Asignment - 1 Construction Personnel Management

NICMAR CONSTRUCTION PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

I N D E X

INTRODUCTION OF SITE CONDITIONS 3

INTRODUCTION OF MAIN PROBLEM 4

FACTORS WHICH AFFECTING OUTPUT 6

THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF ABSENTEEISM AND QUITS 12

SUGGESTED FACTOR FOR HYGIENE FACTOR AND 14MOTIVATIONAL FACTOR

BIBLIOGRAPHY 18

Assignment No. 1 1


Introduction of Site Conditions:

Construction of a 3km long tunnel, the site located is in a remote area & the nearest town

to the construction site is very far. The only available mode of transport from Site to city is

by road. Although the distance between the two places is less but it takes approximately 2

days because of extremely poor road condition and hilly terrain. The atmospheric

condition at the site is also extremely cold and foggy.

Supervisors, Technicians and skill workers are involved in dangerous and hazardous

work, which need to be looked upon seriously.

Significant number of workers engaged in the project has been tested drug alcohol

positive.

The output of the workers is less due which on time completion of the project may be

delayed if not attended.

Assignment No. 1 2


Introduction of Key problems (Problem study):

There is no doubt that construction is a key activity within any economy, it influences and

is influenced by, the nation's gross domestic product (GDP), in India construction industry

is the second largest industry after agriculture. It makes a significant contribution to the

national economy and provides employment to large number of people but from past so

many years construction has been the only industry with a consistently negative

productivity growth not only in India in other countries also and it has been a major source

of the declining growth rate of the total economy in most of the countries.

Assignment No. 1 3

LABOR PRODUCTIVTYOF INDUSTRIAL ECONOMY


The industry has to overcome a number of challenges to achieve the productivity.

Productivity can classify into two main groups: technological factors and administrative

factors. The technological factors encompass those related mostly to the design of the

project, the administrative group factors relate to the management and construction of the

project. Technological factors comprise sub-groups such as design factors, material

factors and location factors. Administrative factors comprise sub-groups, such as

construction methods and procedural factors, equipment factors, labour factors, and

social factors. Classified factors influencing construction productivity into two categories:

external and internal, representing those outside the control of the firm's management,

and those originating within the firm. External factors included the nature of the industry,

construction client knowledge of construction procedure, weather, and level of economic

development. Internal factors included management, technology, labour, and labour

unions. The factors affecting construction productivity are rarely constant, and may vary

from country to country, from project to project, and even within the same project it’s

depending on circumstances. Improving productivity is a major concern for any profit-

oriented organization,

Productivity= output . Resources used

Assignment No. 1 4


These factors affecting the output can classify into a few groups :

Manpower

Leadership

Motivation

Time

Materials/ tools

Supervision

Project group

Safety group

Quality group

External group

Manpower group: The factor negatively affecting the productivity in this group is lack of

labour experience, followed by labour disloyalty, labour dissatisfaction, misunderstanding

among labour, lack of competition, increase in labourer age, labour absenteeism, and

labour personal problems.

Experience of workforce affects job site productivity. This result is justified, as experience

improves both the intellectual and physical abilities of labour which consequently increase

labour productivity.

Disloyalty of labour is also negatively affecting labour productivity.

Misunderstanding among labours creates disagreement among labours about job

responsibility and work bond of each labourer which leads to a lot of mistakes in work and

consequently decreases in labour productivity.

Assignment No. 1 5


Lack of competition is giving an average effect on labour productivity.

Age of the workforce can affect the job site productivity like labour speed, agility and

strength decline overtime and cause to a lower productivity.

Absenteeism of two types one is innocent absenteeism in which labour is absent from

work due to genuine reason it may be due to illness or personal family problem another is

culpable absenteeism in which labour is absent from work without any valuable reason

which is harm for productivity.

Personal problems cause only mental distraction for labour, and mental distraction affects

labour safety more than labour productivity.

Leadership group: The factor negatively affecting the productivity in this group is lack of

labour surveillance, misunderstanding between labour and supervisor lastly lack of

periodic meeting with labours.

