Cellular Companies in Pakistan.

INTRODUCTION

It is a common observation that all work and no play have negative impacts on the lives of the employees of any organization. Extended working hours at work places are the main reasons of health complaints and work related stress can lead to several serious accidents. So far number of studies and research has been conducted in order to bring into attention the serious problems long working hours can cause to the human health and mental conditions of employees. Heart attacks, fatigue, stress, backaches and general health complaints are some of the issues one can face while working late and for longer period of time. A.E. Dembe in his article “Ethical Issues Relating to the Health Effects of Long working hours” which was published in April, 2009 reveals some of the major health issues that are caused due to the long working hours and shift work. According to A.E. Dembe's findings long working hours and shift work raises the odds for workers to be injured, to be fatigued, stressed, and to suffer from a range of serious medical illnesses.

In today's modern world economy has gained a pivotal position in any country's progress and prosperity. Development of a country is now judged on the basis of increase in its economy rate per year, and in order to compete with the world's economic market all the organizations of a country want workers who can work as much hours as they can. Some people are willing to work for late hours and can maintain a balance between work and private life, while most of the people have to work for late hours because they do not have an option and so they face some serious consequences for that. In many areas of the world eight hours is considered a traditional workday. Even though it is known as a standard workday, a large portion of the world population works more than eight hours. An employee often works more than eight hours a day because their employer requires it or because they need the money. Regardless of the reason for doing so, it has been proven that long hours can have a negative impact on an employee and his/her performance. The average hours worked by full time employees in Pakistan has increased over the last decade. Long work hours create work-life imbalance.A  Praveen Kumar Tumma in his article “Do working long hours increase the productivity of an employee?” said; maintaining a work-life balance is extremely important for both the employer and the employee as this will help boost productivity and thus helpful in the long term. By definitionWork-life balance is about being able to maintain a balance between work and personal responsibilities on all fronts: - Work and familyA A  - Work and personal fulfillment- Work and social and community responsibility (Women in Employment Committee, 2003). As we know happy worker is a productive worker. It means that a balanced work-life is as crucial for employer as for employees and their families. Every employee has a specific reason which acts as a source of motivation for the worker. Some people work to gain certain benefits, some for love and family and others for achieving goals of their lives. And if the motivation level goes down it ultimately affects the performance of the employee. Sometimes due to tough and busy schedule workers' lives become narrow as they do not get enough time to spend with their families, friends and for other activities like sports etc. this directly or indirectly effects employee's health, motivational level, fatigue levels and their performance. It is generally believed that working long hour's increases the productivity. This concept is not correct because there are number of other factors involved in the increase of productivity of an employee, according to Praveen Kumar Tumma, “it is a general concept that if employees would work for longer hours productivity will increasebut my opinion is different about that I think it's not an ideal thinking and this is nowhere proved scientifically or generally, productivity is not linked up with the working hours which an employee exert but to what extent they enjoys working this is the basic thing.The long working hours affect the employees in both ways, in negative as well as in positive way. Because it depends how employees think of it. If they feel happy working long hours and enjoys their work then this will ultimately leads them to satisfy their basic needs and to achieve their personal goals (for example, helping others, or receipt of recognition of skills and achievements).Working on extended time some time provides employees with ‘Quality time'when there is no disturbance or very low and essentially rewarding work is complete, and prevention of the ‘rush hours' when traffic overcrowding is at its climax.

Usually long working hours are taken as progress of work and increase in pay and benefits of employees, which usually increases the motivation level among employees who work longer and can lead to higher productivity. On the other prospective, long working hours effect negatively as well. Negative cost often depend on a series of factors such as the level of the responsibilities of employees for their families and his/her commitment in society activities. Long hours may function as a straight stressor in that workers need to continue performing sufficiently in spite of exhaustion. According to the report issued by Circadian Technologies “un hygienic working conditions and sleeping deficiency can also lead to ergonomics injuries and lost workdays, especially among employees in extended-hours positions (regularly working outside the hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.)

This study identifies the effects of the long work hours and well being of employees of Ufone PTML, a telecom organization operating in Pakistan and the families of these employees in Pakistani perspective. This study will specifically examine the effects of long work hours on the employees of the Call Center Department.

