Human resource management for const management

MD MANZOOR AKHTAR Join us @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/beingcivil/ /Page1

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY HYDERABAD

M. Tech – I year I Sem. (Construction Management)

HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT FOR CONSTRUCTION

(Elective-I & II)

UNIT-I

Challenges of managing people in construction, Organization.

UNIT-II

Management theory I - Human resources management theory- strategic human resources management approaches.

UNIT-III

Management theory II- Operational approaches of Human resources management

employee relations.

UNIT-IV

Employee empowerment-salient features-diversity and work life balance.

UNIT-V

Employee welfare-strategic Human resource development- employment legislation

legal aspects.

Text Books:

1. Langfor D.A. Human Resource management in construction, Longman,1995.

2. Martin Loosemore, Andrew Dainty, Helen Lingard, Human Resource Management in

construction projects: strategic and operational approaches, Taylor and Francis, 2010


UNIT- 1

CHALLENGES IN MANAGING PEOPLE IN CONSTRUCTION, ORGANIZATION

Challenges in managing people in Construction

Challenges in managing people in Organization

1. CHALLENGES IN MANAGING PEOPLE IN CONSTRUCTION

Introduction

The construction industry accounts for a sizeable proportion of worldwide economic activity

Despite recent advances in technology and production management techniques, construction remains one of the most people-reliant industrial sectors.

Human resources represent the large majority of costs on most projects, and the industry employs an extremely diverse range of people from a wide range of occupational cultures and backgrounds, including people in unskilled, craft, managerial, professional and administrative positions.

The challenges of managing people in construction

A. Their unique, one-off nature

Unlike other sectors, where prototypes can be tested before real production gets underway, construction projects tend to be one-off, unique organisations that are designed and constructed to meet a particular client's product and service needs.

This can lead to significant risks for people working on a project, which largely arise from learning-curve problems associated with new work activities and ever-changing workplace relationship.

B. Their tendency to be awarded at short notice

Many construction projects are awarded following a period of competitive tendering, where possibilities for thorough planning are often limited.

Having been awarded a contract, a design consultancy or contractor has to mobilise a project team comprising an appropriate blend of skills and abilities to meet the project demands quickly.

The resourcing function may need to respond to sudden changes in workload, as there can be no guarantee of how much work will be being undertaken at any particular time

C. Their reliance on a transient workforce:

Construction projects are, for the most part, constructed in situ. Even with the increased use of offsite fabrication and the wider use of prefabricated components, the final product is normally assembled and completed in the required site location.


This necessitates the employment of a transient workforce which can move from one project location to the next. This transience poses many problems for workers, such as longer working days, more expense in travelling to work and managing work-life balance issues, since their families may not be as mobile.

D. Increasingly demanding clients:

In recent years there has been a steady increase in the quality of service and product expected by clients procuring construction work.

E. A male-dominated culture

Construction is one of the most male dominated industries in virtually every developed society. Men dominate both craft trades and professional and managerial positions within the sector.

This reliance on male employment leads to many challenges, such as skills shortages caused by recruiting from only a portion of the population, difficulties in the management of equal opportunities and workforce diversity, and considerable challenges in terms of creating an accommodating atmosphere in which individuals' diverse skills and competencies are fully utilized.

2. THE ORGANISATIONAL-BASED NATURE OF CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY AND THE DEVOLUTION OF THE HRM FUNCTION TO THE PROJECT

MANAGER

• We have pointed out that construction is a project-based industry and that this involves bringing together different combinations of clients, designers, constructors and suppliers for relatively short periods of time.

• In construction the multidisciplinary characteristics of its project teams present particular challenges for managers attempting to secure appropriate staff for projects at different stages and based in geographically dispersed locations.

• The construction projects demand attention to a variety of human, technical and financial variables. However, the training and education of line managers, and therefore project management strategies, have traditionally focused on the issues of structuring and planning operations, with relatively little attention being paid to the human resource factor in defining a project's success.

• Construction companies require managers of projects to make HRM decisions that align with the overall strategic philosophy of the organisation and which meet the operational staffing requirements of their individual team.

• Project managers may be aware of the need to provide training for their staffs' personal development, but the time and resource pressures of a project and the day-to-day problems at arise may prevent them from doing so. Inevitably, since project success is nearly always measured in monetary terms, people-related issues become a second priority to the core procurement challenges of meeting time, cost and quality targets.


Challenges in managing people in Organization

A. The variable demand for construction products and services

The level of economic activity within the construction industry is highly sensitive to wider economic activity, and construction has always suffered from being one of the first industries to be affected by an economic downturn and one of the last to recover from it.

Conversely, in the event of an upturn in business, construction is likely to be one of the last investments committed to, because of the need to assure a relatively certain period of economic stability and growth ahead.

Consequently, most construction companies adopt a flexible model of HRM, in which they employ the bulk of their workforce on temporary contracts or as subcontracted labour.

The dangerous result of not being able to control such practices in such a competitive industry is that other companies are forced to lower their performance to the lowest common denominator in order to survive.

The large construction firms who employ these small companies, construction clients and government agencies have an extremely important responsibility to ensure that these practices do not occur.

B. The shrinking labour market and the image of the construction sector

Like any industry, construction has to compete for its workforce from the limited pool of people who are able and willing to work. Historically this has not been a problem for the construction industry.

However, a sustained downturn in population growth in many developed countries and changes in gender demographics affecting traditional recruitment sectors have made this market more competitive and raised the real possibility of the industry being affected by skills shortages in the near future.

Clearly, high-achieving individuals are Likely to gravitate towards industries and sectors which are seen as offering good wages, good working conditions and good career opportunities, and as being the most glamorous and attractive to work in.

Thus, the unattractiveness of construction as a career choice has become a topic of concern and debate amongst the industry's various bodies and training organisations.

The reasons put forward for the construction industry's poor public image have been

numerous, and they include:

• The site-based and hence itinerant work patterns, which result in job insecurity or require many construction workers continually to relocate in pursuit of new project opportunities.

• The poor on-site working conditions, health and safety record and employee welfare provision within the industry.

• The industry's association with manual, blue-collar occupations rather than more highly regarded white-collar positions.

• The male-dominated and discriminatory 'macho' culture that is commonly portrayed as the way the industry operates.


C. Employee turnover and retention

Employee turnover, or 'wastage', is an extremely important issue for construction companies' strategic HR planning, yet a culture of mobility has emerged in the industry which has led to a workforce of corporate mercenaries that coldly drift from job to job with little sense of loyalty to their employers.

Thus the need for companies to retain their staff seems set to become a major HRM issue in the construction industry of the future.

Without an increase in labour resources, only companies offering competitive salary packages, good working conditions and exciting career opportunities will be able to satisfy their labour requirements. Indeed, recent reports have suggested that skills shortages are already leading to increased salary levels.

However, increased remunerative costs lead to competitive labour markets, which has inflationary effects on the cost of construction work.

D. Subcontracting and self-employment in construction

The construction industry relies on subcontracting for the majority of its production effort. Hence the construction industry comprises a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises which operate in a subordinate productive role to larger 'main' contractors.

This more flexible structure was perfectly suited to the fluctuating workloads of the construction industry and led to major structural changes where the majority of the workforce became self-employed.

However, this also produced problems of reduced control, which lie at the heart of many of the industry's inefficiencies today.

Research also suggests that small businesses do not manage occupational health and safety risk as effectively as larger businesses and may be unaware of their responsibilities under occupational health and safety law.

These factors present difficulties for the prevention of occupational injuries and disease, which likely contribute to the higher incidence of occupational injury in small construction firms.

E. Training, employee development and knowledge creation

Training, personal development and knowledge creation lie at the very heart of achieving a motivated workforce and an efficient, effective, creative and innovative industry which has a positive public image.

Training is the most effective way to maintain, update and enhance the intellectual capital of the industry's workforce and to ensure that its activities contribute positively to the well-being of society as whole.

However, construction professionals are now more educated and sophisticated than at any time in the past and have higher expectations of their employers to provide for their personal career development.

Consequently, organisations which operate in dynamic environments (such as construction) will need to be proactive in managing their employees' career development and in ensuring that the needs of the individual are aligned with the needs of the organisation.


F. Communication

HRM communications must have an internal and external dimension.

a) The internal dimension must focus on ensuring effective communications between managers and workers in different parts of an organisation, particularly project staff and central HRM departments.

b) In contrast, the external dimension should focus on communications with external interest groups such as governments, pressure groups, local communities and unions.

G. Employee relations

In its broadest sense, employee relations concerns the process of establishing and negotiating the terms and expectations of the employment relationship

This process is especially important for employees in an industry that is renowned for its unsafe and unfair practices.

Traditionally, this negotiation was undertaken by trade unions on behalf of members in the form of collective agreements, although recent legislative changes have provided greater flexibility in allowing for non-union collective bargaining, individual contract-based employment and project-specific labour agreements.

H. Equal opportunities and diversity

Providing equality of opportunity for all of those working in a particular industry or organisation should form a cornerstone of good employment practices.

Discriminating against people on the grounds of their gender, race/ethnicity, age or disability leads to an under-utilisation of people's skills and talents and to a stifling of workforce diversity, which could promote innovation and improved working.

I. Health, safety and welfare

Few areas of HRM can be as important as managing people's health, safety and welfare at work.

However, despite advances in occupational health and safety legislation, research and management techniques construction remains one of the most dangerous sectors to work in.

In particular, health and safety must be made a top priority if it is to be taken seriously and incorporated into all management-system procedures to ensure a consistent approach.

Furthermore, the commercially oriented, male-dominated, macho culture of construction is unlikely to promote a safety-conscious attitude amongst employees.


UNIT- 2

MANAGEMENT THEORY- I

Human resources management theory

Strategic human resources management approaches.

1. HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT THEORY

Introduction

The application of theories of organisational behaviour to the context of people management has, in the last three decades, led to the development of various schools of thought, such as personnel management, industrial relations (IR), HRM and, more recently, SHRM

The broad function of personnel management has been in existence since the industrial revolution, where it fulfilled the welfare-officer role, supporting underprivileged factory workers through the provision of various benefits.

Today the role of the human resource manager is broader and more complex than that of the personnel manager.

The function of human resource management is considered a core managerial function rather than a specialist support function, and it is considered good practice for anyone with managerial responsibility to be involved with employee management issues.

Human resource management

A managerial perspective, with theoretical and prescriptive dimensions, which argues for the need to establish an integrated series of personnel policies consistent with organization strategy, thus ensuring quality of working life, high commitment and performance from employees, and organizational effectiveness and competitive advantage.