Lack of labour surveillance increases labour mistake at work as well as delaying

corrective action for these mistakes.

Misunderstanding between labour and supervisors creates bad relations between them.

Such misunderstandings have adverse effects on labour mood, and consequently

decrease productivity.

Lack of periodic meetings with labour is considered to be instrumental on labour productivity

Motivation group: The factors in this group is payment delay, lack of financial motivation

system, lack of labour recognition programs, non-provision of transportation and lack of

training sessions.

Assignment No. 1 6


Payment delay has a very bad effect on labour mood, and consequently decreases its

productivity.

Lack of financial motivation system has greater negative impact on labour productivity

Lack of labour recognition programs will make less impact on productivity than lack of

financial motivation as per contractor’s belief.

Non-provision of transport means lack places for eating and relaxation

Lack of training sessions will affect productivity in some extent mostly labour can be

trained more effectively on site by working closely with experienced workers.

Time group: working for 7 days per week without holiday is first, misuse of time schedule

is ranked second, method of employment (using direct work system) is ranked third,

increasing workforce to accelerate work is ranked fourth and work overtime is ranked fifth.

Working additional days and hours creates an adverse effect on the enthusiasm and

physical strength of labour, thus decreasing their productivity.

Materials/Tools group: The factors which affecting on this group is material shortages,

and unsuitability of materials storage location.

Material shortage is the most important of all factors negatively affecting labour

productivity.

materials storage location have a significant impact on masonry productivity and labour

needs more time to fetch required materials from unsuitable storage locations, which

negatively affects productivity.

Assignment No. 1 7


Supervision group: All supervision factors have a high impact on productivity the factors

which affect in this group is drawings and specifications alteration during execution,

inspection delay, rework and supervisors' absenteeism

Project group: It’s all about sequence of work as like steel fixers will have to wait until

carpenters finished formwork.

Safety group: In this group we can include accidents, violation of safety precautions,

insufficient lighting etc… Accidents got a high impact on labour productivity

Quality group: there are two factors under the quality factors group that is inefficiency of

equipment and poor quality of raw materials

Productivity rate of inefficient equipment is low, modern equipment can give high

productivity than old equipment and using materials of poor quality leads to poor quality

work which may reject while inspection

External group: Factors in this group is weather changes and augmentation of

government regulations

Weather changes can make average impact on labour productivity country like India but

in Middle East weather changes giving a major impact on productivity

If we can take care on above said factors company can achieve good productivity

from site

Assignment No. 1 8


However, in above said site condition absenteeism and turnover contribute significant

role in negative productivity, the main problems of absenteeism and turnover are difficult

to deal with in isolation. Absenteeism and turnover affect the productivity radically.

Productivity in construction frequently suffers as a result of high levels of absenteeism

and worker turnover. Thus there is a common concern of – owners, contractors, and

workers in resolving this problem.

Absenteeism is a serious workplace problem and an expensive occurrence for both

employers and labours some causes of absenteeism are uncontrollable. The major

causes, however, are controllable. Work absenteeism occurs for many reasons. Its

causes are generally personal or workplace related, personal reason like age, seniority,

personal attitude, travel distance, personal illness etc… and workplace reason like job

stress, daily job routine, job satisfaction etc…

Statistics reveals that the workers tested positive for drugs and alcohol have higher level

of absenteeism and had used sick leave to a much greater extent than others and

probability of accident increasing. Also the productivity level of these workers is 30 to 50

percent lower than the persons who test negative. More over drug or alcohol addiction

leads to quarrel on site.

The absenteeism can be minimized if managed properly. The need is to have a well-

planned, safe jobsites where an effort is made to recognize workers individual skills and

utilize employees accordingly will have less absenteeism and inherently enjoy a gain in

productivity.

Workers turnover is also a serious problem in the present scenario of the project and

warrant attentions.