Organization's Background

Ufone is one of the most popular and leading cellular companies in Pakistan. Initially it was used as a brand name for Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation Limited (PTCL) which started its operation in 2001. But later on, when PTCL was privatized Ufone started functioning under the banner of Emirates Telecommunication Corporation Group (Etisalat) and became a part of it in 2006. Since than Ufone started working efficiently and till now it has expanded its network coverage to more than 750 cities, towns etc all over the country.A A 

Operating Performance

Ufone's operational performance has been very encouraging. Despite the stiff competition in Pakistan telecom market which has led to reduction of prices to bare minimum level, due to its aggressive policies and exercising strict control over expenses the Company managed to improve its revenue and after-tax profit by 87% and 54% respectively, as compared to last year.

Future Plans

Keeping in view the growth potential of the cellular industry there is no option but to be aggressive in order to remain a potent force in the cellular industry. In order to extend cellular network to new cities, towns and highways and enhance its current installed capacities in existing cities, Ufone has finalized a huge network expansion contract amounting to about USD 550 million, which will enhance the subscribers' capacity by 10 million. This is the largest ever expansion project of Ufone. A strong focus will be on maintaining high quality of service, which is always a benchmark of Ufone, increasing usage and exploring new revenue streams on value added services, market visibility through various market initiatives to fulfill subscribers' satisfaction and demand and above all to increase the value of investment for the shareholders.

2. Ufone Mission

In order to evolve with our customers and to keep pace with your needs, we rejuvenated and revamped our image by changing our visual identity

3. Ufone Vision

To be the leading Telecommunication Services Provider in Pakistan by offering innovative Communication solutions for our Customers while exceeding Shareholder value & Employee Expectations.

4. UFONE Departments

Mainly the company has Nine departments. Their names along with some description are given below:

1. Human Recourse Management
2. IT
3. Finance
4. Administration
5. Procurement
6. Engineering
7. Sales & Marketing
8. Customer Services
9. Credit and Collection department.

Customer service

This department is basically the focus of this study. Its main function is to facilitate customers. PTA met whatever the requirements of the customers. But, there are certain rules established by this department which must be abide by the customers. They also help the customer by providing them the facility of “Call Center” (Help Line).

Rationale of the Project Research:

The purpose of this research is to provide profound knowledge of the topic, “affects of long working hours on employee performance”, different aspects of the issue and to summarize the topic with some positive findings. In the last decade, by globalization, Pakistani society faces different changes in the behavior of individuals, culture, technology, living style etc. This change ultimately also brought changes in the workplace environment. The objective of study is to convince employers that they can no longer afford to ignore the issue of work-life balance. If company wants to hire people, to retain them, motivate them, or to do succession planning they need to help employees balance their work-life.

Problem Statement

The research problem central to this study is:

The effects of long working hours on employee's performance of Ufone PTML.

Objective of the Study

Aim of this study is to look at different practical and theoretical approaches in which the long working hours affects the health, fatigue, motivational level and performance of the employees of Ufone's Call Center Department. The main objectives of this study are as follows:

• To analyze the affects of working long hours on the health, motivational level, fatigue and work performance on the employees.
• The study will also examine the positive change i.e. improvement in the performance, health, fatigue level and motivational level of the employees in case the working hours are reduced.
• It'll illustrate the significance of the literature and the conclusions drawn.

Literature Review

The challenges of dealing with long working hours and maintaining the optimum performance level is part of everyday reality for the majority of employees working in the telecom sector of Pakistan.

We believe that this report offers a different, holistic and productive approach to the challenge of dealing with long working hours and minimizing the consequences it has on the employees' performance. Employer has a major role to play in this regard. Employers can't change the situation drastically by simply offering the policies of flexible timings for the employees. Employees must be brought into the process of designing and implementing flexible schedules for themselves in a way which leads them to perform in an optimum way and reach high levels of productivity.

By doing so, the participants can jointly address the dual agenda of restructuring work and careers to meet both the organization's needs and how through their performance they can meet their respective targets.

Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation, Dr. Andrew McCulloch while showing his concern on the rising number of people who work for long hours said that even though we hear a lot about the flexible work timings and other policies for the employees still the number of people working for long hours is increasing day by day. Initially parents were the only victims of the tough routine but now this issue doesn't simply stick to the parents. It is now must for everyone else too to maintain a balance between work and family life in order to avoid serious mental health issues. While highlighting the significance of the research conducted by the mental Health Foundation he further added that this situation will really cause some serious issues to the individuals in the long term.

The culture of the workplace can have a significant impact on the ability of workers to balance their work and family lives. Company's workplace culture and climate affect employees' perceptions that their company helps them work at a pace, which improves their productivity and enhances performance (Berg, 1997).

Studying the impact of and dealing with the problems associated with long working hours and its effect on employees' performance has become increasingly important in recent years across the Pakistan. This is due to the changes in the patterns and demands of work and changes in the needs and aspirations of employees from their work. The fast pace of technological development and an increased participation in the labor market; necessitate organizational changes and higher flexibility is the need of work force and employees simultaneously. The above factor has an impact on both individual workers and the success of companies (European Union, 2006).

Various measures to achieve reconciliation traditionally included parental leave, maternity leave, paternity leave, childcare, benefits etc, as the term is closely linked to employment policy; it now also includes working time arrangement, flexible forms of employment, labor market flexibility, specific leave, etc. This is the how the term is used.

Lonnie Golden in his briefing paper which was published under the banner of Economic Policy Institute, Washington D.C. gave three reasons due to which the long work hours affect the labor's productivity. According to him “Labor productivity is likely to be harmed by longer and more variable hours, for three reasons. One is fatigue effects. As the work week lengthens, productivity declines. A second is adverse efficiency wage effects. If workers interpret the removal of the overtime premium during the long work weeks as a cut in pay, they may respond by reducing work effort, leading to a decline in organizational productivity.

Possible reasons include financial necessity, fear of job if they do not work the long hours, or personal commitment to an entrenched corporate culture (Qu, 2004). Susan Living in his article published on 5th October 2009 with the name “How Long Work Hours Effect Employee Health and Wellness”, describes several points in which long working hours effects badly on human minds and health. According to him, Employees can:

• Become exhausted, demotivated and dissatisfied.
• Produce less work and/or lower quality work
• Become more prone to sickness either major of minor health problems or likewise the ratio of sick leaves also increase which affects not only the employee's performance and morale but also affects the business.
• Can be ashamed of being unable to work for long hours.
• Develop symptoms of workplace stress, possibly leading to serious ill-health down the track.
• Not have enough time to spend with partners and children so their personal relationships and wellbeing can suffer.
• Feel forced into making unfair and unrealistic choices between demonstrating dedications to the job and giving to their families.
• They believe that they will be perceived as lacking commitment if they ask for time off or will forfeit any possibility for advancement at work if they speak up and ask for a reasonable balance.
• Eventually give up and resign which can represent a loss of valuable talent for the employer and create more staff replacement costs.

Having a good look at all of these points makes us realize that having employees work more and longer hours does not necessarily result in more work or higher quality work. In fact, the opposite is likely to occur and employee health and wellness and the health and wellness of the organization suffer accordingly. According to a study conducted by Muhammadi Sabra Nadeem and Dr. Qaisar Abbas of Management Sciences Department, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Islamabad in 2009 one of the organizational crises is because of the conflict in family matters and work matters. With the increase in dual family parents, the demanding jobs and long working hour made the things tough for employees to keep the balance among job and family life.

In past work life balance problem was only thought and perceived to be attached with only female workers. Men's are not expected to take the care matters like partnering and caring but only to focus on their jobs so they don't feel any problem regarding work, family balance (Hearn, 1999).

According to HR Magazine published in 2005 dilemma of work and family balance is now a days is also going to be a major problem with male workers as well. As recent research statistics shows that there is not such difference in the activities of men and women (HR magazine, October 2005).

