if there are many operations and they are repeated rarely, the volume of work is large (for example, the volume of work of a cashier in a bank is greater than the volume of work of a computer operator entering accounting data).
Depth of work is the relative degree of influence that an employee can have on his or her job and work environment. This concept includes factors such as autonomy in planning and executing work assignments, determining the rhythm of work, and participation in decision making. The work of a laboratory assistant will not be deep (meaningful) if he only prepares equipment and chemicals and cleans the laboratory. If he also orders chemicals and equipment, conducts some experiments himself and writes reports, then such work can be classified as deep.
Work can be reorganized by changing its scope or depth. Expansion of work is to increase its volume, and job enrichment provides for an increase in its depth or content. Box 19.2 describes the expansion of work at a US bank.
Box 19.2
Expansion of work
The specialization of the process of processing bank documents made this work no less tedious and monotonous than working on an assembly line. Christina Szczesniak worked in the check processing department of Continental Illinois National Bank for seventeen years, performing the same functions year after year. But now it runs on a computer in a “modular design” and independently handles almost all the processing of checks coming from companies that buy goods and services from the bank’s more than 3,000 corporate clients. “I think,” says Christina, “that working now is much more interesting. In addition, which is very important for me, there are fewer mistakes.” Christina processes checks received by mail, enters them into a computer database, informs clients by phone about the status of their accounts, and sends them the necessary information. With this automated system, each employee processes an average of fifty checks per hour—an almost 40% increase in productivity. “I like the new method,” says Christina, “because now I handle the entire package myself from start to finish. It's nice to feel like you're part of a whole. And everyone needs changes in life.”
Source. Business Week, May 16, 1983, p. 103.
When is labor reorganization desirable?
Increasing motivation and productivity through work redesign is another concept based on Herzberg's two-factor theory of motivation. As you may recall, Herzberg's research found that work itself is a motivator, while money is primarily a hygiene factor. On this basis, scientists made a logical conclusion that changing work in order to increase internal rewards should increase motivation and increase productivity of workers. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. More recent research in the field of motivation (see Chapter 13) suggests that Herzberg's theory does not apply to all people or to all situations. It turned out that labor reorganization gives the desired results only if the workers and the organization have certain characteristics, which were summarized in the model of R. Hackman and G. Oldham (Fig. 19.3).
Rice. 19.3. Model of work content and labor motivation
Source. J. R. Hackman, G. R. Oldham, Janson, and Purdy, “A New Strategy for Job Enrichment,” California Management Review, vol. 17, no. 4 (1975). Reproduced with permission.
According to Hackman and Oldham, there are three psychological states that determine a person's job satisfaction and motivation. Firstly, perceived importance work, i.e. how important, valuable and meaningful a person perceives his work. Secondly, perceived responsibility, i.e. how responsible a person feels for the results of his work. And thirdly, knowledge of results, i.e., the extent to which a person understands how effective his work is. Work organized so that specific individuals could experience all three of these conditions to a significant extent, should provide a high degree of motivation and job satisfaction and lead to a reduction in absenteeism and turnover.
In Fig. Figure 19.3 shows the main characteristics of work that allow an individual to experience these three psychological states. The sense of meaning of work can be enhanced by providing the employee with opportunities to expand his skills, increasing the individuality of his tasks and their importance. The sense of responsibility increases if the individual is given greater freedom of action. Knowledge of results improves if effective feedback is established with the employee based on the results of his work activities. But it should be remembered that such changes are not perceived positively by all people. As discussed in the discussion of motivation, people differ in their needs, attitudes toward work, and expectations regarding work. Research has shown that people with a strong need for growth, achievement, and self-actualization tend to respond positively to job enrichment. If these high-level needs are not strongly developed in them, such changes in their work will not give the desired results.
The approach to reorganizing labor also depends on technology. Thus, organizations using mass production technologies are more limited in such actions than organizations producing customized products. In firms of the first type, the costs of labor reorganization often exceed the expected benefits. “If the technology is not very flexible and requires significant capital investment, the costs of reorganizing labor are usually very high. The most effective innovative labor organization will be when creating a new working environment (factory, office, production capacity).”
Application and results
Labor reorganization programs were implemented in a number of large companies: AT&T, Texas Instruments, Motorola, General Foods, Buick, Banker's Trust, Merrill Lynch etc. For example, in one of the companies, laboratory assistants felt that their knowledge and abilities were not fully used, since they were trusted only with the most routine work. And it implemented a program in which laboratory assistants began to be involved in planning work and experiments, which gave very good results. Texas Instruments implemented a program that empowered janitors to assign their own work, set schedules, and set standards, reducing the number of janitors from one hundred twenty to seventy-one, reducing employee turnover from 100 to 10 percent, and dramatically increasing the quality of cleaning.
The effectiveness of labor reorganization programs requires additional research, but today we can say with confidence that they help increase people’s job satisfaction and the quality of their work, and also reduce absenteeism and staff turnover. However, in many cases these programs have not resulted in increased productivity, which is likely due to the already high efficiency of narrow specialization.
Despite research results indicating the positive impact of labor reorganization programs on the effectiveness of organizations, some experts criticize them. For example, critics believe that employee satisfaction should not be placed above considerations of economic feasibility. “If technology and equipment are to be changed to improve the quality of working life,” they say, “it should only be done if it promises to yield higher profits.” Other critics argue that “many workers are content with their jobs and do not seek greater responsibility or involvement.” They also believe that efforts to enrich jobs are often hampered by union restrictions in the form of job descriptions, tenure and qualification requirements, and general mistrust of the people. Consequently, critics conclude that management should refrain from reorganizing work until it is satisfied that workers have a positive attitude towards it. Further, some programs gave workers more autonomy, authority, and responsibility than they wanted, resulting in decreased productivity and irritated people. It should be noted that recent criticism has supported all of these views. But if carefully designed, a work reorganization program can actually improve employee satisfaction and the quality of their work and lead to a decrease in absenteeism and turnover.
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A high quality of work life should be characterized by the following: 1. The work should be interesting. 2. Workers must receive fair remuneration and recognition for their work. 3. The working environment should be clean, low noise and well lit. 4. Management supervision should be minimal, but exercised whenever necessary.
A high quality of work life should be characterized by the following: 5. Workers should participate in decisions that affect them and their work. 6. Job security and the development of friendly relationships with colleagues must be ensured. 7. Household and medical facilities must be provided.
The quality of work life can be improved by changing organizational parameters that influence people: decentralization of power, participation in management issues, training, leadership development, promotion management program, training of employees in effective communication and team behavior.
All these measures are aimed at giving people additional opportunities to satisfy their active personal needs while simultaneously increasing the efficiency of the enterprise.
It is necessary to provide conditions so that work begins to provide greater internal satisfaction and more opportunities to satisfy the highest human needs - interest, self-affirmation and personal development.
