THE STUDY OF QUALITY OF WORKLIFE IN BANKING

SECTOR

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the
degree of

MBA
In
Human Resource Management

By
Ms. Deepti Mangal
(2013MBA-006)

ABV INDIAN INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

GWALIOR-474 010
2014

CANDIDATES DECLARATION
I hereby certify that the work, which is being presented in the report, entitled, THE STUDY
OF QUALITY OF WORK LIFE IN BANKING SECTOR in partial fulfilment of the
requirement for the award of the Degree of Master of Business Administration and
submitted to the institution is an authentic record of my own work carried out during the
period July 2014 to October 2014 under the supervision of Dr.Manoj Patwardhan. I also
cited the reference about the texts/figures/tables from where they have been taken.
The matter presented in this thesis has not been submitted elsewhere for the award of any
other degree of diploma from any Institutions.

Date:

Signature of Student

This is to certify that the above statement made by the candidate is correct to the best of my
knowledge.

Date:

Signature of the Research Supervisor

ABSTRACT
Employee's overall satisfaction is an imperative tool, to build an intellectual capital base that
can endow with a competitive advantage. It is high time that organizations are learning how
to respect the employee's individuality and their commitment to work more effectively and
efficiently. Practically speaking Creating high quality of work life increases an organization's
value. (Ballou and Godwin, 2007) .Quality of working life (QWL) consists of opportunities
for active involvement in group working arrangements or problem solving that are of mutual
benefit to employees or employers, based on labour management cooperation. People also
conceive of QWL as a set of methods, such as autonomous work groups, job enrichment, and
high- involvement aimed at boosting the satisfaction and productivity of workers. It entails
employee commitment to the organization and an environment in which this commitment can
flourish. Providing quality at work not only reduces attrition but also helps in reduced
absenteeism and improved job satisfaction. From this study it is further explored that not only
does QWL contribute to a company's ability to recruit quality people, but also it enhances a
company's competitiveness. To-day the banking sector is witnessing a sea-change, which are
both exciting and challenging. The productivity of the banking industry is associated with the
efficiency of the employees. Satisfied employees are also more likely to be creative and
innovative and come up with breakthrough that allows an Organization to grow and change
positively with time and changing market conditions.

Keywords: Quality of Work life; Banking industry;QWL; Employee commitment.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Im highly indebted to Dr. Manoj Patwardhan for giving me the autonomy of
functioning and experimenting with ideas. I would like to take this opportunity to express my
profound gratitude to him not only for his academic guidance but also for his personal
interest in my project and constant support coupled with confidence boosting and motivating
sessions which proved very fruitful and was instrumental in infusing self-assurance and trust
within me. The nurturing and blossoming of the present work was mainly due to his valuable
guidance, suggestions, astute judgment, constructive criticism and an eye for perfection. My
mentor always answered countless of my doubts with smiling graciousness and prodigious
patience, never letting me feel that Im novice by always lending an ear to my views,
appreciating and improving them and by giving me a free hand in my project. Its only
because of his overwhelming interest and helpful attitude, the present work has attained the
stage it has.

Lastly, I would like to thank supporting staff of IIITM and my peers for their cooperation and
support which enabled me to achieve my objective

Date:

Deepti Mangal
(2013MBA-006)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

S.No.

Title

Page No.

1. INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................5
1.1 Quality of Work life...........................................................................................5
1.2 Quality of work life in Bank..............................................................................6
1.3Importance of QWL............................................................................................6
2. LITERATURE REVIEW...................................................................................8
2.1Job satisfaction..................................................................................................10
2.2Employee Engagement......................................................................................11
3. RESEARCH GAP.............................................................................................12
4. RATIONALE OF STUDY ................................................................................13
5. MOTIVATION..................................................................................................14
6. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY........................................................................15
7. ROADMAP TO RESEARCH...........................................................................16
8. REFERENCES...................................................................................................17