A Survey conducted by The Mental Health Foundation discloses some important findings regarding the dissatisfaction and unhappiness of the employees and the reason behind this discontent. According to the survey; “mostly it happened that the amount time u spend out of working period is greater than actual work period in office result.A  And if that happen the increase in persons weekly hours increase the level of tension among those employees" The economical developments has increased the pressure on employees to work hard and put more efforts in doing their work. Though the organizations in Pakistan are paying healthy wages and salaries but the nature of work and routine has been bit hard for these workers of organizations. All these factors like work stress, long working hours and family problems leads to job dissatisfaction.

A survey conducted by the researchers at the center for Labour Research at Adelaide University says that long hours are bad for individuals, couple relationships, children and the community fabric.

HYPOTHESIS TO BE INVESTIGATED

H0: Long working hours are not affecting the performance of employees.

h3: Long working hours are affecting the performance of employees.

H0: Fatigue does not result from working long hours.

h3: Fatigue results from working long hours.

H0:A  Health of employees is not affected by long working hours

h3: Health of employees is affected by long working hours.

H0: Motivational level of employees is not affected by long working hours.

h3: Motivational level of employees is affected by long working hours.

PROJECT AUDIENCE

The audience of the project is employees of Ufone PTML who were asked to fill in a questionnaire comprising of 22 questions. The findings and recommendations will be used by the private sector companies to analyze the effect of long working hours on the motivational level, fatigue, physical health and overall performance of employees.

Methodology

This section will discuss the sample selection procedure, the model used for the research and the statistical techniques employed to find out that how long working hours affect the employees of Ufone's Call Center Department. The chapter will present how the research will be implemented and how to come up with the important findings.

Sample

Sampling methodology adopted for data collection is based on purposive sampling, as sample was selected from specific target. Main focus area is Call Center Department. To carry this research we have chosen Telecom Sector. In this regard we have selected samples of employees from Ufone's Call center.

The sampling frame is the total number of employees currently working at this department. We have assign numbers to the employees and chosen the sample of 117 employees on the basis of random sampling.

Sources of Data

For this project, we would be collecting primary and secondary data. Primary data would be gathered by visiting Ufone and observing its functionality, interviewing and interpreting result out of that. Primarily, the data would be presented through questionnaire method. Focus group technique would also be used for better observation and understanding. Secondary collection of the data would be studied from the prior research on the selected topic. Also, it would clearly define the purpose of our research.

Procedure

The data analysis tool which would be used in our study is SPSS. SPSS is a user friendly data analysis tool which accelerates data analysis and report generation. To check the effect of long hours and well being of employees and their families in Pakistani Perspective, a questionnaire will be developed and used for data collection.

Few of the relationships that would help in summarizing the meaningful findings are;

• Positive effect and negative of work on family
• Satisfaction with hours and pay
• Positive effect of work on employee

Population

This is descriptive hypothesis testing study conducted on employee work performance, fatigue, health and motivational level of the employees of Ufone. A total of 150 respondents were contacted. The rate of response was 90.67%. The sample is taken from Ufone.

Measurement

In this study we focused on effects of long working hours on employees working the Call Center Department at Ufone including following facts:A  Work performance, motivational level, fatigue and health. These concepts were measured as follows:

Work Performance

It is measured by five items. Work performance of employees can be measured using methods of;

• Performance Appraisals
• Job Analysis
• Balanced Scorecard
• Gap Analysis
• Financial Assessment.

In this study method of Performance Appraisal (Dulewicz 1989) was used to measure work performance of the employees. This method is basically a simple way of income justification. This system was introduced to find out whether the salary of an employee is justified or not. According to Dulewicz 1989 a basic human tendency is to make judgments about those one is working with, as well as about oneself.

This method considers only material outcomes. If an employee's performance is not according to the expectations of the supervisor he/she has to face a cut in pay and if it is according to what supervisor has expected than there'll be a rise in employee's pay. This method is basically used to find out the importance of an employee to the organization by analyzing his/her attributes i.e. weaknesses, strengths, successes and failures.

Motivational Level

Every person is motivated by something. Whether this motivation comes from people and activities you enjoy like family, hobbies, eating, volunteering, or work, Motivational Level is measured using Maslow's Hierarchy Theory. This theory was presented by Dr. Abraham Maslow in 1943. According to his theory human beings have number of unsatisfied desires and these are the motivating factors for which they work i.e. to fulfill those needs. According to Maslow's leadership employers should understand these lower level needs like survival, love, respect, safety, physiological etc to be satisfied before higher needs of the employees.

