A study of the scope and significance of occupational welfare in the management of large modern telecommunications service organisations.

The significance of occupational welfare both as a subject and a function in the human resources management of organisations has been undervalued by academics and professional managers in industry in Nigeria and the U.K. for many years. Evidence to support this claim lies in the fact that only a handful of articles and books have been
written and few researches carried out about welfare practices in both countries since 1967 when Martin (I) published what is now the only comprehensive and concise account of welfare at work.
Books and articles have consistently failed to address the main issue of concern which is to examine and evaluate how far occupational welfare is impartant in the human resources management of organisations. The research presented in this dissertation provides insight in this area
of concern and in addition offers suggestions to enable organisations in Nigeria and the U.K. to respond more appropriately to their employee welfare needs.
The thesis begins by developing a picture of the scope of occupational welfare (in both countries) which encompasses its origin and development, a review of existing literature and a comprehensive definition of occupational welfare.
Having set the scene, the significance of occupational welfare in the human resources management of an organisation is examined and evaluated by presenting a case study of welfare services in British Telecom
followed by an indepth survey of employee welfare services in the Nigerian External Telecom. Both studies explore the labyrinth of issues relevant to the formulation of welfare policy. The object has been to discover the kind of employee welfare services provided, how they are
managed and what role they play in the human resources management of the organisatians concerned.
Careful analysis of this informatíon leads to the development of sample systems models of occupational welfare.
1. A general model of an Occupational Welfare Systems.
2. The Wholeperson Concept Model.
3. An Employee Counselllng Model.
4. A Group Welfare Service Provision Model.
These models can be used as a framework within which to review occupational welfare practices and procedures in organisations and to reach conclusions on how welfare may best be organlsed and managed in order to play a more
effective role in the management of an organisation.
The thesis ends with a number of proposals on the future development and practice of occupational welfare.

Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.