QUALITY OF WORK LIFE – A SERVICE PERSPECTIVE Dr. Vijaya Lakshmi Pothuraju QUALITY OF WORK LIFE A SERVICE PERSPECTIVE India | UAE | Nigeria | Uzbekistan | Montenegro QUALITY OF WORK LIFE A SERVICE PERSPECTIVE By: Dr. Vijaya Lakshmi Pothuraju Assistant Professor Department of MBA CMR College of Engineering & Technology, Hyderabad First Impression: 2019 QUALITY OF WORK LIFE – A SERVICE PERSPECTIVE ISBN : 978-81-943209-2-0 Rs. 650/- ( $18 ) No part of the book may be printed, copied, stored, retrieved, duplicated and reproduced in any form without the written permission of the author/publisher. DISCLAIMER Information contained in this book has been published by Empyreal Publishing House and has been obtained by the author from sources believed to be reliable and are correct to the best of her knowledge. The author is solely responsible for the contents of the articles compiled in this book. Responsibility of authenticity of the work or the concepts / views presented by the author through this book shall lie with the author and the publisher has no role or claim or any responsibility in this regards. Errors, if any, are purely unintentional and readers are requested to communicate such error to the author to avoid discrepancies in future. Published by: Empyreal Publishing House Preface I as a academician am happy to present before the readers, my work on “A Study on Quality of Work Life in Service Sector. This contirbution is based on views of the employees in the field of Banking and Insurance sectors over several years. The present work is the outcome of my experience at Guntur branches of Banking and Insurance sectors. The primary objective of this work is to provide an informational resource for those who are working in the field of banking and insurance sectors and are considering implementing Quality of Work Life (QWL) measurement in their branches. It gives an insight into the employer-employee relationships prevalent in companies. It speaks about how a company should keep their employees happy by providing them quality of work life. The document is intended to cover the basic issues, methods and instruments, an understanding of which is needed to employ Quality of Work Life (QWL) measurement in a meaningful way. Issues and methods which are addressed include: definitions of QWL, instrument reliability and validity, the validity of measurement methods, evaluation design, and the role of QWL measurement in banking and insurance sectors. Sixty Seven (67) questions are reviewed with respect to the domains of life which they address, the measurement methods of QWL. Though a number of thesis on research studies has come out on Quality of Work Life, the present research is a concrete and precious one, as it can accommodate the organizations through theoretical and practical connotation. This book will be very useful for the organizations to understand the measurements’ of quality of work life and the effectiveness of implementing QWL measurements. This is an attempt to provide an insight into the employees’ quality of work life where much emphasis is laid on improving business performance. I have gone through various reviews on the quality of work life measurements, periodicals, journals, various research materials etc., to acquaint with the views and opinions relating to the effectiveness of QWL measurements. Finally, I am ever grateful to each and every one who rendered instant support in completing this research study successfully. IV Acknowledgements I would like to express my appreciation to many individuals who contributed to the development of the first edition of “Quality of work-life – A service Perspective”. First, I would like to thank Secretary & Correspondent Shri Ch. Gopal Reddy, Principal Dr. Major V.A. Narayana, Head of MBA Department Dr. A. Kotishwar, My close Associate Dr. P. Alekhya Associate Professor and other Faculty members at CMR College of Engineering & Technology, Hyderabad for encouraging me to enhance my research perspective. Special thanks go to the people at Empyreal Publishing House [EPH], including Dr. Akhter Alam, for giving me an opportunity to publish for contributions towards quality of work-life studies. Next, I am grateful to all my teachers for their efforts to uplift my knowledge and make my career fruitful. Finally, I would like to thank all my family members for their kind-hearted support to my career endeavors. Dr. Vijaya Lakshmi Pothuraju V Dedicated to My Father, who did not get to see many of the fruits of his paternal affection, My daughter Bodeeswari who generously gave up her Quality time, for me to aggressively pursue my Academic Quest. To all the research aspirants in the field of Management. VI Table of Contents Preface IV Acknowledgements V Table of Contents VII Chapter No. Title of the chapter Page No. 1 Introduction and Research Methodology 1 – 18 2 Theory on Quality of Work Life 19 – 41 3 Profiles of Selected Units in Banking and Insurance Sectors 42 – 54 4 Demographoc Profiles of Respondents 55 – 60 5 Working Conditions 61 – 72 6 Compensation and Benefits 73 – 84 7 Human Relations 85 – 96 8 Stress Management and Work Life Balance 87 – 108 9 Employee Empowerment and Career Growth 109 – 129 10 Summary, Findings and Recommendations 130 – 136 11 Bibiliography 137 – 149 VII QUALITY OF WORK LIFE – A SERVICE PERSPECTIVE Chapter – I INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This chapter is an attempt to introduce the outline of the service sector in India. It also focuses on studies on Quality of work life. It states the problem of the study, its significance and scope, period of the study, objectives of the study and methodology of the study too. The Chapter also mentions few of the limitations of the study. 