Final Group Assignment

Topic: HRs Role In Managing: Work-Life Balance, Standard Of Living & Quality
Of Life

Date:

Topic: HRs Role In Managing: Work-Life Balance, Standard Of Living & Quality Of
Life

Prepared By:

Prepared for:
Feihan Ahsan
Lecturer
BRAC Business School

Course ID: MGT301, Human Recourse Management

Section: 01

Brac University
Date of Submission: , 2015

Letter of Transmittal
, 2015
Feihan Ahsan
Lecturer
BRAC Business School
BRAC University.

Sub: Submission of term paper for completion of the course.

Dear Sir,
This is to inform you that we have completed the report. In writing this case, we have followed
your instructions for report writing so as to present our views and understanding in the easiest
way. The preparation of the report has given us an insightful experience and in-depth knowledge
on the HR managers roles to manage employees standard of living, work-life balance and
quality of life. It helped us in gaining a new point of view on the significance of the HR
department in any organization. Doing elaborate research we finally compiled our term paper in
a comprehensive manner with sufficient resources.
In this term paper, all the team members contributed equally with sheer hard work keeping aside
the difference in perceptions. Though we faced some challenges but everyones collective
efforts helped us to overcome them. It was a great opportunity given to us to explore the
corporate world and more specifically the HR world. We would like to use this platform to thank
you for this opportunity. Lastly we would like you to kindly accept our term paper and
acknowledge our hard work.
However, we will be glad to clarify any discrepancy that may arise.
Thank you.
Sincerely,

Acknowledgements

Having a successful investigatory project is really a great pleasure to us. Yet all these will not
have been possible if not for hard work, persistence and cooperation among the researchers.
We would like to extend our sincerest appreciation to the following people who helped
accomplish the Investigatory project. They are the people who contributed much for the success
of this endeavour.

We would like to thank our parents and benefactors who have shown their unending support
and provided us with necessary materials we needed.
Second, we would like to thank our Project instructor Feihan Ahsan, Lecturer at Brac University,
for giving us the opportunity to work with the project and also for giving us the privilege to
explore the project in writing and for showing a great deal of patience through the time. Above
all, we would like to thank God for giving us the gift of wisdom and understanding and for
answering our prayers.

Executive Summary

Table of Contents

Introduction
HRs Role in Managing Work-Life Balance
HRs Role in Managing Standard Of Living
HRs Role in Managing Quality Of Life
Recommendations
Conclusion
References

Introduction
The only vital value an enterprise has is the experience, skills, innovativeness and insights of its
people (Edvinsson, 2002). The life of the organization is underneath in the power of its
human resource. Without dealing the issues related to people proper organizational
development cannot be assured. The comprehensive approach which ensures the
accomplishment of the goals and objectives of the organization managing its Manpower
resource by giving direction and motivation as well as bringing out the best productive
performance of them is HRM. HRM or Human Resource management is the function that entails
planning, implementing, evaluating, recruitment and compensation as well as focuses on the
personal development of each of the employees providing them direction, training and
motivation. The pioneers of the HRM are the HR managers. They work with an objective to
maximize the productivity of the organization by enhancing the effectiveness of the employees.
Treating the employees as valuable asset HRM encompasses efforts to improve the standard
of living and the work- life of the employees. To achieve the equilibrium of the employer
employee goals and needs, HRM ensures job satisfaction of the employees. Moving away from
the traditional approaches HRM is now focusing more on strategic utilization of employees that
can add value to the advancement of the organization. If an institution wants to be adaptive, it
has to let go of some control and trust that people will WORK on the right things in the right way
(Shapiro, 1997). So HRM has to enable employees to contribute effectively to the work
environment as well as has to make sure a productive output from them. HRM is the important
department who can make the work division according to the performance level and preference
of an employee to accomplish the work in due time. Acknowledging individual worth, training
them according to work need, improving the quality of both personal and work life of them
through creating a healthy balance between the two and inspiring the individuals to utilize their
talents to achieve organizational goals are the roles that HRM plays. Without HRM an
organization is nothing but a body without a soul.

