Examining the quality of work life: empirical testing indicators in the public organisation

https://doi.org/10.35912/ahrmr.v1i2.503
Published: Sep 25, 2021

Abstract:

Purpose: The present study aimed to identify employees’ quality of work life indicators in public organisations and provide necessary context to improve system accountability and employees’ needs in organisations.

Research methodology: To identify quality of work life indicators, authors studied theoretical research basics entirely and by considering elites’ ideas, identified main indicators by a descriptive – survey technique.

Result: Based on research findings, 15 constituents were identified as work life quality indicators. Research results indicate undesired quality of work life among employees at public organisations. Of identified constituents, Safe and healthy working conditions and organisational conflict are the most important and job satisfaction and Pay/benefits are the lowest important factors.

Limitations: The results only extend the understanding of the role of quality of work life in organisational effectiveness and have implications for human resource managers that may not be applicable for other positions.

Contribution: The study results help organisations identify the elements that affect the QWL and help them plan to increase organisational effectiveness by increasing employee satisfaction and motivation.

Keywords:
1. Quality of work life
2. Indicators of QWL
3. Public organisations
Authors:
1 . Mohammad Reza Zahedy
Faculty of Management and Industrial Engineering, Malek Ashtar University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
2 . Seyyed Asghar Jafari
Department of Law and International Relations, Malek Ashtar University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
3 . Majid Ramezan
Faculty of Management and Industrial Engineering, Malek Ashtar University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
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How to Cite
Zahedy, M. R., Jafari, S. A., & Ramezan, M. (2021). Examining the quality of work life: empirical testing indicators in the public organisation. Annals of Human Resource Management Research, 1(2), 99–111. https://doi.org/10.35912/ahrmr.v1i2.503
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Issue & Section
Vol. 1 No. 2 (2021): September
Articles
References

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    Allam, Z., & Shaik, A. (2020). A study on quality of work life amongst employees working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Management Science Letters, 10(6), 1287-1294.

    Alserhan, H., Al-Adamat, A., & Al-Adamat, O. (2021). The mediating effect of employee happiness on the relationship between quality of work-life and employee intention to quit: A study on fast-food restaurants in Jordan. Management Science Letters, 11(3), 933-938.

    Anitha, J. (2014). Determinants of employee engagement and their impact on employee performance. International journal of productivity and performance management.

    Arif, S., & Ilyas, M. (2013). Quality of work‐life model for teachers of private universities in Pakistan. Quality Assurance in Education.

    Badir, Y. F., Frank, B., & Bogers, M. (2019). Employee-level open innovation in emerging markets: linking internal, external, and managerial resources. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 1-23.

    Budhwar, P. S., & Bhatnagar, J. (2007). Talent management strategy of employee engagement in Indian ITES employees: key to retention. Employee relations.

    De Jong, M., Tamminga, S. J., de Boer, A. G., & Frings-Dresen, M. H. (2016). Quality of work life of cancer survivors: development of a cancer-specific questionnaire. Journal of Cancer Survivorship, 10(2), 394-405.

    Dönmez, D., Grote, G., & Brusoni, S. (2016). Routine interdependencies as a source of stability and flexibility. A study of agile software development teams. Information and Organization, 26(3), 63-83.

    Fontinha, R., Easton, S., & Van Laar, D. (2019). Overtime and quality of working life in academics and nonacademics: The role of perceived work-life balance. International Journal of Stress Management, 26(2), 173.

    Forssell, R. C. (2020). Gender and organisational position: predicting victimisation of cyberbullying behaviour in working life. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 31(16), 2045-2064.

    Friedman, J., Jack, A. I., Rochford, K., & Boyatzis, R. (2015). Antagonistic neural networks underlying organisational behaviour. In Organisational neuroscience: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

    Ghorbani, S., & Khanachah, S. N. (2020). Providing a framework for knowledge sharing in knowledge-based organisations according to social capital indicators. Annals of Management and Organization Research, 1(4), 271-284.

    Gilaninia, S. (2017). A conceptual model: The chain of quality of work life. Kuwait Chapter of the Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review, 6(5), 44.

