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Quality of Work Life (QWL) and its impact on Job Satisfaction: A Special
reference of National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWS&DB) in
Trincomalee District

Conference Paper · March 2014

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 Quality of Work Life (QWL) and its impact on Job Satisfaction: A
Special reference of National Water Supply and Drainage Board
(NWS&DB) in Trincomalee District.
Jenitta, J.N.
Department of Accountancy
Advanced Technological Institute
Trincomalee
jenyseelan@gmail.com

Elangkumaran, P.
Department of Accountancy
Advanced Technological Institute
Trincomalee
vpelango@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT
Quality of Work Life (QWL) is being used as a strategic tool to attract and retain the talent.
Improving the QWL is one of the competitive factors needing attention in every organization.
The purpose of this study is an attempt to analysis the effects on Job satisfaction. The sample
was collected randomly, 57 employees of the National Water Supply and Drainage Board
(NWS&DB) in Trincomalee district. QWL is focused as an independent variable which
consists adequate income & fair compensation, safe & healthy working conditions,
opportunities to use & develop human capacity, opportunity for career growth, social
integration into the work force, constitutionalism in work organization, eminence of work life
and social relevance of work and their impact is observed with the dependent variable of job
satisfaction. The necessary data were collected through the standard questionnaire and
analyzed by using Pearson correlation coefficient and regression analysis with the help of
SPSS 16. The results revealed that there is a significant strong positive correlation between
QWL and job satisfaction and it significantly impacts on job satisfaction. The present study
suggests that high QWL practices are beneficial for the individual as well as the organization
through the highest job satisfaction.

Key words: - Quality of Work Life (QWL), Job satisfaction, National water supply and
Drainage Board (NWS&DB)

1. INTRODUCTION The aim of the QWL is to create a work

Robbins (1989) defined 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'' (p. 207). In other words, it
refers to the relationship between a worker
and his environment, that can be broken
down into different dimensions like the
social, technical and economic, in which
the work is normally viewed and designed.
environment where employees work in
cooperation with each other and contribute
to organizational objectives. The presence
of QWL in organizations, benefits both the
employer and employee. It leads to
improvement in job satisfaction of
employees and contributes to the overall
performance of the organization. Those
who enjoy their careers are said to have a
high QWL, while those who are unhappy
are said to have a low QWL. A high QWL