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
In the life of a working individual, the quality of work life holds prime importance. Over a
period of time, numerous opportunities have been created in the corporate world, each
offering a more conducive work environment to the employee than the last. This has given
rise to employee expectations, which coupled with the acceptance of the importance of
employee retention, has forced employers to think even about the minutest of parameters
which influence the quality of work life. Though the quality of work life has always been of
paramount importance, its significance came into realisation during late 1960s, when various
researchers (Lawler and Porter, 1966)expressed their viewpoints emphasising the importance
of understanding the factors influencing work life and its behavioural impact on performance
of individuals. Since then organizations have been continuously striving to understand the
determinants of quality of work life (Glasier, 1976; Elizur and Shye,1990).
For different industries, organizations and individuals there exist different set of factors,
which influence the quality of work life and in turn motivate or demotivate the employees. A
study of these factors is of extreme importance since a direct relationship between quality of
work life and motivation, and productivity is known to exist (Danna and Griffin, 1999).
Further, an in depth comprehension of these factors can also help in reducing the ever
escalating levels of conflict and subsequently attrition in the workplace (Li and Yeo, 1979).
In comparison to the other industries in the country, the Indian banking industry has a very
high attrition rate (averaging between 17 and 25 percent, as against the average 8 percent of
all industries considered together for financial year 2011-12 , (www.businessstandard.com/india/news/india-inc-may-see-attrition- rates-as-high-as-31/164041/on). It is
felt that an analysis of the factors that influence the quality of work life of the individuals
employed in the Indian banking industry can serve as a substantial input into the design of
effective retention programs for this sector. This provided the necessary impetus for
conducting the present study.

1.1 Quality of Work life

Quality of Work Life is a multi-dimensional term which provides a good work life balance
and gives a qualitative boost to total work environment of any organization (NeerpalRathi,
2010). The success of any organization is dependent on how it attracts, develops, and retains
its workforce. In 1973, Richard E. Walton supplied one of the best descriptions, Quality of
5

Work Life idea is based on work humanization and social responsibility of the company. It
involves the agreement of necessities and aspirations of the individual people, through the
restructuring of the positions drawing new ways to organize the work, ally to a formation of
teamwork with a better quality of life and an improvement of the organizational climate. A
working definition of Quality of Work Life proposed by Edgar F. Huse& Thomas G.
Cummings (1985), Quality of Work Life accounts for the joint goals of employee fulfilment
and organizational effectiveness and also incorporates the element of employee participation
in decision making. In the words of Mansell and Rankin (1986), Quality of Working Life is
the concrete expression of a particular set of beliefs and values about people, about
organizations and, ultimately about society

1.2Quality of work life in Banks

The rapid movement of the banking industry toward increased automation in the 1970s may
be an example of this race to see which institutions could handle activities quickest. Later,
banks turned to quality of work life programs, and employee involvement teams eventually
came into their own in the 1980s. During a changing and intensely competitive era,
remembering this ancient contest can be instructive as we look for new ways to solve old
problems in the 1990s. Due to banks wide spectrum of exposure across industries, their
performance is considered as a proxy for the economy as a whole. Unfortunately for India,
the banking sector has historically remained under the impact of non-competitiveness, poor
technology integration, high NPAs and grossly underproductive manpower.
Banking sector in India has a wide mix, comprising of joint sector, nationalized sector,
specialized corporate financial institutions, co-operative sector and foreign sector (Rajesh
Bagga, Garima Arora, Sanjeev Arora 2008). Banks want both bottomline and longer term
improvements that more clearly link productivity to enhanced competitive posture through
better service quality. Experienced observations, dating back to the early experiments, have
shown that most quality and some quality of output gains are linked closely with changes in
the quality of work life for employees, as determined by how people feel about their role in
the organization (Herff L. Moore, William T. Bounds, 1993).

1.3 Importance of QWL

Walton (1975) mentioned, Dissatisfaction with working life is a problem which affects
almost all workers at one time or another, regardless of position or status. The frustration,

boredom, and anger common to employees disenchanted with their work life can be costly to
both individual and organization. Thus, QWL stimulates the employee job satisfaction
(Ruzevicius 2007) and is essential for improving organizational and operational productivity
(Sink & Tuttle 1989). Because, QWL programs can improve employee morale and
organizational effectiveness (Hanlon &Gladstein 1984). Pay, benefits, supervisory style these extrinsic determinants of QWL play a major role for job satisfaction (Lewis et al 2001).
Moreover, QWL has direct impact on human outcomes and it significantly reduces
absenteeism, minor accidents, grievances, and quits (Havlovic 1991). It is found that
employee turnover can be minimized with better QWL (Newaz, Ali & Akhter 2007). Thus it
can be said that QWL can develop jobs and working conditions that are excellent for people
as well as for the economic health of the organization (Kanagalakshmi&Devei 2003). In fact,
individuals quality of working life directly influences the quality of life value (Ruzevicius
2007) as the factors of QWL could be defined as physical and psychological results of the
work which affect the employee (Arts, Kerksta& Zee 2001).

CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
Various researchers in the past have explored the factors that influence the quality of work
life (Elizur and Shye, 1990).Although early researchers on the subject did not make a
distinction between job satisfaction and quality of work life (Lawler and Porter, 1966) the
term was later redefined to include factors, which lead to subjective well being too, D. R.
Adhikari(1979)
Cohen and Rosenthal (1980) describes QWL as an intentionally designed effort to bring out
increased labour management, and co-operation to jointly solve the problem of improving
organizational performance and employees satisfaction.
According to Walton, (2005). He proposed eight major conceptual categories relating to
QWL as (1) adequate and fair compensation, (2) safe and healthy working conditions, (3)
immediately opportunity for continued growth and security, (4) Opportunity to use and
develop human capacities, (5) Social integration in the work organization, (6),
Constitutionalism in the work organization, (7), Work and total life space and (8), Social
relevance of work life. Several published works have addressed the constructs that make up
the QWL domain and key elements of QWL programs.
Hack man and Oldham (1976) drew attention to what they described as psychological growth
needs as relevant to the consideration of Quality of working life. Several such needs were
identified: Skill variety, Task Identity, Task significance, Autonomy and Feedback. They
suggested that such needs have to be addressed if employees are to experience high quality of
working life.
Further, Glasier(1976) evaluated the quality of work life on the basis of good working
conditions, job security and adequate and fair compensation, as against T.mills (1976) who
connected quality of work life with quality of relationships with the employees and working
environment in the wider context of human, economic and technical factors.
Robbins (1989) defines QWL as a process by which an Organization responds to employee
needs by developing mechanisms to allow them to share fully in making the decisions that
design their lives at work.
Sirgy and et al (2001) categorized QWL into two major categories: lower- and higher order
needs. The lower-order QWL comprised of health/safety needs and economic/family needs
whereas the higher-order QWL is comprised of social needs, esteem needs, self-actualization

needs, knowledge needs, and aesthetic needs. For measurement, they suggested review in
terms of the following seven categories of needs.
1. Health and safety needs (protection against disease and injury within and outside the
workplace)
2. The needs of family economy (wages, job security and etc.)
3. The need for social (cooperative work between colleagues, and having free time in the
workplaces)
4. Social needs (having the cooperative work between colleagues and spare time at work
place
5. The need for self-esteem (recognition and appreciation of the work inside and outside
the organization)
6. The need for training (training to improve job skills)
7. The aesthetic needs (creativity workplace and personal creativity and general
aesthetics.

Daljeet Kaur (2010), Quality of Work Life in ICICI Bank Ltd, Chandigarh, in his article,
the researcher said that employees are happy with the working conditions of the bank. They
are not happy with the way performance appraisal is done and feel that there management is
not flexible with their social responsibilities and hence they are less satisfied with their jobs.
Pranee C. (2010), in his research paper titled, Quality of Work Life for Sustainable
Development, suggested that measures and strategies are focused on concern satisfying the
minimal lower needs of employees, such as security, safety, and welfare improving job
contents, as well as participation and responsibilities in the decision making process.
Moreover, QWL issues also address elements such as are involved high motivation, morale,
healthy industrial relations and cooperation.
Mu.Subrahmanian and N.Anjani (2010), in their paper titled, Constructs of Quality of Work
Life-A Perspective of Textile and Engineering Employees. The researcher contented that
the Quality of Work Life of both Engineering and Textile Industries of Coimbatore. The
general impression one would get is that the Quality of Work Life in Engineering industry by
and large, is better than Textile Industry. As both industries are in the forefront of the
industrial growth and accommodate the major chunk of the work force of the country.
Concerted and concrete efforts for enhancements of Quality of Work Life would do a lot to
improve the morale and motivation of the employees and as a result there would be
improvement in the health of our Indian Industry.
9