The two most widely used methods of reorganizing work are expanding the scope of work and enriching its content.
The volume of work is the number of different operations performed by a worker and the frequency of their repetition. The scope is narrow if the worker performs only a few operations and repeats them frequently (assembly line work).
Work content is the relative degree of influence that a worker can have on the work itself and the work environment (independence in planning, determining the rhythm of work and participation in decision making).
Strengthening motivation and increasing productivity by changing the organization of working conditions is one of Herzberg's concepts (work itself is a motivating factor, money is not the main factor).
Recent research in the field of motivation indicates that this theory may not hold true for all people or in all situations.
According to Heckman and Oldham's theory, there are three psychological states that determine a person's job satisfaction and motivation.
Perceived significance of work, that is, the degree to which a person perceives his work as something important, valuable and worthwhile.
Perceived responsibility, i.e. the degree to which a person feels responsible and accountable for the result of his work.
Those types of work that are organized in such a way as to allow some part of the employees to experience all three of these states to a sufficiently high degree should be highly motivated by the work itself.
However, we must also keep in mind that not all employees react positively to this kind of change.
People differ in their needs, attitudes toward work, and hopes related to work. People with a strong desire for growth, achievement, and self-esteem usually respond positively to job enrichment.
Programs for changing the organization of work are criticized by some experts. They argue that the worker's feelings of satisfaction should not be given priority over considerations of economic efficiency.
However, with a well-developed program for improving organization and working conditions, it contributes to the development of a sense of employee satisfaction, improving the quality of work, reducing the number of absenteeism and staff turnover.
Kochnov D.V. A.5.1
Improving the quality of working life
Key elements of quality of working life
The organization of work, being one of the main characteristics of the quality of working life, influences the change in the nature of work, and, consequently, the way to increase motivation and increase productivity. However, this dependence is observed only in people and organizations with certain characteristics. These characteristics are summarized in a model developed by R. Heckman and G. Oldham. This model was described in detail in his work by E.P. Ilyin
In accordance with the theory of R. Heckman and G. Oldham, there are three psychological states that determine a person’s satisfaction with his work and motivation:
perceived significance of work, i.e. the degree to which a person perceives his work as something important, valuable and worthwhile;
perceived frankness, i.e. the degree to which a person feels responsible for the results of his work;
knowledge of results, i.e. the degree to which a person understands the effectiveness or efficiency of his or her work.
Within the framework of the concept of working life, the following measures should be provided, according to A.Ya. Kibanov:
Creating conditions for the employee to improve his professional qualification level, ensuring constant updating of knowledge and improvement of skills;
Appointment to a position should be made taking into account the growth prospects, i.e. the position provides for planned advanced training and retraining;
The possibility and necessity of promotion as a result of recognition of the employee’s professional success in the eyes of the team, family and society as a whole;
A sense of confidence in the future regarding one’s employment and income makes the employee’s work more productive and allows one to more fully realize one’s labor potential.
Factors in the formation and development of the quality of working life
As the analysis shows, the quality of working life can be influenced by many factors, some of which contribute to improving the quality of working life, the other part can hinder its growth, and in certain cases, reduce the existing level.
It is traditional to divide all factors according to the following criteria: external and internal; main and additional (minor); objective and subjective.
Dividing the factors shaping the quality of working life into two large groups: technical-organizational and socio-economic factors, it is difficult to decide which of these two groups can be considered as the main one, especially in modern socio-economic conditions. If we take into account the fact that scientific and technological progress, the development of engineering and technology have always been decisive in the development of society, then, of course, priority should belong to the first group of factors and, above all, to the technical and technological factors included in it.
A comprehensive and systematic study of the factors shaping the quality of working life allows us to make timely organizational and managerial decisions aimed at improving the quality of working life, better use of labor potential, improving social and labor relations, and ultimately increasing the socio-economic efficiency of individual units and the entire economy generally.
Measures to improve the quality of working life
Improving the quality of work life means employee satisfaction with their work.
A high quality of working life should be characterized by the following:
1. The work should be interesting.
2. Workers must receive fair remuneration and recognition for their work.
3. The working environment should be clean, low noise and well lit.
4. Management supervision should be minimal, but exercised whenever necessary.
5. Workers must participate in decisions that affect them and their work.
6. Job security and the development of friendly relationships with colleagues must be ensured.
7. Household and medical facilities must be provided.
Quality of work life can be improved by changing any organizational setting that affects people, including decentralization of authority, participatory leadership, training, leadership development, promotion management programs, and training workers in more effective communication and team behavior. All these measures are aimed at giving people additional opportunities to satisfy their active personal needs while increasing the efficiency of the organization.
An increasing number of people found that highly specialized, repetitive operations caused fatigue and loss of interest. Absenteeism and staff turnover will increase. Accordingly, the productivity gains that would normally be expected from narrow specialization will be significantly reduced. In order for work to begin to provide greater internal satisfaction and more opportunities to satisfy the highest human needs - interest, self-affirmation and personal development, it is necessary: EXPANDING THE VOLUME AND ENRICHING THE CONTENT OF WORK.
VOLUME OF WORK is the number of different operations performed by a worker and the frequency of their repetition.
Work can be reorganized by changing its scope or content. WORK ENGAGING refers to the improvement of an organization by increasing its volume. ENRICHING ITS CONTENT involves changes by increasing the content.
Having achieved certain results in ensuring effective employment, improving wages, and improving working conditions, it is necessary to begin to study and apply methods of individual enrichment of labor based on changes in its rhythm, working time schedules, intra-production personnel rotation, and new methods of stimulating labor.
Introduction
The quality of working life is an integral concept that comprehensively characterizes the level and degree of well-being, social and spiritual development of a person.
A person’s participation in economic activity is characterized by his needs and the ability to satisfy them, which are determined primarily by the characteristics of human potential discussed above: health, morality, creativity, education and professionalism. Thus, a person in a market economy acts, on the one hand, as a consumer of economic goods produced by organizations, and on the other, as the owner of the abilities, knowledge and skills necessary for organizations, state and public bodies. The concept of quality of working life is based on creating conditions that ensure optimal use of a person’s labor potential. The quality of working life can be improved by changing for the better any parameters that affect people's lives. This includes, for example, the participation of workers in management, their training, training of management personnel, the implementation of career advancement programs, training workers in methods of more effective communication and behavior in a team, improving the organization of work, etc. As a result, labor potential receives maximum development, and the organization - high level of labor productivity and maximum profit. This concept is one of the most significant developments in the field of personnel management in recent years.
The purpose of the study is to examine the quality of work life using the example of Solos LLC.
consider theoretical and methodological approaches to the analysis of the categories “quality of life” and “quality of working life”;
explore the formation and development of the quality of working life in Solos LLC;
The object of the study is social and labor relations in an organization.
The subject of the study is the quality of working life as the main characteristic of social and labor relations.