Fatigue

According to a research conducted by Joanne White and Johanna Beswick one of the first effects of working long hours is that many people suffer from is fatigue. It seems intuitively obvious that working long hours will make an individual tired or fatigued. Researchers have analyzed fatigue effects in two ways: either by measuring it directly as an end in itself, or indirectly in terms of performance or health effects that are thought to be associated with fatigue.

Fatigue can be measured by Research, Questionnaire etc. In this study The Piper Fatigue Scale is used to measure fatigue. It is basically a Survey comprised of 22 questions and takes only few minutes to complete and give accurate assessment of one's current fatigue level. The results of Piper Fatigue Scale give the degree to which the fatigue is affecting employee's senses, thinking, behavior, emotions and overall.

Health

Health is measured by using Goteborg Quality of Life Instrument (Tibblin), (Tibblin, G., Svardsudd, K., Welin, L., Erikson, H. & Larsson, B. (1993). This clinical tool deals with physical, psychological and social understandings. The psychological elements include fatigue, concentration, depression, memory, sleep and disturbance. The GLQ instrument seems to provide a reliable data and stable assessment of health and welfare of the employees.

Results and Discussion

Data Analysis

After the whole data was collected and compiled, it is analyzed by different modern data analytical techniques. We used latest spss version to have a detailed analysis of our variables relating our objectives in formulation of our result.

This empirical study is based on the affect of long working hours on the employee's performance of Ufone taking in consideration their call center department. The variables of motivation, physical health and fatigue are measured by the given scales. And their relation is reviewed with the employee performance and long working hours. It was derived that motivation is the strongest variable among all. By this we concluded that motivation plays the pivotal role, in order to improve the performance of our employees. We also concluded that fatigue and physical health are also playing significant role in improving the performance.

Independent Sample Test(T- Test)

Fatigue

Fatigue plays the significant part in performance of the organization. After analysis the mean of fatigue has found to be 2.1987 and the standard deviation has found to be 0.9990375. The viability of the variable is originated by applying the t-test. This test concludes as, if we have higher value T and greater interval of difference the variable will b more viable and practical.

One-Sample Statistics

	N	Mean	Std. Deviation
Fatigue	117	2.1987	0.9990375

One-Sample Test
	Test Value = 0
Fatigue	t	df	Sig. (2-tailed)	Mean Difference	95% Confidence Interval of the Difference
					Lower	Upper
do you agree that working long hours can lead to health problem eg (a,ha,hyp,stress)	31.882	116	.000	2.78632	2.6132	2.9594
doyou think there should be a policy of fatigue management	35.946	116	.000	2.97436	2.8105	3.1382
did you ever experience job related stress health issues etc due to long.w.hours	35.289	116	.000	2.96581	2.7994	3.1323
do you feel that higher management is concerned about physical health of their employees	20.490	116	.000	2.36752	2.1387	2.5964

Health

Health is another important variable which is playing the significant part in performance of the organization. After analysis the mean of health has found as 2.7735 and the standard deviation has found as 0.999805. The viability of the variable is originated by applying the t-test. This test concludes as, if we have higher value T and greater interval of difference the variable will b more viable and practical.

One-Sample Statistics

	N	Mean	Std. Deviation
Health	117	2.7735	.999805

One-Sample Test
	Test Value = 0
Health	t	df	Sig. (2-tailed)	Mean Difference	95% Confidence Interval of the Difference
					Lower	Upper
do you agree that working long hours can lead to health problem eg (a,ha,hyp,stress)	31.882	116	.000	2.78632	2.6132	2.9594
doyou think there should be a policy of fatigue management	35.946	116	.000	2.97436	2.8105	3.1382
did you ever experience job related stress health issues etc due to long.w.hours	35.289	116	.000	2.96581	2.7994	3.1323
do you feel that higher management is concerned about physical health of their employees	20.490	116	.000	2.36752	2.1387	2.5964

Motivation

Motivation is third important variable which is playing the significant part in performance of the organization. After analysis the mean of motivation is found to be 2.8803 and the standard deviation is found to be 0.980665 the viability of the variable is found by applying the t-test. This test concludes as, if we have higher value of T and greater interval of difference the variable will be more viable and practical.