Tabassum, Rahman and Jahan (2010),in their research work with caption, Quality of Work
Life among The Male and Female Employees of Private Commercial Banks in Bangladesh,
found their study that the male employees perceived higher Quality of Work Life than their
female colleagues.
Dr. T. G. Vijaya, R. Hemamalini (2012), in their article titled, Impact of Work Life Balance
on Organizational Commitment among Bank Employees, the researcher found that there
exist a positive correlation between affective commitment, continuance commitment and
work life balance variables.
Gupta and Sharma (2011) conducted a study on the QWL for the employees of telecom
sector; found that there is a high level of satisfaction among the employees regarding the
QWL. The factors determining the satisfaction with the QWL in the organization were
Adequate Income & Fair Compensation, Safe & healthy working conditions, Opportunities
to use & develop human capacity, Opportunity for career growth, Social integration in the
work force, Constitutionalism in work organization, Eminence of Work Life and Social
relevance of work. All these factors are positively correlated with the quality of work life in
BSNL.
Islam (2012) in his study found factors that have an impact on QWL of employees of private
limited companies in Bangladesh. Factors like work load, family life, transportation,
compensation policy and benefit, working environment and working condition and career
growth have significant influence on QWL.

2.1 Job satisfaction

Aziz et al., (2011) found that quality of work life increases when the employees are satisfied
with their level of work variable and non-work variables. Similarly, Noor and Abdullah
(2012) found in their study that there is a significant relationship between job satisfaction and
quality of work life. Mosadeghrad (2013) conducted a study on hospital employees. The
findings show that the employees have low QWL. The low of QWL was a result of
employees were least satisfied with pay, benefits, job promotion, and management support.
However, there are a lot of studies have found that job satisfaction is not an effective driver
of QWL. Studies such as Hosseni et al (2010), Tao et al (2007) did not mention job
satisfaction as a driver of the QWL.

10

2.2 Employee Engagement

Hewitt Associates (2006) defines employee engagement as those who say speak positively
about the organization, stay desire to be an effective member and strive - continue to
perform beyond minimal requirements for the organization. Engaged employees are more
profitable, productive, focused, have fun and less likely to leave the company because they
are engaged (Gallup Organization, USA, 1999).
Employee engagement is closely linked to employee turnover, customer satisfaction, loyalty,
productivity, safety and profitability criteria (Harter, Schmidt and Hayes 2002). Studies on
Employee engagement (Tower Perrin, USA 2003, 2007) linked the same to customer impact
and financial results. They suggested that there exists a close relationship between high levels
of employee engagement and lower staff turn-over rates, higher customer satisfaction and
loyalty. The need to create development and career growth opportunities, appropriate
leadership styles and work life balance were deemed important to attract, retain and engage
employees.

11

CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH GAP
There exists a lot of research on QWL but following gaps are realised in the study:

Extensive research is done in retail industry, service (IT) industry, BPOs, hospitality
industry but few works is done under banking. (Global Journal of Management and
Business Research Volume 12 Issue 18 Version 1.0 Year 2012 By Mohammad Baitul
Islam)

Quality of work life of employees in banks of different countries have been

studied.(Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research 14 (5): 688-695, 2013 by
SairaAshfaq, ZahidMahmood and Mehboob Ahmad)

Some authors measured the Quality of Work life of banking sector with few
dimensions. This study proposes to study all the dimensions.(African International
Journal of Research in Management Vol-01, Issue No-02, Jul-Dec-2013 by
Dr.LokanadhaReddy.M)

Further the earlier studies have not explored the perception of banking employees
about the QWL in banks, which will be undertaken in this study.(Namrata Sandhu
and Rahul Prabhakar DOI: 10.7763/IPEDR. 2012. V55. 23)

Previous research was limited to nationalized banks and not the other sector
banks.(Vision: The Journal of Business Perspective 2013 17: 223 by Barkha Gupta
and Anukool Manish Hyde)

