Pacific B usiness R eview I nternational
A Refereed Monthly International Journal of Management Indexed With THOMSON REUTERS(ESCI)
|
Ms. Pooja Verma Assistant Professor FMSLA, Shoolini University, Bajhol, Solan Himachal Pradesh, India |
Dr. Dipanker Sharma Assistant Professor FMSLA, Shoolini University, Bajhol, Solan Himachal Pradesh, India |
Academics have always been perceived as a work area where there is less stress when it is compared to other work domains, but this paradox can no longer be supported; importantly due to increased competition, growing awareness of skill-based education, rising unemployment etc. The education industry contemporarily is competitive and not an easy job. It requires regular and continuous updates, rigorous hard work, incessant development and a never-ending commitment. Therefore, balancing one’s personal life along with professional life in academics becomes a challenge. Maintaining a good QWL (Quality of Work Life) i.e. providing satisfactory work environment along with psychological contentment is what a challenge becomes when an employee’s job is demanding. Factors like job satisfaction, commitment, job involvement, dedication and hard work reflect that employees are enjoying a good QWL. Many researches have been conducted to study and analyze the QWL in various academic institutes i.e. schools, colleges and universities. It has been observed that major areas of concern in maintaining a good QWL are financial factors, promotion and appraisals, developmental issues, balanced personal life, work environment, creativity, decision making autonomy, job security, recognition and appreciation etc. These areas affect the overall QWL of the employees and it becomes very important to maintain all these factors for a good QWL. Since, a strong education industry will definitely form a base for strong and developed nation and a strong education system can be formed only when it has fully dedicated workforce which is possible only when their QWL is maintained and given due consideration. This paper is based on the reviews of various research papers in the area of academics over the years and an effort has been made to analyze and highlight the areas of apprehension in academics, especially the issues which may be of high concern and are needed to be handled to balance the personal and professional lives of the employees in the academics so that they have a good QWL. Further the originated factors are categorized based on the two classical theories of motivation i.e. Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory and Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory. This classification would serve as a guide for formulating policies which keeps the employees motivated and satisfied, which makes them perceive that their Quality of Work Life is good.
Keywords: Quality of work life, Academics, Motivational theories, Two factor theory, Need Hierarchy theory.
Human resource is considered as backbone of every organization and is given due weightage and importance in organizational policy formulations and decision making in the organizations. Gone are the days when the factors effecting motivati on of human resource and their satisfaction were ignored. Today organizations give due consideration and formulate policies and programs which are directed towards the upkeep of motivation, satisfaction and overall well-being of their employees.
Many motivational theories have been established over the years which have contributed in the evolution of contemporary concepts like Quality of Work Life. There are many factors that affect employees’ Quality of Work Life. These factors can be divided into two factors Hygiene factors and Motivational factors of Fredrick Herzberg’ Two Factor Theory of Motivation. Hygiene factors are extrinsic factors associated to an employee’s job which are related to dissatisfaction of the employees i.e. if these factors are not provided to the employees it is definite that the employees will be dissatisfied although their presence may not lead to job satisfaction. On the contrary Motivational factors are the intrinsic factors at employee’s job which are related to job satisfaction i.e. the presence of which will give the employees certain job satisfaction but their absence may not lead dissatisfaction. Learning about the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that affect the overall Quality of Work Life of the employees can help the organization in controlling the Quality of Work Life of employees to make employees high performers and improve the quality of the employee’s life. Further these factors can also be classified into Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory of Motivation. The need hierarchy theory includes following five needs of an employee from lower order needs to higher order needs respectively i.e. (i) Physiological needs: which includes basic physical needs, (ii) Safety Needs: which includes security and safety, (iii) Social Needs: which includes relationships and belongingness, (iv) Self-Esteem Needs: which includes feeling of achievement and respect and (v) Self-actualization: which includes achieving one’s full potential. For motivation of the employees their lower order needs are to be fulfilled first then moving towards their higher order needs, respectively. Therefore, maintaining a respectable Quality of Work Life. Every organization now-a-days are making efforts to maintain a balance between their employees personal as well as professional life.