Assignment No. 1 9


Causes of labour turnover

A high level of labour turnover could be caused by many factors:

Inadequate wage levels leading to employees moving to competitors

Poor morale and low levels of motivation within the workforce

Recruiting and selecting the wrong employees in the first place, meaning they

leave to seek more suitable employment

A buoyant local labour market offering more (and perhaps more attractive)

opportunities to employees

From the past experience conservative estimate of the direct cost effects of absenteeism

and turnover, based only on clearly identifiable costs, indicates that a 12% reduction in

project labour costs is attainable on a typical job. In some cases the potential savings are

much greater. This is ample incentive to apply the management attention needed to

achieve them.

Assignment No. 1 10


The economic impact of absenteeism and quits

Gauging precisely the cost impact of absenteeism and turnover is difficult. The following

are effects of high levels of absenteeism and turnover:

Increased manpower complement to meet staffing needs

Loss of revenues from not meeting project schedules.

Administrative cost to recruit process and train new employees.

Lost efficiency in work crews with new or inexperienced members

Underutilization of capital investments (tools, equipment).

Interruptions of work flow and task accomplishment

Misallocation of skills and talents of employees

Increased demand for administrative time and resources for planning and

rescheduling

Increased overtime and employee fatigue

Lower morale

The cost impact of many of these items will vary, depending on circumstances and

management’s ability to recognize the problems and to deal with them effectively. The

wasted man-hours from certain direct effects, however, can be more readily estimated. In

making a conservative estimate of the cost improvement incentive, only these direct,

more easily quantifiable effects were considered.

Assignment No. 1 11


The main direct impacts of absenteeism on productivity are:

Time spent by crew members (others) waiting for replacements.

Time spent moving replacements to and from other work locations.

Lost time by supervisory personnel in reassignment of work activities and locating

replacements.

For turnover, the principal cost effects are:

All of the absentee-costs plus:

Payroll and clerical (administrative) costs associated with terminating and hiring.

Workers non-productive time (portions of the first and last day).

Disruption of other workers on the job site

The evidence indicates that there are steps available to contractors and owner

management to substantially reduce the levels of absenteeism and turnover in

construction. If one assumes that an absentee rate of 10% and an annual turnover rate of

250% can each be cut in half— a reasonable assumption— the computations presented

above indicate there would be a savings of about 9% in direct labor costs with the lion’s

share attainable by improving worker attendance. Many indirect effects not considered

here would further increase the potential savings.

Assignment No. 1 12


Suggested method for hygiene factor and motivational factor:

The controllable reasons for absenteeism and turnover involve the ingredients of the

environment of a construction site. In addition, each ingredient is important in its own

right, quite apart from its effect on absenteeism and turnover. Careful attention to

planning, safety, interpersonal relationships, and other management fundamentals will not

only reduce absenteeism and turnover, but will have other positive effects on job costs

and schedules.

A relatively small portion of the work force is causing most of the absenteeism and

turnover. This reinforces a conclusion that prompt management action with respect to

chronic offenders can be very effective.

Statistics reveals that the workers tested positive for drugs and alcohol have higher level

of absenteeism and had used sick leave to a much greater extent than others. Theses

workers are found to have unfriendly relationship with other co-workers and generally get

involve in quarrels with others. The persons who test positively for the presence of drugs

or alcohol from a category of individuals and that being in this category is ground for

labeling them as problematic. This type of absenteeism should be dealt seriously and

strict actions should be taken against such workers.

Distance from a worker’s home to the jobsite seemed to have an effect on turnover and

absenteeism at a range of 50 to 100 miles. Though distance is uncontrollable, the only

way for this category of workers is to arrange for transport or provide them

accommodation near the site if found feasible. Non-financial benefits such as transport,

meals, and uniforms have a high effect on labour productivity

Assignment No. 1 13


Excessive absenteeism is an indicator of future turnover problems.

Older and more experienced workers exhibited lower turnover, but higher absenteeism.

This leads to interesting deductions— that jobs that do not challenge or provide

satisfaction for a highly skilled, experienced craftsman will produce absenteeism, and that

younger, less experienced workers seem to change jobs rather than cope with unpleasant

situations. Union workers reported lower turnover and higher absenteeism rates.

