The quality of work life generally refers to the human resources policies that directly affect managers and workers, including compensation and benefits, diversity, work-free time balance, health and well-being, job security, among other improvements. Today, leading companies are developing innovative policies and practices in this field, which reflect and respect the needs of all employees in integration with the objectives of the company, laying the foundations to attract and retain the best talent.
For this reason , a work organization is demanded, which integrates human resources with equipment and materials in the work process that offer added value, by applying methods and procedures that make it possible to work in a rational, harmonious and uninterrupted way, with adequate levels of health and safety and ergonomic requirements, to achieve maximum productivity, efficiency and effectiveness in the entity and meet the needs of society and of their directives. But it is unquestionable that, along with work factors, there are other extra-work elements integrated into the socio-historical-cultural context, the conditions that exist in the family environment, economic problems, difficulties in family relationships, raising children, that together with employment problems, are realities that affect our well-being and cause tension, especially in certain communities and female segments.The situations faced and the antecedents addressed in a diagnosis carried out at the business level, allow alignment towards certain questions, which stand out with the scientific problem specified in the current demand that guides Cuban society, in integration with organizations and companies, in the application of scientific instruments, related toelevation of the quality of working life (CVL) in female managers of the tourism context. The selection and adaptation of an instrument made it possible to demonstrate that in female managers of this labor market, the levels of Quality of life (QoL) are a result of the working conditions, their personality qualities, the ways that are implemented as a culture of work and service, to achieve organizational objectives in the field of tourism benefits.
Introduction
The paradigm that Quality of Life (QOL) lives today has special relevance when it comes to the levels of perception of it in various societies and especially in women; Well, despite the fact that the country guarantees a high cultural level, regardless of gender, the dramatic changes that characterize the new economy are reshaping the work environment, which is why international competition requires innovative, diverse and flexible corporations. For this reason, the country's policies are undergoing initial pressure for companies to create fair, productive work environments and enhancers of labor skills.
The first problem that arises is that of the precise and operational definition of what is to be evaluated, since terms such as happiness, state of health, satisfaction and well-being that are well defined, in the process of evaluating QoL have been used and most of the existing ones measure it specifically by relating it to health (Sison 1994).
In the authors' opinion, CV is a subjective concept, which is related to the perception that people have about their life, in the historical-cultural context, as well as a result of their own expectations and projects. Therefore, in addition to being related to individual perception, it tends to change depending on whether the conceptualization is in the economic, philosophical, political or health-related fields (Espinosa and Morris 2002).
The orientation towards the study of this problem constitutes one of the ways and bases for change at the social level, in search of achieving greater organizational efficiency, understanding what influences the performance of our managers and workers in the sector. Well, it is unquestionable that, along with labor factors, there are other extra-labor elements integrated into the socio-historical-cultural context, the conditions that exist in the family environment, economic problems, difficulties in family relationships, raising children, that together with employment problems, are realities that affect well-being and cause tension, especially in certain communities.
The situations that are faced and the antecedents addressed in a diagnosis made at the organizational level, allow orientation towards the following problematic questions:
• In this system of complexity, can the studies of Quality of Work Life (CVL) be integrated, with the achievement of competent performance in the female directors of the Ministry of Tourism in Varadero?
• Will the diagnosis of CVL in segments of directives, allow to know the satisfaction of human needs in this gender, especially the causes linked to the levels of health affectation, in the workplace?
• Is there an intervention project in the company that manages to guide the application and interpretation of scientific instruments, adapted to the context, to mark a milestone in the "culture of quality of life" of the female gender that you lead?
From the previous unknowns, the scientific problem of the project is inferred:
At present, there is an intervention project that guides the Ministry of Tourism, in integration with organizations and companies, the application of scientific instruments, related to the elevation of the quality of working life (CVL) in female managers context.
Which deserves the following objectives:
General objective:
Implement an intervention project that manages to guide the application and interpretation of scientific instruments, linked to the "culture of quality of working life" of the female gender that she directs in the Ministry of Tourism.
Specific objectives:
Partially validate the proposed methodological procedure, based on the search for factors linked to the "culture of quality of working life" of the female gender that she directs, which allows taxation to achieve higher levels of effectiveness of Human Capital, at the organizational and Social.
Development
Presentation and foundation of the intervention project.