Page 1
is essential for organizations to continue to
attract and retain employees.
This research focused to provide insights
into the positive and negative attitudes of
the employees of NWS&DB from their
quality of life. Garden (1984) identifies
that QWL has two objectives such as to
enhance the productivity and the
satisfaction of employees. The quality of
work life and quality of life, which is an
important aspect in everyone’s work life
and this, leads to the favorable
atmosphere. This also brings employee
satisfaction. It also leads to have good
interpersonal relations and highly
motivated employees who strive for their
development. QWL will ensure an
enthusiastic work environment with
opportunities for everyone to give is
better. Such job will provide job
satisfaction and pride to the company.
Therefore it is necessary to evaluate the
QWL factors and its impact on job
satisfaction.
1.1 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The objectives of this study are
 To find the relationship between
QWL factors and Job satisfaction
of NWS&DB in Trincomalee
District.
 To understand the impact of QWL
on Job satisfaction
 meaningful job and autonomy on the job.
2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE
QWL is an important concept for every
organization since there is evidence
explaining that the nature of the work
environment is related to satisfaction of
employees and the work-related behaviors.
Different researchers have identified and
categorized the factors which are help to
define and measure QWL. QWL is the
quality of the content of the
relationship between employees and
their total working environment with
human dimensions added to the usual
technical and economic ones.
According to Walton (1980), he divided
QWL main components as four categories.
As per his research, the affecting factor on
QWL includes work meaningfulness,
work challenge, richness and work social
and organizational equilibrium. Klatt,
Murdick and Schuster (1985) found eleven
dimensions of QWL includes occupational
stress, pay, organizational health
programs, participates management and
control of work, recognition, , grievance
procedure, alternative work schedule ,
adequacy of resources, seniority and merit
in the promotion and development ,
employment on a permanent basis and
superior-subordinate relations. Connell
&Hannif (2009) explained that Job
content, Working hours and work-life
balance and Managerial/supervisory style
and strategies are the three factors of
QWL. Attitudinal response among the
employees, which includes role stress, job
characteristics, and supervision, structural
and social characteristics to directly and
indirectly shape academicians’
experiences, attitudes and behaviors are
explained as QWL factors by winter
(2000). Measures of QWL according to
Adhikari & Gautam (2010) includes
adequate pay and benefits, job security,
safe and healthy working condition,
Hossain & Mosharraf (2000) analyzed the
security of employment, job or role clarity,
work not stressful, access to relevant
information social and welfare facilities,
and understanding supervisors to measure
the QWL in banks. Mirsepasi (2006)
observed that fair and proper payment for
good performance, safe and secure work
situation, The possibility of learning and
using new skills, establishing social
integration in the organization, keeping
Page 2
individual rights, equilibrium in job
divisions and unemployment and creating
work and organizational commitment are
the measures of QWL. According to
Casio (1998) QWL consist both the mental
and objective aspects of work life. The
objective aspect emphasizes the
circumstances and procedures relating to
promotion policies, participatory
supervision, and safe working conditions,
whereas the subjective aspect relates to
supervision, communication and
leadership. He identified eight factors that
determine QWL includes
Communication, desire and motivation to
work, Employee involvement, job
security, solving problems, career
progress, salary, and pride of a job.
Schermernrhorn & John (1989) found that
the factors such as fair and adequate pay,
health and safety of working conditions,
creating opportunities to learn, growth in
the professionalism path, professional
integrity in the organization, support of
individual rights and proud of the job must
exist in the organization for measure the
QWL. Hsu & Kernohan (2006) identified
56 QWL categories and fitted into 6
dimensions namely, demography, human
relation aspects, socioeconomic relevance,
self-actualization, organizational aspects,
and work aspects. Donald (2005) found
employee wellbeing and working
conditions are important indicators of
QWL. Zare, Hamid, Haghgooyan, Zolfa &
Asl, Zahra Karimi (2012) undertook a
study on QWL to identify its dimensions
and they found that QWL can be
explained by four factors namely Work
life balance, Social factors, Economic
factors and Job content.
2.1 QWL and Job satisfaction
Job satisfaction is one of the central
variables in work and is seen as an
important indicator of QWL.
As per the research study of Carter, C.
Pounder, F, Lawrence, F. & Wozniak, P.
(1990) QWL is also found to affect
employees’ responses in terms of job
satisfaction, job performance, personal
alienation, job effort, organizational
identification, job involvement, intention
to quit and organizational turnover.
Quinn & Shephard (1974) state that QWL
is differing from job satisfaction but QWL
leads to job satisfaction.
According to Meenakshi Gupta &Parul
Sharma (2011) QWL is categorized into
eight factors such as 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,
Social relevance of work and it also noted
that Social relevance of work is the most
important factor and Constitutionalism in
work organization is the least important
factor. They also found that Adequate
Income & Fair Compensation, Safe &
healthy working conditions, Opportunities
to use & develop human capacity,
Opportunity for career growth, Social
integration into the work force,
Constitutionalism in work organization,
Eminence of Work Life, Social relevance
of work are individually positively
correlated with job satisfaction.
The researchers formulate the following
hypothesis based on the literature review
and the purpose of the study.
H1:- There is a significant positive
correlation between QWL and job
Satisfaction of NWS&DB in
Trincomalee District.
Page 3
 H1a:- There is a significant
positive correlation between adequate
income & fair compensation and job
satisfaction
H1b:- There is a significant
positive correlation between safe &
healthy working conditions and job
satisfaction
H1c:- There is a significant
positive correlation between opportunities
to use & develop human capacity and job
satisfaction
H1d:- There is a significant
positive correlation between opportunity
for career growth and job satisfaction
H1e:- There is a significant
positive correlation between social
integration into the work force and job
satisfaction
H1f:- There is a significant
positive correlation between
constitutionalism in work organization and
job satisfaction
H1g:- There is a significant
positive correlation between eminence of
Work Life and job satisfaction
H1h:- There is a significant
positive correlation between social
relevance of work and job satisfaction
H2:- QWL is significantly impact on
Job satisfaction of NWS&DB in
Trincomalee District.
H2a:- Adequate income & fair
compensation is significantly impact on
Job satisfaction.
H2b:- Safe & healthy working
conditions is significantly impact on Job
satisfaction.
H2c:- Opportunities to use &
develop human capacity is significantly
impact on Job satisfaction.
H2d: - Opportunity for career
growth is significant impact on Job
satisfaction.
H2e:- Social integration into the
work force is significantly impact on Job
satisfaction.
H2f:- Constitutionalism in work
organization is significantly impact on Job
satisfaction.
H2g:- Eminence of Work Life is
significantly impact on Job satisfaction.
H2h:- Social relevance of work is
significantly impact on Job satisfaction.
3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Primary data and secondary data sources
were used to make a conclusion of this
study. Primary data for the present study is
collected through the questionnaire from
Employees of NWS&DB in Trincomalee.
Questionnaire issued randomly to 100
respondents. Only Fifty six (57)
questionnaires were received from the
sample. The Questionnaire contents 28
questions and 2 parts. Part I includes 23
questions related to the QWL factors.
This questionnaire was already tested by
Meenakshi Gupta &Parul Sharma
(2011).Part II of the questionnaire was
developed by Lytle (1994) to measure the
Job Satisfaction as the dependent variable.
The liket scale including 1= strongly
disagree, 2= disagree, 3= neutral, 4 =agree
and 5=strongly agree. Secondary data are
collected from previous researches,
articles and journals.
Pearson correlation coefficient and
multiple linear regressions are used to
Page 4
derive the conclusion of the present study Social integration into the
.903
with the help of SPSS 16. Pearson work force
correlation is used to discover whether Constitutionalism in work
there is a relationship between QWL and .880
organization
Job satisfaction. Also it helps to find the Eminence of Work Life .883
direction of the relationship and the
Social relevance of work .894
strength of the relationship between the
Job Satisfaction .887
two variables. Multiple Linear regression
Source:-Survey Data
is used to modeling the relationship
between the variables and to find the
impact between the variables. For the Nunnally (1978) suggests that Alpha
purpose of the present study, we construct values overall scale greater than 0.7 can be
the following regression equation. accepted. Table 4.1 displays the alpha
values which are Adequate Income & Fair
Job Satisfaction = B0+ B1* adequate Compensation is .885, Safe & healthy
income & fair compensation + B2* safe working conditions is .903, Opportunities
& healthy working conditions + B3* to use & develop human capacity is .893,
opportunities to use & develop human Opportunity for career growth is .895,
capacity + B4* opportunity for career Social integration into the work force is
growth + B5* social integration into the .903, Constitutionalism in work
work force + B6* constitutionalism in organization is .880, Eminence of Work
work organization + B7* eminence of Life is .883, Social relevance of work is
work Life + B8* social relevance of the .894 and the Job Satisfaction is .887. All
work. these Alpha values are greater than 0.7, it
is an acceptable evidences of reliability.
4 RESULTS & DISCUSSION
Correlation Analysis
4.1 Reliability
Table 4.2 :- The Correlation Coefficient
The Cronbach alpha is used to test the & Significance
reliability of the study. The cronbach
Independent Dependent R
alpha is estimated for each factor of QWL variable Variable
and is given in the table 01. QWL Job .739
Satisfaction
Table 4.1 :- The Value of Cronbach Adequate Job .643
alpha Income & Fair Satisfaction
Factors Cronbach's Compensation
Safe & Job .513
Alpha
healthy Satisfaction
Adequate Income & Fair working
.885
Compensation conditions
Safe & healthy working Opportunities Job .401
.903 to use & Satisfaction
conditions
develop
Opportunities to use & human
.893
develop human capacity capacity
Opportunity for career Opportunity Job .468
.895 for career Satisfaction
growth
growth

