HRM Practices in the Construction Industry

The assignment highlights the importance of adopting HRM practices that encourage and support the development of human resources within a workplace, particularly in the construction industry. It emphasizes the need for businesses to adopt a long-term perspective when hiring employees and providing proper training and development sessions. The report also discusses the limitations of the human focus approach, including lack of support from top-level management and high costs of training programs.

Construction
Management
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction .....................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References......................................................................................................................................10
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INTRODUCTION
In modern era, the focus of construction business have been on their clients and market.
Further construction is termed as one of the major elements which contributes to the economic
growth of a country. One of the main issue which has been faced by most of the construction
companies are related to human resources management. Workers are considered as one of the
most important assets of any organization and their management is essential for success and
growth. The present report highlights theories related to human resources management. Although
the construction industry is labour intensive, it do not give proper attention to HRM practises
which is a major drawback. The use of technology is very less and most of the time human
resources are used to complete a particular project. Thus, at present the biggest problem with this
industry is that the labour is not utilized to the highest extent. Other than this, by adapting
effective HRM practises, the construction companies can easily recruit skilled personnels and
release the best out of them.
Theories of HRM
As per the Harvard framework in HRM practises the line managers are required to accept
their responsibility and ensure the fact that proper integration of competitive strategy and
personnel policy has been done. On the other hand, the employees are responsible to implement
those strategies in the same way as they were designed by the management. According to the
guest model of HRM, there are 6 major dimension of analysis (Carrillo and Chinowsky, 2006).
The dimension are human resource management strategy, HRM practises, HRM outcomes,
behaviours outcomes, performance outcomes and financial outcomes. Further the hard and soft
are the two major element of HRM. The hard one focuses on the entire cost which is going to be
incurred by the employees of an organization whereas the soft elements concentrate on human
aspect of HRM. In the year 1995, Storey developed a theory with focused on the people
approach. Further he argued that in order to achieve the goal and objective, organizations are
required to develop and utilize their employees in best possible manner (Loudoun, 2010). Now a
day’s safe working environment has become the top priority in HRM practises of many
organization.
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The changing pattern of HRM
One of the major characteristics of construction industry is that it consist if project based
works which are required to be done in a specific period of time. For this aspect, many countries
also follow the practises of outsourcing labour from another nations. The result of this is that that
it has made the relationship between employer and employee more transparent. In traditional
days, the relationship between both was not so good and there were many facts which employers
were not used to disclosed (Harris and McCaffer, 2013). Further the workers were treated very
badly and the pay in comparison with the work they use to do was also very less. In present
scenario, many labour related laws and rules has been developed at national and international
level. The employers are now required to disclose each and every term which is associated with
employment. Other than this, it is also required to provide workers with some standard working
hours and satisfactory pay against the same. Casual contracts and subcontracting has become a
trend in construction industry of many countries. Now many nations have forced their
construction companies to provide full time employment to their workers (McGeorge and Zou,
2012). Many of the researches has highlighted in modern era, highlights the bleak picture of
employment practises in the construction industry. Further the working hours are very long and
the rate of accidents and injuries is also very high. The practises of HRM differ from country to
country as well as from company to company. The image of construction industry all across the
world has always been very poor in terms of relationship between employer and employee and
management practises.
Another problem with construction sector is that most of the companies do not take care
of health and safety or their employees. The changing government rules has now forced these
companies to have proper measures regarding health and safety at the construction site of any
project. There are many legislation which has been developed in recent years and they have
changed the entire structure of construction industry.
Some of the key issues in HRM in construction industry
Although the construction industry of the world is one of the most labour intensive
industry, the value which is given to human resources is very inadequate and less. It can be also
stated that the industry is one of the biggest employers of human resources (Salem and et. al.,
2006). Other than this, construction industry also represents risky and a dynamic working
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environment. Success of project entirely rely upon the skilled labour and the management of
construction company. Integration of better management and employee development a very
important features of good human resources management (HRM) practises. In order to gain
competitive advantage and stay profitable in long run, businesses in construction industry bare
required to attract and retain highly skilled workforce. One of the major issue which is related to
HRM practices in construction industry is related to insecurity of job (Succar, 2009). It can be
also stated that the nature of construction organization is very diverse as it ranges from building
simple houses to some of the most complex projects. Another challenge which has been
observed in this industry is that it is male dominated and there are no opportunities for growth
and development for women. One of the most important aspect of human resource management
is the recruitment and selection of employees. Some projects are so complex in nature that
construction companies do not find suitable and skilled labour regarding the same. Further they
are required to outsource labour form other nations to complete the project and thus, the cost
directly gets increased. The rate of employee turnover is also very high and it is another key
issue for the organization operating in construction industry (Olander, 2006). Some of the
companies provides training and development to their employees in order to make them more
productive and efficient. When the employees leaves their job, the training becomes a complete
waste of time, money and resources.