A variety of steps need to be taken in decreasing absenteeism and turnover. Serious

consideration of following action is recommended

Screen the applicants. Examine work histories. Reject those who are poorly skilled or who

have a history of job-hopping. Also increasing the workforce on a construction site causes

overcrowding of labour and interference between labour and gangs, which consequently

reduces labour productivity

Keep attendance record for all employees, Monitor to identify trouble spots. Establish a

clear policy of firing chronic absentees, and communicate this to all the employees when

they are hired.

Recommendation to management

Assignment No. 1 14


(Most of the labour desire to work by unit rate system to earn more money. Therefore

labour works too hard to finish the greatest volume of work when working by the unit rate

system thus to get work done fast implementation of this system will be very helpful.

Since money is the most effective motivating tool for workers, declaration of award for the

best worker may help increasing productivity to some extent and another main factor

need for production is tools and equipment. Workers need the right tools in order to do

their jobs, if there is lack of tools and equipment, output will decrease but labours need

minimum number of tools and equipment to work effectively and these tools/equipments

are often expensive here all project Incharge need the help from management)

Other things to increase output are maintaining good communication with workers. Sense

workers mood, understand their concern, provide feed back from management, and

prompt action where appropriate to show that worker concern are heard. Bulletin boards,

newsletters, toolbox meetings, and suggestion box are helpful, but face-to-face

communication on the job by top contractor supervision is indispensable.

Use the latest behavioral – science techniques for organizational effectiveness, including

Train supervisors in motivation and personal skills, create small work group with as much

autonomy as possible, and communicate goals for the organization and for each work

unit. (Including attendance goal)

Assignment No. 1 15


Safety also have a main concern on productivity, Assure safety on site for supervisors,

technician and skilled workers those who are engaged in dangerous/hazardous work and

to decrease accident rate on site, assure appropriate safety training for all site staff on

specific hazards they may encounter, assure all work force and site staff are wearing and

using the required clothing, equipment and protective devices and being free from drugs

and alcohol.

Motivation is essential to labour, as it gives site workers satisfaction such as

achievement, sense of responsibility and pleasure of the work itself. Keep craftsmen

informed of how their accomplishment compares with the jobs goals:

Be creative in developing incentives for employees to stay with the job and have good

attendance. Emphasize attendance rather than absenteeism. Bumper sticker, job poster,

and helmet decals can be used to stimulate interest. Awards to each individual after

periods of perfect attendance by an entire crew can develop peer pressure to improve

attendance. Bonuses to people who remain until job completion may be helpful in

reducing turnover during the critical final stage.

Periodic reports on absenteeism and turnover should be maintained. Mutually develop

goals for improvement and actions to achieve them.

Encourage and support innovative efforts by contractors in communicating with and

motivating the workforce.

Mutually with contractors, identify and alleviate irritants (“dissatisfiers”) within the control

of owners that may contribute to absenteeism and turnover among contractor employees.

Examples: parking lots in disrepair or unreasonably located, undue limitations on

smoking, unnecessary limitations on contractor’s starting and quitting times, inadequate

areas for eating lunch, and insufficient facilities for checking in and out.

Assignment No. 1 16


Recognize to workers that active involvement in discouraging absenteeism and turnover

is in their self-interest.

Worker union has to be convinced that activity involved in discouraging absenteeism and

turnover is in their self-interest.

Modify referral procedures to discourage absenteeism and turnover. Example: For a pre-

determined period (say, 30 days) prohibit referral to another job of any worker who has

quit a job without good cause or who was fired for excessive absenteeism. The survey

suggests that most workers would support such action so long as it is administered fairly

and equitably.

Bibliography

Text books provided by NICMAR

Guide lines obtained from seniors.

Personal site experience

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Assignment No. 1 18

Asignment - 1 Construction Personnel Management

Documents

Transcript of Asignment - 1 Construction Personnel Management