Since March 2022, the QWL approach in companies becomes QWL or Quality of Life and Working Conditions. This new name changes many things.
The objectives of QWL
Any company manager, healthy in body and mind, likes to see his employees flourish at work. For this, they need a suitable working environment. A welcoming place where life is good; friendly colleagues, always ready to give a hand in good times and bad; shared responsibilities, allowing everyone to shine; a clear and well-balanced schedule, where tasks are well distributed and leave room for the unexpected...
Creating such conditions in a company requires organization and excellent managerial skills. Hence the importance of a well-developed QWL (Quality of Life at Work) policy approved by all staff.
In the 2013 National Interprofessional Agreement, QWL refers to all "actions that improve the working conditions of employees and the overall performance of companies". For companies, QWL has always been inseparable from "happiness at work". A QWL plan thus focuses on priority areas such as
- The working environment
- Improving workplace relations
- The corporate culture
- Recognition of the work done
- Work-life balance
- Employee's valorization
The definition of QWL is unclear and confuses many companies. Many of them have forgotten, or at least neglected, the very objective of QWL: to have healthy employees who are physically, emotionally and psychologically fulfilled in their work. For this reason, the new National Interprofessional Agreement of December 9, 2020 changes the acronym. QWL becomes QWL - and since then, things have moved in the right direction.
What changes have occurred since the transition to the QWL?
The signatories of the new agreement justify this change by the need to review the traditional approach to quality of life. According to them, this approach must integrate a collective vision focused on improving the conditions in which employees perform their work. Preserving the health and safety of workers thus becomes a priority. The new agreement also seeks to encourage employees' ability to act and express themselves on the content of their work.
The QWL approach, as conceived by ANDRH, can and must be continually amended. Each professional organization is concerned. Finally, the QWL policy focuses as much on managerial practices as on professional trajectories and interpersonal relations. Basically, everyone in the company is concerned.
With this shift, the quality of life of employees is no longer measured solely in terms of leisure activities and conviviality at the workplace. Cosmetic measures that are not related to work, such as table soccer, coffee corners, ping-pong tables, aperitifs, go-karting trips and other extra-occupational activities, take a back seat. The QWL focuses on the working conditions and environment. The employee is at the heart of the concerns, since the QWL focuses on issues that are far more significant:
- Occupational health issues, which include well-being and the prevention of physical and psychosocial risks;
- Legal and regulatory issues related to work sustainability;
- Social and internal dialogue ;
- Societal issues around inclusion, training, equal opportunity, etc. ;
- The challenge of work
For companies, the implementation of a QWL policy is of strategic interest. Healthy and balanced employees are more productive. In this sense, a well thought-out QWL approach boosts the competitiveness, profitability and overall performance of the company.
Priority actions of a QWL policy
The priority measures of a QWL approach encompass health, safety and working conditions as a whole.
Health and safety actions
Imagine that you manage an industrial SME. You produce precision mechanics for automobile or aeronautical manufacturers. On a daily basis, your teams are subject to enormous pressure due to the demands of the job (constant concentration, work in a hyperbaric environment, heat, sharp tools, etc.). Without an adequate QWL approach, fatigue and weariness easily set in under these conditions.
To protect the health and safety of your employees, your company complies with the law and invests in adequate PPE. You also draw up a schedule in which the workload is well distributed and calibrated according to the physical and psychological capacities of each employee.
To avoid accidents and occupational diseases, you could invest in physical assistance devices. An exoskeleton fromErgoSanté can, for example, make cutting or welding work less painful. This assistance also facilitates other tasks requiring heavy lifting or repeating the same movements. By investing in the health and well-being of your employees, you reduce the rate of absenteeism, delays and occupational diseases.
On social and internal dialogue
The social climate within the company is reflected in the quality of relations between colleagues and with the hierarchy. This indicator shows with more or less precision the social and human health of the company.
Building trust among colleagues and with management depends on open and honest communication between all parties. Internal events such as team-building, parent/child days and similar social catalysts often help to strengthen the bond between employees.
On managerial practices
Management also plays a central role in a QWL policy. No employee likes management methods that are too rigid, too closed and lacking in tact. These outdated practices are a source of conflict and misunderstanding.
In a QWL policy, managers must show kindness and listen to their teams. Each employee must feel supported, recognized and valued in their work. Human, open and participative communication is the key to optimizing the quality of management at the heart of a company.
On societal and regulatory issues
A major pillar of the QWL, professional equality appears to be a source of motivation and additional well-being for employees. Employees sometimes feel abandoned or deprived of the same professional opportunities as their colleagues. This feeling of inequality is sometimes linked to their gender, age or social status.
In order to redress these inequities, the state requires companies with more than 50 employees to establish a gender equality index for the workplace. Other obligations, equally binding, concern the employment of disabled workers and equal opportunities regardless of ethnic or social origin.
On the issue of work
An employee easily gets bored if he or she performs laborious, redundant or not at all adapted to his or her skills. A company's QWL approach must resolve and prevent this situation, by ensuring that each employee finds interest and meaning in his or her work. This requires consultation between the management team and the employees, the objective being to distribute tasks and schedule them according to the affinities and skills of each person.
Basically, the main challenge is to put the right person in the right job, providing the right tools at the right time. If all of these conditions are met, the employee has all the ingredients to excel in his or her job.
The QWL according to ErgoSanté
ErgoSanté is fully committed to the values and principles of the QWL. Our activity is dedicated to the development of a healthy, safe and pleasant work environment for all employees. Our ergonomic chairs help companies to fight effectively against musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) and occupational diseases resulting from poor posture.
We also develop exoskeletons via our Hapo brand, a sector in which we are number one in France. Our latest models, HAPO UP and HAPO Front, are the fruit of three years of R&D and feedback from our previous equipment.
ErgoSanté also supports equal opportunities and promotes the values of inclusion. Our Cévennes workshop is the only Adapted Company in France working in the manufacture of ergonomic seats and passive exoskeletons.