There is a paradox that academics is one of the work areas that has always been alleged a work area where there is less strain as compared to other work areas. This paradox no longer is supported as there is increasing trend of skill-based education, increased competition, rising unemployment etc. the education industry now-a-days is no longer an easy job. Jobs in academics require regular updates, rigorous hard work, continuous progress and full-time dedication. Therefore, balancing one’s personal life along with professional life in academics again becomes a challenge.
Maintaining a good QWL i.e. providing satisfactory work environment along with psychological contentment is what a challenge becomes when an employee’s job is demanding. Factors like job satisfaction, commitment, job involvement, dedication and hard work reflect that employees are enjoying a good QWL.
Davis in general terms defines “QWL, refers to the favorableness or unfavorableness of a job environment for people. It refers to the quality of relationship between employees and the total working environment.” According to Luthans, “QWL is more concerned with overall climate of work. It is a concern about the impact of work on people as organizational effectiveness and an idea of participation in organizational problem solving and decision making.” Suttle defines QWL as “Quality of work life is the degree to which members of a work organization are able to satisfy important personal needs through their experiences in the organization.” According to Goodman QWL is “an attempt to restructure multiple dimensions of the organization and to institute a mechanism which introduces and sustains changes overtime”. Glacer articulates that “QWL requires an Organizational climate and structure that really encourages, facilitates, rewards, questions, challenges or suggest ways to improve the existing modes operating anyway.”
Therefore, QWL is concerned with providing all favorable conditions to the employees so that desired efficiency and productivity is achievable. Therefore, a high QWL indicates that the workplace provides noble working conditions and is considered a good place to work.
Chander and Singh (1993), in their study “Quality of Work Life in a University: An empirical investigation” recognized four major determinants of QWL, i.e. decision-making authority, growth and development, recognition and appreciation, and promotional avenues which were missing and the teachers wanted an environment that comprised these determinants.
To overcome dissatisfaction and make the work interesting Rose (2006) in his study “Quality of Work Life: Implications of Career Dimensions” held that programs of QWL were for the benefit of both faculty and management. These programs included building cooperation, mutually solving work-related problems, work environments improvement, restructuring of tasks and managing human resource outcomes and payoffs fairly. This empirical study was done to predict QWL in relation to career-related dimensions. The sample consisted of 475 managers from the free trade zones in Malaysia for both the multinational corporations (MNCs) and the small-medium industries (SMIs). The result selected that three variables were substantial: career achievement, career balance and career satisfaction in QWL.
A study "Quality of work life and job satisfaction of a group of university employees." on the university employees Ganguly (2010) revealed that there was a positive relationship between job satisfaction and QWL dimensions. QWL significantly contributes towards increasing the job satisfaction or dissatisfaction depending upon the employee’s negative or positive perception of QWL dimensions.
Shariq et al. (2010) in their research paper titled “Job Satisfaction in Management Faculties of a Metropolitan and Proximate Area: A Study of Private Colleges” found that the faculty members would continue to stay in the same job only if they had opportunity for growth and development along with financial factors, organizational prestige. Further they indicated positive job satisfaction. The major cause of disgruntlement was found to be organizational prestige, advancement opportunity and financial factors. Therefore, it was suggested that as respondents had held these factors responsible for retaining them in their present jobs, the college administration must give due weightage to these factors.
Bolhari et al. (2011) in their research “The Relationship between Quality of Work Life and Demographic Characteristics of Information Technology Staffs” discussed a range of correlation such as those between gender and Quality of work life, age and Quality of work life, work experience and Quality of work life and income and Quality of work life.
Pugalendhi et al. (2011) in “Quality of Work Life: Perception of College Teachers” stated that if the QWL of teachers was below average then its resultant impact will be on teaching and research work and these were the basis for the progress of any society. QWL and Quality of life had a significant association in teaching environment. Research carried out in academic sector showed that QWL of college teachers was in low level.