Communication can be termed as the process of transferring message from one person to
another. HRM practise can be effective only in the case when there is proper communication
between employer and employee. In some work projects the lack of communication arises
because of the pressure and cohesion which ultimately results in the failure of entire project
(Peldschus, 2008). It has been mostly found in the cases when the labour to carry out
construction work is outsourced. Other than this, it has been also observed that very less
motivation and rewards are provided to people which work in construction industries. This has
resulted in lowering down the morale and productivity of employees. Further the workers are not
satisfied as the financial rewards provided to them are very poor (Hodgson and Cicmil, 2006).
The management of human resources in construction industry is often termed as the practices of
hard HRM. The attitude of employers is usually task focused and the workers are only required
to perform a particular task or project as per the direction of their employers. The recruitment is
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done of the basis of how well an individual can perform the given task (Huemann, Keegan and
Turner, 2007). The scope of growth and development opportunities is very narrow which makes
the work of people more complicated. The construction industry do not offer any kind of
progression and never assist the workers in planning the career. On the other hand, employees
are required to do the job in the similar manner as it was previously done. In terms of workplace
structure, the construction industry depict hierarchical structure in which the authority and
responsibility flows from top to bottom.
Perspective of HRM
Human resource management has three major perspective which are human focus,
resource focus and management focus. The first perspective focuses on people within
organization, the second one concentrate on resources and the last one deals with management of
businesses operating in construction industry (Paauwe and Boselie, 2005). All the above stated
focus are very essential for the success of businesses that carry out the work of construction. It
has been also observed that most of the companies have a narrow perspective of regarding the
human resource practises. The employees are not provided with any kind of training as well as
there are no growth opportunities. The recruitments are done generally for a particular projects
and for every new project of construction, firms hire new labour (Hodgson and Cicmil, 2006).
Other than this, it is also evaluated that the image of construction industry and labour market is
shrinking at a very fast pace. There are limited number of workers available to carry out the work
of construction and businesses are also finding it very difficult to find skilled and productive
workforce. One of the main reason why people ate not willing to work in construction industry is
that the risk of accidents and injuries associated with some projects is very high. In last year
there were 35 fatal injuries to workers in construction has been witnessed (Statistics on fatal
injuries in the workplace in Great Britain, 2015). On the other hand, the project based structure
of the industry is not able to integrate the objectives of organizations and workers.
The human focus
Since its development, one of the major thing which the HRM has focused on is related
to the employees. All the practises and policies adopted in human resources management are
focused on improving the productivity and efficiency of people in organization. From traditional
time, the main focus of such practises has been on the need and well beings of employees. Every
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organization is required to provide equal opportunities for growth and development to its
workers. Along with this, a safe and positive working environment is also required in order to
encourage people in organization to give their best (Changing patterns of human resource
management in construction, 2012). The practise of HRM also aims at developing better
relationship between the employer s and employee. This not only help in achieving success but
also assist in getting competitive advantage over other market players. Some of the main areas on
which human resource management includes is managing the nature of employment within
workplace, dealing with issues and conflicts etc. The fact cannot be denied that the relationship
between employer and employee is the one which determines success and failure of organization
(Carrillo and Chinowsky, 2006). Thus, it can be evaluated that businesses are required to adopt
HRM practises which encourage and supports the development of human resources within
workplace.