    Gupta, B. (2015). An empirical study of impact of demographic variables on quality of work life among insurance sector employees in indore division. Pacific Business Review International, 8(1), 24-32.

    Inda, S. S. (2013). Quality of work life: Canadian Academic Publishing.

    Jeon, J.-H. (2009). The impact of organisational justice and job security on organisational commitment exploring the mediating effect of trust in top management.

    Kalliola, S., & Mahlakaarto, S. (2020). Methods of promoting professional agency at work. Challenges, 11(2), 30.

    Lambert, E. G., Hogan, N. L., & Griffin, M. L. (2007). The impact of distributive and procedural justice on correctional staff job stress, job satisfaction, and organisational commitment. Journal of Criminal Justice, 35(6), 644-656.

    Lockwood, N. R. (2007). Leveraging employee engagement for competitive advantage. Society for Human Resource Management Research Quarterly, 1(1), 1-12

    Luthans, F. (2002). The need for and meaning of positive organisational behaviour. Journal of Organizational Behaviour: The International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organisational Psychology and Behaviour, 23(6), 695-706.

    Marri, M. Y. K., Sadozai, A. M., Zaman, H. M. F., & Ramay, M. I. (2012). The impact of Islamic work ethics on job satisfaction and organisational commitment: a study of agriculture sector of Pakistan. International Journal of Business and Behavioural Sciences, 2(12), 32-45.

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    Monroe, M., Morse, E., & Price, J. M. (2020). The relationship between critical care work environment and professional quality of life. American Journal of Critical Care, 29(2), 145-149.

    Mukhopadhyay, M. (2020). Total quality management in education: SAGE Publications Pvt. Limited.

    Robbins, S. (1989). Organisational Behaviour: Concepts, Controversies and Applications. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice – Hall

    Rogers, K. M., Corley, K. G., & Ashforth, B. E. (2017). Seeing more than orange: Organisational respect and positive identity transformation in a prison context. Administrative Science Quarterly, 62(2), 219-269.

    Rupp, D. E., Shapiro, D. L., Folger, R., Skarlicki, D. P., & Shao, R. (2017). A critical analysis of the conceptualisation and measurement of organisational justice: Is it time for reassessment? Academy of Management Annals, 11(2), 919-959.

    Sirgi, G. (2001). Il bacino di Castrola, 1910-2001: un'opera tenacemente voluta dalla popolazione locale e contrastata da chi ne beneficierebbe: Gruppo di studi alta Valle del Reno.

    Stewart, T. A. (2010). Intellectual Capital: The new wealth of organisation: Currency.

    Taylor, M. P., Boxall, P., Chen, J. J., Xu, X., Liew, A., & Adeniji, A. (2020). Operator 4.0 or Maker 1.0? Exploring the implications of Industrie 4.0 for innovation, safety and quality of work in small economies and enterprises. Computers & industrial engineering, 139, 105486.

    Uysal, M., & Sirgy, M. J. (2019). Quality-of-life indicators as performance measures. Annals of Tourism Research, 76, 291-300.

    Van der Berg, Y., & Martins, N. (2013). The relationship between organisational trust and quality of work life. SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 11(1), 1-13.

    Villotti, P., Corbière, M., & Guay, S. (2020). Posttraumatic stress disorder and quality of life in victims of a violent act at work: A longitudinal study. Psychological trauma: theory, research, practice, and policy, 12(3), 313.

    Walter, D. L. (2017). The relationship of quality of work-life and organisational commitment: A correlational study of flight attendants in the United States (Doctoral dissertation, Grand Canyon University).

    Walton, R. (1980). Quality of work life activities: A research agenda. Professional Psychology, 11(3), 484.

    Watson, I., Buchanan, J., Campbell, I., & Briggs, C. (2003). Fragmented futures: New challenges in working life (No. 7). Sydney: Federation Press.

    Zahedi, M., Akhavan, P., & Naghdi Khanachah, S. (2020). Identifying the key barriers to knowledge management and lessons learned in the project-based military organisations. MILITARY MANAGEMENT QUARTERLY, 19(76), 29-68.