Bharathi et al. (2011), If the QWL of teachers is below average then its subsequent impact will be on teaching and research work and these are the basis for the development of any society. QWL and Quality of life has a significant association in teaching environment.
Jayan (2012) in her paper “Role of Quality of Work Life on the Job Attitude and Personal Effectiveness of Engineering College Teachers” highlighted that QWL programmes delivered growth and development opportunity by training to the employees which consequently increased job satisfaction. QWL was also concerned to create work environment which was conducive and congenial. A significant relationship was found between job satisfaction, personal growth, and team effectiveness even in the academic sector. A high QWL was required for the growth of both the employees and the institutions.
Mukarram et al. (2012), research on “The study Work life conflict impact on Female’s Job performance. A study of primary level female school teachers in Pakistan” was focused on impact of work life conflict on job performance of female school teachers while keeping organization policy as a moderating variable. Result showed that Work life conflict had a negative impact on job performance of female employees and organization policies do not moderate this relationship. A total of 200 questionnaires were distributed among the teachers of private schools.
Ghasemizad et. al. (2012) in the study titled “Study of the Relationship between Teachers and Principals’ Spiritual Leadership, Quality of Work Life, Job Satisfaction and Productivity” found that QWL had direct bearing with productivity, as improved QWL would ultimately lead to higher productivity and job satisfaction. The aim of the investigation was to examine the relationship between quality of work life, spiritual leadership, productivity and job satisfaction in Kerman high schools’ principals and teachers. Over 420 principals and teachers of Kerman high schools in Iran were taken as the population. The findings of the study concluded that Spiritual leadership, Quality of work life, productivity and job satisfaction had significant relationship with each other.
Nanjundeswara swamy and Swamy (2013) conducted a study “Quality of work life of employees in private technical Institutions” which was led on 109 employees of the private technical institutions teaching and non-teaching both. The study used a tested questionnaire having nine components of QWL, Chi Square and Correlation were used for the analysis of the data collected. The results from the tests applied revealed that male employees were more satisfied when compared to the female employees. Further among the teaching staff adequacy of resources had maximum correlation with QWL whereas training and development had the least. And among the non-teaching compensation and reward had the highest correlation and work environment had the least correlation with QWL. Also, there was a positive correlation between QWL and its dimensions which indicated that improvement in the dimensions would lead to overall increase in QWL.
Harikrishnan and Raveendran (2013) carried out a study “Quality of work life and job satisfaction among management academic professionals in state private universities of Jaipur Rajasthan” to explore the association between Quality of work life and Job Satisfaction. A total number of 133 management academic professionals (Academic Associates, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor) were selected from eight state private universities located Jaipur District, (this includes urban and rural areas), Rajasthan on a stratified random sampling basis. From the correlation matrix, the highest positive value of correlation was found between Quality of work life and job satisfaction and all factors of QWL were found to have positive impact on job satisfaction.
Rani and Kritika (2013) in the study “Quality of Work Life of Female Employees in Universities of Haryana” conducted in the universities of Haryana with a sample size of 72 respondents remarked that Universities provided opportunities to attain higher qualifications, allotted good accommodation in the campus, water and electricity were available round the clock, all sports facilities were there for entire family, good and committed workers were highly respected. Therefore, Quality of work life in universities was found to be very good. For this research 40 factors relating to Quality of work life in the form of 40 statements and 4 open ended questions were incorporated in the questionnaire.
In the research titled “Study on Quality of work life among academicians of private technical educational institutions” Vishwakarma et al. (2013) found that QWL of academicians, particularly in the Private Technical Institute, was not in a better condition. Factors such as salary and wages biasness between same qualified employees, advancement opportunity for growth was low, salary and job security issues were badly affecting the relationship with administration and academicians, dissatisfaction regarding leave flexibility etc. were responsible for low QWL of respondents.
