Title
Quality of working life and organizational performance – two sides of the same coin?
Author
TNO Arbeid
Pot, F.D.
Koningsveld, E.A.P.
Publication year
2009
Abstract
Objective: This discussion paper presents the debate on the theoretical and practical claim that a simultaneous improvement in the quality of working life and organizational performance can be achieved by workplace development. Results: A correlation of 0.50 was found between the quality of working life and organizational performance. All evaluations showed that the simultaneous improvement in the quality of working life and performance was achieved in a number of, but not all, projects. The percentage of successful projects is not always clear and depends on which aspects of quality of working life and performance were taken into account. Our estimation would be 25–50%. Which factors are important for success? With the exception of the commitment of top management and employee participation, other determinants were difficult to distinguish due to differences in research designs and programs. The conclusions are that important issues for discussion remain with respect to theory, research and practical approaches. Research should be more concerned with patterns of independent variables and how organizations deal with dilemmas. The most important pitfall appears to be taking a top-down as opposed to participatory approach involving employees and their supervisors in projects. National programs seem to be more effective than the initiatives of separate stakeholders groups.
Subject
Innovatie
Humanisering van de arbeid
Kwaliteit van de arbeid
Werk-thuis conflict
Personeel
Werknemers
Organisatie van de arbeid
To reference this document use:
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:cecd0fa6-0ce3-4fb7-af59-716b9669068e
TNO identifier
279468
Source
Scandinavian journal of work, environment and health, 35 (35), 421-428
Document type
article