Job hypothesis: The better the quality of work life of employees, the higher the productivity.
Methodological basis: Egorshin’s Questionnaire “Quality of Working Life”.
Chapter 1. Features of the influence of the quality of working life on staff productivity
.1 Concept of quality of working life
The quality of working life is an integral concept that comprehensively characterizes the level and degree of well-being, social and spiritual development of a person.
A person’s participation in economic activity is characterized by his needs and the ability to satisfy them, which are determined primarily by the characteristics of human potential discussed above: health, morality, creativity, education and professionalism. Thus, a person in a market economy acts, on the one hand, as a consumer of economic goods produced by organizations, and on the other, as the owner of the abilities, knowledge and skills necessary for organizations, state and public bodies.
The concept of quality of working life is based on creating conditions that ensure optimal use of a person’s labor potential. The quality of working life can be improved by changing for the better any parameters that affect people's lives. This includes, for example, the participation of workers in management, their training, training of management personnel, the implementation of career advancement programs, training workers in methods of more effective communication and behavior in a team, improving the organization of work, etc. As a result, labor potential receives maximum development, and the organization - high level of labor productivity and maximum profit. This concept is one of the most significant developments in the field of personnel management in recent years.
There are many definitions of what is called quality of work life. In this work, it is defined as the degree (level) of members of an organization satisfying their personal needs, achieving their personal goals and fulfilling strong desires through work in this organization. Creating programs and methods to improve the quality of work life is one of the important aspects of personnel management.
Improving the quality of working life involves improving the socio-economic content of work, developing those characteristics of labor potential that allow entrepreneurs to more fully use a person’s intellectual, creative, organizational, and moral abilities. An appropriate quality of working life should create conditions to give vent to the creative abilities of the employee himself, when the main motive is not salary, not position, not working conditions, but satisfaction from work achievements as a result of self-realization and self-expression.
The quality of working life is characterized by a number of elements:
The work should be interesting, i.e. characterized by the highest level of organization and content of work.
Workers must receive fair remuneration for their work and recognition for their work.
Work must be carried out in safe and healthy working conditions.
Ensuring that employees can use the social infrastructure of the enterprise, including consumer and medical services.
Participation of workers in decisions affecting their work and interests.
Providing the employee with job guarantees (legal protection), opportunities for professional growth and the development of friendly relationships with colleagues.
From the very definition of the quality of work life it follows that this concept is initially interconnected with the theory of motivation. Motive is understood as the motivation for human behavior, based on subjective feelings of shortcomings or personal incentives.
1.2 The impact of quality of working life on staff productivity
One of the most important recent developments in the field of human resource management relates to the creation of programs and methods to improve the quality of work life. J.R. Heckman and J. Lloyd Suttle define quality of work life as “the degree to which members of a work organization can satisfy their important personal needs through their work in that organization.”
In the United States, attention to the problem of quality of work life has been stimulated by several public and private organizations, such as the National Center for Quality of Work Life, the American Labor Institute, and the Ohio Center for Quality of Work Life. As Suttle says:
“Employees are interested not only in their own development, but also in direct participation in the development of organizational changes aimed at improving the quality of working life. One researcher recently found that more than 2,000 public and private organizations, including businesses and nonprofits, as well as state and municipal governments, have engaged in a variety of official activities aimed at improving the quality of work life. The number of individual factories, institutions and simply workplaces participating in these events is apparently many times greater
Interest in quality of working life has spread to other industrialized Western countries.
A high quality of working life should be characterized by the following:
The work should be interesting.
Workers must receive fair remuneration and recognition for their work.
The work environment should be clean, low noise and well lit.
Management supervision should be kept to a minimum but provided whenever needed.
Workers must participate in decisions that affect them and their work.
Job security and the development of friendly relationships with colleagues must be ensured.
Household and medical facilities must be provided.
There is an opinion that the market helps improve quality: quality of production, quality of products, quality of labor, quality of life, quality of relationships, etc. And this is true, since competition encourages businesses to improve in order to strengthen their position in the market. However, for some reason, entrepreneurs-owners, first of all, increase the “quality of the price of a product (service)”, reducing it by saving on labor, working conditions, equipment and technology. Therefore, the market helps improve quality (hypothetically and practically, in some cases) but does not guarantee it. When solving the problem of increasing the quality of working life, the emphasis should be on strengthening the interaction of all subjects of social and labor relations.
The quality of working life, from the perspective of a substantive approach, is a set of properties that characterize the conditions and organization of work (production life), form work activity and ensure the realization of the labor and creative potential of the employee, in order to satisfy the needs of a person as an individual and as an employee, and on this basis basis for the development of society as a whole.
For a modern worker, not only a high level of quality of working life is essential, but also the quality of ways, methods and methods to ensure it.
The system of quality of working life is expressed through a complex structure of components: the quality of the technical and technological environment, the quality of the content and nature of work, the quality of remuneration, the quality of productivity, the quality of growth, the quality of safety, the quality of relationships, the quality of leadership, the quality of participation, etc. The listed components of working life and their relationships must achieve a specific quality that satisfies both the employee, the employer, and the state.
Working life, the quality of which acts as a motivator for employee activity, is the subject of research by many scientists. The main issue here is the multiplicity of approaches to the concept of “quality of working life”, its diversity and multidimensionality. Many accounting positions determine the quality of working life from the perspective of a substantive approach, defining the essence, structure and meaning of this category.
From the perspective of an activity-based approach to management, the quality of working life should be defined as the result of expedient scientific and practical interaction between subjects of social and labor relations regarding the formation and development of elements of the working environment that provide the necessary conditions for the active implementation of a person’s abilities to work, and on this basis, meeting the needs interacting subjects.
Activity is a dynamic system of interactions between a subject and the world, during which the emergence and implementation of the subject’s relations in objective reality occurs.
The basis of work activity is need, which is the source of human activity. Need, as a function of an individual’s activity, is a consequence of the development of work activity and the quality parameters of working life. If an object does not correspond to the image of a person’s need, then the following possibilities arise:
change the need, which requires a long time for transformation and sustainable desire of the individual;
change the object itself (elements of work life), which would be able to satisfy the needs of the subject;
change both the need and the object.
The driving principle of management is the contradiction between the manager and the managed subjects, which generates, on the one hand, the need for management, and is resolved, on the other hand, in the process of management. That is, it is necessary to consider issues of effective management from the standpoint of interaction between the subject and the object of management.
Many of the early ideas of management science revolved around designing a task in a way that would take maximum advantage of the division of labor, modern technology, and automation. As American workers became more economically secure and educational, cultural, and social values changed, industry began to struggle with the nature of work. An increasing number of people found that highly specialized, repetitive operations caused fatigue and loss of interest. Absenteeism and staff turnover have increased, and even cases of sabotage have appeared. Accordingly, the productivity gains that would normally be expected from narrow specialization have been significantly reduced. To solve the problem, a number of the most progressive companies began to experiment with the organization of labor so that work began to provide greater internal satisfaction to the highest human needs - interest, self-affirmation and personal development. Management, of course, hoped that increased job satisfaction as a result of such changes would lead to increased productivity and reduce losses from absenteeism, high staff turnover and poor quality.