Petare (2013) conducted a descriptive study “A Study of work life balance of women working in teaching profession at Kolhapur” in Kolhapur of Maharashtra where the response was taken from 50 respondents who were all female teachers of various colleges and institutes. The paper tried to analyse the causes of work life imbalance of female teachers, out of which the most highlighting factors were heavy work and extended working hours followed by inability to priorities and manage time i.e. flexitime, reduced working hours and other work place facilities. The paper concluded that the working hours were the major concern area that affected the work life balance of a female employee and therefore needs to be handled to enhance the QWL of females.
“A study on the effect of quality of work life (QWL) on Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) – With Special reference to College Teachers is Thrissur District, Kerala” conducted by Nair (2013) to identify the Quality of Work Life (QWL) as a predictor of Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB). The study compared the level of perception of QWL based on the major demographic profile i.e. the Gender among college teachers. The women had higher level of job dedication as compared to men. Also, the total respondents had an average QWL whereas the Female Teachers reflected a healthier QWL when compared to the Men and the key reasons for this disparity were recognized as inter-generational communications and interpersonal trust among teachers, which influenced their QWL.
Ahemed, Chaudhary and Kharush (2013) in a research titled “A Review of Quality of Work Life Balance for Women Employees” was conducted on the women working in academics and therefore determined that the working women are trapped in the work/life balance trick and balancing their personal and professional life will continue to be an ongoing challenge. These working women demanded for careful planning and individual effort as the assistance so that they have equilibrium in both career and home life.
Yadav et.al. (2014) in their study “Work Life Balance and Job Satisfaction among the Working Women of Banking and Education Sector – A Comparative Study” took a total sample of 150 working women of some Govt. colleges and National Institutes of Bhopal for education sector and for banking sector, nationalized banks running their branches in Bhopal (M.P.) (75 women employees from each sector). Overall the working women were satisfied and assumed that education sector was a better place to work than the banking sector. Working hours were satisfactory but sometimes late working and working in evening branches in banks interrupted work life balance. The research showed that women employees work in banks for financial support generally faced life challenges than the education sector. Most of the employees in education sector agreed that work allotment was based on skills and qualification but women in banking sector did not agree on this statement. It was also found that in banking sector most of the employees agreed that they were physically stressed in their job and in education sector some of the employees strongly agree that they were mentally pressurized on their job.
Zaheer, Islam and Darakhshan (2016) conducted a study titled “Occupational Stress and Work-life balance: A study of female faculties of Central Universities in Delhi, India” and investigated 120 female faculties out of which 90 responded from two central universities in Delhi to study the degree of relationship between the occupational stress and the work-life balance of the female faculty. The results revealed using mean and standard deviation that there exists moderate occupational stress and work life balance among the female faculty. Also, it was revealed that there was negative relationship between the occupational stress and work life balance using Pearson Correlation. A self-administered questionnaire was used which included scales for occupational stress and the work life balance along with the biographical information.
From the above review of literature, we can determine and accomplish following factors that are found to be very significant and affect an individual’s Quality of Work Life in the field of academics. In order to improve the Quality of Work Life of employees in academics these aspects need to be controlled and upgraded. These enumerated factors are further categorized on the basis of two classical theories of motivation i.e. Fredrick Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory and Abraham Maslow’s Need Hierarchy of Motivation.
The factors have been divided into hygiene and motivational factors of Fredrick Herzberg’s Two Factors Theory of Motivation:
QUALITY OF WORK LIFE vis-à-vis FREDRICK HERZBERG’S TWO FACTORS MOTIVATIONAL THEORY:
According to Herzberg’s theory hygiene factors are extrinsic factors and are related to job dissatisfaction which means the absence of these factors will definitely lead to dissatisfaction among employees but providing them may not lead to satisfaction among employees. Therefore, to avoid dissatisfaction among employees these hygiene factors are to be considered. Further Motivational factors are referred to intrinsic factors which means that their absence may not dissatisfy an employee but the presence of these motivational factors will definitely lead to satisfaction among employees. Therefore, the hygiene factors are prerequisites to avoid dissatisfaction among employees like flexible working hours, working culture, team spirit, congenial work environment, working amenities and facilities, fair work allotment, adequate and fair compensation, job security, rearrangement of work to avoid job monotony, appropriate company policies and administration, safety at work place and effective performance appraisal. Subsequently motivational factors could be improved with a view to attain complete satisfaction of the employees to enhance their overall Quality of Work Life. These motivational factors include career planning and assistance, mutual cooperation, trust and commitment, career prospects, opportunity for growth and development, authority and recognition, appreciation and reward, promotional avenues, identification with the job, perceived organizational support and work-life balance. Therefore, providing these motivational factors may improve the satisfaction level of the employees.
