Human Resource Management in Construction Industry

This article discusses the recruitment and selection practices, contractor attributes, and project manager selection in the construction industry. It highlights the key aspects of HR management in construction projects, including the selection of reliable contractors, skilled laborers, and project managers. The article also emphasizes the importance of formulating a selection panel, exploring and prioritizing selection factors, and preparing a selection pack. The research identifies the key attributes that should be measured by HR departments, such as personal skills, project management skills, business skills, technical skills, quality skills, and time of decision-making skills.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Human Resource Management
Name of the Student
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Author Note

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1.0 Adu-Darkoh, M. (2014). Employee recruitment and selection practices in the construction
industry in Ashanti Region.
1.1 Main idea of the article
The processes that are identified for the recruitment of the workers in the construction
industry are obtained from two types of recruitment are internal and external recruitment-
internal and external recruitment procedure. The research design utilizes the cross sectional
survey design in order to collect; moreover, the quantitative analysis which is cross-checked with
secondary source of data. Primary data collection is considered in this research where sixty-two
(62) contractors and 30 human resource officers. The sampling technique used is simple random
sampling technique. Close ended and open ended question and includes demographic questions
and questions related to the Recruitment and Selection issues. The data has been obtained and the
analysis is done through SPSS.
In internal recruitment, the construction company follows the process of transfers,
promotions, job postings and job bidding. However, through external recruitment process the
managers of Construction Company utilize the method of advertisement, e-recruitment,
employee referrals, employment agencies, labor office and education and training establishment.
The conclusion highlighted that after the recruitment procedure, the selection of the staffs are
base on the initial screening, interview to the staffs, reference check for the genuineness of the
candidate, selection test and then providing them the job offer. It is found from this article that
some problem that occurred to the HR department while making the right decision for the
recruitment are poor HR planning, ineffective job analysis, poor budget allocation of the cost of
recruitment and selection of the employee.
1.2 Useful concepts of the articles utilized in the essay

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The six most used recruitment and selection method in the construction industry are- in-
house job postings, newspaper advertisements, labor office, employee referable and radio
advertisements. In aspect of the challenges identification in case of staff recruitment in the
concerned organization are provision of cost and time of recruitment and selection procedures,
lack of human resource department, proper job analysis, proper analysis of the competency
level of the candidates, maintaining the employer-employee relationship and finding suitable
candidates for certain job locations. Human Resource department of a construction company
thus have to do expert analysis for the recruitment of the candidates and assessing their
capability, advertising the job vacancy on the public ground, maintaining checklists and
detailed description of the available jobs and set strict rule for making selection based on the
competency of the candidates.

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2.0 Ahmed, S., & Briggs, K. (2012). Effective recruitment and selection strategies for skilled
laborers in heavy highway construction
2.1 Main idea of the article
The sample size considered for the research paper is 5 different heavy highway
construction firm of the United States. The article do not represented any numeric data and a
theoretical interpretation of the survey result has been discussed in this article. There are no
hypothesis considered in this research paper and followed a descriptive research design. The
main idea of this article is to find out the ways that the HR department of the construction
organization to selected skilled laborers to perform tasks on the projects. This research paper also
emphasizes on the selection procedure of the candidates within the job seeking pool along with
the procedure for implementing improvement recruiting and selection practices. A critical
analysis of the recruitment and selection procedure has been carried out so that the most relevant
and reliable procedure for the candidate selection can be identified.
2.2 Useful concepts of the articles utilized in the essay
The article highlights the problem that if the candidates of mega construction project are
not selected effectively, the company have to incur the loss of poor retention rates, increased
amount of the cost for advertising and recruitment and loss of production. The idea that can be
extracted from this research is important factors for recruitment that are- formality, subtlety, and
cost along with local and state regulations. The low cost procedure for recruitment is employee
referrals in which the employee themselves take the liability to choose suitable candidates for
the organizational project. Interview method or a formal approach can be the best but having a
drawback that the performance of the candidates cannot be identified properly. Knowledge test
and situational assessment can be selected for evaluating the competency and measure the

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greater insight into the decision making skills of the people. There are some sources to select
candidates for construction project are printing advertisement, paid recruitment services, online
websites, state employment offices and trade publications. The essay can also include the point
that there is a relationship between the number of employee recruited and revenue earned by
the organization. HR should look for the demand and complexity of the project and should
deign the job vacancy for recruitment.

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3.0 Alzahrani, J. I., & Emsley, M. W. (2013). The impact of contractors’ attributes on
construction project success: A post construction evaluation. International Journal of
Project Management, 31(2), 313-322.
3.1 Main idea of the article
The main idea of this research article is to find out the factors for the construction project
success and causes of time and cost overruns. The main role of the contractor is highlighted in
this research paper. This research do not considered any research hypothesis but considered
primary data analysis in order to find the impact of the contractor in the construction company.
The literature review is considered to cross-check the findings of the data analysis. The
conclusion illustrate that safety and quality management, environmental policies followed, past
performance, management and technical aspects, size/type of pervious projects and experience
factors should be present in the contractor in the construction project. The research articles also
found that the success factors of the project are adequacy of labor resources, turnover history,
adequacy of plant resources, quality policy, size of past project completed and waste disposal.
3.2 Useful concepts of the articles utilized in the essay
The main idea that can be extracted is that the HR should be liable for selecting reliable
contractor. The main reason behind the selection of an efficient contractor is that when
organization plans to start a construction project, it is important to choose highly qualified and
experienced contractor. In order to hire an efficient contactor, the HR department of a
construction company should focus on the following aspects- their policy on quality assurance,
occupational safety and health administration rate (OSHAIR) and also look for Health and
safety records. The HR should also carefully assess the contract cost and time overruns, past
record of conflict and disputes along with failure to complete a contract. These contractors