(Huczynski and Buchanan)

Human Resources Management is mainly directed toward the needs of management for the provision and use of human resources (this may not always be employees). Activities are carried out with other members of management who deal with human resources, rather than directly with employees, and the emphasis is on planning, monitoring and control, not on mediating. The differences between these two approaches are shown in the second scheme (Torrington)

Basic characteristics of human resources management are:

Employees are viewed as assets or as human capital which should be invested in by providing opportunities for learning and development of "learning organization".

Human resources are viewed as a source of competitive advantage.

Reducing the number of management levels for more direct communication between the managers and employees.


Decentralization of the management process and the transfer of part of management competencies from higher to lower levels of management.

Participation of employees in management through the involvement and active participation in performing management activities.

Ongoing flexibility of management process and control activities in order to find acceptable and sustainable solutions for environmental requirements.

Increased independence of employees in decision-making and work, making them happier and more motivated to work.

Favoring knowledge, skills and creativity, "which leads to the intellectualization of work overall, when thoughts and ideas become fuel of economy".

Orientation to the man and his values as the most important resource of the organization.

Commitment to achieving individual goals and interests, not only organizational.

Humanization of productive relations between the organization's management and employees.

Current trends in human resources management

a) Growing competition

The novelty that human resource management is faced with in contemporary environment is growing competition in the labor market, which lowers prices and affects the organizational unit of human resources to cancel certain workplaces and to develop new ways for intensifying work.

If the organization decides to increase the value and quality rather than reduce prices, this will entail the need for finding and motivating highly skilled workers. Regardless of whether the strategy of "low price" or "higher values" is adopted, we need fundamental changes towards employees.

b) Management of international business

A consequence of globalization is an increase in the number of multinational organizations, which requires more employed HR professionals working in organizations that are owned and controlled by someone from abroad

The problems that arise in the globalization are institutional and cultural differences. It is therefore necessary to develop a global standardization and establish a balance of global and local human resources managers.

c) Technological innovation

Information technology, telecommunications, laser applications and alike, are constantly evolving and have a direct impact on the development and management of human resources

It is possible to define three types of challenges that are put in front of the organizational unit for human resources, as a consequence of the aforementioned progress.

i. The first type of challenge is how the organizational units for human resources are engaged in their work, namely: the use of electronic mail and the Internet for communication and gaining information; use of the Internet as a new way for recruitment; development of Internet access to training and learning; the use of computer databases for storing information about employees and report writing; and application of computer technology in everyday tasks such as planning of human resources, administration relating to the calculation of earnings, and alike


ii. The second type of challenges that technology causes is a general change in the organization, demanding a response by the organizational unit for human resources, reflected in the need of recruitment, selection and bringing people of different skills and qualities. Experts in human resources have to plan and implement changes in technological development.

iii. The third type of technology that affects the change in management of human resources is the need for finding new ways of managing employees who work on research and development for the progress of the organization.

d) Doing business in accordance with applicable regulations

Experts in human resources must follow and comply with laws and regulations whose number is growing, and which are related to employment, health and social welfare, gender and racial discrimination, arbitrary dismissals, birth right throughout, union recognition and more.

This all leads to an increase in employment costs, the unwillingness of creating new job positions, but also to greater social security of workers.

e) Trade union action

For the management of human resources, it is essential to establish good and productive relationship with the union, which tries to improve business success. Trade unions often support constructive initiatives and contribute to management and help us notice things that otherwise we would not be aware of.

f) Ethical issues

Human resource management has always had an ethical dimension, but it often meets ethical dilemmas typical of cases where there is conflict between what is in the interest of the organization and what individuals on the basis of their ethical principles consider right.

When it comes to human resources, the organization can be criticized on ethical grounds, such as: avoidance of answering about the organization work

Dismissing an employee because of ill health, ignoring the need for changes in health security because it requires greater investment, providing training opportunities to some individuals, and denial to others, discrimination on the basis of age, and more.

g) Best practice versus best fit

This view has a consequence on the entire field of human resources and it refers to management, which is currently the most important theoretical debate in the field of human resources.

This view raises a question whether there is a best way for carrying out activities related to human resources, and that is applicable everywhere.

Human resource practices implement their positive influence by

i. Providing and improving the competence of employees

ii. Impact on their motivation and commitment,

iii. Planning job so that employees are encouraged to give their best at work.


Approaches to HRM in construction

Construction companies face a dilemma in having to maintain staffing levels that can comfortably deal with the cyclical demands of the industry's market whilst maintaining organisational growth and development.

Given the high levels of competition and resulting low profit margins that characterize the industry's operation, avoiding workforce overcapacity has been a core priority for most construction companies over the last 30 years.

In markets characterised by fluctuating workloads there are clear financial advantages in this approach. Savings for employers using contracted-out labour include National Insurance contributions, the administrative costs of making tax deductions from the employee, payments for sickness or holidays, etc.

Contractors who rely on labour only subcontracting and the hiring of self-employed operatives also avoid the costs of training their direct employees.

In times of economic downturn or recession the organisation can quickly offload their indirect workforce and then rehire them when required. This prevents them employing non-productive staff between contracts, thereby ensuring the maximum possible output from their workforce.

modern organisations now commonly adopt multiple and parallel forms of flexibility in response to pressures such as changing demographics, expectations, technologies and an increasingly uncertain business environment

2. 2. STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (SHRM)

One of the aspects that define the transition from 'personnel' management to HRM is the need to integrate HR planning within the strategy of the organisation.

Considering HRM as a strategic function rests on the belief that an organisation's human assets offer it a sustainable source of competitive advantage. Indeed, some take the radical view that SHRM offers organisations the main source of competitive advantage in the long term.

SHRM is concerned with the development and implementation of people strategies which are integrated with corporate strategies and ensure that the culture, values and structure of the organisation and the quality, motivation and commitment of its members contribute fully to the achievement of its goals.

(Armstrong 1991)

Models of SHRM

In recent years many competing models of SHRM have been developed, which have all tried to capture the ways in which organisations can align HRM practices with their wider strategic objectives.

A) The Michigan Model

• It approaches the SHRM function in a rather dispassionate manner, treating people like any other resource that should be managed in such a way as to maximise utility whilst minimising cost.

• The Michigan Model emphasizes the interaction of functional aspects of the SHRM role, such as selection, appraisal, rewards and development.


• These must be linked to (or aligned with) the strategy of the organisation in order that SHRM practices support the strategic direction of the organisation.

• Recently the applicability and utility of this model have been criticized as being limited in the context of modern organisations because it treats the SHRM function as a closed system, ignoring the hostile business environments in which many companies operate.

• In practical terms, this means that for organisations operating in highly dynamic environments there would be little point in developing SHRM policies which emphasize adherence to strict protocols and procedures.

B) The Harvard Model

• The Harvard School has made a major contribution to the development of SHRM by providing a useful open-systems model of how SHRM policy influences other organisational functions and is constrained by stakeholder interests and situational factors.

• Stakeholders are people who are influenced by or can influence the operations or outputs of an organisation. They could include senior managers, employees, shareholders, external pressure groups, customers and suppliers

• The Harvard School Model provides an important link between SHRM decisions, the business environment and an organisation's performance.

• The ability to take account of situational and stakeholder interests is particularly important in construction projects, which employ a wide range of interest groups and often have a major impact upon the general public.

• Here the mutual interdependence of those involved, those affected and those who can influence the project's outcome must be taken into account through appropriate SHRM policy decisions.


Figure: The Harvard Model of HRM

• Here the mutual interdependence of those involved, those affected and those`who can influence the project's outcome must be taken into account through appropriate SHRM policy decisions.

• For example,

every project will require decisions to be taken as to whether to employ project team members directly or to hire in agency staff for the duration of the work.

This decision will be contingent upon both the wider situational factors (such as the state of the internal and external labour market) and the wider interests of the organisational stakeholders (the employees already employed and those both internal and external to the organisation who stand to be affected by the project's success).

• These factors should inform and influence SHRM policy decisions, which in turn will define the success or otherwise of the approach adopted.

C) The Warwick Model • A problem for researchers considering the strategic role of SHRM is that the majority of the

accepted models were developed within an American context.

• Approaches outside of the USA demand a perspective on the SHRM function that reflects the particular cultural context that exists in different countries.

• This model, shown in fig, differs from the others discussed above in reflecting European traditions and management styles.

• The model comprises five interrelated elements, which allow an analysis to be made of how external factors impact upon the internal operations of an organisation.

• The main contribution of the Wanvick Model is that it incorporates culture and business outputs into the SHRM framework. Each box within the model reflects a particular context within which the organisation operates and shows how strategic change impacts on the SHRM function.


Figure: The Warwick Model of strategic change and HRM

SHRM has six key characteristics:

It recognises the outside environment: this comprises a set of opportunities and threats to the organisation that must be recognised and taken account of by the strategic decision-making process. They can include social, demographic and labour-market changes, legislation, economic conditions, technology, political forces, etc. All of these factors can impact on an organisation's ability to recruit, develop and retain people who will take the organisation forward.

It recognises competition and labour-market dynamics: these affect wagel benefits levels, unemployment rates and working conditions, and define the necessary conditions that an organisation must provide to remain competitive in the labour market.

It has a long-range focus: a strategic focus implies that consideration is given to the long-range direction and objectives of the organisation. This will depend on the management philosophy of the organisation regarding where it wants to position itself.

It has a decision-making focus: this means that the organisation consciously chooses to direct and commit its human resources in a particular direction.

It considers all stakeholders: a strategic approach demands that the organisation take account of the views and interests of all stakeholders, internal and external.


It is integrated with corporate strategy: perhaps the most important characteristic is that HR strategy should be integrated with the firm's overall corporate strategy. For example, if a company sets out to grow rapidly and to dominate a particular market, then the strategy should be rapidly to acquire new human resources with the necessary skills in order to achieve that goal.

Developing an SHRM strategy

Thinking strategically about HRM demands that an organisation look beyond the here and now to consider the external and long-term factors likely to impinge upon its business over the next few years.

A) Recognising and responding to the environment

Central to strategy formulation is a recognition that construction companies do not operate within a vacuum and that the outside environments present opportunities and threats to the future development of the business.

The role of the HRM strategy is to capitalise on the opportunities and to mitigate the threats through its people-management policies. For example, a construction company may see an opportunity in government-sponsored infrastructure projects over the next five years

By exploring its human resource capabilities it may find that it has an overcapacity of skills in general building construction, but not enough in heavy civil engineering.

B) Recognising and responding to labour-market dynamics

The labour market is as competitive as the commercial market, which means that attracting, rewarding, deploying and retaining people should be a primary focus within an SHRM strategy.

In construction this is a particularly complex issue as the workforce is itinerant and the industry relies on a wide range of different skills, ranging from craft-operative to support services and production-management functions.

