ASSIGNMENT ON

PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT IN
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

Submitted By

Pawar Abhishek Arun

( 20211218 )

F.Y.MTECH. Construction Management

Department of civil engineering

Government college of engineering, karad.
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Abstract:

Construction projects are facing many problems from day to day in their
business. human resource management in the construction of a sustainable
development project even though construction uses more manpower in its
business activities.

Compared to other fields, its human resource management is still inadequate

and Insufficient. The problem concerning human resource management in the
construction of a sustainable development project needs to be identified and
methods for improvement need to be formulated for the success of the project.

A combination of questionnaire survey and case study were used as

methodologies for this study. The main problems of human resource
management in the construction of a sustainable project have been identified.
There were project managers’ roles, communication between team members
and insufficient teamwork.

The main methods for improvement have also been discovered; namely, more
communication among team members, the appointment of a more experienced
project manager and the assignment of more skilled workers.

1. Introduction:

Construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of an

Infrastructure.

Large scale construction is a feat of multi-tasking. Normally the

Job is managed by the project manager and supervised by the construction
manager, design engineer, construction engineer or project architect.

For the success of construction of any sustainable development project, many

aspects must be taken into consideration, inclusive of planning and
management, such as human resource, safety and health, construction delays,

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the designs of architecture and engineering, material availability and quality; the
clients need, and financial or economic limitations.

One of the aspects which are crucial in this study is human resource
management. The term ‘human resource management’(HRM) and ‘human
resources’ (HR) have largely replaced the term ‘personnel
management’ as a description of the processes involved in managing people in
Organizations. In simple words, HRM means employing people, developing
their capacities, utilizing, maintaining and compensating their services in tune
with the job and organizational requirement.

This study will emphasize and discuss HRM in the construction of a sustainable
development project as the main factor for success of the construction project.
In addition, it will also analyze the factors that influence HRM and discover the
methods or ways to enhance and improve it.

2. Personnel management in the construction of a

Sustainable development project:

Construction has been studied all over the world in terms of HRM in many
countries such as in India, Europe, Australia and even Asia. A lot of journals,
theses, case studies and books have been produced regarding human resource in
the construction of a sustainable development project.

The authors’ analysis varies according to their experiences and research but all
has been done for one main goal which is the impact of HRM in the
construction of a sustainable development project. Previous research has been
unable to really prove the effectiveness of HRM and techniques for
improvement.

HRM is defined as a field of organizational activity and professional practice

which has a complex and unclear entity, variously interpreted by practitioners
and researchers Slotted defined HRM as covering functions related primarily to
training, career development, organizational development, and research
development.

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HRM as an academic discipline includes the development of knowledge and

expertise and the enhancement of performance. A forceful HRM system is
also the most valuable asset of 21st century construction companies, as an
enterprise’s productivity is closely correlated with its strategies. With rapid
changes in technology, workers’ needs, current market, and competitive
environment, planning for human resources has become an important and
challenging task for development.

Human resource planning involves plans for the future needs of employees,
their required skills, acquisition of employees, and personnel development.

2.1 Project success:

HRM has had its own consequences towards the success of a sustainable
development project. indicated the positive impact of effective HRM by
concluding that it was a factor
for project success.

Following is ten success factors for a project,

1. Project mission: initial clarity of objectives and general directions.

2. Project schedule: a detailed specification of the individual action steps
required for project implementation.
3. Client consultation: communication and consultation; listening to all
parties involved.
4. Technical tasks: availability of the required technology and expertise to
accomplish the specific technical action steps.
5. Client acceptance: the act of ‘‘selling’’ the final projects to their
ultimate intended users.
6. Monitoring and feedback: timely provision of comprehensive control
information at each stage in the implementation process.
7. Communication: the provision of an appropriate network and necessary
data to all key actors.
8. Trouble-shooting: ability to handle unexpected crises and deviations

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from plan.
9. Management support: willingness of top management to provide the
necessary resources and authority/power for project success.
10. Personnel (recruitment, selection and training):
recruitment, selection
and training of the necessary personnel for the team.
Personnel were placed at number 10 in the success factor of a project. This
means that people have less contribution to the success of a project which is
very surprising.