1 QUALITY OF WORK LIFE – A SERVICE PERSPECTIVE 1.0 INTRODUCTION Service Industry has played a very important role in the process of economic development of all countries of the world including India. The problem of service industry and its role in economic transformation had attracted the attention of policy makers in India too. Indian economy is on the threshold of change today consequent upon the historical economic reforms initiated since 1991. Reforms in different spheres of economic activity have led to change on different fronts. Service Industry development is no exception. The development of service sector is a pressing need of developing countries like India. Rapid services are needed to provide work for growing population, to raise the standard of living of people and to improve balance of payment position. Services development is possible through providing a sound base for it in the form of adequate infrastructure and other facilities. It may also be necessary to have well conceived programme of industrial development appropriate to situations. Since independence, India has started a massive planned service industry programme of speedy industrialization. The country’s industrial plans lay emphasis on the development of important heavy industries and of those in the banking and insurance industries. Service industries play a key role in the industries of developing countries. This is because they provide immediate large-scale employment and have a comparatively higher labour-capital ratio1. They need only a short gestation period and relatively smaller market to be economic. Service industries need lesser amount of capital. But, they offer a method of ensuring a more equitable distribution of national income and facilitate an effective mobilization of capital and skill which might otherwise remain unutilized. Service industries stimulate the growth of industrial entrepreneurship and promote a more diffused pattern of ownership and location. Empirical studies have shown that service enterprises are an important vehicle for meeting the growth and equality with social justice objectives of developing economies. In the Indian context they play a key role in the economic development of the country. They also act a breeding ground for entrepreneurs. Service sector is a significant segment of Indian economy. In the Indian context they are more important because in addition to the general advantages it can help to attain some socio-economic goals. Service units can decentralize and disperse finance activities of the country from the metropolitan to the non-metropolitan and rural areas. They can reduce the regional economic imbalance of the country and help to defuse entrepreneurial and managerial abilities and skills as well as of the technology throughout the country. Taking into account the advantages, the development of service enterprises has been assigned a crucial role in India’s five year plans. With a view to protect, support and promote service enterprises to become self- supporting and to facilitate balanced growth, a number of policies and promotional measures have been taken by the government. 1.1 REVIEW OF LITERATURE Introduction to previous Literatures Indian economy is in need of a device to boost employment opportunities, raise income and standard of living and to bring about a more balanced and integrated economy. Service sector is the best solution for achieving all these goals. The prevailing scarcity of capital for the promotion of other industries and the plentiful supply of employees largely favor the development of service sector. It is also essential to provide large scale employment and to utilize local educators and cater to the local market. The sectors of Banking and Insurance industries are playing a vital part in the economic structure of India. India has consistently followed a policy of active support to the development of service sector during the last five decades. It has also taken a series of policy measures. Among these measures, the establishment of Banking and Insurance industries was used as important tools for the promotion and growth of service sector. The main objective of introducing Banking and Insurance industries programme was to encourage and support the creation, expansion and modernization of service sector through the provision of services to customers and all other assistance to create necessary climate for their development.