For example, a construction company may recognise a future national shortage of quantity surveyors and seek to address this potential shortage by reviewing its recruitment and training activities, perhaps by sponsoring students or actively recruiting surveyors through targeted campaigns. Alternatively, it could retrain some of its other staff in surveying skills to offset the shortage

C) Considering all organisational personnel

Every individual working for the organisation must be considered as part of the overall strategy, regardless of their gender, race, physical ability or seniority.

Workforce diversity is a strength which should be planned and managed effectively to harness its productive potential.

a construction company must make appropriate adjustments for the different tasks that people perform within the organisation. The key to avoiding any potential problems is to do this sensitively and fairly and with an awareness of the market for each unit of labour.

D) Taking a long-range view

The problem in construction is that the cyclical nature of the market makes this difficult and engenders a short-term view on almost all business functions.


The traditional competitive tendering system creates so much workload uncertainty that it would be foolish to recruit until a project has been won. Finally, the devolution of HRM responsibilities to project level in many companies does nothing to engender a long-term attitude.

For example • A construction company may identify a strategic priority as being to move into a

new market over a five-year period, which would highlight the need to start recruiting and retraining staff with new skills now. This strategy does not dictate how the organisation is to achieve this target, but provides a long-term vision and overall direction that will influence future recruitment, training and development activities.

E) Focusing on choice and decision-making

Strategising involves looking into the future and planning the best way forward from a range of alternative ptions.

When considering HRM strategy, a choice has to be made about the future direction of an organisation and how its employees will help it to achieve this goal.

For example,

• An organisation may look at three distinct market opportunities – housing refurbishment, public new-build housing and private new-build housing. A strategic decision cannot be made on market opportunity alone, as it often is, but must also consider the available skills and resources to take advantage of it.

Too often companies decide to enter a market without having fully considered the HRM implications of doing so. The result is workforce intransigence and extra pressure and stress for those who have to shoulder the burden of a lack of human resources.

If the organisation is badly placed from an HR perspective to exploit the most lucrative market opportunity, then it must consider in advance whether it should refocus on an alternative market or reorient its workforce to exploit the opportunity.


UNIT- 3

MANAGEMENT THEORY- II

Operational approaches of Human resources management

Employee relations.

1. OPERATIONAL APPROACHES OF HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

Organization Design

Organization Analysis

i) The external environment.

The economic, market and competitive factors that may affect the organization. Plans for product-market development will be significant.

ii) The internal environment

The mission, values, organization climate, management style, technology and processes of the organization as they affect the way it functions and should be structured to carry out those functions.

iii) Strategic issues and objectives

As a background to the study it is necessary to identify the strategic issues facing the organization and its objectives.

These may be considered under such headings as growth, competition and market position and standing. Issues concerning the availability of the required human, financial and physical resources would also have to be considered.

iv) Activities

Activity analysis establishes what work is done and what needs to be done in the organization to achieve its objectives within its environment.

The analysis should cover what is and is not being done, who is doing it and where, and how much is being done.

v) Structure

The analysis of structure covers how activities are grouped together, the number of levels in the hierarchy, the extent to which authority is decentralized to divisions and strategic business units (SBUs).

Where functions such as finance, personnel and research and development are placed in the structure (eg as central functions or integrated into divisions or SBUs) and the relationships that exist between different units and functions (with particular attention being given to the way in which they communicate and cooperate with one another.


Organization guidelines

There are no ‘rules’ or ‘principles’ of organization but there are certain guidelines that are worth bearing in mind in an organization study. These are:

a) Allocation of work.

The work that has to be done should be defined and allocated to functions, units, departments, work teams, project groups and individual positions.

Related activities should be grouped together, but the emphasis should be on process rather than hierarchy, taking into account the need to manage processes that involve a number of different work units or teams.

b) Differentiation and integration

It is necessary to differentiate between the different activities that have to be carried out, but it is equally necessary to ensure that these activities are integrated so that everyone in the organization is working towards the same goals.

c) Teamwork

Jobs should be defined and roles described in ways that facilitate and underline the importance of teamwork. Areas where cooperation is required should be emphasized.

The organization should be designed and operated across departmental or functional boundaries.

Wherever possible, self-managing teams should be set up and given the maximum amount of responsibility to run their own affairs, including planning, budgeting and exercising quality control.

Networking should be encouraged in the sense of people communicating openly and informally with one another as the need arises. It is recognized that these informal processes can be more productive than rigidly ‘working through channels’ as set out in the organization chart.

d) Flexibility

The organization structure should be flexible enough to respond quickly to change, challenge and uncertainty.

Flexibility should be enhanced by the creation of core groups and by using part-time, temporary and contract workers to handle extra demands.

At top management level and elsewhere, a collegiate approach to team operation should be considered in which people.

e) Role clarification

People should be clear about their roles as individuals and as members of a team. They should know what they will be held accountable for and be given every opportunity to use their abilities in achieving objectives to which they have agreed and are committed.

Role profiles should define key result areas but should not act as straitjackets, restricting initiative and unduly limiting responsibility.

f) Decentralization


Authority to make decisions should be delegated as close to the scene of action as possible. Profit centers should be set up as strategic business units which operate close to their markets and with a considerable degree of autonomy.

A multiproduct or market business should develop a federal organization with each federated entity running its own affairs, although they will be linked together by the overall business strategy.

g) De-layering

Organizations should be ‘flattened’ by removing superfluous layers of management and supervision in order to promote flexibility, facilitate swifter communication, increase responsiveness, enable people to be given more responsibility as individuals or teams and reduce costs.

Job design and role development

Principles of job design

Robertson and Smith (1985) suggest the following five principles of job design:

To influence skill variety, provide opportunities for people to do several tasks and combine tasks.

To influence task identity, combine tasks and form natural work units. To influence task significance, form natural work units and inform people of the

importance of their work. To influence autonomy, give people responsibility for determining their own working

systems. To influence feedback, establish good relationships and open feedback channels

Approaches to job design

The main job design approaches are:

Job rotation which comprises the movement of employees from one task to another to reduce monotony by increasing variety.

Job enlargement, which means combining previously fragmented tasks into one job, again to increase the variety and meaning of repetitive work.

Job enrichment, which goes beyond job enlargement to add greater autonomy and responsibility to a job and is based on the job characteristics approach.

Self-managing teams (autonomous work groups) – these are self-regulating teams who work largely without direct supervision. The philosophy on which this technique is based is a logical extension of job enrichment.

● High-performance work design, which concentrates on setting up working groups in environments where high levels of performance are required.

HIGH-PERFORMANCE WORK DESIGN High-performance work design, as described by Buchanan (1987), requires the following steps:

• Management clearly defines what it needs in the form of new technology or methods of production and the results expected from its introduction.


• Multi-skilling is encouraged – that is, job demarcation lines are eliminated as far as possible and encouragement and training are provided for employees to acquire new skills.

• Equipment that can be used flexibly is selected and is laid out to allow freedom of movement and vision.

• Self-managed teams or autonomous working groups are established, each with around a dozen members and with full ‘back-to-back’ responsibility for product assembly and testing, fault-finding and some maintenance.

• Managers and team leaders adopt a supportive rather than an autocratic style (this is the most difficult part of the system to introduce).

• Support systems are provided for kit-marshalling and material supply, which help the teams to function effectively as productive units.

• Management sets goals and standards for success.

• The new system is introduced with great care by means of involvement and communication programmes.

• Thorough training is carried out on the basis of an assessment of training needs.

• The payment system is specially designed with employee participation to fit their needs as well as those of management.

• Payment may be related to team performance (team pay), but with skill-based pay for individuals.

• In some cases, a ‘peer performance review’ process may be used which involves team members assessing one another’s performance as well as the performance of the team as a whole.

2. EMPLOYEE RELATION

• 'Employee relations' (traditionally known as industrial relations) refers to the relationship between operatives and managers and the system that attempts to control this.

• It has informal and formal dimensions that define and control the nature of the employment relationship. It is important to understand that good industrial relations are an automatic outcome of managing the topics covered in this book, such as occupational health and safety, equity and cultural diversity, compensation, reward, termination, etc.

• Employee relations must be understood within the economic, cultural, social and political context of specific countries.

• Consequently, this chapter focuses on general trends in industrialised countries, where employee relations have traditionally been negotiated through collective agreements with the workforce, often brokered through workforce representatives and trade unions

Managing The Employment Relationship

The dynamic and often nebulous nature of the employment relationship increases the difficulty of managing it. The problem is compounded because of the multiplicity of factors that influence the contract: the culture of the organization; the prevailing management style; the values, espoused and practised, of top management; the existence or non-existence of a climate of trust; day-to-day interactions between employees and line managers; and the HR policies and practices of the business.


HR specialists can contribute to the development of a positive and productive employment

relationship in the followingways:

i. During recruitment interviews – presenting the unfavourable as well as the favourable aspects of a job in a realistic job preview.

ii. In induction programmes – communicating to new starters the organization’s personnel policies and procedures and its core values, indicating to them the standards of performance expected in such areas as quality and customer service, and spelling out requirements for flexibility;

iii. By issuing and updating employee handbooks that reinforce the messages delivered in induction programmes;

iv. By encouraging the development of performance management processes that ensure that performance expectations are agreed and reviewed regularly;

v. By encouraging the use of personal development plans that spell out how continuous improvement of performance can be achieved, mainly by self-managed learning;

vi. By using learning and development programmes to underpin core values and define performance expectations;

vii. By ensuring through manager and team leader training that managers and team leaders understand their role in managing the employment relationship through such processes as performance management and team leadership;

viii. By encouraging the maximum amount of contact between managers and team leaders and their team members to achieve mutual understanding of expectations and to provide a means of two-way communications;

ix. By adopting a general policy of transparency – ensuring that in all matters that affect them, employees know what is happening, why it is happening and the impact it will make on their employment, development and prospects

x. by developing HR procedures covering grievance handling, discipline, equal opportunities, promotion and redundancy and ensuring that they are implemented fairly and consistently;

xi. developing and communicating HR policies covering the major areas of employment, development, reward and employee relations;

xii. by ensuring that the reward system is developed and managed to achieve equity, fairness and consistency in all aspects of pay and benefits;

xiii. generally, by advising on employee relations procedures, processes and issues that further good collective relationships.

Defining The Employment Relationship

• Transactional contracts have well-described terms of exchange, which are usually expressed financially. They are of limited duration, with specified performance requirements.

• Relational contracts are less well defined with more abstract terms and refer to an open-ended membership of the organization. Performance requirements attached to this continuing membership are incomplete or ambiguous.


The Effect Of Unions

a) The monopoly perspective

The monopoly view of unions starts with the premise that unions raise wages above competitive levels.

People living in economically deprived areas and blue-collar workers seem to gain the most from unionisation, perhaps because members of these groups possess relatively low levels of individual influence.