2.2 Policy and practice:

Within the typical HRM literature, there was a long tradition of research
arguing that in order to make an optimal contribution to firm performance,
HRM policies and practices should be integrated both with a firm strategy – so-
called vertical strategic integration and with each other so called horizontal
integration.

The orientation of the HRM function, its goals and aims, needs to be aligned
with the strategy of the organization. If ‘‘managing by projects’’ was considered
As the strategy of the project-oriented company, it would imply that the HRM
policies, processes, and practices in the project-oriented company are in some
Way supportive of project-oriented working.

HRM changes due to the people itself and the working environment.
Management should apply their policy and strategy according to the needs of its
employees. This is to ensure that they can respond positively and contribute to
the company.

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2.3 Training:

There was an argument as to whether the level of skill among the labours
contributed a significant effect toward project success or vice versa. Training
and development was defined as a process of developing work-related
knowledge and skills of employees for the purpose of improving the projects
performance systematically.

Managers, executives, and supervisors influenced the transfer of knowledge

and skills to their subordinates.

The training of extension personnel contributes directly to the development of

human resources within extension organizations. Training has to start with the
recognition of training needs through job analysis, performance assessment, and
organizational analysis.

Once the training needs have been identified, the next step is to
organize training programs. Methods such as role-playing, simulation exercises,
and case studies can be used in the training of human resources in the
construction of a sustainable development project.

2.4 Skilled and unskilled labour:

Construction is the industry that use manpower in a large scale compared to

other industries. Construction of a sustainable development project involves a
variety of people starting from the clients, administrators, managers, designers,
contractors, consultants, supervisors, foremen, skilled and unskilled labourers.

These people all differ in terms of education, experience and views. Even
though construction is viewed as an industry that uses the most of human
resource due to its low technology and reliance on people, the attention given to
its HRM issues is still inadequate and insufficient.

According to the studies done on various construction projects all around the
world, it shows that HRM issues and problems regarding the personnel and

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labour in construction greatly influenced the success and performance of a

project.

3. Objective:

First to identify HRM as one of the key aspects in the success of constructing a
sustainable development project. It also addresses a second objective in
identifying the problems/issues of human resource in the construction of a
sustainable development project and finds the methods to improve it.

4. Methodology:

This research was carried out by literature review. It was then followed by data
collection using questionnaires and interviews. The observation and monitoring
on HRM approaches were conducted among contractors. The pilot survey was
conducted to identify and ensure the effectiveness of the questionnaire survey.

The problems regarding HRM in the construction of a sustainable

development project and The methods used to improve HRM in the
construction of a sustainable development project in the past.

The pilot survey or exploratory survey was a small scale methodological test
intended to ensure that proposed methods and procedures would work in
practice before being applied in a large and expensive investigation.

The aim of the data collection was to gather information regarding HRM and
human resource itself in construction site. The data collection was conducted
using qualitative research which is concerned with testing the theory presented
in the objective. The data collections were undertaken in two ways:

Questionnaire

This was the main alternative to gather information. People are more truthful
while responding to questionnaires regarding controversial issues, in particular
due to the fact that their responses are anonymous.

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General Information, Problems/Issues of HRM in the Construction of a

Sustainable Development Project and Methods to Improve HRM in the
Construction of a Sustainable Development Project. For this section, the
respondents were asked about their background. The questions that had been
asked were:

Years of experience in construction projects

Number of projects they had been involved in
The importance of HRM in the construction of sustainable
development projects

5. Compensation of employees:

The compensation of employees makes it possible for the employer to

appreciate the actual performance of the employees and stimulate them to do the
required job and perform as required.

The employees’ compensation is implemented through multiple payroll tools

including but not limited to the standard wages, bonuses paid for extraordinary
working conditions, or employees’ benefits provided based on the employment
contract with the aim of keeping the employees satisfied and loyal.