    Zahedi, M. R., & Khanachah, S. N. (2019). The impact of customer assisted knowledge production capacity on customer capital in a knowledge-based center. Annals of Management and Organization Research, 1(2), 107-121.

    Zahedi, M. R., & Khanachah, S. N. (2020). The effect of knowledge management processes on organisational innovation through intellectual capital development in Iranian industrial organisations. Journal of Science and Technology Policy Management.

    Zahedi, M. R., & Naghdi Khanachah, S. (2020). Designing and implementing a model of organisational readiness assessment to become a knowledge-based organisation: Case study an Iranian research center.

  1. Agus, A., & Selvaraj, R. (2020). The mediating role of employee commitment in the relationship between quality of work life and the intention to stay. Employee Relations: The International Journal.
  2. Allam, Z., & Shaik, A. (2020). A study on quality of work life amongst employees working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Management Science Letters, 10(6), 1287-1294.
  3. Alserhan, H., Al-Adamat, A., & Al-Adamat, O. (2021). The mediating effect of employee happiness on the relationship between quality of work-life and employee intention to quit: A study on fast-food restaurants in Jordan. Management Science Letters, 11(3), 933-938.
  4. Anitha, J. (2014). Determinants of employee engagement and their impact on employee performance. International journal of productivity and performance management.
  5. Arif, S., & Ilyas, M. (2013). Quality of work?life model for teachers of private universities in Pakistan. Quality Assurance in Education.
  6. Badir, Y. F., Frank, B., & Bogers, M. (2019). Employee-level open innovation in emerging markets: linking internal, external, and managerial resources. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 1-23.
  7. Budhwar, P. S., & Bhatnagar, J. (2007). Talent management strategy of employee engagement in Indian ITES employees: key to retention. Employee relations.
  8. De Jong, M., Tamminga, S. J., de Boer, A. G., & Frings-Dresen, M. H. (2016). Quality of work life of cancer survivors: development of a cancer-specific questionnaire. Journal of Cancer Survivorship, 10(2), 394-405.
  9. Dönmez, D., Grote, G., & Brusoni, S. (2016). Routine interdependencies as a source of stability and flexibility. A study of agile software development teams. Information and Organization, 26(3), 63-83.
  10. Fontinha, R., Easton, S., & Van Laar, D. (2019). Overtime and quality of working life in academics and nonacademics: The role of perceived work-life balance. International Journal of Stress Management, 26(2), 173.
  11. Forssell, R. C. (2020). Gender and organisational position: predicting victimisation of cyberbullying behaviour in working life. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 31(16), 2045-2064.
  12. Friedman, J., Jack, A. I., Rochford, K., & Boyatzis, R. (2015). Antagonistic neural networks underlying organisational behaviour. In Organisational neuroscience: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
  13. Ghorbani, S., & Khanachah, S. N. (2020). Providing a framework for knowledge sharing in knowledge-based organisations according to social capital indicators. Annals of Management and Organization Research, 1(4), 271-284.
  14. Gilaninia, S. (2017). A conceptual model: The chain of quality of work life. Kuwait Chapter of the Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review, 6(5), 44.
  15. Gupta, B. (2015). An empirical study of impact of demographic variables on quality of work life among insurance sector employees in indore division. Pacific Business Review International, 8(1), 24-32.
  16. Inda, S. S. (2013). Quality of work life: Canadian Academic Publishing.
  17. Jeon, J.-H. (2009). The impact of organisational justice and job security on organisational commitment exploring the mediating effect of trust in top management.
  18. Kalliola, S., & Mahlakaarto, S. (2020). Methods of promoting professional agency at work. Challenges, 11(2), 30.
  19. Lambert, E. G., Hogan, N. L., & Griffin, M. L. (2007). The impact of distributive and procedural justice on correctional staff job stress, job satisfaction, and organisational commitment. Journal of Criminal Justice, 35(6), 644-656.
  20. Lockwood, N. R. (2007). Leveraging employee engagement for competitive advantage. Society for Human Resource Management Research Quarterly, 1(1), 1-12