Thus, although unions undoubtedly have some impact on wages and benefits, this varies across different employee groups.

b) Elasticity of labour demand

Union power largely depends on the union's ability to take wages out of competition. Wages can be taken out of competition if labour demand is relatively insensitive to wage changes (inelastic) - that is, if consumers will absorb increased labour costs without offsetting employment effects.

Factors that contribute to labour-demand inelasticity include labour costs being a small proportion of total costs; insensitivity of product demand to changes in prices; and an inability to substitute labour for capital, either through technology or through markets.

In construction labour costs are generally accepted as accounting for about 45 per cent of the total costs of a building, making the demand relatively elastic and making it more difficult to negotiate wage increases without affecting job security.

c) The extent of unionization

The extent of union organisation in a particular market also affects union monopoly power: more unionised markets have greater unionlnon-union wage differentials because of less non-union wage competition.

The extent of bargaining coverage further augments this effect, maximum influence being exerted when one union bargains for the entire market, meaning that all firms in the industry are covered by the same terms and conditions.

Trade unions were actively involved, through collective bargaining, in establishing the content of these awards, which regulated employees across entire industries.

d) The collective-voice perspective

Workers have several choices when they feel dissatisfied with their jobs: they can do nothing, they can leave their organisation or industry, or they can complain and try to improve the conditions around them.

In work settings the voice of one employee is rarely effective in bringing about change. In addition, many workers fear termination and victimisation for revealing their true feelings to management.

Union advocates maintain that the collective voice reduces staff turnover, thereby leading to retention of experienced and loyal workers, lowering a firm's training costs and raising its productivity.


Many managers argue that unions reduce their decision-making autonomy and slow down decision-making at a time when speed of response is becoming more important in taking full advantage of business opportunities.

e) Collective bargaining

Collective bargaining occurs when workers group together to negotiate employees' wages and benefits, to create or revise work rules, and to resolve disputes or violations of the labour contract with management representatives.

Despite the decline in union membership in post-industrial countries in recent years, it is unlikely, and arguably undesirable, that the union role in collective bargaining will disappear.

Collective bargaining should be viewed as a two-way process in order that the basic interests of both parties are protected. It is important to appreciate that both sides (employee and employer) have a responsibility to each other and are ultimately dependent on each other for survival.

The major issues covered by the contract and therefore by the process of collective bargaining fall under the following four categories

• wage-related issues such as basic wage rates, cost-of-living adjustments, wage differentials, overtime rates, wage adjustments and two-tier wage systems;

• supplementary economic benefits, which include pension plans, paid holidays, health insurance plans, dismissal pay, reporting pay and supplementary unemployment benefits;

• institutional issues such as the rights and duties of employers, employees and unions, including union security (i.e. union membership as a condition of employment), employee stock ownership plans and quality of work-life programmes.

• administrative issues such as seniority, employee discipline and discharge procedures, employee health and safety, technological changes, work rules, job security, worker privacy issues and training.

f) Levels of bargaining

Terms and conditions for the sale of labour can be negotiated at an individual or a collective level. The main difference between industry-wide in individual workplace contracts which differ from one employer to the next, whereas collective bargaining results in standardised national agreements across an industry.

Most industrial relations theorists argue that collective bargaining is the only means by which the power imbalance between employers and workers can be overcome to prevent exploitation of workers.

However, supporters of individual contracts argue that workers' rights are protected because AWAs must be lodged with the Office of the Employment Advocate, who determines whether they satisfy the 'no-disadvantage test'. This ensures that agreements do not result in overall terms and conditions inferior to those provided in the relevant award.

Furthermore, very large construction contracts often require bespoke working agreements, particularly those involving working in especially remote or hazardous locations, where staff may prove hard to recruit or require particular training or skills.


g) Negotiation tactics

Negotiations involve a combination of coercive and persuasive strategies. The latter encompass threats and arguments; the former, the application of direct sanctions intended to inflict harm on the opposing side and prompt it to shift its negotiation position.

Threats involve one party promising to impose sanctions on the other unless a more favourable settlement is offered.

Most industrial disputes that arise are accidental and are due to tactical miscalculations and misunderstandings by one or both parties. It follows, therefore, that a crucial part of the process is intelligence gathering about one's opponent.

Furthermore, the nature of the employer's products, the position the workers occupy in the work process, the immediacy and extent to which they can affect the supply of goods and services, and the ability of the employer to find alternative means of meeting customer demand (such as through the use of alternative labour or production from another site) are some of the more important factors influencing the balance of power between employer and employee groups.

Disputes Procedures

i. Disagreements will inevitably occur which will prove difficult, if not impossible, to resolve in a way that is reasonably acceptable to both managers and union officials.

ii. When negotiations become deadlocked the parties will usually register a 'failure to agree' and refer the issue to the next stage of the disputes procedure.

iii. It is normally understood, if not explicitly stated, that both sides will refrain from taking any industrial action until all stages of the procedure have been exhausted. Nevertheless, unconstitutional action, which is action in breach of procedures, can occur.

iv. Disputes procedures are intended to aid the resolution of disputes by enabling them to proceed through a number of hierarchical stages, each involving the introduction of more senior personnel who are less directly involved with the issues under discussion.

v. To avoid dispute procedures becoming unduly cumbersome and time consuming, only those levels of management able to play an effective role in resolving disputes need to be involved.

vi. Another important issue is whether individual grievances and collective disputes should be covered by the same procedure. Whatever decision is made, procedures vary considerably both in relation to the number of stages they contain and in the identity of those to be involved at each stage.

vii. Where provision is made for issues to be referred outside the organisation, it may take the form of reference to an industry-wide disputes procedure if the employer concerned is a party to the relevant set of industry-level negotiations.

viii. Alternatively, the matter may be referred to an independent third party who may conduct conciliation, mediation, adjudication or arbitration depending on the seriousness of the dispute.

ix. Of the various intervention strategies mentioned above, conciliation is the least formal. With conciliation, the third party supports the negotiating process by assisting the parties to identify themselves, the nature of their differences and possible ways of resolving them.


Changes In The Employment Relationship

The evidence for a major change in the nature of the employment relationship was much less convincing.’ But they did note the following characteristics of employment as revealed by the survey.

New forms of management, often based explicitly or implicitly on HRM principles and emphasizing individual contracts rather than collective bargaining.

There was some increase in task discretion but there was no evidence of a significant decline in managerial control; indeed, in some important respects control was intensified.

Supervisory activity was still important.

Integrative forms of management policy were centred on non-manual employees.

The great majority of employees continued to attach a high level of importance to the intrinsically motivating aspects of work.

The higher the level of skill, the more people were involved with their work.

The raising of skill levels and the granting of increased discretion to employers are key factors in improving the quality of work experience.

High levels of commitment to the organization can reduce absenteeism and labour turnover but there was no evidence that organizational commitment ‘added anything over and above other organizational and task characteristics with regard to the quality of work performance’.


UNIT- 4

CHALLENGES IN MANAGING PEOPLE IN CONSTRUCTION, ORGANIZATION

Employee empowerment- salient features

Diversity and Worklife Balance

1. Employee Empowerment- Salient Features

Introduction

Employee empowerment is one of the effective techniques for increasing productivity in employee and optimal use of capacity their individual and group abilities in order to achieve organizational objectives. Empowerment is a process in which through the development and influence expand and the capabilities of individuals and teams will be help to improve and performance continuous improvement. In other words, empowerment is a development strategy and organizational prosperity. In this section, with a practical approach has been paid to concept of employee empowerment, Explain of dimensions this concept, definitions, organizational characteristics of formidable employee, factors affecting on empowerment, achievements and obstacles in organizations.

Concept Defining of Empowerment

Empowerment of human resources means create collection of required capacity in staff for enable them to creating added value in organization and role playing and responsibilities are responsible in the organization, with efficiency and effectiveness. (Doaei 1998)

Empowerment Approaches

a) Mechanical Approach :

According to this view, Empowerment is means delegating and the power from top to bottom with clear boundaries and limits and also strict accountability which increases managerial control (Boula 1994).

In this approach, empowerment is a process during which senior management, has developed a clear vision, and paint programs and specific tasks to achieve it in organization.

Provided information and resources needed to perform duties for employee and allows as needed to do practice change and processes improvement. In summary, this empowerment approach, means decision in a particular range. (Abdollahi & Nave Ebrahim 2006)

b) Organic Approach : Organic approach is a view from bottom to up, and reduce control. Based on this approach,

empowerment is defined in terms of personal beliefs. According to this view, capable individuals have common characteristics.


Reflects the experiences or beliefs of employees about their role in the organization, thus, empowerment is not something which managers carry out to employees instead is mindset of employees about their role in the organization.

However, organization management can provide a required platform for empowerment of employees. (Spritzer 1995)

c) Empowerment Process

Staff empowerment is a process through which extends a culture of empowerment. Empowerment process is consisting three phases.

d) Information sharing

Allows to employees know their organization status and to analyze. Information sharing begins with trust in the organization, and breaking traditional hierarchical thinking and increase employees' sense of responsibility.

e) Autonomy working across organizational boundaries

Boundaries organization is specified through a) Destination (Why do you?) b) Values (what is your action guide?) c) Imagination (what your imagination of the future?) d) Objectives (what, when, where, how and why do they?) e) Roles (which are you?) f) System and organizational structure (how your work will be supported?).

f) Replacement self-bring teams instead hierarchy

Whenever a group of people with specific responsibilities for work and production processes are selected, plan and implement, from start to finish, will manage everything, and divided responsibilities into equal and fair.

Self-bring teams advantage are summarized in provide job satisfaction, change of attitude, commitment, better communication between employees and managers, more effective decision-making processes, improvement of operations, reduce the cost and organization efficiency.

Effective factors in the process of employees empowerment

1. Specify objectives, responsibilities and authority in organization.

Employees must be aware of their responsibilities and duties description, the purpose and mission organization, and its stages and work processes.

2. Job enrichment and job promotion :

Organization must to act in order to be up to date technical and professional information of staff, and increase their content of job.

3. Mentalities and organizational belong.

In order to satisfy this factor must respect for employees in organization and assistance to resolve personal problems.


4. Trust, sincerity and honesty

Organization must create positive environment and friendly working relationships between employees and increase trust between managers and employees.

5. Diagnosis of and appreciation

Proportionality received salary and bonuses with the work they do, appropriate distribution welfare facilities organization, Proportionality Job promotion employees with their suitability.

6. Participation and teamwork

Applying the opinions and ideas of employees in decision and their cooperation in improve and promote of organization affairs, delegation of authority to staff at various levels, participation of employees in offering suggestions for affairs better.

7. Communications

Including communication and easy access employees to managers and supervisors, transparency and clarity work community of employees with managers and supervisors.

8. Work environment

The importance to employee health and safety in working environment, create appropriate opportunities for employees job promotion, reduce stress and tension in working environment.

9. Optimization of processes and working methods

Being clear and transparent of workflow and information in organizations, periodic review and modification of work methods and affairs simplification.