HRs Role in Managing Work-Life Balance

HRs Role in Managing Standard Of Living

Standard of living refers to the level of wealth, comfort, material goods and necessities available
to a certain socioeconomic class in a certain geographic area.
Standard of living commonly includes factors like:

Income
Hours of work required to purchase necessities
Cost of goods and services
Economic growth/GDP
Number of vacation days per year
Affordable access to quality health care
Safety
Quality and availability of employment
Quality and availability of education
Life expectancy, Incidence of disease
Political and religious freedom
Infrastructure

Employees expect wages to 1) cover basic living expenses, 2) keep up with inflation, provide
some funds for savings or recreation, and increase over time .Discussing wage expectations
with employees can help determine what your compensation package should look like.
Human Resource Department, which aims to deal with its employees only goes from one way to
another to maintain a certain level of standard in the life of the employees which ultimately leads
toward attaining a standard of life in a whole socioeconomic class comprising the employees,
who constitutes a significant part of the society. Unlike the managing of quality of life, extent of
HRs role in managing standard of life has more to do with employees personal life.
These are the elements that comprise a typical compensation package that HR can use to
flourish the standard of living of the employees. They are:
i)

Pay increases- A person's ability to earn wealth and comfort can improve standard
of living for that person. Base pay is a fixed regular payment made to an employee in
exchange for performance of the duties and responsibilities of their role. When an
employee receives an increase to their base pay, it is considered a pay increase.
There are various reasons and methods for determining an increase, but the
common factor is that the increase changes the level of ongoing base pay. The HR
can offer an increase in pay to employees, regardless of performance, with the

intention of increasing base pay for each role on the salary scale by a set percentage
in order to account for increases in the cost of living. HR can evaluate their salaries
against market data and make proper adjustments. When this is offered regularly,
ii)

employees can begin to see it as an entitlement.

A promotional increase- A promotion is the advancement of an employee to a
position that is evaluated at a higher grade level than the position to which the
employee is currently assigned. An employee who is being promoted can receive a
promotional increase at the time of the promotion aligned to the appropriate point in
the new salary range, taking into consideration performance, qualifications, and
market information. Promotion is usually based on availability of opportunities and

iii)

preparedness of employees to advance.

Annual/Quarterly Bonus- Bonuses can be paid Annually, Quarlerly or even based
on occasions such as Eid, Christmas, Puja, etc. Such bonuses help employees to

iv)

meet the increased demand that arises from these occasions.

Stock options- HR department can provide stop options for the employees. This
way the employees have an extra source of income(dividends) and also they will feel
a sense of ownership towards the company.

v)

Health & Wellness (Medical, dental, vision, employee assistance program)Programs such as these can be organized once in a while for the employees and the
families of the employees. These have a psychological boost on the employees
minds and also help to improve their standard of living.

vi)

Life & Accident Insurance (Basic life, accidental death and dismemberment, long
term disability, survivor income benefit)- Life insurance and Accident insurance are
necessities for employees in todays world. Therefore by providing these insurances
the HR department can play a key role in increasing the standard of living of
employees.

vii)

Other Insurance (Travel, legal)- Other insurances such as travel and legal
insurances can also be introduced for employees.

viii)

Perks (Food, internet services, gym memberships, cell phone and service, company
bus/train/plane, massages, company discounts, electric car chargers,
university/ongoing education funding, etc.)

ix)

A merit increase- Merit increases are awarded to recognize an employees

contribution and to compensate them for their high level of performance.
Performance is the key factor in awarding a merit increase and can be the factor that

x)

moves a person through the salary scale towards the midpoint or higher.
Skill-based pay- It is an approach to compensation where the wage rate is based on
the qualifications of the individual doing the job, rather than on the job itself. It is
typically accomplished through skill classes that determine pay levels for jobs.
Grouping employees of similar skills together, regardless of job title, forms these

xi)

classes, or grades.
Incentive plans- Providing incentive plans can enable organizations to compete for
talent. Incentive plans are established to reward employees for improved
commitment and performance and as a means of motivation. An incentive plan is
designed to supplement base pay and fringe benefits. A financial incentive plan may
offer a percentage of base salary or a cash bonus whereas a non-financial incentive
plans offer benefits such as additional paid vacations or increased professional
development.

