Angie Paola Castillo Tovar

Is job satisfaction a unique issue of the work context?

When we talk about quality of work life, we believe that the only thing that is

involved in this term is strictly work, that is, that an environment conducive to kindness,

respect and harmony together with a beautiful workplace is what every employee You want

and that if a company offers this, it is immediately and completely offering quality of

working life, but the reality is different, nowadays this term has been working for a long

time. Although it is not difficult to define, it has been somewhat complex because that is

quality of working life for some people is not quality of working life for others, that is, if

we go to the context of an organization what is quality of working life for the boss is not

quality of working life for employees and this is what usually happens, the organization

offers merely labor incentives with those who believe that the employee will feel

comfortable and satisfied, but the employee is more than an employee, is immerser or in

other spheres apart from his place of work, he is an integral being who probably has family,

friends and interests different to his profession (hobbies). But what is the quality of

working life? The quality of working life can be defined in many ways and from different

approaches, since it is a term that has been working since 1960 and has gone through a

variety of changes and adjustments, the most accurate definition would be:

"The quality of working life, at a given time, corresponds to the condition of an individual

in his or her dynamic pursuit of their hierarchically organized objectives within the

domains of work where the reduction of the gap separating the individual from these

objectives is reflected in a positive result impact on the general quality of life of the
individual, the organizational performance and, consequently, in the general functioning of

society. "(Sojka, 2014) Taken from (Martel and Dupuis, 2006)

Although the discussion on the definition of quality of work life is still unfinished, it

could be said that according to the above it is a fact that when talking about quality of

working life, the person should be considered as an integral human being where quality of

working life will help you achieve your goals inside and outside the company. In a study

(Sojka, 2014), 24 experts focused on different areas were gathered to decide which

characteristics were important in the quality of life at work; it was concluded that there are

primary, secondary and tertiary characteristics; the primary characteristics refer directly to

the workplace, the secondary characteristics refer to the characteristics that are generally

common in all workplaces (posts) and the tertiary characteristics refer to characteristics that

go beyond the organization as for example the image of the organization. Talking about the

characteristics that should include the quality of working life is no less complicated than

talking about the definition, but in the study that I have just mentioned there is a big gap to

my consideration because as I mentioned a couple of times and in accordance with the

interview that I made the quality of work life goes beyond the work place because each

member in an organization is different from the other, therefore, each member has different

needs, objectives and goals to achieve, what I want to say is that as well as there is the

employee who is only interested in the company and does not dislike that the organization

does not worry about their personal interests there is also the type of employee who would

like the organization to care about their family or their future goals. The person I

interviewed said in text words "I like that the company shows me that I am an important

part of the process we are taking, I like that they promote harmony between my colleagues
and me, that they give us a decent treatment, but beyond I like that they care about my

satisfaction and I really am satisfied because it is a company that integrates my family, that

cares about the fulfillment of my personal goals, for example in a couple of months I will

finish paying my apartment with help from a savings I've made since I've been working

with them for months. "

Westley (1979) explains that job satisfaction is one of the problems of quality of

work life, explains that dissatisfaction occurs because the remuneration of their work is not

adequate, feeling that the work is damaging personally, among others. This personal harm

that is mentioned could be taken as the organization only worry that the employee is

efficient without them having to worry about their overall well-being, something like

receiving a lot in exchange for practically giving nothing, because although the money It is

one of the biggest rewards in the job, most times it is not enough and the employees expect

more, the person I interviewed said that he left the previous company where he worked

because they did not worry absolutely anything about his assets or inside nor outside the

company, according to Westley, job dissatisfaction is a strong reason for people to leave

their positions in organizations and therefore the company does not last long their

employees and that is why they do not progress. If we see this more detailed, it can be seen

as a chain and as an exchange in which both parties can benefit. When I say that job

satisfaction in quality of life at work can be seen as a chain I mean that if the person feels

good in the work environment and also sees that the organization cares or contributes in the

other areas of work. his life will perform in his labors and he will feel comfortable in the

other spheres in which he is involved, that is, it is a chain and this leads to it also being seen

as an exchange because if the person feels good in the other spheres of his life thanks to his
quality of working life likewise will respond in his work to his superiors being an excellent

employee producing profits in the company and likewise progress. The quality of life in the

workplace is an effective way for both parties since they know how to manage, since one of

the criteria of the quality of life according to (Walton, 1986) is the adequate compensation,

that the incentives must be offered to the employees if they prove they deserve them. In

conclusion, if the organization knows how to manage the quality of life at work as the tool

to reach change in the lives of its workers and for progress, they will achieve a balance

between the needs of all those who make up the company and this balance It is the best way

to success.
 References

MARTEL, J. P. – DUPUIS, G., 2006: Quality of work life: Theoretical and methological

problems, and presentation of new model and measuring instrument. Social

indicator Research. 77, 333-368.

Sojka, L. (2014). Specification of the Quality of Work Life Characteristics in the Slovak

Economic Environment. Faculty Of Management, Department Of Management,

University Of Presov, 3, 283-299.

Walton, R. (1986). Quality of Working Life. Harvard University, 15(1), 11-20.

Westley, W. (1979). Problems and Solutions in the Quality of Working Life. Human

Relations, Mcgill University, 32(2), 113-123.