Expanding the scope and enriching the content of the work. The two most widely used methods of reorganizing work are expanding the scope of work and enriching its content.
The volume of work is the number of different operations performed by a worker and the frequency of their repetition. The scope is called narrow if the worker performs only a few operations and repeats them frequently. A typical example would be working on an assembly line. The scope of work is called wide if a person performs many different operations and repeats them rarely. The scope of work of a bank teller is usually broader compared to the work of a person engaged only in entering data through a keyboard into a financial accounting system.
Job content is the relative degree of influence a worker can have on the job itself and the work environment. This includes factors such as independence in planning and executing work, determining the rhythm of work, and participation in decision making. The work of a laboratory assistant will not be considered meaningful if it is limited to setting up equipment, loading chemicals, and cleaning the laboratory. If a laboratory assistant can order chemicals and equipment, conduct some experiments and prepare reports on the results of the work, the content will be high.
Work can be reorganized by changing its scope or content. Job consolidation refers to the improvement of an organization by increasing its volume. Enriching its content involves changes by increasing the content.
Increasing motivation and productivity by changing the organization of work conditions is another concept based on Herzberg's two-factor theory of motivation (41). Herzberg's research showed that work itself is a motivating factor, money is mainly a hygienic factor. Therefore, it seemed quite logical to theorists and practitioners of management science that changing the nature of work in order to increase the corresponding internal interest should increase motivation and increase productivity. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Recent research in the field of motivation indicates that this theory may not hold true for all people in all situations. Therefore, changes in the organization of work are appropriate only in relation to people and organizations with certain characteristics. These characteristics are summarized in a model developed by Richard Heckman and Greg Oldham.
According to Heckman and Oldham's theory, there are three psychological states that determine a person's job satisfaction and motivation: perceived significance of work, i.e. the degree to which a person perceives his work as something important, valuable and worthwhile; perceived responsibility; knowledge of the results, i.e. the degree to which a person understands the effectiveness or efficiency of his or her work. Those types of work that are organized in such a way that allow some part of the workers to experience all these three conditions to a sufficiently high degree should provide high motivation due to the work itself, high quality of work performance, greater job satisfaction, and also lead to a decrease in the number of absenteeism and reduce staff turnover.
The feeling of the significance of work can be realized by providing the employee with the opportunity to expand the number of labor skills, the certainty of production tasks, and increasing their importance. Responsibility for work results can be strengthened by giving the employee more independence. Awareness of the real results of his work develops if the worker receives feedback. However, it is also necessary to keep in mind that not all employees react positively to these types of changes. As noted above, when considering the problem of motivation, people differ in their needs, attitudes towards work, and hopes associated with work. Research has shown that people with a strong desire for growth, achievement, and self-esteem usually respond positively to job enrichment. When people are not so strongly motivated by high-level needs, enriching the content of work often does not produce noticeable success.
The possibility of changes in working conditions can also be influenced by technology features. Organizations using mass technology have much less opportunity in this regard than enterprises producing single products. For firms with mass flow technology, the cost of reorganizing working conditions often outweighs the expected benefits. “Where the technology is not very flexible and requires large investments, the cost of reorganization can be very high. One of the optimal opportunities for introducing progressive labor organization opens up when creating new industries (factories, enterprises, institutions). In fact, some of the most famous experiments in this area were carried out during the creation of new capacities.
The modern quality of working life necessarily includes psychological aspects in working conditions. In particular, these are problems of work discipline, techniques of punishment and rewards, the fight against tardiness and absenteeism, the problem of “flyers”, etc. In this case, the creation of rational working conditions requires a psychophysiological approach.
In practical work related to personnel management, traditionally, for the purposes of safety and ensuring healthy working conditions, it is recommended to create an occupational health service in the organization, as well as psychological assistance services.
Improving the quality of working life cannot be achieved without the opportunity to receive fair remuneration for work and recognition of one's work. Fair remuneration for work is considered not only as a priority condition for ensuring the reproduction of the labor force, but also as a factor of labor motivation, on the basis of which higher human needs develop.
There is the concept of “fair remuneration for work,” which reflects the relationship between payment for a certain type of work and payment for other types of work, and the concept of “appropriate remuneration for work,” which is related to the extent to which the income received by the employee meets the standards of wealth and security accepted in society, and also corresponds to ideas about the wealth of an individual worker. It is assumed that “appropriate remuneration for work” should take into account the needs of workers and their families, as well as economic considerations determined by the level of development of society, the peculiarities of the economic situation, the social significance of the industry, and the need to maintain a high level of employment.
Recommendations on fair and appropriate remuneration for work, proposed within the framework of the concept of quality of working life, usually focus on a differentiated approach to remuneration for different groups of workers.
The experience of countries with developed market economies shows that the structure of wages as the main type of remuneration largely depends on the understanding of what level of wages can be considered fair. In Sweden, for example, a “solidarity wage policy” is being implemented, the essence of which is expressed in the principle of “equal wages for equal work”, and in practice the wage gap is being reduced.
Wage policy is motivated by equity and by the idea that small gaps in wage levels could accelerate structural change in the economy. If all organizations pay equal wages for equal work, regardless of profit levels, then those organizations that are doing poorly will have a hard time surviving. Therefore, unproductive activities of enterprises cease even faster than if they could compete at low wages. At the same time, high-productivity organizations and industries are growing even faster than if they were raising workers' wages through high profits.
Recognition of an employee’s work by society has not only a material, but also a moral aspect, which is expressed in the use of such a criterion for the quality of working life as the social usefulness of labor. An employee must know that the organization in which he works does work that is useful to society and does it in the best possible way, otherwise many workers lose the sense of the usefulness of their work, self-respect falls, which leads to a decrease in labor productivity.
The next element that reveals the quality of working life is the opportunity for professional growth and confidence in the future. This concept is considered in the concept of quality of working life due to the fact that the effective implementation of an employee’s labor potential is impossible without his professional growth.
An important element of the quality of working life is the presence and possibility of using the social infrastructure of the organization. The basic premise here is that there is a clear and direct connection between the quality of work life and the quality of life in general. Numerous studies conducted in developed countries with market economies in the 70s and 80s show that the process of formation and development of labor potential is no longer limited to the place of production or training, but begins in everyday life, during rest and leisure, and depends on the information flow received in society, on the degree of civil and political freedoms of the individual, on the degree of involvement in all social and economic processes occurring in society.