10. Information, knowledge and job skills

Existence facilities to develop job skills in organization, existence fields of effective and efficient training in organization.

Practices Empowerment of Employees in Organizations

a) Empowerment and Training

Training programs would be useful if implemented and supported with the participation of employees and relying on scientific methods. The real purpose of training programs is relationship between employees and management and also participation in institutional programs to enhance work motivation. (Ghasemi 2003).

b) Empowerment and Participation :

Overall, based on various theories employee participation is main core of democracy. (Ghasemi 2003)

c) Empowerment and Unions

Throughout the history unions are only institutions that have been able to induce a sense of empowerment to employees. (Fathi Vajargah 2004)


d) Empowerment and Quality

moral commitment in total quality management is an inherent problem, because employees will be authorized to participate in decisions. (Saki 1998) Empowerment Strategies

e) Strategies of increase collective awareness through storytelling

If employees have responsible to their solve problems, talented to efforts improve their personal and organizational life. Approach storytelling as an essential factor of empowerment lead to strengthen of efforts based on cooperation. When people discover or creating their story cooperation or reflect, in fact, their life story express in organization to positive ways. (Rappaport 1995)

f) Strategies of training problem solving skills

Employees must increase capacity of their problem solving skills. Problem solving skills can be will lead to staff empowerment in level individual, interpersonal and group as an essential step in creating change of location. In this strategy, must allowed to employees their problems identifying and solving based on the content of the stories takes shape in a collaborative environment. in this case, first team to summarize aims of problem solving. These aims include: identifying the problem, choose one of the important problems, selecting of purpose for solving or bigger problem, Creative thinking in order to problem solving and achieve to aims and identify resources to help achieve this objective. (Honald 1997)

g) Strategies of skills training and support resource mobilization

Protections, including the protection individuals of their, protection managers of individuals, protection law of individuals. Organization can to spread collective support in organizations through writing, speaking and or lecture of legislator or political individuals. If employees know that in organizations resources for their personal development is available and support needed are in this way empowerment is accomplished with high speed and acceleration. (Wilkinson 1998).

Practical measures to empowering employees

1. Demonstrate leadership commitment through empowerment 2. To consider the interests of employees through empowerment 3. Staff training to increase their knowledge, skills and abilities through empowerment 4. Application of quality teams through empowerment 5. Employee participation in planning and performance information sharing through

empowerment 6. Delegation of authority through empowerment

Existent obstacles in organizations to implement of empowerment

1. Governing formal structure and hierarchy 2. Low level of trust and confidence among organizational members 3. Inappropriate attitudes of managers and employees and also inappropriate leadership

and management styles 4. Lack the necessary skills in Staff


5. Large differences between individuals and organization and also existence of coordinated personnel systems

6. Tension and stress in the environment

Techniques and tools creating Empowerment in organizations

a. The following are some examples of creating Empowerment technology in organizations, include

b. Implementation of recommendation system in organization c. Formation of quality circles 3. Establishment of working groups d. Create and apply appropriate system performance evaluation and introduce sampled

staff in specific time period e. Create of motivational facilities f. Job enrichment

2. WORKFORCE DIVERSITY

Introduction

• The process of globalisation, demographic change and workplace reform are making equal opportunities and workforce diversity two of the most pressing issues in modern industrial relations.

• Most people come into contact with the industry at some point in their lives, and to the average person the industry is synonymous with stress, unreliability, high cost, low quality, chaotic working practices, and a dirty and dangerous work environment.

• Therefore it should come as no surprise that in the 1999 edition of Jobs Rated Almanac civil engineering plunged from 18th to 70th position in expressed job preference, and 14 construction trades were among the least preferred of any occupation.

• This is reflected in the state of university education in most countries, where construction-related courses have among the lowest entrance requirements of any discipline.

• Faced with this problem, the industry in the UK has seen a recent push to improve its image through recruitment

• campaigns targeted at schools, colleges and minority groups, and has benefited from the success of the children's programme Bob the Builder.

• If the industry cannot portray itself as well paid, professional, safe, clean, caring, technologically advanced and innovative, then the problems will continue.


Minority groups in construction

a) Women

A particularly pressing problem in the construction industry in most countries is gender balance.

For example, in Indian women now make up over 35 per cent of the total working population

but under 20 per cent of the construction workforce. This makes it the most male-dominated of all major Indian industrial sectors.

This is known as horizontal labour-market segregation, meaning that women tend to work in certain industries and are either denied access or choose not to enter traditionally male-dominated sectors.

Furthermore, in most developed countries vertical segregation is also apparent, where the women that do work in male-dominated sectors such as construction tend to occupy relatively junior positions or administrative and clerical support roles rather than being involved in leading the production function.

The poor image of construction, a lack of role models and knowledge, poor careers advice, biased recruitment literature, peer pressure and poor educational experiences have all been cited as problems which reduce women's entry into the industry.

Other studies have shown that most women view the industry as a male-dominated, threatening environment,

with an ingrained masculine culture charanerised by conflict and crisis.

The most recent census data indicated that women were concentrated in clerical and secretarial positions, or other positions not directly involved with the construction process, with men occupying craft, operative and professional positions.

b) The disabled

Whilst this might at first indicate a significant level of under-representation, many construction jobs are site based and present obvious problems for disabled people.

One would therefore expect this employment group to be underrepresented in construction. However, many disabled people can work effectively and safely on site with appropriate support, and there is no reason why disabled people could not work in office-based design and management roles.

The low participation rate of disabled people in general also highlights the potential importance of people with a disability in meeting future labour requirements.

The construction industry should examine ways in which jobs can be structured and workplaces designed to enable people with a disability who want to work to do so.

c) The aged

Most developed countries have an ageing workforce, and employers will increasingly have to consider recruiting and training more employees from the over-45 age group.


In an ageing population it is important to recognise the value of older people and encourage their retention and participation within the industry.

Advances in healthcare now mean that older people, who would have previously retired due to ill health, are more willing and able to lead a productive working life.

These workers bring with them a wealth of experience and expertise that is extremely valuable in industries such as construction, where the 'shelf life' of knowledge is greater than in high-tech industries such as electronics and IT.

A second issue stemming from the ageing population is the increasing need for employees to care for elderly dependants. This is exacerbated by a shift from institutional to home-based aged care in many countries.

Given this situation, companies should be cognisant of their employees' responsibilities in caring for aged dependants and assist them to fulfil these responsibilities wherever possible.

The influence of diverse workgroups on team performance

Many proponents of diversity argue that balancing work teams can have tangible benefits for team performance. One area in which increasing diversity might influence workgroup values is that of ethical decisionmaking, some research indicating that women adopt a stricter stance than men on ethical issues at work.

It could also be argued that teams which reflect the enduser group or local community in which a project is being constructed are more likely to be responsive to their needs.

For example,

• Architects designing a facility for the disabled are more likely to meet their needs if they have a first-hand understanding of disabled access and building use themselves. Employing disabled people as part of the design team is an obvious way to achieve this.

• In terms of cultural diversity, it has been known for some time that different nationalities perform differently in different contexts. For example, the pioneering work of Hofstede (1980) found that people from different cultures vary along four main dimensions:

a) masculinity/femininity (attitudes towards women, assertiveness, aggression)

b) individualism/collectivism (the value of group membership and personal relationships)

c) power distance (acceptance of power inequalities and authority)

d) Uncertainty avoidance (the degree to which people are threatened by ambiguity and uncertainty).

People from high uncertainty-avoidance cultures may feel more uncomfortable working under extreme time pressures in high-risk situations than people from low uncertainty-avoidance cultures.

Diversity increases the number of different perspectives, styles, knowledge and insights that the team can bring to complex problems, and the world's most innovative organisations, such as Microsoft, take advantage of this by deliberately creating multicultural teams.


Unfortunately, in contrast to sectors like IT, the construction industry has not harnessed the cultural perspectives and influences of different groups. All the evidence points to an assimilationist attitude which largely ignores the needs of different groups, expecting them to adapt to the dominant industry, organisational or national culture.

Harassment

a) Harassment refers to repeated and irrelevant references or innuendo to a person's gender, sexuality, race, disability, etc. in the form of jokes, verbal abuse or written abuse which creates a hostile or humiliating work environment for the recipient.

b) Other commonly used words for harassment are bullying, victimisation and intimidation. Harassment is more difficult to prove than discrimination because of its intangible nature, which means that the treatment has not necessarily resulted in some loss such as lower pay, poorer working conditions, disciplinary action, dismissal, transfer or failure to promote or train.

c) According to Ansari and Jackson, there are several common causes of harassment in the workplace which an effective equal opportunities policy must take account of:

• Race, ethnic origin, nationality or skin colour; • Sex or sexual orientation; • Religious or political beliefs; • Willingness of the individual to challenge harassment leading to victimisation; • Membership or non-membership of a trade union; • Physical, mental or learning disabilities; • Ex-offender status; • Age; • Actual or suspected infection with HIV.

3. WORK-LIFE BALANCE

Introduction

The interface between the work and non-work experiences of people in paid employment has become an area of increasing concern in recent years as a result of increasing work pressures and dramatic changes to traditional family roles and structures in most industrialised countries.

In the nomadic and increasingly 'lean' construction industry this conflict is becoming particularly acute because of the growing need to work longer, non-standard work schedules accompanied by lower security of employment from increased outsourcing, cyclical workloads and greater competition.

There is compelling evidence that all of these characteristics are not conducive to a well-balanced life. For example

a) Research suggests that long work hours are negatively related to family participation and positively related to divorce rates.

b) Furthermore, people engaged in 'commuter marriages' have reported significantly less satisfaction with partner and family life than people in single-residence families or relationships.


c) Irregularity of work hours has also been identified as an important variable affecting low marital

d) quality among shift workers (White and Keith 1990), and non-standard work schedules have been found to affect separation or divorce rates among married people with children.

Finally, research has found job insecurity to be negatively related to marital and family functioning and to be associated with burnout, for which there is a direct crossover effect from husbands to their wives.

Also, the greater the number of hours the engineers worked each week, the more conflict they reported in their relationship with their spouse or partner. This conflict was also related to lower levels of satisfaction with the engineers' pay.

Managing work-life balance in the construction

Construction-industry employers place great importance on the flexibility of their employees, who are expected to balance their work and family commitments, often without organisational assistance.

For example, very few construction companies provide childcare facilities, flexible working hours or career-break programmes, and part-time work is almost non-existent.

This means that many employees, particularly women, experience difficulties in balancing work and family life. Accordingly, women often find that they have to choose whether to have a career or a family (Toohey and Whittaker 1993), and women who do take time out of the industry to have children may be severely disadvantaged in terms of career progression.

