AFFIRMATIVE POLICIES TO

PROMOTE QUALITY OF WORK LIFE

Group 4
Fahad Siddiqui – 79

Mayuri More – 83

Vikram Pamnani – 93

Ojas Patil – 96

Vivek Sharma – 107

Subramanian Ramanathan – 113

Vandana Anchan – 126

Harsh Shah – 130

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Table of Contents
Introduction..............................................................................................................3
Research Done........................................................................................................4
Objectives of the study...............................................................................................5
Scope of the study....................................................................................................5
Methodology Used....................................................................................................6
Analysis...................................................................................................................6
General Questions:................................................................................................7
Health and Well-being:...........................................................................................9
Job Satisfaction:..................................................................................................10
Work Life Balance (WLB):.....................................................................................12
Training & Development:.......................................................................................13
Conclusiuon:..........................................................................................................14
Recommendations:.................................................................................................15
Works Cited...........................................................................................................16
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Introduction

Quality of Work life (QWL) as a concept first emerged in the early 1970s. It
revolutionised the understanding of human relationship with work. There have been
three monumental changes in this relationship which have come to light over a
period of time. The first one was the replacement of manpower by machines in the
19th century; the second one has been the emergence of information technology in
the replacement of human mental workload. Nowadays the third change has been
that of humanisation of work. The concept of QWL is very much similar to the
concept of human resource development (HRD). The human relation revolution has
brought forth the importance of human resources in organizations. The reason for
the emergence of interest in QWL is due to the supposed failure of existing job
satisfaction measures and problems of employee behaviour.
The term refers to the favourableness or unfavourableness of a total job environment
for people. QWL programs are ways in which organizations recognise their
responsibilities to develop jobs and working conditions that are excellent for people
as well as for economic health of the organization. To promote QWL, certain
affirmative policies are required to be implemented by firms. These are the policies
that are designed to enhance current processes or to intensify and accelerate the
efficiency of present programs that the company is following. They aim at enhancing
the productivity of an employee by making the work environment more conducive.
Many early QWL efforts focused on job enrichment. In addition to improving the work
system, QWL programs usually emphasise on development of employee skills,
reduction of occupational stress and the development of more cooperative labour
management relations. High QWL is sought through an employee relations
philosophy that encourages the use of QWL effort, which are systematic attempts by
an organization to give workers greater opportunities to affect their jobs and their
contributions to the organization’s overall effectiveness i.e., a proactive human
resource department finding ways to empower employees by getting them more
involved in the decision making process.
Rising levels of education, increased aspirations and growing employee
consciousness of their rights have necessitated Indian organisations to be more and
more concerned about QWL. The traditional master-slave pattern of relationship or
even the carrot and stick approach are fast yielding place to supportive, consultative
and participative approaches treating employees not merely as “heads” but assets
which should always sharpen rather than stagnate.

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Research Done
(Saklani) IT industries in many developing countries are experiencing tremendous
challenges in meeting the employment market demand. A good human resource
practice would encourage IT professionals to be more productive while enjoying their
work. Therefore, QWL is becoming an important human resource issue in IT
organizations. Effective strategic human resource policies and procedures are
essential to govern and provide excellent QWL among IT professionals. Conversely,
poor human resource strategic measures that are unable to address these issues
can effectively distort the QWL, which will eventually fail the organisations ’vision of
becoming competitive globally.
The main elements of the QWL, such as health and well-being, job security, job
satisfaction, competence development, balance between work and non-work life are
expected to help human resource practitioners as adult educators to co-design the
IT work with humanistic factors. This will ensure the smooth transition of the
contemporary workforce towards a knowledge based workforce.
This paper talks about IT workforce of developing country. And it states important of
QWL for prospering entire IT sector.

The result of the study make it abundantly clear that, apart from financial factors
affecting primarily the material well-being of a person outside the work place, many
non-financial issues (relating to both job content and job context) which satisfy
higher order needs of self-esteem and self- actualisation have emerged as being
highly important to employees in organisations in India. As against the commonly
held stereotype, many factors fulfilling biological and social needs at the work place
are relatively less important to the present-day work-force in organisations.
Today employees appear to be better paid and seem to enjoy continuity of income
with growth opportunities. There has been a substantial improvement in the physical
environment comprising of elements such as, hygiene, safety and comfort at the
work place. This seems to have been greatly facilitated by the enhanced
opportunities for participation in the processes of decision- making. However,
organisations in India seem to be characterised by a myopic vision with a focus on
quick gains, overlooking the aspects adversely affecting manpower efficiency in the
long run. Further, even in areas of high relevance to employees, organisations in
India are yet to go a long way. QWL on opportunities to use and develop human
capacity, administration of reward and penalty system, and fringe benefits and
welfare measures have been found to be of average level only. There appears to be
a great possibility of improving employee motivation. In this context, it can be
contended that organisations in India would probably gain a lot if top priority is
accorded to the elements of content in job. Greater job autonomy, feedback, role
clarity and job redesigning (using the concepts of ‘job-enlargement ’and ‘job-

