DEBRE MARKOS UNIVERSITY

INISTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY &

MANAGEMENT

CONSTRUCTION HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

(COTM 4161)

PROGRAM: BSC IN COTM

TARGET GROUP: - COTM 4TH YEAR STUDENTS

 Chapter 7
Industrial relation
• IR refers to the system of employment laws and rules that regulate
the rights and obligation of employers and employees in the work
place.
• IR also called organizational relation the behavior of workers
in organizations in which they earn their living.
• IR formulate rules and regulations to maintain harmonious
relations.
• The intervention of the government to shape industrial relations
in made through laws, agreements, rules,characters etc.
Types of industrial relation
1.labor relations:-relations between union and management or
employer- employee relation
2. Group relations:-relations between various groups of employees
3.Community or public relations:-relations between industry and the
society
 Importance of industrial relation
Good industrial relations in HRM helps to ensure
 Good and effective utilization of man, regarded as important resource, money and
avoiding wastage of raw material.
 IR brings improved employee morale and motivate the workers to work more
efficiently.
 Industrial peace in the economy and between stakeholders
 Recognition of employees interest to improvement production and reconciliation
of employers and employee through mediation, arbitration and negotiations.
 Promote democracy in place of work
 Avoid conflicts between management and union: Industrial relations minimize
issues between unions and management.
 Economic growth and development: Good and harmonious industrial relations
result in increased efficiency and hence prosperity, which in turn minimize
turnover and other tangible benefits to the organization
 Objectives of IR
• To establish industrial peace.
• To safeguard the interests of both workers and management.
• To avoid industrial disputes.
• To raise the production capacity.
• To minimize the labour turnover rate and absenteeism.
• To safeguard the workers economic and social interests.
• To contribute to the economic development of the country through
productivity.
• To minimize strikes, lockout, Heroes, etc., by providing good
working conditions and fair wages to the workers.
 CHAPTER 8 Team management and leadership
8.1 leadership

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more

and become more, you are a leader” John Quincy Adams
• The role of a leader is building a team, development of individuals
and achievement of a task.
The ‘leader’ should have the following characteristics:
• Understanding needs - The leader should understand his/her needs
along with the needs and characteristics of each participant in a group.
• Using of Resources - Resources include all the things required to
complete a job. People are resources as they have knowledge and
skill.
• Communication - Only a good communication amongst the team can
lead to successful completion of a task.
• For getting information the leader must listen carefully and pay
attention to other people’s thoughts and each group member should be
given a chance to speak.
• Planning - Planning is a very important aspect achieved while
exploring via thorough consideration of: task and objective,
resources, alternatives and thinking.
• Controlling group performance - A group works together best
when it is headed in the same direction and for that someone
must lead the effort.
• Evaluation - Evaluation helps in measuring the performance of
a group in getting a job done and teamwork quality.
• It also helps in analyzing the level of performance along with
the merits and demerits of the task done in a particular way.
• Setting an Example and sharing Leadership - It is probably
the most important skill needed in a leader, to set him/her as an
example for others on how to be an ideal leader.
– The leader should also share their experience and skill with
the group participants to help them succeed.
Leadership requires
• Motivating and persuading others
• Taking responsibility for the direction and actions of a
team
• Setting of objectives for proper evaluation
• Taking the initiative
• Taking a positive attitude to frustration/failure.
• Taking the initiative and responding flexibly to
changing situations
• Presenting a positive image in front of others. Being
self-confident
• Accepting responsibility for mistakes/wrong decisions.
 In construction industry the requirements for an effective
leader are as follows
• Good communication skills
• Understanding of business
• Strategic vision
• Attractiveness and Inspiration
• Integrity
• Good listener
• Flexible i.e. open to changes
• Experience
• Clear and concise communication can improve
teamwork and project collaboration, while poor
communication can lead to confusion and
misunderstandings, causing delays or issues as the
project progresses.
 Successful leaders are able to
 Transform organizations
 Enhance value creation
 Create efficiencies and
 Engage their employees to deliver better results.
 Acting as a leader enables the construction manager
to plan, monitor, and control the progress of a project
very effectively.
 The need for leadership ability in a construction
manager depends on the tasks, teams, organizational
environment, manager's abilities, project resources,
available time, and budget.
 Basic leadership skills
1. Integrity
- Ethical, Honest
- Treats others as they wish to be treated
- Passionate about beliefs
- Alignment between actions and words
2. Vision
- Sees the future of where things need to be and
 attracts commitment and energizes people
 establishes a standard of quality
 bridges the present to the future
 Basic leadership skills
3. Communication
- Perfect leaders need to know
 how to share as well as how to seek information
 what to communicate to whom and when
 how to choose the appropriate medium of communication
 how to communicate with large and small audiences
 when not to communicate.
- Do you listen more than you speak?
- Do you communicate with your person as well as with words?
- How do you handle confidential information or bad news?
4. Developing People
- Encouraging, helping, coaching and/or mentoring people to stretch and
grow their capabilities beyond their current status.
- People follow you because of what you do for them.
 Do you display and introduce belief and respect in those around you?
 Do you have superior networking, interpersonal and group
communication skills?
 Team Management
 Management can be simply defined as the organization of
processes and people to achieve a desired result
 Team management is the practice of daily life in a high-performance
organization.
 It is a description of the new relationships between employees, their
manager and their organization.
 Team management is the vehicle for every employee to become a true
business manager with his or her personal goals aligned with the business
goals of the organization.
 Advantages of team management include
 Better problem-solving skills,
 Increased innovation,
 Improved job satisfaction,
 Increased collaboration, and
 Team friendship.
What is a “high performance team?”
1. A team with clear responsibility for business performance.
2. A team that knows its customers, suppliers and has a documented
process known to all members.
3. A team with a balanced scorecard linked to organization
performance.
4. A team with built in flexibility and adaptability through multi-
skilled members who share functions.
5. A team that has demonstrated competence at problem solving by
improving their work processes
 Characteristics of great managers
• Managers create superior dynamics where teams:
• Achieve great results because team members trust one
another
• Work seamlessly with one another
• Teams are excellent at making decisions
• Hold one another accountable for making things happen
• Work effectively under pressure with deadlines
• Work effectively with limited supervision
• Manage projects from beginning to end
• Identify goals and/or tasks to be accomplished and a
realistic timeline for completion
• Prioritize tasks while anticipating potential problems
• Maintain flexibility in the face of changing circumstances
 Leadership versus Management
Leaders Managers
Create the vision (What) Execute the vision (How)
Transformational Transactional
Long-term Short-term
Innovate – breaks rules Maintain – make rules
Inspire people Inform people
Accept failure Resist failure
Heart – Passion – People Head – Control – Processes
Seeing & Selling Doing & Telling