12

CHAPTER 4
RATIONALE OF STUDY
Job specialisation and simplification were popular in the early part of this century. Employees
were assigned narrow jobs and supported by a rigid hierarchy in the expectation that
efficiency would improve. The idea was to lower cost by using unskilled workers who could
be easily trained to do a small, repetitive part of each job.
Many difficulties developed from that classical job design, however. Workers became
socially isolated from their co-workers. De-skilled workers lost pride in their work and
became bored with their jobs. The result was higher turnover and absenteeism, declines in
quality and alienated workers. Conflict often arose as workers sought to improve their
conditions and organisations failed to respond appropriately. The real cause was that in many
instances the job itself simply was not satisfying.
Quality of work life covers these various aspects under the general umbrella of supportive
organization behaviour. Thus the quality of work life should be broad in its scope. The
research will evaluate the attitude of employees towards personnel policies. It will be helpful
in understanding the current position of the organization and provide some strategies to
extend the employee satisfaction with little modification which is based on the internal
facilities of the organization.
The research can be further used to evaluate the facilities provided by the management
towards the employee. This study also helps to manipulate the expectations of the employees.

13

CHAPTER 5
MOTIVATION
In this constantly changing and time-determined life we are living in today, the quality of
everyday existence is influenced by various factors, including work, family, safety and
leisure (Ballou& Godwin, 2007; Ellinger&Nissen, 1987; Huang, Lawler & Lei, 2007).
Dissatisfaction with working life is a problem affecting almost all employees during their
working career, regardless of position or status. The frustration, tediousness and anger
experienced by employees disenchanted with their work life can be costly to both the
individual and organisation. Although many managers seek to reduce job dissatisfaction at all
organisational levels, including their own, they sometimes find it difficult to isolate and
identify all of the attributes, which affect and influence the Quality of Work Life (Huang et
al., 2007; May & Lau, 1999; Walton, 1973).
This particular fact motivated me to undertake the research in the broad area of QUALITY
OF WORKLIFE.

14

CHAPTER 6
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The research study will be about quality of work life and its organizational effectiveness and
employee retention in banking industry. The main objectives of the study are as follows:

To study the socio demographic characteristics of the respondents.

To analyse the health and safety provisions pertaining to quality of work life.

To examine the working conditions of the organizations.

To find the relationship between the worker and superior officers.

To understand the satisfaction level of the employees.

15

CHAPTER 7
ROADMAP TO RESEARCH

Introduction

Literature Review

Banking industry

Dimensions of QWL

Reserach Gap
Objective of study

Research Methdology

Research survey

Research Findings

Discussion

Conclusion

16

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& Management Research Vol.1 Issue 10, October 2012, ISSN 2277 3622, q\Quality
of work life-an overview.
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Refereed Journal of Research in Commerce & Management Volume 3, Issue 9
(September, 2014), Analysis of quality of work life of employees in banks
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International

Journal

of

Business

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Management Invention Volume 2 Issue 1 January. 2013 PP.01-08, Quality of Work

Life Linkage with Job Satisfaction and Performance
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proposed framework.
5. R. SIVARETHINA MOHAN, International Centre for Business Research Issue:
Volume 2 Apr 2013, Effect of Quality of Work Life on Employee Retention in
Private Sector Banks.
6. A.Sabarirajan, IJER | november - december 2011, A study on quality of work life and
organizational performance,
7. AnkitaSaxena, Quality of work life: a key to improve organizational performance.
8. Barkha Gupta and Anukool Manish Hyde, Vision: The Journal of Business
Perspective, 2013, Demographical Study on Quality of Work Life in Nationalized
Banks.
9. Walton, R. E. (1975), Criteria for Quality of Working Life , in Davis, L.E. &Cherns,
A.B. (eds.), The quality of working life , New York: The Free Press, pp. 99- 104.
10. MadhaviChalla,International Journal of Management and International Business
Studies. ISSN 2277-3177 Volume 4, Number 3 (2014), pp. 357-360, Quality of
Working Life of BPO employees.
11. RusinahSiron, Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 7(10): 398-405,
2013, The Drivers of Quality of Working Life (QWL): A Critical Review
12. Namrata Sandhuand Rahul Prabhakar, 10.7763/IPEDR. 2012. V55. 23, Factors
Influencing the Quality of Work Life in the Indian Banking Industry

17