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enrichment ’) are some of the ways that are likely to provide a big boost to employee
motivation. Provision of training and development facilities, career counselling,
proper allocation of work (keeping in mind one’s area of interest) and sound
manpower planning aimed at improving career prospects are also of high
significance in this regard. Of no less relevance are the issues pertaining to the
efficient administration of the reward and penalty system in organisations. Strict
adherence to the norms governing merit recognition, discipline enforcement and
application of rules seems to be another potent tool for enhancing employee
motivation. Further, there is a need to streamline work load and other factors
contributing to job stress so that there is a balance in work and total life space of
employees.
This paper clearly makes statement about the differentiation between financial and
non financial aspects, which influence QWL in India. Along with this, article current
situation of Indian companies and their deficiency with QWL. This article also
concludes the non financial factors that Indian companies should applied to improve
their employee’s quality of work life.
(Friedman, 1998) A 1998 Harvard Business Review article, “Work and Life: The End
of the Zero-Sum Game,” in which Stewart Friedman, Perry Christensen, and Jessica
DeGroot describe how structuring work environments to benefit employees’ needs
increases an employer’s return. The authors examine several case studies and
conclude that successful work and life balances increase employee loyalty and
productivity. They recommend that organizations follow three important principles in
developing such a balance:
• Clearly emphasize the overall business priorities and objectives of the
organization.
• Recognize and support employees as “whole people” by openly
“acknowledging and even celebrating the fact that they have roles outside the
office.”
• Continually experiment with the way work is done. These principles
encourage employees to be clear about personal interests, enable skills to be
transferred from personal life to professional life, and assist in the
development of approaches that enhance an organization’s performance
without preventing employees from spending time and energy on outside
pursuits.

Objectives of the study

• To examine how different affirmative policies followed by IT companies in
India help to improve the quality of work life of employees.

Scope of the study

This study aims at evaluating the attitude of employees towards the personnel
policies. The research will be helpful in understanding the current position of the IT

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Sector and provide suggestions to extend the employees satisfaction with little
modification which is based on the internal facilities of the company.

This research can be further used to evaluate the facilities provided by the
management towards the employees. The study will be conducted on 120
respondents from different IT companies, in the age group of 23-35.

Since QWL policies are followed across sectors, this study concentrates on booming
IT sector in India. The scope of this study is limited to the secondary data available
on the subject and the size of the sample surveyed. The data collection is based
more on questionnaires, research papers and articles.

Also, the limitations in conducting the study would be the time duration during which
the research is being carried out. The research is also subjected to the cooperation
of the IT professionals in providing the necessary data for the analysis

Methodology Used

The methodology followed during the course of the study is both primary and
secondary in nature. The secondary research conducted includes reviewing of
various research papers available on the subject. With the help of an understanding
obtained from the secondary research, a questionnaire was framed to achieve the
objectives. The respondents are IT professionals working for various IT firms in
India. A hundred and twenty copies of the survey questionnaire were mailed to these
professionals.

Analysis

Data analysis tools are used for effective analysis of a large amount of qualitative as
well as quantitative data. Tools like frequency distribution, central tendency and
dispersion helps in presenting the data in a simpler form. These tables can be
presented in graphical form by way of bar graphs, pie charts, scatter diagrams etc.
which further makes the analysis easier and effective.The questionnaire that was
prepared for this study consisted mostly of close-ended questions. The respondents had
to choose from multiple options based on the Likert scale, which is the most widely
used scale in survey research. When responding to a Likert questionnaire item,
respondents had to specify their level of agreement to a statement, choosing
between suitable options like “Strongly agree”, ”Agree”, ”Neutral”, ”Disagree” and
”Strongly disagree”. Based on these choices, pie-charts have been created to pin-
point the measures that are really working well towards improving QWL
substantially. Four parameters that commonly signify the areas in which QWL needs
to be enhanced were targeted for this research. These are health & well-being of the
employees, job satisfaction, work life balance and training & development.

