CHAPTER 12

Job Satisfaction and the Quality of Work Life

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Quality of Work Life

* QWL- How effectively the job environment meets the personal needs and values of employees Concerns over the QWL:

Outsourcing hiring people from outside a company to perform work that had been performed on the inside. Shifting trends in jobs effects of automation, downsizing, and relocation. Temps temporary workers.
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Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

Factors Influencing QWL

Adequate and fair compensation. Safe and healthy working conditions. Opportunities to develop and use human capacities. Opportunities for continued growth and security.
cont.

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Factors Influencing QWL

A feeling of belonging. Employee rights. Work and total life space. Social relevance of work life.

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Improving QWL

* Job enrichment adding depth (increasing difficulty) to a job to increase motivation and interest in performing the job.

Job enlargement adding tasks at the same level of difficulty to a job.

cont.
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Improving QWL

Vertical loading job enrichment by pulling down responsibilities from above and pushing tasks to a lower level.

Horizontal loading job enlargement by pushing tasks into earlier work stages or pulling tasks into later work stages.

cont.
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Improving QWL

Task variety the different tasks in a job; the degree to which job tasks are different from each other.

Task identity completing an entire unit or subunit (as opposed to performing one of many tasks required to complete a unit or subunit). cont.
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Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

Improving QWL

Task significance the belief that the work is important. Autonomy freedom to make decisions; the ability to work without supervision.

Feedback information received by workers regarding the level and quality of performance.

cont.
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07/15/06

Improving QWL

* Job rotation moving people to different jobs on the same organizational level for short times. Cross-training teaching workers more than one job; multiskilling.

* Positive reinforcement (and feedback) should be accurate, frequent, timely, integral with the tasks, and selfevident.
cont.

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Improving QWL

Well pay a reward in the form of a scheduled day off with pay in return for not taking an unscheduled day off, within a certain time.

Floating holiday one day off with pay, scheduled on short notice, within a certain time.

cont.
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Improving QWL

* Empowerment providing employees with higher degrees of involvement and greater authority to make decisions.

Child care care for children not in school, while parents work. Elder care care for the elderly who need assistance.

cont.
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Improving QWL

Work and social environment changes. Wellness programs fitness programs designed to lower absentee rates.

Ergonomic changes changes to equipment design intended to maximize productivity by reducing operator fatigue and discomfort.
cont.
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Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

Improving QWL

Aesthetics the nature of what is artistically beautiful or pleasing. Personalization individual decorations or changes to the work environment.

Micromanagement excess concern over small details; overcontrol.

Does QWL have limitations?

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CIBC Leadership Centre

Over five kilometers of nature trails through forested terrain and over rolling hills A unique 200-meter in-door track suspended roughly seven feet above the ground and fully heated 24-hour access to a newly refurbished fitness room with free weights, strengthbuilding stations, and cardio equipment Spa facilities and services featuring massage and skin-care/aesthetic treatments, saunas, and steam-rooms
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Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

CIBC Leadership Centre

Locker rooms, in-door/out-door swimming and whirlpools, a multipurpose stretching studio and climbing wall 4 outdoor tennis courts, 2 squash courts, mountain bikes, toboggans, snowshoes and other seasonal equipment Additional gear for volleyball, street hockey, softball, basketball, soccer, horseshoes, croquet, bocce ball are available Located near numerous golf courses, riding stables, hiking and cycling routes, museums and other recreation sites
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Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

CIBC Leadership Centre

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National Semiconductor

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Innovative Ways to Work

* Production-based compensation plans periodic cash bonuses given to employees having cost-saving ideas; gainsharing. * Flextime allowing workers to begin their normal workday at whatever time they wish, often within a predetermined window (like between 8 and 10 a.m.).
cont.
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Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

Innovative Ways to Work

Flexplace allowing regular employees (full- or part-time) to work at home or at another location away from the company. Flexible benefits allowing employees to select benefits to best meet their needs.
cont.
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Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

Innovative Ways to Work

* Job sharing two workers dividing one job. Right-side-up organizations customers or clients are placed at the top of the hierarchy, followed by frontline or customer-contact workers.

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Job Satisfaction

Internal Factors External Factors

Individual Factors
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Internal Job Satisfaction Factors

The work it is virtually impossible to have job satisfaction if you hate your job. Autonomy the level of control people have over their work.

Job variety the required skills and quantity of knowledge needed to perform a job.

cont.
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Internal Job Satisfaction Factors

Goal determination the freedom people have to establish their own work goals and to determine their own criteria for success.

Recognition noticeable acknowledgment of performance; it is received less often but carries greater significance than feedback.

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External Job Satisfaction Factors

Achievement the success a person has on the job. * Role ambiguity not knowing what your job is or what your place is in the organization. * Role conflict job roles that interfere with one another.
cont.
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Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

External Job Satisfaction Factors

Opportunity future prospects with a current employer or another employer. Job security the assurance of continued future employment. Social interactions communicating with others. Affected by quantity and quality.
cont.
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Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

External Job Satisfaction Factors

Supervision the managing or overseeing of someone. Organizational culture the collective beliefs, values, and attitudes of the organization. Work schedules the days and times individuals work.
cont.
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Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

External Job Satisfaction Factors

Seniority the time spent working the same job or working for the same employer. Compensation the money, benefits, and rewards of employment.

cont.
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External Job Satisfaction Factors

Why people ask for more money:

It is generally accepted as suitable compensation when other job satisfaction factors are absent. It is viewed as suitable compensation for any undesirable aspects to the work. It seems to have a short-term palliative effect (it placates people for a time).
cont.
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Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

External Job Satisfaction Factors

Why people ask for more money:

Money is tangible and objective. It is often easier to ask for money when, for example, the job cannot be made more interesting. Money is symbolic, it may signify success and achievement, and it may give some people an increased sense of self-worth.
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Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

Individual Job Satisfaction Factors

* Commitment how carefully someone has researched, selected, and prepared for a job. * Expectations the needs people believe a job can fulfill.

Job involvement how important a persons job is in his or her life.

cont.
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Individual Job Satisfaction Factors

Effort/reward ratio the comparison of the rewards someone receives from his or her work to the effort he or she puts into the work.

Influence of coworkers the importance coworkers place on certain issues and the degree to which they discuss these issues.
cont.

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Individual Job Satisfaction Factors

* Comparisons the evaluations people make between their jobs and how satisfied they are with them and the jobs of friends, relatives, and neighbors.

Opinions of others the beliefs others have of the status and desirability of someone elses job. Personal outlook. Age.
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Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e