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should also have good waste disposal management policy, strong environmental plan and
quality of the materials used in the construction project. The concerned department should also
give greater concentration on contractor’s management capability, work programming and
knowledge of construction methods. Other important factors that should be considered are
contractor experience in the region and in the business, type and size of the past completed
project. The HR department is also responsible for extracting the details of the adequacy of
labor and plant resources.

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4.0 Council, C. C. I. (2005). Selecting the team. In Strategic Forum for Construction.
4.1 Main idea of the article
This article highlights the stages that are required for selecting the team in construction
project. This article does not take any primary data collection and is based on the secondary data
and methods from the experts in the selecting candidate’s teams from construction industry
council. No hypothesis has been formulated and descriptive research design is utilized in this
paper. This article also illustrate that the stage one of selecting a construction team comprises of
the procedure of formulation of a selection panel, preparing selection objectives, exploring and
prioritizing selection factors for the employees, preparing a selection pack and shortlisted the
reliable and competent candidates for a construction project. The stage two of the selecting the
team comprise of evaluating the short-listed candidates, statement of the quality, interviewing
procedure, situational analysis by providing them the tour of the project site and applicant's place
of work. The last process of this stage is tanking the candidates and then selecting the most able
candidates. This article also elaborates the procedure the HR department after the selection of the
candidates of the project. The post-selection process comprises of the process of Expansion and
adjustments to the core team and ongoing collaboration.
4.2 Useful concepts of the articles utilized in the essay
The concept of stage wise planning for recruitment and section procedure can be taken
from this article. The prime benefit that can be obtained is to identify any discrepancy in the
procedure if the outcome of the selection process does not show any positive result. HR
department is liable for formulating a selection panel in which the HR should include the client
and end-user of the construction project, third parties and partnering advisors. Thus, idea for
important stakeholder for forming the selection panel can be properly designed. This will help

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HR to take effective decisions for selecting the team for larger project. The essay can include the
HR procedure for exploring selecting objectives through barnstorming, Delphi method and
ranking the factors that is suggested by the experts. The preparation for the section pack can
also be considered through which HR can formulate the scope of the work, mark distribution
questionnaire for the interview process and setting the statement of the quality. The important
aspect for designing the questionnaire for the candidates of the construction project can also be
gathered from this article.

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5.0 Zavadskas, E. K., Turskis, Z., Tamosaitiene, J., & Marina, V. (2008). Selection of
construction project managers by applying COPRAS-G method. Computer Modelling and
New Technologies, 12(3), 22-28.
5.1 Main idea of the article
The main idea of this article is to highlight the selection aspect of the project managers in
the construction sites. No data has been collected in this research; whereas COmplex
PRoportional Assessment (COPRAS) methods have been used. This method is used for ranking
some aspect of the selection procedure which the decision maker that is the HR department has
to make in order to select the most reliable candidate for the project. Only three project managers
were selected for using the COPRAS for testing the key attributes based on which the best
among the three are selected or three of them ranked. This idea is taken as role of construction
project manager in construction sites but is less focused through other research. The research
shows that there are six key attributes which should be measured by HR department that are-
personal skills, project management skills, business skills, technical skills, quality sills and
time of decision making skills.
5.2 Useful concepts of the articles utilized in the essay
The details about the key aspects for the selection of the project managers can be
considered through this research. It is important for the HR department of an organization to
select both the low-end workers and high level managers for the company so that all of them
collaboratively work for accomplishing the organizational objectives. The sub attributes under
each key attributes can also be considered for defining the job roles and responsibility as a
managerial position in a construction project. There are managers in every stage of the
construction projects like- construction stage, concept stage, realization stage and manpower

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stage. The research identified for the selection of the project manager is based on the educational
qualification, skills like- verbal communications, coping with situation, political sensitivity,
delegating authority, ability of conflict resolution diplomacy, enthusiasm and high self-esteem.
Another sources that is taken into consideration are dependability, experience in similar kind of
project, strong self relevant goals and view and ability to do paperwork according to the
regulation followed in the consultation site. HR also looks for conceptual and organizational
skills, business skills, project management skills and technical skills of the candidates.

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Reference List
Adu-Darkoh, M. (2014). Employee recruitment and selection practices in the construction
industry in Ashanti Region.
Ahmed, S., & Briggs, K. (2012). Effective recruitment and selection strategies for skilled
laborers in heavy highway construction.
Alzahrani, J. I., & Emsley, M. W. (2013). The impact of contractors’ attributes on construction
project success: A post construction evaluation. International Journal of Project
Management, 31(2), 313-322.
Council, C. C. I. (2005). Selecting the team. In Strategic Forum for Construction.
Zavadskas, E. K., Turskis, Z., Tamosaitiene, J., & Marina, V. (2008). Selection of construction
project managers by applying COPRAS-G method. Computer Modelling and New
Technologies, 12(3), 22-28.