The experience of industrialized countries shows that ultimately there is a direct connection between quality of life, living standards and consumption patterns. Changes in the qualitative characteristics of the labor force have led to changes in the nature of personal consumption. The performance of a given person depends on the timely reimbursement of energy costs incurred by the body during labor, therefore, conditions are necessary to restore the physical and spiritual strength of the worker, to prepare him for full dedication in the production process.
Changes in the conditions for the reproduction of labor in industrialized countries have led to a significant change in the structure of consumption. In particular, such items of consumer spending as expenses for recreation, entertainment, and cultural needs have become paramount, physiologically necessary. In the situation under consideration, one of the important problems is the creation and use of social infrastructure to maintain and develop the employee’s ability to work. Social infrastructure can be used by an employee both individually and collectively if it is created within the organization.
Individual use of infrastructure involves calculating such an indicator as an “effective hour” of work. This indicator, proposed by W. Christopher and S. Nicholas, is a measure of labor productivity and is functionally related to the level of consumption. As the analysis showed, there is a certain level of “efficiency” of wages, deviations from which are unprofitable for either entrepreneurs or employees. If wages are below the “effective level,” then the employee does not have the opportunity to receive that set of material and spiritual benefits that will allow him to reproduce his ability to work at a qualitatively high level. In this case, the company must provide the employee with the opportunity to use social infrastructure on preferential terms.
For example, large corporations provide employees with libraries, gyms, tennis courts, provide funds for the existence of various voluntary associations (for sports, tourism, etc.), on the territory of the organization there are clinics for workers and their families, once or twice a year group tourist trips are carried out, all expenses for which are borne by the company, etc. Firms provide a set of additional benefits when receiving services or purchasing housing and various goods.
All these benefits are not the responsibility of the company; they are considered as an attentive and respectful attitude on its part to the interests of the employee, implying the same attitude on his part to the interests of the company. In communities, the level of expenses for these purposes can reach 30-35% of the wage fund. But this is not a simple benefit to the company, but the same salary, only paid in a different form. This form of use of social infrastructure makes it possible to identify the interests of the employee with the interests of the company, which brings the quality of working life to the level of the employee’s self-development.
The last element of the quality of working life system is a decent place of work and legal protection for the employee in the organization.
The legal protection of an employee in an organization is considered as the creation of certain guarantees against the arbitrariness of the administration: the right to privacy, freedom of speech, etc. The administration should not collect information about the employee’s behavior outside the organization or about the life of his family members. An employee should have the right to openly oppose the opinions of superiors without fear of being persecuted for criticism. The management must conduct all dealings with employees in accordance with the law, and not arbitrarily.
Chapter 2. Study of the quality of working life at Solos LLC
.1 Brief description of the organization
The SOLOS racking equipment plant is a modern manufacturing enterprise that occupies a leading position in the market of Siberia and the Far East among manufacturers of racking equipment.
Today, the SOLOS Shelving Equipment Plant is not just a manufacturer of racking systems, but also a supplier of comprehensive solutions in the field of warehouse logistics. The company designs racking systems, manufactures them, installs them and provides warranty service, as well as audits of racking equipment during the post-warranty period. In addition, the company’s employees will professionally equip warehouses with dock areas and gate systems, and will select, supply and service lifting equipment.
The SOLOS company has two production sites in Novosibirsk and Berdsk, with a total area of more than 8,000 sq.m., and carries out a full cycle of production of racking equipment - from the purchase and primary processing of metal to stamping, rolling and painting of products. Both factories are equipped with the latest automated equipment for profile production and painting of finished products.
All SOLOS products are tested, certified and have a guarantee.
In addition, there is a warehouse for finished products, thanks to which equipment is delivered in the shortest possible time.
Company philosophy
When equipping warehouse, retail and production areas, we focus primarily on the needs and tasks of the customer.
The main task that SOLOS helps its clients solve is the creation of the most efficient warehouse. Individual solutions, a wide range of products, speed and flexibility - these are the main tools for solving this problem, successfully implemented by the specialists of our company.
Competitive advantages
Wide range of products for all types of warehouses.
European quality.
Significant production capacity.
Short production times.
Own design and technology department.
Successful many years of experience working with complex projects.
Flexible pricing policy.
Flexible terms of payment for products.
Availability of an extensive dealer network and branches.
Availability of warehouse stock of manufactured products.
Participation in exhibitions
The SOLOS racking equipment plant is a regular participant in international exhibitions: All-Russian Exhibition Center (Moscow), Siberian Fair (Novosibirsk), Krasnoyarsk Fair (Krasnoyarsk). In addition, SOLOS employees regularly attend international thematic conferences, forums and exhibitions.
As of 10/01/09, the actual personnel of Solos LLC is a staff of 213 people.
Analysis of the data showed that at the moment, Solos LLC employs representatives of all categories of personnel, namely: managers -15, specialists -20, other employees -17, workers -161. Graphically it looks like this (Fig. 1):
An analysis of the personnel composition of Solos LLC by gender, age and educational nomenclature was carried out using a unified corporate automated labor resources management system 1C Personnel:
The majority of Solos LLC employees are men - 138 people, women, respectively, 75 people. The percentage of company employees by gender is presented in Fig. 2.
Rice. 2 - Percentage of employees by gender
Dividing Solos LLC employees into five age groups gave the following results:
under 30 years old - 34 people;
from 30 to 40 years old - 47 people;
from 40 to 50 years - 60 people;
over 50 years - 66 people;
retirement age - 6 people.
The percentage of company employees by age is presented in Fig. 3.
Rice. 3 - Percentage of employees by age
The information contained in Fig. 3, they say that the main composition of Solos LLC is middle-aged people. The younger generation outnumbers people of retirement age by 5 times, which indicates the enterprise’s interest in renewing its workforce.
The level of education of Solos LLC employees is quite high: 75% of all employees have higher professional education. More detailed information about the level of education of Solos LLC employees is contained in Fig. 4.
Rice. 4 - Level of education of employees
Analyzing the personnel composition of Solos LLC, one cannot fail to take into account the fact of a fairly high staff turnover rate (29%). But, this fact is due to the fact that during the analyzed period there was a restructuring of Solos LLC. This caused a large reduction in staff. In the period from 01/01/09 to 01/10/09, about 62 people were dismissed, including 17 people at their own request, 39 people transferred to other structural units, 6 people quit due to reaching retirement age. All those fired during this period were subsequently employed.
In general, an analysis of the personnel composition of Solos LLC showed that the majority of the organization’s employees, as mentioned above, are men. Of course, this fact is related to the specifics of the enterprise’s activities, namely the organization of cargo and commercial work.
A high percentage of employees with higher education indicates that management is interested in highly qualified personnel, the presence of which allows them to achieve high production indicators.
It is impossible not to mention the fact that the main staff of Solos LLC are middle-aged people who have been working for quite a long time for the benefit of the organization and the industry as a whole. This indicates a stable positive image of Solos LLC.