Page 5
 Social Job .528 As per the significant results it is clear that
integration Satisfaction the correlation is significant at the level
into the work 0.01 (2 tailed). Therefore the hypothesis is
force accepted hence, there is a significant
Constitutionali Job .672
positive correlation between QWL and job
sm in work Satisfaction
organization satisfaction.
Eminence of Job .677
Work Life Satisfaction Table 4.3:- significance values and
Social Job .533 Results of hypothesis
relevance of Satisfaction
work N Hypothesis Sig Results
Source:- survey Data o nifi
can
ce
H There is a .000 Accepted
Table 4.2 shows the R value of the 1a significant
dependent and independent variable and it positive
also explains the significance value of the correlation
variables. between
Adequate
Income & Fair
Compensation
The correlation between QWL and job
and job
satisfaction is .739 is a strong positive
satisfaction.
correlation which points out that the QWL
H There is a .000 Accepted
can positively affect the job satisfaction.
1b significant
Also, it can be seen that the correlation
positive
values of the variables Adequate Income
correlation
& Fair Compensation, Safe & healthy
between Safe &
working conditions, Opportunities to use
healthy
& develop human capacity, Opportunity
working
for career growth, Social integration into
conditions and
the work force, Constitutionalism in work
job satisfaction
organization, Eminence of Work Life,
Social relevance of work and job H There is a .000 Accepted
satisfaction falls in the range of .401 to
1c significant
.677 indicating that there is a moderate positive
positive relationship between the correlation
dependent and independent variables. between
Opportunities
4.2.1. Hypothesis Testing to use &
develop human
capacity and
H1:- There is a significant positive job satisfaction
correlation between QWL and job H There is a .000 Accepted
Satisfaction of NWS&DB in 1d significant
Trincomalee District. positive
correlation
between