There are many ways for companies to assist employees with family responsibilities. Some of the options are presented below, although the needs of individual employees will differ and change over time. It is therefore important that companies examine the needs of their employees and ensure that policies address them through regular consultation.

a) Childcare

While it may be difficult to provide on-site childcare centres due to the limited space and the temporary nature of construction work, there are other options for childcare provision which construction companies may be able to provide. These include:

a. Off-site single-employer childcare centres for company employees; b. Joint-venture childcare Centers: c. The purchase or lease of places in existing Centres; d. The provision of land for a childcare centre; e. The addition of places in a government-funded family day-care scheme; f. The provision of out-of hours childcare; g. A childcare information and referral service; h. Employer contributions towards employees' childcare fees.

Where there is insufficient demand within a company to warrant a dedicated single-employer childcare centre, companies may join together to use community resources, collaborate to support existing services or form partnerships to provide day-care facilities.


b) Eldercare

Flexible work arrangements are one of the most frequently used ways to assist employees with family responsibilities. Evidence suggests that increased flexibility lowers absenteeism and tardiness and can yield

tangible productivity gains (Napoli 1994).

Flexible work arrangements cover a range of practices, including the following:

• flexible work hours • job sharing • working from home or telecommuting

However, the main problem is one of information supply, because on many projects information management is poor and numerous unexpected problems result in frequent requests for decisions and further information.

In this environment flexible working on the part of consultants could play havoc with site progress and create further uncertainty and delays. The key to flexible working in the construction industry is improved planning.

c) Permanent part-time work

Part-time work can assist employees to maintain a balance between work and family. From a company's point of view, part-time work can improve the retention of employees, reduce absenteeism, increase productivity, reduce overtime, provide flexibility to cater for peak periods and make recruitment easier.

Permanent part-time work differs from casual work in that employees have a 'permanent' contract of employment

with the company and retain benefits such as annual leave, sick leave, maternity and long-service leave.

In introducing permanent part-time work for employees with family responsibilities, it is important that eligibility

criteria are clearly established, that part-time workers are not marginalized and that they enjoy access to identified career paths.

d) Parental leave

Parental leave allows employees with a new child, either natural or adopted, to care for their child at home on a full-time basis in the child's first year and still retain employment and accrue entitlements.

Parental leave arrangements should form an integral part of a company's work and family programme, and employees should be clearly informed about their parental-leave entitlements.

e) Other initiatives

Companies that actively seek to be at the forefront of best practice in supporting staff with family responsibilities do not have to limit themselves to the above provisions. Other initiatives intended to elicit commitment and loyalty from employees include the following:


• Salary packaging of childcare costs, school fees or eldercare costs to provide a tax benefit to employees;

• Providing work experience for employees' children or job-seeking skills courses for children in the later years of secondary education;

• Health and dental insurance;

• Family-related phone calls to enable employees to check on children or elderly relatives;

• Employee assistance programmes offering counselling for employees with personal or family difficulties;

• Family-oriented Christmas parties.


UNIT- 5

EMPLOYEE WELFARE

Employee welfare

strategic Human resource development

employment legislation

legal aspects

1. EMPLOYEE WELFARE

As described in this chapter, managing health and safety at work is a matter of:

a) Developing health and safety policies b) Conducting risk assessments which identify hazards and assess the risks attached to

them c) Carrying out health and safety audits and inspections d) Implementing occupational health programmes e) Managing stress f) Preventing accidents g) Measuring health and safety performance h) Communicating the need for good health and safety practices i) Training in good health and safety practices j) Organizing health and safety

Looking for hazards

The following, as suggested by the HSE and others, are typical activities where accidents happen or there are high risks:

Receipt of raw materials, e.g. lifting, carrying;

Stacking and storage, e.g. falling materials;

Movement of people and materials, e.g. falls, collisions;

Processing of raw materials, e.g. exposure to toxic substances;

Maintenance of buildings, e.g. roof work, gutter cleaning;

Maintenance of plant and machinery, e.g. lifting tackle, installation of equipment;

Using electricity, e.g. using hand tools, extension leads;

Operating machines, e.g. operating without sufficient clearance, or at an unsafe speed; not using safety devices

Failure to wear protective equipment, e.g. hats, boots, clothing; distribution of finished jobs, e.g. movement of vehicles

Dealing with emergencies, eg spillages, fires, explosions;

Health hazards arising from the use of equipment or methods of working, eg VDUs, repetitive strain injuries from badly designed work stations or working practices


Taking action

Risk assessment should lead to action. The type of action can be ranked in order of potential effectiveness in the form of a ‘safety precedence sequence’ as proposed by Holt and Andrews:

• Hazard elimination – use of alternatives, design improvements, change of process.

• Substitution – for example, replacement of a chemical with one which is less risky.

• Use of barriers – removing the hazard from the worker or removing the worker from the hazard.

• Use of procedures – limitation of exposure, dilution of exposure, safe systems of work (these depend on human response).

• Use of warning systems – signs, instructions, labels (these also depend on human response).

• Use of personal protective clothing – this depends on human response and is used as a side measure only when all other options have been exhausted.

What is covered by a health and safety audit?

A health and safety audit should cover:

A) Policies

a) Do health and safety policies meet legal requirements?

b) Are senior managers committed to health and safety?

c) How committed are other managers, team leaders and supervisors to health and safety?

d) Is there a health and safety committee? If not, why not?

e) How effective is the committee in getting things done?

B) Procedures

How effectively do the procedures:

a) Support the implementation of health and safety policies?

b) Communicate the need for good health and safety practices?

c) Provide for systematic risk assessments?

d) Ensure that accidents are investigated thoroughly?

e) Record data on health and safety which are used to evaluate performance and initiate action?

f) Ensure that health and safety considerations are given proper weight when designing systems of work or manufacturing and operational processes (including the design of equipment and work stations, the specification for the product or service, and the use of materials)?

g) Provide safety training, especially induction training and training when jobs or working methods are changed?


C) Safety practices a) To what extent do health and safety practices in all areas of the organization conform to

the general requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act and the specific requirements of the various regulations and codes of practice?

b) What risk assessments have been carried out? What were the findings? What actions were taken?

c) What is the health and safety performance of the organization as shown by the performance indicators? Is the trend positive or negative? If the latter, what is being done about it?

d) How thoroughly are accidents investigated? What steps have been taken to prevent their recurrence?

e) What is the evidence that managers and supervisors are really concerned about health and safety?

Occupational Health Programmes

Almost 20 million working days a year are lost because of work-related illness. Two million people say they suffer from an illness they believe was caused by their work. Muscular disorders, including repetitive strain injury and back pain, are by far the most commonly reported illnesses with 1.2 million affected, and the numbers are rising. The next biggest problem is stress, which 500,000 people say is so bad that it is making them ill. These are large and disturbing figures and they show that high priority must be given to creating and maintaining programmes for the improvement of occupational health.

The control of occupational health and hygiene problems can be achieved by:

a) Eliminating the hazard at source through design and process engineering;.

b) Isolating hazardous processes and substances so that workers do not come into contact with them.

c) Changing the processes or substances used, to promote better protection or eliminate the risk.

d) Providing protective equipment, but only if changes to the design, process or specification cannot completely remove the hazard.

e) Training workers to avoid risk.

f) Maintaining plant and equipment to eliminate the possibility of harmful emissions, controlling the use of toxic substances and eliminating radiation hazards.

g) Good housekeeping to keep premises and machinery clean and free from toxic substances.

h) Regular inspections to ensure that potential health risks are identified in good time.

i) Pre-employment medical examinations and regular checks on those exposed to risk.

j) Ensuring that ergonomic considerations (i.e., those concerning the design and use of equipment, machines, processes and workstations) are taken into account in design specifications, establishing work routines and training – this is particularly important as a means of minimizing the incidence of repetitive strain injury (RSI);


k) Maintaining preventive medicine programmes which develop health standards for each job and involve regular audits of potential health hazards and regular examinations for anyone at risk.

Managing Stress

There are four main reasons why organizations should take account of stress and do something about it:

1. They have the social responsibility to provide a good quality of working life. 2. Excessive stress causes illness. 3. Stress can result in inability to cope with the demands of the job, which, of course, creates

more tress. 4. Excessive stress can reduce employee effectiveness and therefore organizational

Performance

The ways in which stress can be managed by an organization include:

a) Job design

Clarifying roles, reducing the danger of role ambiguity and conflict and giving people more autonomy within a defined structure to manage their responsibilities.

b) Targets and performance standards Setting reasonable and achievable targets which may stretch people but do not place impossible burdens on them;

c) Placement Taking care to place people in jobs that are within their capabilities;

d) Career development Planning careers and promoting staff in accordance with their capabilities, taking care not to over- or under-promote;

e) Performance management processes Which allow a dialogue to take place between managers and individuals about the latter’s work, problems and ambitions;

f) Counseling Giving individuals the opportunity to talk about their problems with a member of the personnel department or the company medical officer, or through an employee assistance programme.

g) Management training

In performance review and counselling techniques and in what managers can do to alleviate their own stress and reduce it in others;

h) Work–life balance

Policies which take account of the pressures on employees who have responsibilities as parents, partners or cariers, and which can include such provisions as special leave and flexible working hours.


i) Senior management commitment

Stress interventions are unlikely to be implemented successfully without the long-term commitment of management.

j) Participative approach

Involving employees from all levels of the organization at every stage in a stress management programme increases the likelihood of a successful outcome.

k) Stress prevention strategy

This should cover the aims of interventions, tasks, responsibilities and resources available.

l) Risk assessment and task analysis –

An appraisal of work activities should enable an employer to recognize stress hazards before interventions are designed.

m) Work-related and worker-related prevention and management –

Interventions should be designed to tackle the causes of stress emanating from the work environment and support individuals who are not protected by the first set of interventions, or who are subject to special stressors.

Influences On Workplace Health And Safety

An important principle in OHS management is that of multi-causality. In most cases OHS incidents do not have a single cause but occur as a result of a complex interaction of many causes arising from individual, job and organisational characteristics.

One of the reasons why construction organisations have failed to develop the intellectual capability to analyse their risks thoroughly may he related to the complexity of potential causes of OHS incidents, ranging from inappropriate work practices and site planning to the careless behaviour of individual employees.

Howevel & broadly speaking, most problems arise from the following principal factors, which means that a successful OHS strategy should also be built around them:

A. Working conditions B. The tasks being carried out

C. Employees' attitudes and human error

D. Economic conditions

E. Management goals

F. Government and institutional policy

G. Industry structure.


A. Working conditions

Working conditions include

• A congested, cluttered worksite, poorly designed, inappropriately used or inadequately maintained machinery and plant,

• a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE),

• The presence of dangerous chemicals or gase

• Inadequate welfare facilities.

These can be exacerbated by aspects of the typical working conditions prevalent in the construction industry, including long work hours (leading to fatigue) noise; lack of proper lighting; exposure to inclement weather and exposure.