• An effective (team) leader must:

- be selfless(un selfish)
- set the quality
- be objective
- focus on achieving results
Chapter-9
The practice of human resource
management in Ethiopian construction
projects
• HRM is the process of managing people in a
company/firm as well as managing the existing
interpersonal relationship.
• HRM can significantly contribute to an organization's
success.
• It is recognized as one of the most important
components of a successful firm in a variety of
industries.
• Improving employee team and organizational
performance begins with successfully implementing the
human resource management function
 Cont.

• HRM practices and policies are designed to maximize

commitment of employee.
• It plays a very crucial role in achieving the organizations
goals and maintain the competitive advantage.
• In Ethiopia, one of the problems that made the
construction company very costly is shortage of enough
trained staff on this specific field.
• HRM plays an important role in assuring employee
satisfaction, improving performance and productivity
because; all activities are controlled by humans.
 Challenges of Human Resource Management practice in construction
projects
A major challenge of human resource management in construction was
identified as the
 Difficulty in balancing the needs of the construction project,
 The organizational requirements and the needs of the construction workforce.
Different challenges facing the construction company
1.Recruiting New and Talented Employees:- Human resource
management has significant problems while hiring, such as choosing
the best candidate and acclimating the recruited individual to the
workplace and culture.
 Because the organization cannot get the required output from
employees, human resource management must choose individuals
who are both technically and socially skilled
2.Workforce Diversity :- diversity is influenced by the nature,
personalities, and backgrounds of the workers as well as factors like
age, gender, educational attainment, and religion.
3.Training and Development:- The goal of an organization's training
and development program is to improve employees' skills, knowledge,
and awareness in order to boost their performance and the productivity
of the business
4.Occupational Safety and Health Hazards :-The site workers are
required to do their duties while using hazardous equipment,
unsanitary eating and toilet facilities, and in impossibly cold, hot, or
humid conditions.
 The firm has placed more emphasis on the health and safety risks
for project-based personnel
5.Shortage of Skill Manpower and Laborers:- Lack of skilled
laborers is one of the problems encountered in construction projects.
 In order to address labor shortages, extra responsibilities are
assigned, the workforce is transferred from the old project site to
the new project site, and subcontracted workers are hired.
6.Technological advances:- Another difficulty for human
resource managers in the modern day is implementation of new
technology.
 It is difficult task to adapting workplace to rapid technological
growing changes which influence the nature of work.
7.Lack of Compensation/Rewards:- In order for employees to
perform well, contribute meaningfully to the growth of the
organization, and achieve whatever goal the organization needed
to achieve, a good reward system in the construction company is
required.
 Compensation or reward is an important issue in every
business organization and is recognized as a motivating factor
 Environmental factors of HRM Practice
• Human Resource Management cannot take place in isolation from
the external and internal environment.
• Environments affect the human resource functions, and shape the
policies and practices of human resource management
I. External Environment
• External environment is the environment that exists outside the
organization.
• They influence the organizational performance but largely beyond
management’s control.
• External environment includes, Political /Legal, Economic, Socio-
Cultural and Technological (PEST) environments
 1. Political /Legal Factors
• The Political system, such as, democratic or not, nature of the
government and choosing the employee over the employer, affects
the human resource functions of an organization.
• Government through the enforcement of different laws also has
direct and immediate impact on HRM function.
• Government made different laws that regulate relationship between
employer and employees including issues, such as equal
employment opportunity (EEO), affirmative action, safety and
health, wages and salaries, hours of work, etc.
 Cont.

