quality of working life – what, how and why quality of working life – what, how and why mr...

Quality of Working Life – Quality of Working Life – what, how and whywhat, how and why

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Quality of working life – Quality of working life – what, how and whywhat, how and why

Mr Simon Easton & Dr Darren Van Laar, Applied Psychology UnitDepartment of Psychology, University of Portsmouth

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Career choice

Stress management

Career change

Quality of Working

Life


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“Without doubt, the most important determinant of QWL is career achievement, followed by career satisfaction and career balance.”

Rose R C, Beh L, Uli J and Idris K (2006) Quality Of Work Life: Implications Of Career Dimensions. Journal of Social Sciences 2 (2): 61-67


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What?

A review of the literature reveals relatively little on quality of working life.


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What?

A review of the literature reveals relatively little on quality of working life.

Where quality of working life has been explored, writers differ in their views on the core constituents.

Taillefer,-Marie-Christine; Dupuis,-Gilles; Roberge,-Marie-Anne; Le-May,-Sylvie (2003) Health-related quality of life models: Systematic review of the literature. Social-Indicators-Research. 64 (2): 293-323


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Quality of Working Life is the greater context in which to understand various factors in the workplace such as job satisfaction and stress.

A proper understanding of the bigger picture would offer opportunity for better informed interventions for individuals and at an organisational level.


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We looked at the literature, and talked with the organisations we work with and came up with:

7*Van Laar, Edwards & Easton (2007)

‘Quality of Working Life is that part of overall quality of life that is influenced by work… the widest context in which an employee would evaluate the influence of work on their life.’*


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How?How?

We set out to develop a valid and reliable scale to measure QoWL.

We started with our working definition to help define the scope of a scale.

We drew upon theoretical definitions of QoWL (Herzberg, Loscocco & Rochelle, Sirgy, Warr,etc.)

We had access to related scales, our own staff survey data and job experts

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200 questions were gathered from existing surveys or generated based on theoretical requirements, and reviewed by an expert panel to give an item pool of 61 questions.

The questionnaire was given to over 1000 employees of the UK National Health Service, and EFA and CFA on the two halves were undertaken.

The data sets were combined (N = 953) to confirm a 6 factor structure with 23 items (Overall C’s α = .91) and show a ‘good’ model fit for the ‘Work-Related Quality of Life’ (WRQoL) scale which appeared to be a valid and reliable scale with good psychometric properties.

How: Development of a measureHow: Development of a measure


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Work-Related Quality of Life (WRQoL) scale factors

Job Career Satisfaction (JCS) : α = .86How far you agree that you are generally happy with your ability to do your workGeneral Well Being (GWB) : α = .89How much you agree you feel generally content with life as a wholeHome-Work Interface (HWI) : α = .82How far you agree that the organisation understands and tries to help you with pressures outside of workStress at Work (SAW) : α = .81How far you feel agree you experience stress at workControl at Work (CAW) : α = .81How far you agree you feel you are involved in decisions that affect you at workWorking Conditions (WCS) : α = .75The extent you agree that you are happy with conditions in which you work

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Home

Work

Individual

Quality of Life

The Big Picture………

Control at Work

Home-Work

Interface

General Well-Being

Stress at Work

*Van Laar, Edwards & Easton (2007)

Quality ofWorking

Life


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What best predicts Overall QoWL?What best predicts Overall QoWL?Question or factor t Sig.

General Well-Being (GWB) 16.205 0.001

I am able to achieve a healthy balance of work and home 14.805 0.001

Working Conditions (WCS) 9.606 0.001

I am satisfied with my job 9.572 0.001

I feel my job is secure 8.522 0.001

I enjoy my work 7.339 0.001

I would recommend this organisation as good to work for 6.388 0.001

My work is as interesting and varied as I would want it to be 4.087 0.001

The quality of supervision is as good as I would want it to be 3.979 0.001

Good Relationships 3.531 0.001

Stress at Work (SAW) -3.275 0.001

…

(17th) I am paid fairly for the job I do, given my experience 2.11 0.035

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Multiple Regression, with dependent variable: q65: I am satisfied with the overall quality of my working life. R2 = .75, N = 5500.


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Patterns underlying overall quality of working lifePatterns underlying overall quality of working life

13a to i = individual quality of working life quality of working life report patterns

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

75

GWB HWI JCS CAW WCS SAW Overall(q65)

%A

gre

e

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

i

j


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WRQoL factors help identify positive and negative aspects of someone’s work experience

Reliable and valid assessment of those key QoWL factors will provide required information for career guidance, coaching and therapy interventions

……..To improve current employment

or

……..Help identify what alternative jobs might be more suitable to the individual.

Why?Why?


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Work-Related Quality of Life’ (WRQoL) scale

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Individual reports

Organisational surveys

Research – we need you!

The WRQoL scale can be available for research courtesy of QoWL Ltd, a University of Portsmouth spin out company.

Go to; www.qowl.co.uk for more information.


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Home

Work Individual

Quality of

Life

The Big Picture………

Control at Work

Home-Work

Interface

General Well-Being

Stress at Work

*Van Laar, Edwards & Easton (2007)

Quality ofWorking

Life

Cultural &Social &EconomicEnvironment?


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Simon Easton & Dr Darren Van Laar

Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, [email protected]

With thanks to QoWL Ltd.

Try it! Email me to get your own individual report with a free voucher code:

That’s it - Thanks for listeningThat’s it - Thanks for listening


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ReferencesReferences

Van Laar, D. L., Edwards, J. A. & Easton, S. (2007). The Work-Related Quality of Life (QoWL) scale for Healthcare Workers. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 60(3), 325-333.Edwards, J. A., Webster, S., Van Laar, D. and Easton, S. (2008). Psychometric analysis of the UK Health and Safety Executive's Management Standards work-related stress Indicator Tool, Work & Stress, 22(2), 96 - 107.Edwards, J., Van Laar, D.L., Easton, S, Kinman, G. (2009) The Work-Related Quality of Life scale for Higher Education Employees. Quality in Higher Education. 15. 3. 207-219

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