Depending on the size of the company, the type of industry, or even geographic area, not all of
these elements might apply to your package. It is still important that you are aware of them. For
some senior positions, there might be even more elements.
If we analyze all these factors it is demonstrated that Human Resource management can
exercise direct impact on all of these. When we think about standard of living, we think about
things that are easy to quantify. Department of Human Resource can directly raise those
standards quantifiable in terms of money though fringe benefits, bonuses, raise in salary etc.
Again factors like safety can be improved through making some qualitative change within the
organization. For example safety in the work environment is maintained by HR department by
providing required tools and equipment to the workers especially when risky and heavy
manufacturing work is involved. Again, in case of any disease, death or any mishaps on the
labors side HR department arranges for different programs and insurance policies. HR
department analyzes the current market condition and set hours of work required to purchase
the necessities. It is the HR department which watches over the current markets goods and
service costs and inflation in order to fix the standard rate of salary. Therefore, considering all
these information it can be said that HRs significance in maintaining a standard of life cannot be
denied.

HRs Role in Managing Quality Of Work Life

Quality of Work Life (QWL) refers to the favorableness or unfavorableness of a job environment
for people. According to J. Richard and J. Loy, QWL is the degree to which members of a work
organization are able to satisfy important personnel needs through their experience in the
organization.
Quality of work life improvement is process taking place at every level of an organization, which
seeks greater organizational effectiveness through the enhancement of human dignity and
growth. In this, the management, unions and employees learn how to work together better to
determine for themselves what actions, changes and improvements are desirable and workable
in order to achieve the twin and simultaneous goals of an improved quality of life at work for all
members of the organization and greater effectiveness for both the company and the unions.
As explained by Richard E. Walton, quality of work life mainly constitutes of these eight broad
conditions of employment:
i)

Adequate and Fair Compensation: As the term Fair Compensation is a controversial

one, there are different opinions about what exactly is an adequate compensation. The
committee on Fair Wages defined fair wage as the wage that is above the minimum
wage, but below the living wage. It is, therefore, the utmost role of HR to ensure all the
employees of the company receive proper compensation, as it forms the foundation for
quality of work life. Good pay structures should feature aspects as employee motivation,
employee

retention,

need

satisfaction

and

internal

equity

besides

external

considerations such as competitor offers and market rates.

ii) Safe and Healthy Working Conditions: Most of the organizations provide safe and
healthy working conditions due to humanitarian requirements and/or legal requirements.
However, in order to compete in this highly competitive business environment, firms
should take further steps to ensure safety, such as setting up new standards for fire
safety issues and encouraging the employees to regularly undergo health check-ups.
This reflects the company caring for their employees and helps them retain as well as
improve employee productivity.
iii) Opportunity to Use and Develop Human Capacities: It is the role of HR to ensure
quality of work life by improving the extent to which workers can exercise more control
over their work, and the degree to which the job embraces and entire meaningful task,
and not only a not a part of it. This enables the employees to get a feeling of

empowerment and accomplished, hence boosting the employee moral. Furthermore,

maintaining the quality of work life requires HR to provide opportunities like autonomy in
work and participation in planning in order to use human capabilities.
iv) Opportunity for Career Growth: The human resource department is required to
constantly encourage employees to overcome their educational or knowledge barriers in
climbing upwards the hierarchy of the organization. A company with quality of work life
provides future opportunity for continued growth and security by expanding ones
capabilities, knowledge and qualifications.
v) Social Integration in the Work Force: Social integration in the work force can be
established by creating freedom from prejudice, supporting primary work groups, a
sense of community and inter-personnel openness, egalitarianism and upward mobility.
This allows employees to enhance their mental well-being, feel a part of the community
and function as a group.
vi) Constitutionalism in the Work Organization: Additionally, it is the role of HR to
provide constitutional protection to the employees only to the level of desirability as it
hampers workers. Constitutional protection is provided to employees on such matters as
privacy, free speech, equity and due process. It is fundamental in preserving the quality
of work life as it helps to generate order and discipline within the organization.
vii) Work and Quality of Life: More importantly, HR should strive to ensure a good quality
of work life as it provides for the balanced relationship among work, non-work and family
aspects of life. In other words family life and social life should not be strained by working
hours including overtime work, work during inconvenient hours, business travel,
transfers, vacations etc.
viii) Social Relevance of Work: Quality of work life is concerned about the establishment of
social relevance to work in a socially beneficial manner. The workers self esteem would
be high if his work is useful to the society and the vice versa is also true. Hence, the HR
should feed the employees with full implication of their works upon the society and
individuals, to make them more sincere and responsible towards it.
Job and Career Satisfaction (JCS) of quality work life is said to reflect on employees feelings
and their satisfaction and contentment with their jobs and the training they receive to do it.
Hackman & Othman (1976) drew attention to psychological growth needs as necessary
considerations in QWL. These needs include skill variety, task identity, task significance,