Further, these factors have been divided into the five needs of Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory of Motivation as follows:
QUALITY OF WORK LIFE vis-à-vis MASLOW’S NEED HIERARCHY MOTIVATIONAL THEORY:
In the above hierarchy of needs, Maslow gave five needs, out of which the bottom two i.e. physiological needs and the safety needs are the basic needs. Further the above two i.e. social needs and self-esteem needs are the psychological needs. Finally, the last need in this need hierarchy is the self-fulfillment need. Maslow in his theory coined that an employee can be motivated by fulfilling these needs. In order to motivate an employee, the lower order needs i.e. the basic needs (Physiological and safety needs) are to be fulfilled first which includes working amenities and facilities, adequate and fair compensation, appropriate work allotment along with job security, effective company policies, work place safety, effective performance appraisal and suitable working hours. Once the basic needs are fulfilled further psychological needs are to be fulfilled to keep an employee inspired and content, which includes team spirit and congenial environment, amicable work culture, mutual cooperation, trust and commitment followed by authority and recognition, appreciation and reward, balanced work life, perceived organizational support and rearrangement of work to avoid monotony. Further when these desires are fulfilled an employee can feel motivated by attaining self-fulfillment which includes areas like identification with the job, career planning and assistance, career prospects, opportunities for growth & development and the high promotional avenues available. Therefore, it can be concluded that if an organization wants a virtuous Quality of Work Life among their employees, they need to focus and direct their efforts to fulfill these needs starting from lower order rank towards higher order rank respectively.
Also, from the review of different research studies, it was found that the paradox of joining an academic industry by default gives a balanced Quality of Work Life stands false and therefore there is a huge list of factors which need to be taken care by the academic administrators so that the employees in academic industry feel and experience a balanced and flawless Quality of Work Life.
It is believed that a strong education industry will definitely form a base for strong and developed nation. And a strong education system can be formed only when it has fully dedicated workforce which is possible by maintaining and improving the QWL of the employees and giving due consideration to all other related areas. From the review done, many factors that affect QWL are highlighted and it has been observed that major areas of concern in maintaining a virtuous QWL among the academic sector employees are financial factors, promotion and appraisals, developmental issues, balanced personal life, work environment, creativity, decision making autonomy, working hours, job security, recognition and appreciation. These areas affect the overall QWL of the employees and it becomes very important to maintain all these factors for a good QWL. The two motivational theories actually enable to classify these crucial factors which further helps and assists in policy formulation towards employee benefit. Herzberg two factor theory divides these factors into hygiene factors and motivational factors. Based on this classification, policies can be designed focusing on dissatisfied employees, whose dissatisfaction can be detached by working on hygiene factors. Another set of strategies can be planned to increase the motivation and satisfaction level of the employees by designing policies around motivational factors. Further the factors drawn from the review are also classified into the five needs of Maslow’s Need Hierarchy theory. This theory provides a guide as to which factors need to be taken care foremost and which ones will follow, because the theory proposes that unless the lower order needs are fulfilled, gratifying the factors included in higher order needs will not motivate an employee. Therefore, the administration should first focus on the issues included in lower order needs and subsequently move upwards in the need hierarchy. Fulfilling all the needs in the hierarchy and after reaching at the top of the need hierarchy, would to some extent ensure a comprehensive Quality of Work Life in academic sector.