2.2 Analysis of the quality of working life
An analysis of the quality of working life was carried out on the basis of A.P.’s questionnaire. Egorshina “Quality of working life”.
50 employees took part in the study. Of these, 34 are men and 16 are women. They are middle managers, managers.
Employees were asked to read indicators of the quality of work life of employees and give a rating on a 10-point scale. In this case, 10 points characterize the greatest achievement, and 1 point - the lowest. After this, the total number of points for each section (group of indicators) is calculated.
The survey is anonymous.
The questionnaire has 7 sections of 10 questions. The calculation is made for each block presented in the questionnaire of each employee, after which the average indicator for the respondents is calculated.
The results are as follows:
Workforce: 79-good.
This suggests that, in general, employees are comfortable working in this team: they are satisfied with the psychological climate, relations with the administration, and the efficiency of the team. When calculating the results, attention was drawn to the fact that the main low scores within the group were obtained for two positions: minimal stress at work, positive motivation of employees to work.
Salary: 57 - satisfactory.
This result suggests that the majority of employees are not satisfied with the salary level. The following statements had low scores in this block: good wages, a sense of fairness in remuneration, the applied tariff system for remuneration.
Workplace: 71-good.
In this block, low scores were awarded to: good office and furniture, level of workplace organization, personal work technique.
Organizational leadership: 70-good.
This indicator was at the junction of two assessments: good and satisfactory. This shows that there are still certain problems with the management. For example, such as trust, management efficiency, respect of subordinates.
5. Service career: 62 - satisfactory.
As can be seen from the results obtained, the main problems are related to the fact that employees do not see the transparency of appointment to various positions; there are problems with encouraging employees, objective certification, and growth opportunities.
Social guarantees: 51 - satisfactory.
This is one of the lowest indicators presented in this questionnaire. This is due to the fact that the organization has a number of problems related to benefits, payment of sick leave, and feelings of social security.
Social benefits: 57 - satisfactory.
This indicator reflects the fact that everything in the organization is complicated in the area of social benefits; employees are especially concerned about the following problems: compensation, loans, branded clothing, financial assistance.
Let's imagine the graph:
Rice. 5 - Results of the survey of Solos LLC employees
The total score for all sections was 447 points - satisfactory.
Thus, the analysis of the quality of working life in the organization allowed us to identify a number of negative aspects that affect the quality of working life.
2.3 Analysis of shortcomings in the quality of working life
work life productivity staff
The main shortcomings identified during the research can be presented as follows:
there are stresses at work;
lack of positive motivation of employees to work;
good salary;
trust, efficiency of management, respect of subordinates;
a sense of fairness in pay;
applied tariff system of remuneration;
level of workplace organization;
personal work technique;
transparency of appointment to various positions;
employee incentives;
growth opportunities;
payment of sick leave;
feelings of social security;
compensation;
branded clothing;
material aid.
No. Method of analysis Disadvantage 1 Observation Complaints from employees about activities in the company, lack of care for employees. 2Questionnaire Lack of adequate wages, non-transparent appointment to positions, lack of career growth, no objective certification
Based on the analysis, it became clear that the main problems lie in the areas of social security, guarantees and relations with management.
The work identified during the research allowed us to propose a number of recommendations to improve the quality of working life of employees of this organization.
No. Method of analysis Disadvantage Recommendations Activities Responsible 1 Observation Complaints from employees about activities in the company, lack of care for employees. It is necessary to conduct a number of trainings on team building, conflict reduction, and personal growth training1. Trainings Personnel Department 2 Questionnaires Lack of adequate wages, non-transparency of appointment to positions, lack of career growth, no objective certification 1. creation of conditions for the employee to improve his professional qualification level, ensuring constant updating of knowledge and improvement of skills 2. decent place of work and legal protection of the employee in the organization.1. Development of a package of documents on personnel motivation 2. Development of a package of documents on the legal protection of employees Personnel Department Legal Department
Pay policy is motivated by fairness and also by the fact that small gaps in pay levels could accelerate positive dynamics in the organization.
Thus, wage solidarity policies are fair (essentially equal pay for equal work) and at the same time promote faster growth of labor productivity, in contrast to a situation where wages are entirely determined by the market.
Recognition of an employee’s work has not only a material, but also a moral aspect, which is expressed in the use of such a criterion for the quality of working life as the social usefulness of labor. An employee must know that the organization in which he works does work that is useful to society and does it in the best possible way, otherwise many workers lose the sense of the usefulness of their work, self-respect falls, which leads to a decrease in labor productivity.
The next element that will help change the situation at Solos LLC is the opportunity for professional growth and confidence in the future. This concept is considered in the concept of quality of working life due to the fact that the effective implementation of an employee’s labor potential is impossible without his professional growth.
Given these circumstances, the following measures should be provided within the framework of the working life concept:
creating conditions for the employee to improve his professional qualification level, ensuring constant updating of knowledge and improvement of skills;
appointment to a position should be made taking into account the growth prospects, i.e. the position provides for planned advanced training and retraining;
the possibility and necessity of promotion as a result of recognition of the employee’s professional success in the eyes of the team, family and society as a whole;
a sense of confidence in the future regarding one’s employment and income makes the employee’s work more productive and allows one to more fully realize one’s labor potential. Calculations show that full employment of workers is much more profitable than layoffs, shortened work weeks, transfer of workers to another place, restrictions on hiring new workers, etc.
Today, the employee has no idea about his future work career, or its formalized image. The creation of such images seems very important, since they allow employees to more objectively evaluate themselves in the labor process and make realistic demands on the quality of its organization.
According to the concept of quality of work life, the development of friendly relations with colleagues and the opportunity for employees to participate in decisions affecting their work are linked to whether employees feel self-respect, whether they have a sense of self-worth, whether they feel the uniqueness of their personality, whether they feel loyalty to colleagues and a sense of belonging to the company. The moral and psychological climate at the enterprise should ensure good relationships in the team, free from prejudices.
Friendly relations with colleagues can only exist when:
a worker’s place in production is determined solely by his abilities and results of work, regardless of race, nationality, gender, political beliefs, lifestyle, appearance;
there is no clear distinction on the hierarchical ladder; actions at each level are subordinate to a common goal, i.e. there is no sharp social stratification at the enterprise and in the workforce;
a developed sense of belonging to the primary work collective, a sense of mutual assistance;
the employee has developed a sense of belonging to the company;
there is industrial democracy.
This element of personnel management aims to create such conditions and such a level of quality of working life when each employee identifies himself with the company and considers the interests of the company to be his own. As a result, “corporate spirit” and “corporate culture” are fostered.
Along with material incentives, a major role in increasing staff motivation is played by the mobilization of the intellectual potential of performers, based on a combination of economic and social factors to increase job satisfaction, which is carried out in various organizational forms: groups for studying and improving working conditions, initiative groups for putting forward rationalization proposals, etc. A necessary condition for the successful operation of all these associations is the constant improvement of work organization and management style. The participation of performers in management is effective only if their activities within various public associations are closely related to their direct work and specific production tasks.
