chapter 6 - Malaysia Productivity Corporation ( MPC)

NATION’S QUALITY OF LIFE ASPIRATION
Increasing number of domestic hotel guests,
museum visitors and cinema viewers as well
as higher membership in public libraries have
contributed to higher culture and leisure sub-index
to 13.5 point. This is supported by increase in the
number of viewers of Istana Budaya by 78.9% from
85,002 in 2000 to 152,085 persons in 2010. Numbers
of visitors to museum also reached to almost three
million people in 2010 from 1.7 million in 2000.
The Quality of Work Life (Malaysia) 2012
One of the components highlighted in the MQLI
is Working Life Conditions which look at the
working environment in Malaysia such as the
unemployment rate and trade dispute. Another
perspective is to look at the quality of working life
which is satisfaction of employees needs through
resources, activities and outcomes stemming
from participation in the workplace as measured
through Quality of Work Life Index.
Quality of Work Life (QoWL) enhances business
performance through better design of the work
environment. It helps organisations to improve
productivity as well as employee satisfaction
and individual well-being. There is a positive
relationship between QoWL initiatives and
productivity. QoWL initiatives help firms to:
• Significantly strengthen the corporate
bottom line;
• Enhance individual productivity;
• Improve employee morale;
• Improve employee health and well-being;
and
• Retain employees and reduce absenteeism.
Preliminary study on “Quality of Work Life
(Malaysia)” carried out in 2012 by some of the
204
research institution have examined the perception
of managers about their workplace and how they
attribute the changes in the evolving patterns of
work and organisational structures that affect their
working and non-working lives. The study explores
four themes such as:
• Perceptions of organisation and workplace;
• Management and Leadership Styles;
• Working hours and the effects of working
hours have on managers; and
• Strategic Performance of Organisations.
Theme 1: Perceptions of Organisation
and Workplace
Malaysian managers are generally positive about
their organisations. Although 40.0-50.0% (Table 9.6)
of respondents showed some reservations on certain
aspects of the work environment such as blame
culture (53.1%) and lack of resources (51.0%), 81.6%
of respondents thought that morale is good in their
organisations. A majority (70.0%) indicated that they
enjoyed coming to work and find work to be an
enjoyable activity. Nonetheless, a significant number
also indicated the negative aspects of work. The
overall positive work environment seemed to offset
the negative work environment. This is consistent
with the general belief that organisational politics and
conflict exist in all organisations but as long as it is not
excessive, it is unlikely to have disastrous impact on
the overall organisational well-being.
As evidenced by the data in Table 9.7 that 78.0% of
respondents supported the view that organisations
look after their well-being. Moreover, 74.5% of
respondents felt secure in their jobs and 70.0% of
them felt value as the most important human capital
(Table 9.8). On the positive side, 62.8% found that
they were encouraged and rewarded for creative