Employee participation in a Quality Circle program: Impact on quality of work life, productivity, and absenteeism

Abstract

To assess the impact of a quality circle (QC) program at a manufacturing firm, 46 participants (mean age 44 yrs) and 46 nonparticipants (mean age 40 yrs) were surveyed before and after implementation of the QC program. Multiple regression analysis revealed a positive relation between QC participation and changes in quality of work life (QWL) perceptions in areas directly involved in QC activities but not in more general work life areas. Given that participants' QWL scores tended not to change and nonparticipants tended to report decreases in QWL from before to after the QC program implementation, the results suggest that QC involvement acted more to provide social support to buffer participants from negative contextual factors than to enhance equality of work life. Organizational records also were assessed from 6 mo before to 24 mo after adoption of the QC program and showed that QC participation led to improvements in employee productivity and absenteeism rates. (25 ref) (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)