1.1. Theoretical-methodological thread of the project
In an inclusive way, the sustainable development of society has encompassed the term quality of life, a highly popularized idea since the 1990s. Well, the following presentation aims to review the development of this concept, in light of the notion of sustainable development of the efficiency of the female gender that leads, in connection with the organizational strategy and social demands This definition and its link with multiple conditions need to be clarified, for this the common thread is represented in figure 1.1, specifying its typifications and importance of the object of study.
In an embryonic way, classical economics has devoted some lines to the ambivalent issue of happiness as an expression of the possibility of consuming and having somewhat lavish comforts, which came to permeate, in general terms, the essence of welfare economics. The sketch and the incipient elements of what is understood as quality of life originate from bourgeois modernity at its peak, liberal in nature, and are limited to the typical modus vivendi of basically urban environments.
The rise of the word quality of life dates back to the idea of the Welfare State that evolved and spread solidly in the postwar period, in part, as a product of the theories of economic and social developmentalism that demanded the geopolitical reordering and the restoration of the international order, once the Second World War was consummated, in the adjacent framework of the Cold War. It took two decades for the challenge of rethinking development to filter into the policies that had an influence on the direction of populations.At the end of the sixties there is a new turn towards a social democratic perspective or a welfare state approach, where growth is less important and more is placed on job creation, the reduction of social inequality, and the elimination of unemployment. and the satisfaction of basic needs.
The economic and social development policies established by developed countries sought to cover the range of basic needs of the population (health, food, clothing, education, housing, employment and social security) by virtue of improving a standard of living understood as purchasing power, modernization, opening to international markets and globalization of the economy. Latin America introduced these models of development as a fashion, with a certain progressive enthusiasm, also due to the imposition of countries with colonizing impetus that conditioned fluctuating economies, at the mercy of the interests of the national bourgeoisie or the monopolies of foreign capital. This was, in broad terms, the pattern of the Latin American countries, where growing sectors of the population, while increasing,they distanced themselves from total well-being. (Espinosa Henao O (2000)
The following is the definition used for the construction and application of the instrument used in this work: The Quality of Work Life (CVL) is a multidimensional concept, which is integrated when the worker, through employment and under his own perception, sees coverage the following personal needs: institutional support, security and integration to the job and satisfaction with it, identifying the well-being achieved through their work activity and the personal development achieved, as well as the management of their free time.
This psychosociological meaning allows us to identify a certain relationship between the categories of work, social demands and personal expectations, reflected in female managers in our labor market; where the levels of Quality of life (CV) are a result of the working conditions, of their personality qualities, of the ways that are implemented as a work and service culture, to achieve the organizational objectives in the sphere of tourism benefits.
One problem is that of daily practice, to establish and evaluate social indicators that objectively support the well-being of the female population that it directs and that achieve an adequate reflection in the satisfaction, subjective well-being and happiness that this segment can enjoy.
A common difficulty in this problem is that of the validity and reliability of traditional evaluation methods, frequently scales and questionnaires, to measure the reliability of the responses. Many researchers report difficulties in establishing criteria validation elements or construct validations, the development of new instruments to measure QoL has become more complex and only satisfactory for the clinical goals of indicating what clinicians and patients perceive as such (Badia and Tudela 2003).
The measurement of the CVL presents very little antecedents in the field and implies the use of questionnaires originally developed in other cultural contexts, so it is necessary to use an instrument appropriate to the language and culture where it is going to be used. The process of cultural adaptation must be carried out according to scientific standards that guarantee its equivalence in linguistic and content terms. That is why we use this procedure and its results: (See annexes)
For the adaptation of the instrument and content validation, the categories or dimensions that allow us to measure the CVT and the operationalization of the variables that constitute the validated instrument adapted to our context were defined. The different theoretical positions, the conceptual definition and its meaning, as well as the operational definition of variables were studied. All of which allowed the following conclusions to be reached, in order to achieve the goals set, basing the results achieved in the universe selected for this project.
