Using work stress measurement to develop and implement a TQM programme: a case of counter clerks in Serbian Post

Abstract

Every concept of total quality management depends on the appropriate actions of people involved in the business. Managers usually pay attention to what should be done, ignoring how their actions or directives could affect their colleagues' behaviour or their feelings. The model proposed in this paper puts employees' mental health in the centre of attention in order to design and implement a TQM programme. First of all, the parameters of the observed business process in a specific company should be defined. The actual condition of each parameter should be assessed by analysing the stress level of employees. With further analysis, conclusions can be reached about the exact part of the organisation where improvement should be done. Hence, the use of this model can help companies to achieve a successful and sustainable business. In this paper, work stress index (WSI) and employee dissatisfaction index (EDI) are defined in order to quantify employees' stress level caused by work conditions and employee's dissatisfaction about some aspects of the business process. WSI and EDI also give the possibility to compare different companies, various departments in a company or business parameters between themselves. The proposed model has been tested and verified through a research carried out at Serbian Post.

Keywords:

• business process
• employees
• measurement and improvement model
• work stress index
• employee dissatisfaction index

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by Serbian Ministry of Science and Technological Development with project TR 36022.