Merits and limitation of the human focus
The main objective of human focus is that it concentrate on the need and wellbeing of
people in organization. It has been observed that the construction sector to do not promote the
above stated thing. Thus, it can be stated that the human focus can be applied or implemented in
the construction industry. The merit of this will be that it will create a sense of satisfaction
among the workers. Rate of employee turnover is very high in the industry and it is required by
the organizations to take some corrective measures regarding the same (Harris and McCaffer,
2013). It can be said that the success of project depends on quality and skill of workers,
therefore, it is required by businesses operating in this sector to retain their employees for long
period of time. The benefit of this will be that companies will be able to perform the projects and
given task in more effective manner. Further the projects will be completed on time which will
improve the overall productive and sales of companies (Peldschus, 2008). Human focus also
encourage development and wellbeing of individual's within workplace which is very beneficial
for the success and growth of organization.
On the other hand, there are some of limitation of human focus which are required to be
taken care of. One of the major limitation among all is the lack of support from the top level
management. In order to have effective HRM practises, every organization is required to get
adequate support from its top level. Many companies in construction industry do not support any
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kind of training and development programs for employees (Loudoun, 2010 ). In addition to this,
the cost of such programs are also very high which also demotivate organizations to carry out
such kind of programs. Another limitation of this focus is that it only concentrate on human
aspects and do not considered other aspects such as resources and management which is an
important part of HRM. Thus, it can be stated that the human focus is beneficial and it is required
by the construction companies to apply the same in their management.
Recommendation on how chosen approach can be implemented in practises
It can be recommended that one of the best way to implement the practises is by having a
long term perspective. It has been found that most of the companies in construction industry
hires employees only for a particular project and then for another project they look for new
workers. Thus, it can be recommended that at the time of hiring employees, the companies are
required to have a long term vision. Individuals should be recruited on permanent basis and there
should be proper training and development session for them. One of the greatest challenge which
is encounter by construction firms is by finding skilled people and utilizing them to their highest
potential to meet the goals and objectives. Other than this, it can be also recommended that
organizations are required to understand the need and significance of effective HRM practises in
their success. It can be also recommended that the managers are required to adopt a strategic
approach to human resource management in the construction industry. Further they are also
required to identify the changing environment and respond back to them. This will help the
construction companies to become flexible firm and cope up with the changing dynamics of
labour market. In addition to this, a reward system should be implemented so that the workers
can be motivated to give their best.
Conclusion
From the above report it can be concluded that there are some serious issues and
challenges which has been faced by constructions sector. The employees do not find any kind of
growth and development opportunities which is one of the biggest factor which demotivate them.
Further, the workers are hired for a particular project and it can be stated that they are not
permanent employees. Other than this, it is evaluated that the construction industry highlights
“Black hole” or “Dark side” of the HRM practises. The relation between employee and employer
is also not good and the industry is required to take some corrective measures regarding the
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same. In addition to this, it is also required to provide focus on human resources as they are
considered as one of the most important assets of organization.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Carrillo, P. and Chinowsky, P., 2006. Exploiting knowledge management: The engineering and
construction perspective. Journal of Management in Engineering.
Harris, F. and McCaffer, R., 2013. Modern construction management. John Wiley and Sons.
Hodgson, D. and Cicmil, S., 2006. Making projects critical. Palgrave Macmillan.
Huemann, M., Keegan, A. and Turner, J. R., 2007. Human resource management in the project-
oriented company: A review. International Journal of Project Management. 25(3). pp.
315-323.
Loudoun, R., 2010 Injuries sustained by young males in construction during day and night work.
Construction Management and Economics. 28(12). pp. 1313–20.
McGeorge, D. and Zou, P., 2012. Construction management: new directions. John Wiley and
Sons.
Olander, S., 2006. External stakeholder analysis in construction project management. Lund
University.
Paauwe, J. and Boselie, P., 2005. HRM and performance: what next?. Human Resource
Management Journal. 15(4). pp. 68-83.
Peldschus, F., 2008. Experience of the game theory application in construction management.
Technological and Economic Development of Economy. 14(4). pp. 531-545.
Salem, O. and et. al., 2006. Lean construction: From theory to implementation. Journal of
management in engineering.
Succar, B., 2009. Building information modelling framework: A research and delivery
foundation for industry stakeholders.Automation in construction. 18(3). pp. 357-375.
Online
Changing patterns of human resource management in construction. 2012. [Online]. Available
through: <http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/01446193.2012.711562>.
[Accessed on 6th November 2015].
Statistics on fatal injuries in the workplace in Great Britain. 2015. [Online]. Available through:
<http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/pdf/fatalinjuries.pdf>. [Accessed on 6th November
2015].
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