  21. Luthans, F. (2002). The need for and meaning of positive organisational behaviour. Journal of Organizational Behaviour: The International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organisational Psychology and Behaviour, 23(6), 695-706.
  22. Marri, M. Y. K., Sadozai, A. M., Zaman, H. M. F., & Ramay, M. I. (2012). The impact of Islamic work ethics on job satisfaction and organisational commitment: a study of agriculture sector of Pakistan. International Journal of Business and Behavioural Sciences, 2(12), 32-45.
  23. Meister, J. C., & Willyerd, K. (2021). The 2020 workplace: How innovative companies attract, develop, and keep tomorrow’s employees today: HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
  24. Miao, R., Bozionelos, N., Zhou, W., & Newman, A. (2020). High-performance work systems and key employee attitudes: the roles of psychological capital and an interactional justice climate. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 1-35.
  25. Monroe, M., Morse, E., & Price, J. M. (2020). The relationship between critical care work environment and professional quality of life. American Journal of Critical Care, 29(2), 145-149.
  26. Mukhopadhyay, M. (2020). Total quality management in education: SAGE Publications Pvt. Limited.
  27. Robbins, S. (1989). Organisational Behaviour: Concepts, Controversies and Applications. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice – Hall
  28. Rogers, K. M., Corley, K. G., & Ashforth, B. E. (2017). Seeing more than orange: Organisational respect and positive identity transformation in a prison context. Administrative Science Quarterly, 62(2), 219-269.
  29. Rupp, D. E., Shapiro, D. L., Folger, R., Skarlicki, D. P., & Shao, R. (2017). A critical analysis of the conceptualisation and measurement of organisational justice: Is it time for reassessment? Academy of Management Annals, 11(2), 919-959.
  30. Sirgi, G. (2001). Il bacino di Castrola, 1910-2001: un'opera tenacemente voluta dalla popolazione locale e contrastata da chi ne beneficierebbe: Gruppo di studi alta Valle del Reno.
  31. Stewart, T. A. (2010). Intellectual Capital: The new wealth of organisation: Currency.
  32. Taylor, M. P., Boxall, P., Chen, J. J., Xu, X., Liew, A., & Adeniji, A. (2020). Operator 4.0 or Maker 1.0? Exploring the implications of Industrie 4.0 for innovation, safety and quality of work in small economies and enterprises. Computers & industrial engineering, 139, 105486.
  33. Uysal, M., & Sirgy, M. J. (2019). Quality-of-life indicators as performance measures. Annals of Tourism Research, 76, 291-300.
  34. Van der Berg, Y., & Martins, N. (2013). The relationship between organisational trust and quality of work life. SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 11(1), 1-13.
  35. Villotti, P., Corbière, M., & Guay, S. (2020). Posttraumatic stress disorder and quality of life in victims of a violent act at work: A longitudinal study. Psychological trauma: theory, research, practice, and policy, 12(3), 313.
  36. Walter, D. L. (2017). The relationship of quality of work-life and organisational commitment: A correlational study of flight attendants in the United States (Doctoral dissertation, Grand Canyon University).
  37. Walton, R. (1980). Quality of work life activities: A research agenda. Professional Psychology, 11(3), 484.
  38. Watson, I., Buchanan, J., Campbell, I., & Briggs, C. (2003). Fragmented futures: New challenges in working life (No. 7). Sydney: Federation Press.
  39. Zahedi, M., Akhavan, P., & Naghdi Khanachah, S. (2020). Identifying the key barriers to knowledge management and lessons learned in the project-based military organisations. MILITARY MANAGEMENT QUARTERLY, 19(76), 29-68.
  40. Zahedi, M. R., & Khanachah, S. N. (2019). The impact of customer assisted knowledge production capacity on customer capital in a knowledge-based center. Annals of Management and Organization Research, 1(2), 107-121.
  41. Zahedi, M. R., & Khanachah, S. N. (2020). The effect of knowledge management processes on organisational innovation through intellectual capital development in Iranian industrial organisations. Journal of Science and Technology Policy Management.
  42. Zahedi, M. R., & Naghdi Khanachah, S. (2020). Designing and implementing a model of organisational readiness assessment to become a knowledge-based organisation: Case study an Iranian research center.