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General Questions:

The above graphs suggest that working trend in the IT sector is more stringent for the male
employees as compared to their female counter parts. Hence the male employees end up
devoting more hours at work than they actually prefer to.

It can be inferred from the above pie charts that a majority of men do not get to
spend as much quality time with their dear ones as much they would like, on the
contrary a majority of female employees agree with the fact that they get sufficient
time with their near ones. This suggest that the workload in the IT sector is more
concentrated towards the male employees and possibly the policies governing their
work schedules are more regulated then those for the female employees.

The above question was intended to investigate the psychological stress level of the
employees in the IT sector. On analyzing the results, with a focus on the male and
female responses, it is learned that a majority of male employees have their office
work on their mind even when they are not working. Whereas as though among the
female also a majority feel that they keep thinking about their job at their free time,
but the numbers are fewer than the corresponding male executives.

The findings in the above three general questions suggest that the male executives
in the IT sector are subjected a more rigid work routine, while the female employees
do enjoy a certain degree of conveniences.

The above question was intended to investigate the psychological stress level of the
employees in the IT sector. On analyzing the results, with a focus on the male and

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female responses, it is learned that a majority of male employees have their office
work on their mind even when they are not working. Whereas as though among the
female also a majority feel that they keep thinking about their job at their free time,
but the numbers are fewer than the corresponding male executives.

The findings in the above three general questions suggest that the male executives
in the IT sector are subjected a more rigid work routine, while the female employees
do enjoy a certain degree of conveniences.

Health and Well-being:

Health is an important factor while analyzing the work life in the IT sector in India.
Primarily because the overall working pattern in the IT sector is very exhaustive. In
such a scenario, health considerations provided by the company becomes a vital
factor in promoting quality work life.

In this study various factors were considered for gauging the inclination of the
employees towards health and well-being been a major factor in providing a quality
work life.

To gauge the preference of same questions were framed based on the factors such
as Initiatives taken by the organization to reduce work place stress, canteen
facilities-in particular to the cost of food provided and hygiene, the regularity of
medical checkups conducted for employees and the ease of reimbursements
claimed by employees.

The responses gathered were categorized on the basis of age of the employee and
their experience in the industry.

Health v/s Age Health v/s Experience

On plotting the responses on a linear scale, certain analysis was yielded. The
respondents were grouped into three age brackets namely 21-25 years of age, 26-
30 years and 31-35 years of age. While with respect to experience there were four
categories made, which were, less than 1 years of experience, 1-3 years experience,
3-5 years and lastly More than 5 years of experience.

In can be inferred from the plot of health vs. age that the employees in the age
bracket of 21-25 disagree with the proposition that health and well-being facilities
provided by a company is a major factor in promoting their quality of work life.
Whereas with the increase in the age group to 26-30 year bracket, a majority of the
employees tend to agree with the fact that health and well-being facilities provided to
them are indeed the most vital factor in promoting their quality of work life. However
with a further increase in age, with employees falling into the 31-35 years category
are found to have a neutral stand on the viability of health factors being the most
prominent ones in promoting a quality work life. This could be attributed to the fact

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that at the young age of 21-25 years, most employees tend to have a healthier
personal life which helps them cope with any stress in their work life. But with the
increase in age the stress symptoms begin to show up which divert the focus of the
employee toward the facilities provided by their organization to take care of their
health and well-being.

Analyzing the plot of health vs. experience we again see a mixed view towards the
importance of Health as a parameter to promote quality work life. Here a majority of
the respondents with less than a year and in the range 1-3 years of experience tend
not comply with the preposition that health facilities are the prime factor in deciding
the quality of their work. Whereas with the increase in experience as the employees
get more involved in their work, they tend to face some little health issues, which
incline them towards giving these facilities a due weight age. Hence it can be seen
from the graph that the employees, particularly in the 3-5 years experience category,
agree to a major extent that health facilities are indeed the most important factor in
promoting the quality of work life in the IT sector.

Job Satisfaction:
Another important factor which motivates the people in the Indian IT sector to
continue their livelihood in the same field is the overall job satisfaction they drive
from the work they do. Hence job satisfaction becomes a vital issue when trying to
identify a prime factor which promotes quality of work life in the IT sector.

In this study the respondents were enquired on their level of job satisfaction. The
questions asked were based on the factors such as the relationship of an employee
with his/her peers, how much is the effort put by them is recognized by their
organizations, the adequacy of the feedback given to them, the transportation
facilities or reimbursements provided to them for their travel to the work place and
lastly on how effectively and efficiently are their problems handled by the
organization.