Page 6
 Opportunity for and job satisfaction, H1b:- There is a
career growth significant positive correlation between
and job Safe & healthy working conditions and job
satisfaction satisfaction , H1c:- There is a significant
H There is a .000 Accepted positive correlation between Opportunities
1e significant to use & develop human capacity and job
positive satisfaction , H1d:- There is a significant
correlation positive correlation between Opportunity
between Social for career growth and job satisfaction ,
integration into H1e:- There is a significant positive
the work force correlation between Social integration into
and job the work force and job satisfaction , H1f:-
satisfaction There is a significant positive correlation
H There is a .000 Accepted between Constitutionalism in work
1f significant organization and job satisfaction , H1g:-
positive There is a significant positive correlation
correlation between Eminence of Work Life and job
between satisfaction, and H1h:- There is a
Constitutionalis significant positive correlation between
m in work Social relevance of work and job
organization satisfaction , are accepted hence, there is a
and job significant positive relationship between
satisfaction the independent variables and Job
H There is a .000 Accepted Satisfaction.
1g significant
4.3 Regression Analysis
positive
correlation
between Table 4.4:- Model Summary
Eminence of Std.
Work Life and Adjuste Error of
job satisfaction R dR the
H There is a .000 Accepted Model R Square Square Estimate
1h significant 1 .805a .649 .590 .61883
positive
a. Predictors: (Constant), Social
correlation
relevance of work, Social integration in
between Social
the work force, Opportunity for career
relevance of
growth , Safe & healthy working
work and job
conditions, Adequate Income & Fair
satisfaction
Compensation, Opportunities to use &
develop human capacity , Eminence of
Table 4.3 shows the exacted results of Work Life, Constitutionalism in work
hypothesis. Significant values of all organization
variables less than 0.01 indicates that the
correlation is significant at 0.01 levels. As per the table 4.4 the adjusted R2 value
Therefore hypotheses H1a:- There is a .590 shows that 59% of job satisfaction
significant positive correlation between can be explained by the QWL while the
Adequate Income & Fair Compensation