Bibliography
Ahemad, M., Chaudhary, A. & Karush, D.K. (2013). A Review of Quality of Work Life Balance for Women Employees: A case study of working women in academics. International Journal of Trends in Economics Management and Technology, Vol. II, Issue I, 60-65
Bolhari, A., Rezaeean, A., Bolhari, J., Bairamzadeh, S. & Soltan, A.A. (2011). The Relationship between Quality of Work Life and Demographic Characteristics of Information Technology Staffs. Proceedings of the CSIT International Conference on Computer Communication and Management, Singapore, IACSIT Press, Vol.5.
Chander, S. &Singh, P. (1993). Quality of Work Life in a University: An empirical investigation. Management and Labour Studies, Jamshedpur, XLRI, 18(2), 97-107.
Ganguly, R. (2010). Quality of Work Life and Job Satisfaction of a Group of University Employees. Asian Journal of Management Research, 209-216.
Ghasemizad, A.&Zadeh, M. A. (2012). A Study of the Relationship between Teachers and Principals’ Spiritual Leadership, Quality of Work Life, Job Satisfaction and Productivity, American Journal of Science Research, 49, 11-20.
Ghasemizad, A., Zadeh, M.A. & Bagheri, S. (2012). A Study of the Relationship between Teachers and Principals’ Spiritual Leadership, Quality of Work Life, Job Satisfaction and Productivity. American Journal of Scientific Research, Issue 49, 11-20.
Jain, B.& Swami, Y. (2014). Quality of Work Life with Special Reference to Academic Sector. Research Journal of Management Sciences, Vol. 3(1), 14-17.
Jayan, R. (2012). Role of Quality of Work Life on the Job Attitude and Personal Effectiveness of Engineering College Teachers. Academicia, 2(6).
Mukarram, A., Akbar S., Jan, Z.& Gul A. (2012). Work life conflict impact on Female’s Job performance. A study of primary level female school teachers in Pakistan. European Journal of Business and Management, Vol 4, No.20.
Nair, S. (2013). A study on the effect of Quality of Work Life (QWL) on Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) – With Special reference to College Teachers is Thrissur District, Kerala. Integral Review- A Journal of Management, Vol.6(1), 34-46.
Nanjundeswaraswamy, T.S. & Swamy, D.R. Quality of work life of employees in private technical Institutions. International Journal for Quality Research, Volume 7(3), 431-442.
Petare, P.A. (2013). A Study of work life balance of women working in teaching profession at Kolhapur. Online International Interdisciplinary Research Journal (Bi-Monthly), Volume-III, Issue-IV, 199-204.
Pugalendhi, S.B., Selvi, U.& Nakkeeran, S.K. (2011). Quality of Work Life: Perception of College Teachers. MPRA, Paper No.27868, posted 6. 10:44 UTC.
Rani, A. & Kritika. (2013). Quality of Work Life of Female Employees in Universities of Haryana.
Rose, R.C., Beh, L., Uli, J. & Idris, K. (2006). An Analysis of Quality of Work Life (QWL) and Career-Related Variables. American Journal of Applied Sciences, 3(12), 2151-2159.
Shariq, A. S. M., Premi, V.& Jyoti, A. (2010). Job Satisfaction in Management Faculties of a Metropolitan and Proximate Area: A Study of Private Colleges. Yamuna Nagar: IJRCM, 1(1); 13-28.
Umaselvi, B.P.S. & Kumar S. (2011). Quality of Work Life: Perception of College Teachers, Hallamark Business School, Trichy, Tamilnadu, India. Paper No.27868, posted 6. 10:44 UTC.
Vishwakarma, A.C., Lakhawat, P.S. & Poonam. (2013). Study on Quality of work life among academicians of private technical educational institutions: Allahabad city, Uttar Pradesh. IRJMST, 4(3); 51-60.
Yadav, R.K& Dabhade, N. (2014). Work Life Balance and Job Satisfaction among the Working Women of Banking and Education Sector – A Comparative Study. International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences, 10(2), 181-201.
Zaheer, A., Islam, J.U. & Darakhshan, N. (2016). Occupational Stress and work life balance: A study of female faculties of Central Universities in Delhi, India. Journal of Human Resource Management, 4(1),1-5.