The universe of selected female executives showed adequate levels of satisfaction with respect to the opportunities for updating and training offered by the company, in addition to the acceptance of the functions they perform, the treatment with co-workers and that received from their superiors. Prominent have been the evaluations assigned to the satisfaction of working in that company (compared with other institutions they know), which shows a good sense of belonging, which achieves consistency with the evaluations related to the fulfillment of the objectives of the institution and the intrinsic motivation towards work, by showing capacity reflected in the use of abilities and skills in the work activities they perform
But it is far from optimal if reference is made only to indicators essentially related to the dimensions of job integrity and personal development, since there are difficulties in finding the balance point when talking about quality of life in relation to the satisfaction of needs, the perpetuation of institutional supports for work and well-being achieved through work. Precisely, studies show a poor relationship between practices related to Quality of work life and business success, reflected in the low levels of satisfaction experienced in female managers by variables such as:
- the amount of work carried out in those positions, dissatisfaction with respect to salary, when correlating it with social demands, to satisfy basic needs, in the little possibility that this work allows to fulfill activities after hours, because they do not conform to family coexistence,
All these assessments are integrated into the poor perception that is obtained about the care necessary to preserve the integrity of their physical, mental and social capacities and to improve the standard of living based on the work in that company.
Conclusions
- Based on social and cultural demands, one of the most important advantages obtained in this project has been the adaptation and application of a versatile, reliable and valid instrument for any organization of the Ministry of Tourism, with great possibilities of generalization in the regional labor context, which will have great scientific utility due to its simplicity and easy administration, as well as being the first of its nature in the environment, integrated into an intervention project that manages to mark an immediate development in the "culture of quality of life work ”for the female gender who directs. These results show the need for better socio-organizational strategies, which manage to reconcile Work and Personal Life, to achieve attractive and significant values,that retain and satisfy the expectations of young professionals and workers specialized in managerial positions In some way, within the framework of mass culture,dissatisfaction can grow when more well-being is available, precisely one of the great paradoxes of the environment results from the enjoyment of material well-being without absent existential discomfort; situation familiar to everyone at some point in life. Consequently, the company calls for the strengthening of quality of working life programs, which contribute to rejuvenating the reputation of the sector, among its female managers and also with the community.
recommendations
- The analysis of the responses in a second stage of this study is necessary to discover the causes of dissatisfaction found in the selected sample and to apply an intervention program, which allows monitoring the main indicators linked to the culture of quality of work life of the female segment that she directs Continue to deepen the essential actions that allow the proposed methodology to be generalized, in such a way that it allows the development of the satisfaction levels of women managers, with the achievement of organizational interests and the elevation of the culture of fair work.
Bibliography
- Colombian Association of Health Psychology – ASOCOPSIS. 1998. Valle del Cauca Section. Available in: Latin American Bulletin of Health Psychology. Badia X, Tudela L. 2003. Quality of life studies. In: Martín A, Cano JF. Primary care: concept, organization and clinical practice. chap. 15. 5th ed. Madrid. p. 250-256.De la Rosa D, Hernández O, Pérez F. 2001. Psychosocial factors, health and quality of working life in a sample of workers from the autonomous community of the Canary Islands. Paper presented at the XII National Congress on Safety and Health at Work; 2001 Nov. 23, Spain, Valencia.De Miguel A, De Miguel I. 2002. Quality of work life and work organization: reports and studies. Madrid: Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. Subdirectorate General for Publications Espinosa Henao O (2000) ENFOQUES,THEORIES AND NEW DIRECTIONS OF THE QUALITY OF LIFE CONCEPT. http://www.antropologia.com.ar/ www.arqueologia.com.ar http://www.naya.org.ar/Espinosa Malva. Morris Pablo. 2002. Quality of life at work. Workers' perceptions. Research notebooks No. 16.: Labor Directorate. Department of Studies. González R. 2007. Quality of life at work: development and validation of an instrument in health service providers.. Mexico: University of Guadalajara.González R, Hidalgo G, Salazar J, Preciado M. 2009. Instrument to measure the Quality of Life at Work CVT-GOHISALO, manual for its application and interpretation, 1st. Edition, Ediciones de la Noche, Guadalajara, México. Maslow H. 1991. A theory of human motivation. In: Maslow H, Motivation and personality. Madrid: Díaz de Santos. Pichardo A. 2005.Bibliography on quality of life and related topics..
Footnotes:
- Villalobos Gloria. F. 2002. THE ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE AND THE WORKING CONDITIONS IMPLICATIONS TO GENERATE HEALTHY PEOPLE AND JOBS. Psychologist Universidad Javeriana - Bogotá Colombia PhD. Health [email protected] [email protected]. Taking González Raquel and others (2010) into consideration. Original Article: Preparation and Validation of the Instrument to Measure Quality of Life at Work "CVT-GOHISALO" Development and Validation of an Instrument for Measuring - - www.cienciaytrabajo.cl - YEAR 12 - NUMBER 36 - APRIL / JUNE 2010 - Ciencia & Job.