Page 7
rest of 41% of job satisfaction are Social .264 .151 .178 1.750 .086
determined by other factors integrati
on in the
work
Table 4.5:- ANOVAb force
Sum Mea Constitu .421 .164 .427 2.565 .013
tionalis
of n
m in
Square Squa work
Model s df re F Sig. organiza
1Regressio 4.24 11.0 .000 tion
33.948 8 a Eminen .318 .130 .393 2.453 .018
n 4 81
ce of
Residual 18.382 48 .383 Work
Life
Total 52.330 56
Social .050 .129 .048 .384 .703
relevanc
e of
work
The significance value is p.000 which is
less than .01. Therefore, the model was fit
a. Dependent Variable: JS
to analysis the data.
Table 4.6 shows the beta values and the
Table 4.6:- Coefficientsa
significance of the variables.
Model Unstandardize Stand t Sig.
d Coefficients ardiz As per the table 06 the regression equation
ed can be derived as follows.
Coeff
icient
s
Job Satisfaction = .555+ .122* Adequate
B Std. Beta Income & Fair Compensation + .035*
Error Safe & healthy working conditions - .354*
constant .555 .565 .982 .331
Opportunities to use & develop human
Adequat .122 .196 .101 .622 .537
capacity + .061* Opportunity for career
e
Income growth + .264* Social integration into the
& Fair work force + .421* Constitutionalism in
Compen work organization + .318* Eminence of
sation Work Life + .050* Social relevance of the
Safe & .035 .123 .036 .286 .776 work.
healthy The model describes that Opportunities to
working
use & develop human capacity is
conditio
ns negatively impact on job satisfaction while
Opportu - .160 - - .032 other factors are positively impact on job
nities to .354 .339 2.213 satisfaction.
use &
develop
human 4.3.1 Hypothesis Testing
capacity
Opportu .061 .125 .061 .488 .628 H2:- QWL is significantly impact on
nity for Job satisfaction of NWS&DB in
career
growth Trincomalee District.

Page 8
Table 4.7:- Results of Hypothesis
No Hypothesis Results
H2a Adequate Income & Rejected
Fair Compensation is
significantly impact on
Job satisfaction.
H2b Safe & healthy Rejected
working conditions is
significantly impact on
Job satisfaction.
H2c Opportunities to use & Accepted
develop human
capacity is
significantly impact on
Job satisfaction.
H2d Opportunity for career Rejected
growth is significant
impact on Job
satisfaction.
H2e Social integration into Rejected
the work force is
significantly impact on
Job satisfaction.
H2f Constitutionalism in Accepted
work organization is
significantly impact on
Job satisfaction.
H2g Eminence of Work Accepted
Life is significantly
impact on Job
satisfaction.
H2h Social relevance of Rejected
work is significantly
impact on Job
satisfaction.
Table 4.7 shows the results of hypothesis
as per the regression analysis. According
to that Opportunities to use & develop
human capacity, Constitutionalism in
work organization and Eminence of Work
Life are significantly impact on job
satisfaction at 0.05 levels. While other
factors such as Adequate Income & Fair
Compensation, Safe & healthy working
conditions, Opportunity for career growth,
Social integration into the work force,
and Social relevance of work are
insignificant.
5 CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
The main purpose of this study is to find
the relationship and impact of QWL and
job satisfaction of NWS&DB in
Trincomalee District. The researchers used
eight factors which used to measure the
QWL. They are adequate income & fair
compensation, Safe & healthy working
conditions, Opportunities to use & develop
human capacity, Opportunity for career
growth, Social integration into the work
force, Constitutionalism in work
organization, Eminence of Work Life,
Social relevance of work.
The current study determines the impact of
QWL on Job Satisfaction among
employees of NWS&DB in Trincomalee
district. The findings of the study revealed
that QWL has a significant positive
correlation with job satisfaction and it is
significantly impact on job satisfaction of
employees in their workplace. These
findings support with Meenakshi Gupta
&Parul Sharma (2011) found that
Adequate Income & Fair Compensation,
Safe & healthy working conditions,
Opportunities to use & develop human
capacity, Opportunity for career growth,
Social integration into the work force,
Constitutionalism in work organization,
Eminence of Work Life, Social relevance
of work are individually positively
correlated with job satisfaction of
employees in Bharat Sanchar Nigam
Limited (BSNL) in India. Also this
analysis indicates that QWL has positive
significant impact on job satisfaction.
Therefore the management of
There are various limitations have been
observed during this research. This study
was primarily limited by its independent
Page 9
variable. Even though various factors
affecting job satisfaction present study
considered QWL only as independent
variable. This study was secondly limited
by its sample collection. Only
Trincomalee district was covered in this
research. The sample size and actual
respondent numbers were limited in this
research because of difficulties of
surveying the whole population.
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