B. The tasks being caried out

Another crucial factor affecting the success of the health and safety objectives is the nature of the task, although nowadays the association of health and safety problems with manual tasks is not as clear cut as it used to be.

For instance, while safety problems may be more likely for construction operatives who are required to work at height or handle hazardous equipment or materials, there is a growing recognition of the health hazards in an office environment, such as stress, sick-building syndrome, repetitive strain injuries, etc.

C. Employees' attitudes and human error

Despite advances in technology, in most instances if hazardous events are to be reduced, then the construction workers themselves must first identify them as a risk.

Employees' attitudes toward health and safety can vary from enthusiasm for safety programmes to apathy. If employees are apathetic the most thoroughly designed and implemented safety programme will not improve conditions.

Apathy is a major concern in the construction industry at all levels, from managers to operatives, largely because of its 'macho culture', poor training in OHS issues, and priorities which primarily revolve around issues of cost, time and quality.

Whilst in recent years we have seen an increase in the management of safety risk, human error remains an increasingly frequent factor in many accidents.

D. Economic conditions

A fourth factor affecting health and safety programmes is economic conditions, because, as with any management decision, trade-offs have to be made between the costs and the benefits of safety programmes.

The dilemma for safety decisions is that ethically it is extremely difficult to justify placing a value on someone's health, but this is what managers must do. Indeed, the legislation recognises that a costtbenefit trade-off exists.


Clearly, few employers would intentionally provide dangerous working conditions or refuse to provide reasonable safeguards for employees.

However, economic conditions can legitimately prevent employers from doing all they might wish, the ultimate responsibility on a project lying with the client who funds it.

E. Management goals

Another important causal factor is management goals, which vary from organisation to organisation depending upon its culture and priorities.

For example, some socially responsible organisations had active safety programmes long before the law required them to do so and invest well beyond what is economically rational.

They have made safety and health an important strategic goal, and implemented it with safety programmes which include rewards for good safety performance backed up by rigorous training.

On the other hand, other organisations have not been so safety conscious and have done little more than fulfil minimum legal requirements. In these organisations safety is seen as a barrier to the attainment of corporate objectives and a necessary cost burden which provides little return.

F. Government and institutional policy

A sixth factor affecting an organisation's health and safety environment is governmental and institutional policy.

It was during the 1970s and 1980s that most countries saw the development of the extensive legislation which sought to hold an organisation responsible for the prevention of accidents, disabilities, occupational illnesses and deaths relating to hazards in the workplace.

All of this legislation has impacted on the way in which organisations have approached and managed health and safety risks, although the impact on effectiveness has been questionable.

In addition, other industry institutions, especially the unions, have pressured employers in collective bargaining for better OHS programmes. Unions have also used their political power to get legislation passed to improve the safety and health of workers.

G. The structure of the construction industry

The structure of the construction industry has an impact on OHS performance. For example, the traditional separation of the design and build functions has prevented the consideration of OHS in design decision making, where many safety risks are created.

The adoption of non-traditional contracting strategies and management approaches, such as design and build, private finance initiatives and partnering, might overcome some of these difficulties, though their impact on OHS has yet to be evaluated.

American research suggests that, while public-sector clients pay attention to contractors' safety performance, private-sector clients still focus primarily on the lowest bid.

This leaves the provision of such equipment to trades who are only on site for a short period of time, for whom the investment of appropriate resources is not economically practicable.


Occupational health and safety

Baulderstone Hornibrook is committed to ensuring a safe and healthy working environment for all people at its project sites and offices. The Group believes that all work-related injuries, diseases and property losses are preventable and that safety is good business.

We will:

• Be an industry leader in occupational health and safety;

• Comply with all legislative and contract requirements related to occupational health and safety;

• Establish challenging yet achievable occupational health and safety performance targets at all levels of our business; we will analyse and respond to our performance against these targets to ensure we continually improve our practices and our performance;

• Ensure that occupational health and safety is an essential and integral part of management accountability; occupational health and safety considerations have equal status with other primary husiness objectives;

• Ensure that systems are in place for the effective management of safety, including the development and implementation of safe work practices; if safety is compromised, operations are suspended;

• Ensure that all work activities are carried out by competent, suitably trained people;

• Ensure that all employees, subcontractors and third parties understand that they have an individual responsibility to conduct their work in a safe manner, adhere to Baulderstone Hornibrook's policy and procedures, and identify, eliminate and report any workplace hazards;

• Systematically audit our occupational health and safety processes;

• We will analyse and respond to the results of these audits to seek continual improvements to our safety processes and the effectiveness of their implementation.

Welfare facilities

Work in the construction industry is arduous; it involves much manual or physical activity. It is also hazardous and dirty. Good welfare facilities not only improve workers’ welfare but also enhance efficiency.

Welfare facilities such as the provision of drinking-water, washing, sanitary and changing accommodation, rest-rooms and shelter, facilities for preparing and eating meals, temporary housing, assistance in transport from place of residence to the work. site and back, all help to reduce fatigue and improve workers’ health.

The facilities may be provided and maintained by one contractor for all workers or by individual contractors.

A. Sanitary facilities

National laws usually prescribe the type, number and standard of sanitary facilities which should be provided, but as a general guide the following should be regarded as a practical minimum:


i. A sufficient number of water flush-type lavatories for men when this is practicable, including sufficient urinal accommodation; chemical lavatories may be used otherwise.

ii. A sufficient number of separate water flush-type lavatories for women when this is practicable; again, chemical lavatories may be an alternative;

iii. The accommodation should be designed and constructed so as to screen the occupants from view and afford protection against the weather;

iv. The accommodation should be separate from any messroom or rest-room; v. A smooth and impermeable floor;

vi. Effective natural and/or artificial lighting and ventilation; vii. At least 30 m from any well;

viii. Constructed for easy maintenance and cleaned out at least daily.

B. Washing facilities

Work in the construction industry is often dusty and dirty; it may also involve handling chemicals and other dangerous substances, so that you need to wash your hands and bodies regularly:

i. To prevent chemicals contaminating food and so being eaten during snacks or meals, being absorbed through the skin or being carried home

i. To remove dirt and grime, which can also be ingested and cause sickness and disease; ii. As a basic hygiene measure. When construction work involves the maintenance of or

alterations to existing buildings, it is often possible to use the facilities which form part of the building. Otherwise, washing facilities should be provided to the following standards:

iii. One wash-basin for every 15 workers with a sufficient supply of water and an adequate means of removing waste water;

iv. Soap, in the form of cake soap, or liquid or powder soap in a special dispenser, to facilitate quick and proper washing, nail-brushes are needed where poisonous substances are used;

v. Suitable drying facilities such as paper towels, roller towels (or individual towels for each worker) or electric hand-dryers;

vi. For facilities likely to be of longer duration, mirrors and shelves at each washing point which will help to keep the place tidy and clean;

vii. Where workers are exposed to skin contamination by chemical substances or by oil or grease, a sufficient number of showers, which should be disinfected daily;

viii. Facilities should be covered to provide weather protection, and effectively ventilated and lit.

C. Facilities for supplying food and drink, and eating meals

Facilities for supplying food at construction work sites can be particularly important when sites are located in remote areas. Remoteness, together with inadequate temporary housing which lacks cooking facilities, may give rise to considerable problems for workers in the availability and regularity of hygienically prepared and nutritious meals. The problems of shiftworkers may be even greater.

To meet the need for proper meals, a choice of facilities should be made available: i. Facilities to boil water and heat food;


ii. Facilities (including provision of space, shelter, water, heating and rubbish bins) for vendors to sell hot and cold food and drink;

iii. A Canteen supplying cooked meals or serving packed meals, snacks and beverages;

iv. Arrangements with a restaurant or canteen near the work site to supply packaged meals.

D. Drinking-water

Drinking-water is essential for workers in the construction industry, irrespective of the type of work they do. You lose several litres of water a day while at work and without replacement you gradually dehydrate, the loss is greater in a hot environment.

Arrangements for the supply of safe drinking-water may be: i. Individual closed water bottles or containers when no other facilities are available,

hung close to the workplace in a shaded place, free from dust and with plenty of air in circulation, cool water helps avoid heat exhaustion. Containers should be cleaned and disinfected at suitable intervals;

ii. Drinking-water containers made of impermeable materials with suitable covers, kept in a cool, protected place. Unglazed pottery containers keep water cool, and they should be kept in dust-free places. The containers should be cleaned regularly by a designated person;

iii. Drinking-water fountains from a public supply with the water outlet shielded in a manner that prevents the lips of the drinker from being placed against it. Drinking-water fountains are more hygienic than taps and drinking vessels;

iv. Water taps from a public supply clearly labelled to distinguish between drinkable and non-drinkable water. It is preferable to use disposable cups or to provide a separate cup for each worker.

Drinking-water should not be placed in sanitary facilities, or in places where it can be contaminated by dust, chemicals or other substances. Whatever the source of water supply for drinking, whether at the mess accommodation or elsewhere on the site, it should be clearly marked as drinking-water in words or with a suitable sign.

E. Facilities for changing, storing and drying clothes

Secure facilities at the work site for changing from street clothes into work clothes, and for airing and drying the latter, greatly assist workers with their personal hygiene and tidiness and relieve them of anxiety over the security of their possessions.

Changing-rooms are particularly important when workers change from street clothes into protective clothing and when working clothes become wet or dirty. The facilities should include provision for drying wet clothes, whether it be street or working clothing. Separate changing facilities for men and women workers should be provided, at least by adequate screening.

The provision of adequate seats, mirrors and rubbish bins in the changing rooms or close to the lockers will assist workers in paying attention to personal appearance and cleanliness.

F. Child-care facilities

Working mothers employed at construction sites often need help with the special problems of caring for their children while they are at work.


A clean and well-ventilated room, preferably with access to an enclosed space, is the main facility needed. A few items of simple furniture are necessary for the children to sit or lie down, and some toys help. There should be provision for feeding the children with nutritious meals at regular times and, for this, there should also be access to cooking facilities or a canteen.

It is essential for someone to care for the children while their mothers are at work, prepare their meals and feed them regularly. It may be possible for mothers themselves to take turns to look after the children. Mothers, especially nursing mothers, should be able to visit their children during recognized breaks from work.

Each year there are many tragic deaths of children on construction sites. Children should never be allowed to wander into or play on sites. There are excavations to fall into, scaffolding to fall from, hazardous equipment, loose and dangerous building materials, and chemicals lying about.

G. First aid

When there is an accident on site and someone is hurt, you can help by:

i. Calling for help from someone on site trained in first aid, or in cases of severe injury by calling an ambulance;

ii. Preventing others (including yourself) from being injured from the same cause;

iii. Providing life-saving first aid, even if you are not a trained first-aider;

iv. Reporting the accident at once to your supervisor.

