Measuring the librarians’ quality of working life in the Iranian public libraries

2019 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamta Kazemi Koohbanani ◽  
Atefeh Zarei ◽  
Nasrolah Erfani

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the librarians’ quality of working life (QWL) in the Iranian public libraries. Design/methodology/approach The present study is an applied research in terms of purpose and an analytical survey in terms of data collection and analysis method. The Walton standard questionnaire was used as the data collection tool. The statistical population of this research consists of librarians in the Iranian public libraries. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used in order to analyze the data. Findings The findings showed that the dimensions of organizational social integration, constitutionalism in the organization and the capacity for human development are at a good level; the dimensions of the environment opportunity for continued growth and security and safe and healthy work are at a moderate level. Finally, the dimensions of fair and adequate payment, social relevance of work life and total life space are at a weak level are shown. Originality/value The findings of the confirmed hypothesis indicated that the librarians at the Iranian public libraries have a desirable (high) QWL.

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yael Cohen-Azaria

Purpose In 2012, the Israeli Ministry of Education and its Testing and Evaluation Department introduced a new tool to evaluate the quality of kindergarten teachers’ work. This paper aims to identify how kindergarten teachers perceive the new multiple domains performance tool. Design/methodology/approach The study applied a qualitative paradigm of data collection and analysis. Data collection consisted of semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted with 36 kindergarten teachers. Findings Findings indicated that most kindergarten teachers perceive their work plan and the kindergarten climate as the most important evaluation domains, while perceiving involving parents as the least important and even an unnecessary domain. One-third of them indicated that an innovation domain should be added. Also, the kindergarten teachers perceived the use of the KT-MDPT as both positive and negative. Originality/value There is a clear dearth in scholarly literature dealing with the evaluation of the quality of kindergarten teachers’ work. This study is the first to reveal Israeli kindergarten teachers' attitudes regarding this new tool for work quality evaluation.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Siti Raba’ah Hamzah ◽  
Siti Nur Syuhada Musa ◽  
Zulaiha Muda ◽  
Maimunah Ismail

Purpose This study aims at investigating the relationship between the quality of working life and career engagement of cancer survivors and the mediating role of the effect of disease and treatment. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional study was conducted on 400 cancer survivors in Malaysia. The participants, aged between 18 and 40, were Malaysian citizens undergoing follow-up sessions at the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital and the National Cancer Institute of Malaysia. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation coefficient and regression analysis that implemented Baron and Kenny’s method for mediation were used for analyses. Findings The effect of treatment and disease was found to significantly mediate the relationship between quality of work-life and career engagement of cancer survivors. Research limitations/implications The instrument for this study was a self-reported questionnaire, with participants responding to specific items on a five-point Likert scale under the supervision of the researchers. As results from the survey were subjective in nature, the bias in the participants could not be eliminated completely. This study was also limited to the two main parameters, namely, quality of working life and career engagement and a mediator, namely, effects of the disease and treatment. Moreover, as the survey was conducted in only two hospitals in the Klang Valley area, the results cannot be generalized to other cancer survivors in other regions of Malaysia. Practical implications The results of this study indicated that the mediating role of the effects of disease and treatment on the relationship of the quality of working life subscales with career engagement. Practical implications, cancer survivor consciousness of the effects of disease and treatment is very important and should be addressed and could be notable to improve the quality of working life. Originality/value This study gives valuable insight to managers and practitioners by investigating the relationship between the quality of working life and career engagement and mediates by the effects of disease and treatment. The findings highlight the challenges cancer survivors face on their return to working life. The findings also highlight the need for management to take steps to help cancer survivors cope with career engagement for better work performance.


2017 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 411-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiia Annika Wahlberg ◽  
Nelson Ramalho ◽  
Ana Brochado

Purpose Hostels’ competitiveness relies heavily on unique and genuine service and, thus, counts on employees actively creating a social, welcoming environment and, at the same time, caring about – and being loyal to – their hostel. This paper aims to investigate whether retaining employees who care about their hostel and refrain from destructive behaviours implies that these workers need to have a better quality of working life, as well as whether work engagement mediates this relationship. Design/methodology/approach A survey was conducted with 98 employees from 40 hostels in Lisbon. An analysis of the survey data was performed to test the research hypotheses. The model was estimated by means of partial least squares structural equation modelling. Findings The results reveal that quality of working life has a strong negative impact on employees’ exit behaviours and a positive effect on their loyalty. In addition, work engagement was found to mediate fully the relationship between quality of working life and both employee voice and neglect, as well as partially mediating exit intentions. Originality/value This study extended prior research in two ways. First, most theoretical and empirical studies in the hospitality and tourism industry have focused on hotels, so this research targeted a new context (i.e. hostels). Second, this study offers a clear indication of the relationship between employees’ quality of working life, work engagement and behaviours, thus offering valuable insights for management and hostel staff.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeinab Sirous Jahedi ◽  
Ali Pouladi Reyshahri