An important element of the quality of working life in Solos LLC is the presence and possibility of using the social infrastructure of the organization. The basic premise here is that there is a clear and direct connection between the quality of work life and the quality of life in general. Numerous studies conducted in developed countries with market economies in the 70s and 80s show that the process of formation and development of labor potential is no longer limited to the place of production or training, but begins in everyday life, during rest and leisure, and depends on the information flow received in society, on the degree of civil and political freedoms of the individual, on the degree of involvement in all social and economic processes occurring in society.
The last element of the quality of work life system at Solos LLC is a decent place of work and legal protection for the employee in the organization.
The question of a decent place for work in a person's life requires consideration of the impact of individual work life on other aspects of life, i.e. family life, relationships with friends, acquaintances, the opportunity to relax and develop spiritually and physically. For example, overtime work can negatively affect family relationships, business trips can interfere with family vacations, etc. All these negative aspects prevent the increase and rational use of free time, which turns work into a burden and reduces its effectiveness.
To eliminate these negative aspects, within the framework of the concept of quality of working life, it is recommended to develop flexible work schedule programs.
The legal protection of an employee in an organization is considered as the creation of certain guarantees against the arbitrariness of the administration: the right to privacy, freedom of speech, etc. The administration should not collect information about the employee’s behavior outside the organization or about the life of his family members.
Social benefits are in addition to employee benefits. They are carried out within the framework of intra-company social insurance, as well as in the form of various assistance programs and preferential services for their employees. The share of payments and benefits in Russia today accounts for about 30% of the payroll fund in organizations. These benefits are provided much less frequently and in a less “thick package” in small businesses and new firms than in large leading companies with a reliable financial position.
The purpose of these systems is primarily to ensure the “social security” of workers through the efforts of the company, and they also serve as an additional factor in attracting workers to the company, reducing turnover, and reducing socio-economic losses. The size and forms of benefits and insurance are not directly linked to the results of the employee’s work activity, and are not considered as a direct motivator for work, and this is their main difference from payment in various forms. At the same time, an important trend in recent years is an attempt to revise the concept of personnel management in favor of an approach based on the deep involvement of the employee in the affairs of the company, encouraging him to actively participate in production and management. The implementation of this concept presupposes the mandatory introduction of a broad system of social benefits and payments, along with systems for employee participation in the profits and property of the company, although it is far from being exhausted by them, imposing strict requirements on the management style and other components of the “organizational culture.” The implementation of this concept is fraught with great difficulties, but if successful, it gives a high motivational effect, which most often encourages firms to implement it.
When developing intra-company payment and benefit systems, it is important to keep in mind that these are obligations voluntarily assumed by the organization in relation to its employees. They must certainly be fulfilled. Refusal of programs or their significant reduction almost always negatively affect the psychological climate in the organization. A number of programs (mainly social insurance) carry with them long-term obligations, the implementation of which can be ensured, including in court. The proliferation of certain forms in leading companies creates pressure on other companies in favor of introducing similar or alternative benefit systems. The decision is made by the company in accordance with internal needs and capabilities.
When organizing most social programs, firms avoid providing free benefits, preferring the principle of mixed (with the participation of the employee himself) and equity financing. The point of this approach is not only to save the organization money, but also to separate programs for which there is a real need among employees from less necessary ones, the demand for which is determined primarily by the free nature of their provision. In addition, with weakened control over benefits of the latter type (the strictest control is carried out when depositing your own money), there is a tendency (which must be taken into account in our conditions) of a decrease in the quality of the services provided or direct abuse.
The organization must present to its staff a “portfolio” of social security and development plans, which can be revised or expanded as new plans and programs are developed and the corresponding material base is created.
Today, the management of many organizations considers basic social insurance of permanent employees and the implementation of the rights of employees to participate in the material results obtained through joint efforts to be an important area of their personnel policy.
Conclusion
Thus, the following conclusions can be drawn:
Indicators characterizing the quality of working life in an organization include:
General economic indicators:
volume of production;
labor productivity;
labor efficiency and assessment of the organization’s real prospects for survival;
number;
indicators of balance sheet profit and its use (for consumption and accumulation);
production cost;
use of fixed assets.
Indicators characterizing the number of employees, the degree of use of working time, movement and training of personnel:
staff turnover, dismissal for violation of labor discipline and due to staff reduction;
the scale, nature and direction of hidden unemployment;
the ratio of occupied and unoccupied jobs, an increase in the number of new jobs;
the scale of training and retraining of personnel, measures for state support, as well as sources of funding, both federal and local (including employment funds).
Indicators characterizing labor conditions and safety, benefits and compensation for work in unfavorable conditions:
the number of employees of the organization engaged in work that does not meet sanitary and hygienic standards and engaged in heavy physical labor;
the number of workers employed on equipment that does not meet safety requirements;
number of workers suffering from occupational diseases;
level and dynamics of general occupational morbidity;
material costs in connection with accidents (including payments for sick leave);
financial expenses for labor protection measures;
the scope and size of benefits and compensation for work in unfavorable working conditions;
recording the fact of concluding collective agreements, analyzing its content and the degree of implementation for the analyzed period.
Indicators characterizing the consumption fund and wage fund:
average monthly wages for certain categories of workers: managers, specialists, employees, workers and its dynamics;
indicators of wage differentiation.
Social support for the organization’s personnel:
distribution of funds in the areas of material assistance (compensation in connection with the withholding of the cost of food; material assistance and benefits for paying for utilities; payment for vouchers for treatment and travel to a place of recreation, maintenance of children in preschool institutions; supplements to pensions, etc.) ;
the size of fixed production assets and the structure of social funds.
List of used literature
1. Genkin B.M. Economics and sociology of labor: textbook. for university students studying economics. specialist. / B.M. Genkin. - 5th ed., add. - M.: Norma, 2007. - 402 p.
2. Egorshin A.P. Quality of life of the population of the region / A.P. Egorshin, A.K. Zaitsev // Population. - 2005. - N 1. - P. 14-27. - Bibliography: p. 27.
Zhulina E.G. Social factors in shaping the quality of work life / E.G. Zhulina // Citizen and Law. - 2007. - N 5. - P. 64-73. - Bibliography in the footnotes.
Mazaeva N. Quality of working life is an important component of personnel management / N. Mazaeva // Problems of theory and practice of management. - 2004. - N 3. - P. 115 - 121.
Makhmutova A. Continuing education and the quality of working life of young people / Makhmutova A. // Man and labor. - 2007. - N 1. - P. 53-55.
Mikhailov A. Working conditions as an element of the quality of working life / Mikhailov A. // Man and labor. - 2006. - N 2. - P. 84-86. - Bibliography in footnotes
Raizberg B. A. Fundamentals of Economics: textbook. allowance / B.A. Riseberg. - M.: Infra-M, 2000. - 407 p.
