The relationship between quality of work life and human resource productivity in knowledge workers

Introduction: Health care systems depend critically on the size, skill, and commitment of the health workforce. Therefore, researchers have a close observation on the subjects which leads to an increase in the productivity of human resources. This study aims at determining the relationship between the quality of work life and the productivity of knowledge workers of the central field of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, in order to determine the factors effective in the quality of their working life. Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 300 individuals selected by stratified random sampling method. On 761 knowledge workers of the central field of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences by using Timossi questionnaire of Quality of Work Life and Knowledge Worker Productivity Assessment questionnaire of Antikainen, during May and June 2011. The collected data were recorded by SPSS version 15 software and then it underwent statistical analysis using Pearson correlation. The P value level for statistical significance was set at 0.05. Results: In general, 50% of the knowledge workers were dissatisfied about their quality of work life, and the other 50% had little satisfaction. 18% of the staff were in an unfavorable condition and 82% had a poor productivity. Also, the quality of work life had a positively significant relationship with the productivity of human resources (r=0.568; P > 0.001). Conclusion: Most of the knowledge workers in the central field of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences had low productivity and quality of work life. Considering the relationship between the two variables, taking measures to improve the quality of work life can lead to more creative and profound planning in presenting services and, as a result, improving the productivity of the knowledge workers.