<p>The present study was conducted with the aim of representing the relationship between quality of work and work attachment of employees in Chamran hospital in Saveh in 2015. The research was practical in terms of objective and descriptive-correlational in terms of data collection. The population consisted of 300 employees of Chamran hospital in Saveh among whom 169 individuals were chosen as a sample size using simple random sampling method and Morgan table. Data collection was carried out through standard questionnaire. Analysis of the obtained data was performed using SPSS 21 software in two parts of descriptive and inferential (Regression and Pearson Correlation). The results indicated that there is a significant and positive relationship between quality of working life and its dimensions including fair payment, safe and healthy working environment, providing opportunities for continuous growth and security, legalism, social solidarity and cohesion, and development of human capabilities with job involvement of employees in Chamran hospital in Saveh.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 189-205
Author(s):  
Mahdi Salehi ◽  
Fereshteh Seyyed ◽  
Shayan Farhangdoust

PurposeGiven the negative consequences of job burnout for both individual auditors and audit firms, the present study aims to examine the effect of auditors' personal characteristics, working life quality and psychological well-being on auditors' job burnout.Design/methodology/approachWe chose 240 auditors (junior, senior, manager and partner) who work at 53 audit and public accounting firms in Mashhad during 2015–2016 as our sample. The respondents were randomly selected and the data were gathered through the distribution of questionnaires of Walton’s (1973) quality of working, Ryff’s (1995) psychological well-being and Maslach and Jackson’s (1984) job burnout. We also employ structural equation modeling (SEM) along with statistical path analysis to test our hypotheses by using R statistical software.FindingsConsistent with our expectations and prior literature, our findings suggest that auditors' job burnout is significantly and positively influenced by auditors' personal traits, quality of working life and psychological well-being.Originality/valueThe present study is quite remarkable and unique in that it focuses on a specific audit market where there are significant differences in socio-economic, political and cultural factors with those of Western or European developed markets. The results provided in this paper could be fruitful for auditors, regulators and policymakers.


Author(s):  
Thomas Packard

Initiatives to improve cultural competence and cultural humility have a strong recent history and are commonly accepted as important in improving services to diverse clients. In addition to working to create more culturally competent workforces and cultural humility, some organizations are working to explicitly challenge racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination in their organizations. Such change initiatives are likely to be more challenging, with greater potential for staff and administrator discomfort and even conflict. These change initiatives have the potential for being hugely impactful in improving the quality of working life for staff, but especially for diverse staff, as well as improving services for clients. Other tactics that have been used in diversity and antiracism initiatives include an assessment of the problem, data collection to document the problem, conveying urgency, an action system that includes knowledgeable staff from multiple levels and action teams, extensive staff participation, and providing necessary resources.


2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 989-1003
Author(s):  
Gerrit J.M. Treuren ◽  
Beni Halvorsen

Purpose Does client embeddedness lead to improved employee quality of life, such as job satisfaction, affective commitment and employee engagement? If so, is this relationship affected by gender, age, tenure and psychological contract breach (PCB)? The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Regression and ANOVA analysis of a two-wave sample (n=121) of employees working for an aged care provider. Findings Client embeddedness at Time 1 predicts employee quality of life at Time 2. However, in this sample, this relationship is unaffected by gender, age and length of service. High levels of PCB weakens the relationship between client embeddedness and job satisfaction. Research limitations/implications The employee-client relationship directly improves quality of working life. However, it is unclear whether this finding is unique to this organisation, or whether client embeddedness can be cultivated over time or is a characteristic of an employee. Practical implications Organisations can substantially benefit from encouraging appropriate client-employee relationships. By adopting HR practices aimed at acquiring and cultivating client embeddedness through recruitment, performance management and training practices, organisations may increase employee quality of working life, and reduce employee turnover. Originality/value This paper substantially increases the understanding of client embeddedness by clarifying the direct effects of the client-employee relationship, and by identifying boundary conditions on the effect of client embeddedness. It also points to a distinct approach to recruiting and developing employees in client-facing industries.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 709-719
Author(s):  
Anselm Yennef Vereycken ◽  
Leen De Kort ◽  
Geert Vanhootegem ◽  
Ezra Dessers