The responses gathered were again categorized on the basis of age of the
employee and their experience in the industry.

Job Satisfaction v/s Age Job Satisfaction v/s Experience

Continuing the analysis on a similar basis as the earlier factor, when the plot of Job
satisfaction vs. Age is considered, it can be inferred that the employees in the young
age bracket of 21-25 years refuse to agree with the fact that job satisfaction is the
prime promoter of a quality work life. The employees in the middle age group of 26-
30 years take a more neutral stance on this issue whereas the employees of age
bracket 31-35 years majorly agree with the preposition. This could be attributed to
the fact that at a younger age, an employee is looking at building his career in the
industry and is not majorly concerned with the issue as to how much he/she is
content with the job. But as the age increases and the employee is into a set career

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path in the industry he/she would definitely given a consideration to how satisfied
they are with the employer and the kind of job they do.

A similar trend can be seen when the plot of Job satisfaction vs. Experience is
plotted. Here the employees with low experience of less than a year or 1-3 years do
not comply with Job satisfaction being the prime parameter to promote quality in
work life, primarily because they are still in the learning stage of their careers and
strive to work harder despite challenges or hindrances. However with the growth in
experience level, 3-5 or more years, the employees tend to focus on how much they
are content with the work they are doing and tend to factor the overall Job
Satisfaction as the most prominent parameter to promote quality of work life in the IT
sector in India.

Work Life Balance (WLB):

Work life balance is defined as having enough time for work and enough to have a
life thus the work life balance.
Various factors that were considered for work life balance were Recreation facilities
like indoor games for recreation, authority to make decisions related to ones work,
flexible work-timings, and workload.
WLB v/s Age WLB v/s Experience
It is clear that there is clear preference for work life balance. But as observed from
the responses that age group 31-35 shows lower preference compared to other age
groups. This may be because people in this age group have to shoulder more
responsibility.
And again if we look at the data with respect to experience. People with 3-5 years of
experience and people with more than 5 year of experience show less prefernce for
work life balance as compared with people with less experience. People with less
experience usually have more to learn and spend more time at work to learn and
develop new skills, because of these reasons they have more preference for work
life balance compared to experienced lot.

Training & Development:

Training and development ensures that employees are up-to-date in terms of
technology and other best practices in the industry.

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Factors that were considered for Training and Development are Opportunities for
advancement, training programs for skill development and value addition, liberty to
try out new things at work and ease of approaching superiors in case of difficulty or
suggesting new ways for doing a particular task.
Training & Development v/s Age Training & Development v/s Experience

We have equal no of responses in the age group of 21-25 and 26-30 who Agree that
training and development plays important role in Quality of work life. During initial
years in IT industry training and development plays important role in shaping one’s
career. This trend also corresponds when compared with respect to experience,
people with 1-3 year year of experience feel that training and develoment plays an
important role. Also people with more than 5 years of experience feel that training
and development feel that training and development is important if one has to grow
in IT industry.

Conclusiuon:
Data that was collected during this research was analysed with respect Age and
Experience. The analysis for the same is summarised in the tables given below.
Preference with respect to Age

Age Parameter Preferred

21-25 Years Training and Development

26- 30 Years Health and Well being

31-35 Years Job Satisfaction

Preference with respect to Experience

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 Experience Parameters Preferred

Less than 1 year Training & development

1 – 3 years Health & Well Being

3 – 5 years Work Life Balance

More than 5 years Job Satisfaction

Recommendations:
People have different priority at different times, and this is very much evident from
the analysis and findings with respect to age and experience. So organization needs
to clearly communicate with employees the results that are expected and at the
same time understand prorities of employees, they need to understand that people
have roles and interests outside office. These affirmative policies will be more
effective when there is clear and open communication between employees and
organization.

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Works Cited
Ballau, B., & Godwin, N. (2007). Quality of "Work Life". Strategic Finance .

Craver, R. F. (1983). AT & T's QWL Experiment. Management Review .

Friedman, S. D., Christensen, P., & DeGroot, J. (1998). WORK AND LIFE: The End of Zero
Sum Game. Harvard Business Review .

Loupton, T. Efficiency and Quality of Work Life.

Rethinam, G. S., & Ismail, M. (2008). Constructs of Quality of Work Life: A Perspective of
Information and Technology Professionals. European Journal of Social Sciences.

Saklani, D. Quality of Work Life in the Indian Context: An Empirical Investigation.

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