A basic tool that companies employ is the differentiation of employees’ wages,

determination of the relative value of the work, and adequate wage rates
assigned to individual professions although the traditional rate-based
compensation is always more and more replaced with the modern performance-
based compensation system that associates the working performance and related
compensation to the achievement of individual and collective objectives.

6. Welfare:

Employee welfare entails everything from services, facilities and benefits that
are provided or done by an employer for the advantage or comfort of an

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employee. It is undertaken in order to motivate employees and raise the

productivity levels.

In most cases, employee welfare comes in monetary form, but it doesn’t always
bend that way. Other forms of employee welfare include housing, health
insurance, stipends, transportation and provision of food.
An employer may also cater for employees’ welfare by monitoring their
working conditions. Employee welfare raises the company’s expenses but if it
is done correctly, it has huge benefits for both employer and employee.

7. Case study:

The Project Manager, Mr. Abang Abdul Halil Abang Naili, was the main
contractor said that HRM should be more focused on communication
and the spirit of teamwork in the construction team. The key to success in the
construction of a sustainable development project was teamwork, with an in-
built mechanism for communication from everyone in the construction site.

The channel of communication should flow freely from top to bottom and also
from the bottom to the top. This will strengthen the teamwork in the
construction team and hence increase the performance of that particular project.
As for the subcontractors, their view towards HRM was more towards the
labourers and supervisors on-site.

According to Mr. Wan Mohd Nazim Wan Muhammad, one of the sub-
contractor in this project, the problem at the construction project was to get the
skilled workers, particularly in specialized fields, such as the post tensioning
work. By assigning more skilled workers, the project’s performance and
workflow will undoubtedly increase by a large margin.

They had a case on this site where progress had been delayed due to a problem
regarding the post tensioning work. The slab concreting process had been put on
hold for about 2–3 weeks because of this problem. The reason for the delay was
due to the slow installation of the post tensioning work that had been caused by
a lack of skilled workers for the respective task. The problem had been solved
by bringing in the skilled workers and the progress for the project had increased
significantly.

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Table 3 shows that the progress of the site was very slow from February 2010
to March 2010 but had increased significantly from March 2010 to April 2010.
According to Mr. Nazim, this was the time when the skilled workers for the post
tensioning work had been brought in. He also added that starting on April 2010
and the remaining months the site had been able to cast four slabs in a month.

Table 3: Project’s progress for three consecutive months. Scheduled Progress

On-site Progress

8. Conclusion and recommendation:

Based on the research done, it can be concluded that HRM in the construction
of a sustainable development project needs to be further improved from time to
time for its effectiveness. From the survey and the case study, the authors
believe that the contractors in Malaysia had an awareness of HRM in the
construction of a sustainable development project. However, improvements in
many aspects need to be considered in order to ensure the effectiveness of
HRM.

The first objective of this study which was to determine HRM as one of the key
aspects for the success of construction of a sustainable development project had
been achieved. All the respondents in the survey and the case study had agreed
that HRM was important for the success of construction of a sustainable
development project.

The second objective; to identify the problems/issues of human resources in the

construction of a sustainable development project had also been achieved. The
respondents had given their various opinions and views towards the subject
matter.

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Even though the responses given varied from one person to another, the authors
believed that the feedback obtained was reliable and accurate considering the
fact that the respondents were from the contractor’s company. The authors
suggest that, for further research, the survey needs to be carried out in a larger
scope.

Instead of involvement only from contractors’ opinions, the authors believe that,
by involving other parties inclusive of the consultants, suppliers and even the
clients in the survey, the results will be much more reliable, adequate and
applicable towards the construction of a sustainable development project in
Malaysia.

The authors also suggest that the methods to improve HRM that have been
discussed in the survey can be put into practice by the contractors’ companies.
As the feedback of the survey came from the contractors themselves, the
authors strongly believe that the methods were effective to improve HRM in the
construction of a sustainable development project for the betterment of not just
the contractors but also for consultants, clients and even the country.

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