Purpose There is a growing interest in living labs (a research concept in which innovations are co-created with end-users and tested in practice) as a method to test and develop health and social care innovations. However, little is known about their effect on the care organization and care providers’ quality of working life. By using the Flanders Care Living Labs program (Belgium) as a case study, the purpose of this paper is to explore how innovations in a living lab context may affect those issues. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study combined data from document analysis, in-depth interviews and focus groups involving 23 care innovation projects. Deductive category application was used for analyzing data. Findings Outcomes indicate that 22/23 care innovation projects resulted in organizational changes, and that 22 affected at least one care provider’s quality of working life. Surprisingly, no project deliberately intended to affect the care organization and quality of working life. Future care innovation projects should focus on actual innovation and its implications for specific end-users, and on the broader organizational consequences and the possible effect on the care providers’ work. Originality/value This is the first study that specifically focused on care innovation’s effect on the care organization and on the quality of working life within a living labs context.


2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 571-591
Author(s):  
Toyin Ajibade Adisa ◽  
Gbolahan Gbadamosi

Purpose In recent years, there has been a rapid decline in the quality of working life (QWL) of Nigerian workers at all levels. This phenomenon is cryptic and knowledge thereof is inadequate due to a dearth of compelling research on QWL in Nigeria. The purpose of this paper is to a deeper understanding of QWL among Nigerian workers by investigating the impact of corruption and regional crises on QWL in this non-western context. The study also examines what QWL means to Nigerian employees. Design/methodology/approach The study employs qualitative data gleaned from semi-structured interviews. Findings The research reveals that corruption has a strongly negative effect on employees’ QWL, which in turn affects their motivation, attitude towards their job and the psychological contract between them and their employers. Furthermore, the findings revealed that regional crises (such as the heinous activities of the Boko Haram sect in the north–east, the continuing agitation of the secessionists (e.g. the Indigenous People of Biafra), in the south–east, and the tumultuous activities of the Niger Delta Avengers in the south–south) have combined to reduce employees’ QWL. Research limitations/implications The extent to which the findings of this research can be generalised is constrained by the selected sample of the research (public sector employees). Originality/value These results and the practical implications thereof will be useful to the Nigerian Government, policymakers and organisations for creating and enhancing good QWL in Nigeria.


Author(s):  
Ruchi Trehan ◽  
Justin Paul

Purpose – Attitude is a major factor affecting behavior. It influences the perception of objects and people, exposure to and comprehension of information, choice of friends, co-workers and so on. Attitudes are subjective attributes of people. Attitude is nothing but conceptualization of human qualities that are formed on the basis of either rational consideration or statistical evidence. Thus, people may vary along each of a number of attitudinal dimensions. Keeping this measurement aspect into consideration, the attitudes might be defined operationally by describing the measurement systems that psychologists use to measure attributes. There are many methods of attitude measurement, i.e. self-report, indirect tests, direct observation techniques, and psychological reaction techniques. This study aims at enquiring into quality of working life differentials among teachers with a view to bring to the surface some of the conditions in context of job satisfaction categorically. Design/methodology/approach – This study has been designed to address the objectives given below: to analyse quality of working life differentials among urban and rural school teachers; to compare the urban and rural teaching environment on the basis of job satisfaction criteria like teaching and welfare facilities. The research has been conducted in government schools in India. It was carried out with two samples of 200 teachers each from the urban and the rural area. Primary data were collected and factor analysis was carried out, as a tool. Findings – The analysis reveals that in case of urban teachers, the factors identified as important in quality of working life include-excellence and satisfaction at work, intra-institutional satisfaction, peer group pressure, lower self-esteem, institutional and social pressures, overall organizational satisfaction and socio-organisational behaviour. On the other hand, in the case of rural teachers, seven factors have been identified as factors determining of quality of work, which are not the same factors as identified in the case of urban teachers. Originality/value – This comparative study has implications on competitiveness of teachers and their work performance. The educational institutions those who focus on the factors determining the quality of work life will have more opportunities to emerge as successful organizations.


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