• Equal Employment Opportunity: Government laws require providing

applicants an equal opportunity for employment with regard to race,
religion, sex, disability, age or national origin. There should not be
discrimination during recruitment and selection of candidates employees.
• Affirmative Action: Affirmative Action is taken for the purpose of
eliminating the present effects of the past discrimination.
• It is the practice of recruiting, hiring or staffing under-represented groups
or minorities, such as women, disability, and the disadvantaged groups of
the society.
• Government passes legislations that will enforce the employee’s safety and
health.
• Government may set minimum level of wages and salaries, equal pay for
equal work, hours of work, holiday, leaves, etc
 2. Economic Factors
• Economic parameter like GNP, per capital income, an employment
rate, inflation rate, etc affects HRM.
• If the economy is booming and unemployment rate is low, it may be
harder to acquire and retain the staff.
• In times of economic decline, unemployment rate increases and a
greater choice of labor is available to the employer
 3. Socio-Cultural Factors
• These factors are created by the society on human
resource management, such as demographic factors and
culture.
• Demographic factors describe the composition of the
workforce, such as age, sex, race, and language.
• Culture is the belief and custom (religion) of the society.
• It affects the attitude and activities of workers.
• HR managers need to understand the culture and society
from which their employees are recruited.
 4. Technological Factors
• The world has never before seen technological changes occur as
rapidly as they are today.
• Technologies have an impact on HRM by changing the entire
working methods and systems.
• Technological change will continue to shift employment from
some occupations to others, i.e., labor-intensive and clerical jobs
will decrease while technical, managerial, and professional jobs will
increase
 II. Internal Environment
• An internal environment is the environment that exists inside the
organization.
• It contributes to the strength and weakness of the organization.
• There are a number of internal factors affecting HR Managers work.
Some of them are:
• HR department as it interact with other departments
• Strategy of an organization: Organizations have several
strategies (goals and objectives), such as growth strategy, survival
strategy or exit strategy.
• Leadership style of the organization: Leadership styles practiced
by top management and supervisors will affect the relationship
between supervisors and subordinates.
• The style of leadership might be autocratic or democratic
• Leadership styles adopted in an organization influences human
resource functions.
 Cont.

• Nature of the task: The type of the task to be performed in an

organization highly affects human resource management.
• This is because some jobs can attract or retain workers, while others
might be the causes of high labor turnover.
• The elements of the nature of the task include:
– Degree of physical exertion
– Working environment
– Physical location
– Degree of human interaction
 summary
Generally HRM practice in construction projects faced different challenges

 The implementation of recruitment and selection are not free from intervention.

 It was challenges such as inadequate training and development, there is a problem of

promotion, there were no sufficient financial resources for HRM practices, there were no

feedback practices for good performers and Political affiliation was the problem for

better HRM Practices.

 lack of sufficient budget for training and education,

 lack of accountability and transparency,

 lack of emphasis for professional development, accepting modern technological changes,

 creating an environment for attracting and retaining qualified personnel,

 insufficient managerial capacity building and lack of employees motivation were

becoming great challenges for the effective practice of HRM in the public organizations.
To improve the contributions of HRM practice on the organization
• Responsible bodies should act to tackle the
 lack of sufficient budget for training and education
 lack of accountability and transparency
 lack of emphasis for professional development
 accepting modern technological changes
 creating an environment for attracting and retaining qualified
personnel
 insufficient managerial capacity building and lack of employees
motivation.
THANK YOU!!!
THE END!!!