One-Sample Statistics

	N	Mean	Std. Deviation
Motivation	117	2.8803	0.980665

One-Sample Test
	Test Value = 0
Motivation	t	df	Sig. (2-tailed)	Mean Difference	95% Confidence Interval of the Difference
					Lower	Upper
do you consider that long working hours has anything to do with the motivation level	27.926	116	.000	2.75214	2.5569	2.9473
do you agree that employees motivation depends upon the needs and wants that are fundamental	36.346	116	.000	3.00855	2.8446	3.1725

So the whole reliability analysis says,

Motive	N	Cronbach`sA  alpha
Fatigue	117	0.242
Health	117	0.080
Motivation	117	0.137

Group statistics

The mean and standard deviation for the 3 variables namely employee health, fatigue and motivation are upon 5 point scale (1= strongly disagree and 5= strongly agreed, hence we can 1 is the lowest and 5 is the highest.

Variables	N	Mean	Standard Deviation
Fatigue	117	2.1987	0.9990375
Health	117	2.7735	0.999805
Motivation	117	2.8803	0.980665

The above described data analysis shows that motivation is the strongest variable affecting employee's performance. The above results are summarized in the following table and can be compared easily

Conclusion

After applying the T-test we reached to the following conclusion:

Our third hypothesis, motivation led to higher employee performance as shown in the empirical analysis i.e. mean. The results proved that when employees are highly motivated it enhances their overall performance level.

In short, if the general level of motivation is high amongst employees they would feel more empowered, which would help the organization to be more efficient and committed towards their tasks and in turn lead to higher employee performance. The more committed employees are; the better is the performance of the organization and hence, that would lead to the development of the organization.

Our hypothesis relating motivation and employee performance is strongly recommended which is evident from the empirical analysis i.e. mean. The results show that high level of employee motivation will result in high employee performance. So organizations must motivate their employees in order to achieve proficiency.

So concluding our results we come to know that the employees of the organization with high level of motivation will be more dedicated and empowered which will make them well organized, devoted and loyal towards the task and will lead to high employee performance. So we can say that if the employees of the organization will be committed they will give better performance and this will ultimately results in development of the organization.

On the basis of this research it is concluded that both motivational level and employee performance are directly proportional. So organizations should emphasis more on motivating their employees in order to achieve innovation and development. But along with this the importance of other variables such as low levels of fatigue and maintaining good physical health are also important factors.

In the end, on the basis of this research we can say that there is a positive relationship between employee motivational level and employee performance. Therefore organizations should concentrate their efforts more towards motivating employees and by doing so, the organization itself would be more innovative and developed. But at the same time the importance of keeping fatigue levels low and maintaining good physical health amongst employees are important factors.

Discussion

The present study is based on the theoretical framework on the effect of long working hours on the health, fatigue levels and motivational levels of employees. This is the empirical study in respect to employees at Ufone PTML described and compared along with the hypothesis. Employee performance is dependent upon three variables: health, fatigue and motivational level.

Means of all variables have been compared with one another.A  It has been observed that motivation is the strongest variable amongst the others. This means that motivation has the greatest impact on employee performance.

The entire mentioned hypotheses are tested empirically and results are as under

h3: hypothesis on employee performance is positively related and radically associated with the health, fatigue and motivational lev2el. It is scored higher by the respondents and the value is found to be 0.336 alpha

H2: hypothesis on fatigue is also positively related and radically associated with the long working hours and the value is found to be 0.242 alpha.

H3: hypothesis on health is also positively related and radically associated with the long working hours and it is scored by the respondents as 0.080 alpha.

H3: hypothesis on motivation is found to be positively related and radically associated with the long working hours and it is scored highest by the respondents as 0.137 alpha.

Findings

150 questionnaires were floated amongst the employees of Ufone.

117 questionnaires were returned. The response rate was 90.67 %.

14 Questionnaires were rejected as they do not provide the sufficient information to conduct the analysis.

Sample size of 117 employees is used for the final analysis.

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