QUALITY OF WORKING LIFE: SCIENTIFIC CONCEPT AND MEASUREMENT METHODOLOGY

Abstract

This article reveals a new and little-studied aspect of labour economics - the quality of working life. The author's definition of the quality of working life is proposed, which opens an original view of human resources - from the standpoint of the workers themselves. The specified author's view of human resources is based on the existing concept of development and disclosure of human potential. However, this concept presupposes the most efficient management of human resources in the interests of employers (growth of productivity and competitiveness) and the economy (acceleration of the rate of economic growth and development of an innovative economy). The concept of the quality of working life is considered as the peak of the evolution of the theory of labour economics reached to date. The original concept of labour as a factor of production assumed interchangeability, impersonality and low value of personnel for enterprises. The concept of human resources that followed took into account the individual characteristics of workers and presupposed an individual approach to motivating and stimulating work. The authors of this article are developing a scientific concept and measurement methodology (polycriteria assessment) of the quality of working life. With the help of the proposed author's methodology, from the standpoint of the consequences for the quality of working life, two alternative approaches to human resource management are compared - labour norming and personnel marketing. The advantages of the marketing approach to human resource management are substantiated and recommendations for improving the marketing mix of personnel to develop the quality of working life are offered.

Keywords

• employee commitment
• healthcare
• organizational efficiency
• quality of working life