autonomy and feedback. It is the role of HR to ensure that all these needs are tended. The
quality of work life is a wider concept that incorporates not only work based factors as pay and
relations at work but also reflect on life satisfaction and general feeling of well being.
Companies today are constantly striving towards enhancing the quality of work life and the
personal life of not only its employees but also gets extended to his/her family as well. In-house
health clubs, yoga and meditation centers to relieve stress, sports and cultural activities,
employee get-togethers with invitations to come over with families, day care centers and many
of the like are being provided by companies with the effort of improving quality of work life.
With the increasing size of the companies, the traditional top down communication model of has
been replaced by bottom up, cross level communication thereby encouraging people to voice
their opinions and feelings. Open house sessions, mentoring, online chats on the intranet have
emerged to be the communication enablers. Employees at all level of organization are valued
as they each possess their unique skills and abilities, and empowerment plays a major role in
employee performance.
To conclude, change is here to stay, and it becomes increasingly important for the HR managers
to constantly keep updated with improving standards of quality of work life, as the practices that
are working today may not necessarily work tomorrow. Quality of work life is viewed as a wideranging concept, which includes adequate and fair remuneration, safe and healthy working
conditions and social integration in the work organization that enables an individual to develop
and use all his or her capacities. Customers expectations, market changes and strategic
decisions will derive the tools to managing the human assets.

Recommendations
Today, it is assumed that the main asset of any organization lies in people. Quality, productivity,
profitability, customer satisfaction and the image of a company depend largely on training,
coordination and motivation of its staff. For a company to function properly it requires that the
persons composing know, willing and able to work properly.
Here are some recommendations about how we can improve HRM in our organizations:

Let employees work together, share ideas and develop a sense of ownership over their
jobs and the workplace. When workers feel free to share ideas, it helps them to be more
productive and more effective in their jobs. Give them the freedom to express their
thoughts and utilize their creativity whenever possible.

Create an environment that encourages employees to perform better and recognize

their efforts when they do. Its easy to overlook a job done well, simply because its
expected that employees perform adequately. But if you have an employee who has
been struggling to improve and finally makes noticeable progress, let them know
you noticed. It can help them to improve even more just to know youre aware of their
efforts.

Lead your team by example rather than simply direction. This will help your employees
respect you much more because they can see youre not asking them to
perform tasks youre unwilling to perform.

Recognize what works and what doesnt work in organizations HRM and eliminate
ineffective procedures. Develop systems for monitoring success and learn to adapt
policies as needed to ensure business is running as smoothly and efficiently as possible.

The organization should provide leaves and time off for recreational activities to achieve
a quality work environment. Too much work leading to poor personal life must be
addressed to ensure the employee lives a socially balanced life. Organizations can
undertake provision of leaves, provision of entertainment/country club membership, time
offs, company trips to tackle with this problem. Company gatherings that incorporate

family members of employees are also advisable.

It is important for organizations to maintain the balance between managing and micromanaging, where the former is a necessity but the later may result in depressed
workforce. As important as supervision is to maintain cohesion and order within the

company, equally important is delegation. Employees need to be given freedom to think

for themselves and work in a space that isnt constrained at every turn.

Creation of autonomous work helps in creating positive feelings among employees. They
may be given freedom to choose their own teams, there should be freedom of decision
making regarding the choice of methods for work, distribution of tasks among group
members and designing of work schedules.

In order to properly implement sound quality of work life, effective two-way

communication is necessary. Through the downward communication, employees would
receive information about the various aspects of the organization. Through upward
communication, employees can share their views, grievances and suggestions for
improving the work performance.

Conclusion
In conclusion, the practice of HRM needs to be integrated with the overall strategy to ensure
effective use of people and provide better returns to the organizations. Unless the HRM practice
is designed in this way, the firms stand to lose from not utilizing people fully. The key functions
of the Human Resources Management (HRM) team include recruiting people, training them,
performance appraisals, motivating employees as well as workplace communication, workplace
safety, and much more.

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