Tsygankov V. Quality of working life. Which model does Russia choose? / Vladimir Tsygankov // Man and labor. - 2006. - N 9. - P. 44-48.
Tsygankov V. On the issue of assessing the quality of working life / Vladimir Tsygankov // Man and labor. - 2007. - N 2. - P. 46-49.
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One of the most important recent developments in the field of human resource management relates to the creation of programs and methods to improve the quality of work life. J.R. Heckman and J. Lloyd Suttle define quality of work life as “the degree to which members of a work organization can satisfy their important personal needs through their work in that organization.”
A high quality of working life should be characterized by the following:
1.The work should be interesting.
2.Workers must receive fair remuneration and recognition for their work.
3.The working environment should be clean, low noise and well lit.
4. Supervision by management should be minimal, but carried out whenever necessary.
5.Workers must participate in decisions that affect them and their work.
6. Job security and the development of friendly relationships with colleagues must be ensured.
7.Household and medical facilities must be provided.
The quality of work life can be improved by changing any organizational parameters that affect people. This includes decentralization of authority, participatory leadership, education, leadership development, promotion management programs, and training workers in more effective communication and team behavior. All these measures are aimed at giving people additional opportunities to satisfy their active personal needs while increasing the efficiency of the organization.
Many of the early ideas of management science revolved around designing a task in a way that would take maximum advantage of the division of labor, modern technology, and automation. As American workers became more economically secure and educational, cultural, and social values changed, industry began to struggle with the nature of work. An increasing number of people found that highly specialized, repetitive operations caused fatigue and loss of interest. Absenteeism and staff turnover have increased, and even cases of sabotage have appeared. Accordingly, the productivity gains that would normally be expected from narrow specialization have been significantly reduced. To solve the problem, a number of the most progressive companies began to experiment with the organization of work so that work would provide greater internal satisfaction and more opportunities to satisfy the highest human needs - interest, self-affirmation and personal development. The management, of course, hoped that the increase as a result of such changes being satisfied with one's job will lead to increased productivity and reduce losses from absenteeism, high turnover and poor quality.
The two most widely used methods of reorganizing work are expanding the scope of work and enriching its content.
The volume of work is the number of different operations performed by a worker and the frequency of their repetition. The volume is called narrow , if the worker performs only a few operations and repeats them often. A typical example would be working on an assembly line. The scope of work is called wide if a person performs many different operations and repeats them rarely. The scope of work of a bank teller is usually broader compared to the work of a person engaged only in entering data through a keyboard into a financial accounting system.
Job content is the relative degree of influence that a worker can have on the job itself and the work environment. This includes factors such as independence in planning and executing work, determining the rhythm of work, and participation in decision making. The work of a laboratory assistant will not be considered meaningful if it is limited to setting up equipment, loading chemicals, and cleaning the laboratory. If the laboratory assistant can order chemicals and equipment, conduct some experiments and prepare reports on the results of the work, the content will be high.
Work can be reorganized by changing its scope or content. Job consolidation refers to the improvement of an organization by increasing its volume. Enriching its content involves changes by increasing the content.
Increasing motivation and increasing productivity by changing the organization of working conditions is another concept based on Herzberg's two-factor theory of motivation. Herzberg's research showed that work itself is a motivating factor, money is mainly a hygienic factor. Therefore, it seemed quite logical to theorists and practitioners of management science that changing the nature of work in order to increase the corresponding internal interest should strengthen motivation and increase productivity. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Recent research in the field of motivation indicates that this theory may not hold true for all people or in all situations. Therefore, changes in the organization of work are appropriate only in relation to people and organizations with certain characteristics. These characteristics are summarized in a model developed by Richard Heckman and Greg Oldham.
According to Heckman and Oldham's theory, there are three psychological states that determine a person's job satisfaction and motivation: perceived significance of work, i.e. the degree to which a person perceives his work as something important, valuable and worthwhile; perceived responsibility, i.e. the degree to which a person feels responsible and accountable for the results of his work; knowledge of the results, i.e. the degree to which a person understands the effectiveness or efficiency of his or her work. Those types of work that are organized in such a way that allow some part of the workers to experience all these three conditions to a sufficiently high degree should provide high motivation due to the work itself, high quality of work performance, greater job satisfaction, and also lead to a decrease in the number of absenteeism and reduce staff turnover.
The feeling of the significance of work can be realized by providing the employee with the opportunity to expand the number of labor skills, the certainty of production tasks, and increasing their importance. Responsibility for work results can be strengthened , giving the employee more independence. Awareness of the real results of his work develops if the worker receives feedback. However, it must be borne in mind that not all employees react positively to this type of change. As noted above, when considering the problem of motivation, people differ in their needs, attitudes towards work, and hopes associated with work. Research has shown that people with a strong desire for growth, achievement, and self-esteem usually respond positively to job enrichment. When people are not so strongly motivated by high-level needs, enriching the content of work often does not produce noticeable success.
The possibility of changes in working conditions can also be influenced by technology features. For firms with mass flow technology, the cost of reorganizing working conditions often outweighs the expected benefits. “Where the technology is not very flexible and requires large capital investments, the cost of reorganization can be very high. One of the best opportunities for introducing progressive labor organization opens up when creating new industries (factories, enterprises, institutions). In fact, some of the most famous experiments in this area were carried out during the creation of new capacities. However, although existing technology limits the possibilities for reorganizing working conditions in mass production firms, such opportunities do exist.
Work environment restructuring programs have been implemented by many large companies, including A&T, Texas Instruments, Motorola, Procter & Gamble, General Foods, Corning Glass Works, Maytag, General Tire and Rubber, Buick, Bankers Trust, Merrill Lynch. For example, in one of the research laboratories, technicians felt that their knowledge and abilities were not being used, since scientists trusted them only with routine work. A program was implemented whereby laboratory technicians were involved in the planning of work and experiments. The quality of these technicians' monthly reports improved significantly compared to the reports of the group who did not participate in the program. Another program concerned sales representatives of three English companies. One of the groups was given the right to independently determine the frequency of visits to their clients. The requirement to provide reports for each client was removed and the right to independently and directly resolve client claims in the amount of up to $250 was given. After such enrichment of the work content, sales representatives achieved an increase in sales by 19%.
Texas Tools implemented a program that empowered its janitorial workers to independently assign and schedule their work and perform it to their own standards. As a result, the required number of workers was reduced from 120 to 71 people, staff turnover dropped from 100% to 10%, and the territories became cleaner. The Buick Motors division of General Motors undertook a reorganization program in which workers began to be responsible for some quality control issues in addition to their responsibilities. Buick management believes that this program has completely eliminated complaints about minor issues, reduced the number of cases of reworking work, and increased productivity by 13%.
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