H. Emergency action

There are some situations where you cannot wait for a trained first-aider. Doing something at once might save an injured person’s life. Here are some things you can do:

i. Check breathing: turn an unconscious person from his or her back to the side to prevent Choking on the tongue; be cautious, keeping in mind the possibility of a neck injury;

ii. Provide artificial respiration if breathing has stopped, using the mouth-to-mouth method;

iii. Stop heavy bleeding by direct pressure on the wound and by raising the injured limb (do not try to use a tourniquet);

iv. Cool a burn with water for some ten minutes, never with anything else – extinguish burning clothing by rolling the person on the ground or wrapping them in a blanket;

v. Flush a burn from corrosives, or contamination of the eyes from any chemical, with water for at least ten minutes;

vi. Treat shock by lying the injured person on his or her side; loosen any tight clothing and cover the person with a blanket to keep him or her warm;

vii. Immobilize a broken limb by bandaging it to two sticks if no splint is available; even tightly rolled newspaper will do.


2. STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

Introduction

Strategic human resource development (SHRD) ensures that people continue to add value to an organisation in a changing business environment, maintain their motivation and enthusiasm towards their work, and work in a way that supports the strategic objectives of the organisation.

However, construction companies often treat HRD activities as someone else's responsibility or as an expensive activity which risks making employees more attractive to competitors.

In this chapter we explore the role of SHRD within construction organisations and how it can be managed in line with the objectives of SHRM.

The developmental side of the SHRM function that is used to improve the performance of the individual in line with a business's planned strategic direction.

NEED OF SHRD

1. New employees are like 'raw materials' that need to be 'processed' in order to perform their tasks and fit into their workgroups and organisation. However, this must be managed in a way that respects their human qualities.

2. Jobs change over time and so employees' knowledge, skills and abilities need to be updated so that they maintain their performance in the face of changing demands and requirements.

3. New jobs will be created which will need to be filled by existing employees, who will need support and redirection.

4. People need to be trained in order to perform more effectively in their existing jobs.

5. People change their own interests, skills, confidence and aspirations with time, and the organisation must take account of this.

6. Employees may move jobs either to be promoted or to broaden their experience and so will require further training in order to perform in their new roles.

7. The organisation itself may change over time, and so employees' knowledge, skills and abilities must be updated regarding new ways of working together more effectively.

8. The organisation may wish to ready itself for predicted future change by equipping employees with transferable skills.

9. The organisation may wish to respond flexibly to its environment and therefore may require some employees to develop flexible, transferable skills.

10. Managers require further training and development to allow for performance improvement and management succession via the development of new and potential managers.


SHRD In Construction

Training and development are the two basic components of SHRD. In this section we shall look at training.

The object of training is to alter the behaviour of employees in a way that will create improvements in the achievement of organisational goals.

It should provide opportunities for an employee to learn job-related skills (such as thinking), change attitudes

and help people to acquire knowledge

The benefits of training and some obstacles to its provision in a construction context are discussed below.

The importance of training

Whereas in the past training may have been regarded by some organisations as a luxury, there is now widespread acknowledgement by both academics and commercial organisations of its importance to the success of the modern business.

It has not gone unnoticed that those countries whose economies have performed well in recent years, such as Germany and Japan, have been those that emphasise the importance of training.

This subsequently influences the quality of new recruits to an industry, which in turn perpetuates the problem, leading to skills shortages and deficient performance in terms of product quality and delivery efficiency.

In essence, training represents the mechanism by which organisations invest in the intellectual capital of their workforce, and it lies at the very heart of achieving a vibrant, healthy, motivated, happy and efficient organisational culture.

A reason for the acceptance of training as a core component of SHRM relates to the incontrovertible link between key SHRM-related concepts and the need to impart the requisite skills, knowledge, attitudes and abilities to employees.

For example, encouraging employees to work in a way which leads to better-quality products and therefore a more positive organisational image demands that they are trained and developed in a way which strives to achieve quality improvements.

Also, ensuring loyalty, motivation and commitment requires that people receive support and encouragement through training and development mechanisms.

A reason for the acceptance of training as a core component of SHRM relates to the incontrovertible link between key SHRM-related concepts and the need to impart the requisite skills, knowledge, attitudes and abilities to employees.

The most important driver for greater training provision relates to the growing need for companies to develop adaptive capabilities which enable them to change in accordance with the increasingly dynamic environment in which they operate.

For example, in construction the past two decades have seen countless changes and advancements in procurement practices, IT, construction technology, legislative demands and, perhaps most importantly, client demands in the industry.


Barriers to training provision in construction

Despite the undoubted importance of training, as discussed above, most construction companies do not engage in effective corporate learning. Indeed, in an industry such as construction there exist many barriers, both real and perceived, to even the most basic training and development activities.

These include:

a) The cost of training delivery: training activities are assumed to be expensive in terms of both the cost and time. Therefore training programmes are often amongst the first expenditure items to be dropped in times of recession.

b) Clashes with production objectives: there is a widely held view that the majority of formal training activities require key project-based staff to be removed temporarily from their operational responsibilities.

c) In an increasingly lean construction industry this can cause additional pressure for already overstretched teams.

d) Existing legislative training requirements: minimum training standards already exist that are protected by statute in most counties. This means that companies must provide minimum standards of training

e) on issues such as health and safety. Additional training can be seen as an unnecessary add-on or a luxury within many construction organisations.

f) Staff turnover concerns: providing employees with training and development support makes them more attractive to other companies. Construction is a highly predatory and transitory industry with a strong culture of nomadism. It is highly likely, in the common absence of retention strategies, that trained employees will take their skills elsewhere.

g) Conversely, it is possible to attract trained employees from other companies through the use of remunerative incentives, negating the need for one's own training strategy. The overall effect is a training stalemate.

h) A macho environment: the construction industry has a highly masculine culture, with a tradition of physical activities and an emphasis on production that cannot be learnt effectively in a classroom environment.

i) Many employees have been failed by the traditional classroom-based educational system and perceive learning as a nonproductive, feminine activity and associate it with failure. This is a major cultural barrier to training, and also permeates management positions in the construction industry.

j) A 'learn on the job' culture: the historical attitude towards developing a career in the industry has been to value experience as the primary learning mechanism rather than formal training or education. The relative strengths and weaknesses of on-the-job and off-the-job learning are considered below.


Planning and implementing effective SHRD activities

Define a training policy, which involves defining clear links between organisational objectives and training provision.

Identify staff training needs, expressed in terms of both organisational and individual needs.

Prepare a training programme which is a carefully planned sequence of training activities.

Decide on methods for delivery, which could include formal or Informal approaches to training, including courses, training videos, Job rotation or special assignments.

Evaluate to review whether the training provision had the desired Impact on the performance of the organisation.

3. Employee Legislation and Legal Aspects

Introduction

Since the industrial revolution, most developed countries have introduced a multitude of Acts and regulations to protect the health, safety and welfare of workers across all industries.

Typically this early legislation was very detailed and prescriptive, and was introduced in response to new

Hazards as they became apparent. The ad-hoc way in which this was enacted led to a complex situation which, despite the existence of hundreds of regulations, did not account for many hazards.

The legislation was rigid and unable to adapt to technological change and did not encourage employers to be innovative in improving their working methods.

The OHS regulatory system should encourage workplaces proactively and voluntarily to manage health and safety for themselves.

The precise nature of health and safety legislation varies around the world, countries such as Australia, the US and much of Asia have mirrored this trend, with prescriptive requirements being replaced by a 'performance-based'

Approach in which managers can exercise more discretion as to how they meet required standards.

Another common feature of modern legislation is the requirement for employee participation in OHS management, which clearly establishes the need for a more inclusive management style.

Key components of Employee Legislation

a) Labour legislation consists, on one hand, of the norms that regulate the legal relationship, in other words the employment relationship, between the employer and the employee (individual labour legislation) and, on the other hand, the collective labour legislation.


b) The starting point for labour legislation is the principle of employee protection. Because of this, labour legislation includes mandatory provisions, which cannot be deviated from by agreement to the disadvantage of the employee

c) These include provisions created for the employee´ protection of against unlawfull dismissals, the preconditions of concluding a fixed-term contract, and the duty to apply the provisions of a generally applicable collective agreement.

d) Labour legislation also includes provisions that can be altered by collective agreement, such as the provision on sick leave compensation, and certain provisions concerning working hours. In addition, these laws contain provisions that become applicable only when no other arrangements have been agreed upon.

e) The Collective Agreements Act governs the rights of employers and their employer organisations on one side and employee organisations on the other to agree on the terms applied to employment relationships in a way that binds employers and employees

f) The terms of an employment relationship may in practice be determined by several different norms, such as the provisions of a law, the collective agreement, the employment contract or some another agreement concluded at the workplace

Employee Right and Legal aspects of Employee legislation

A. Prohibition of discrimination and obligation of equal treatment

During the employment relationship or the recruitment process, the employer may not place employees in a discriminatory position, unless there is a justified reason for doing so.

The employer shall also otherwise treat employees equally, unless making an exception is justified on the basis of the tasks and position of the employees

B. Minimum terms of employment

The minimum terms of employment to be applied in employment relationships are determined by the mandatory provisions of law and the generally applicable collective agreement. The employer has to at least adhere to the stipulations of the national collective agreement considered representative in the sector in question.

An employer, who, under the Collective Agreements Act, is bound by such a collective agreement where the concluding party is a national employee federation, is not obliged to observe the generally applicable collective agreement of the field, but the collective agreement of the sector in question.

C. Family leaves

The purpose of family leave is to help employees reconcile their family commitments and the obligations of their employment. They enable parents with small children to take leave from work for a fixed period to take care of their children.

Family leaves include the following:

a) Maternity, special maternity and paternity leave, as well as full-time and partial parental leave.


b) Full-time, part-time and temporary childcare leave.

c) An employee’s right to be absent from work for a compelling family reason

d) Absence from work to take care of a family member or other person close to the employee.

D. Termination of an employment relationship and lay-off

The prerequisite for terminating an employment relationship by giving notice is the existence of a proper and weighty reason. This condition applies to giving notice due to reasons relating to the employee’s person or arising from changes in the employer’s operating conditions

Apart from reasons due to the employee, the employer may terminate the employee’s contract on the basis of financial or production-related grounds to do with their operations

E. Compensation for termination

The compensatory system for groundless terminations of employment is uniform. The minimum amount of compensation is equivalent to three months' pay and the maximum to 24 months’ pay.

The maximum compensation in case of termination of the employment contract of a shop steward, an occupational industrial safety and health representative or an elected representative without grounds can be the amount equal to 30 months’ pay.

F. Re-employement of employee

the re-employment of employees dismissed for financial or productionrelated reasons is supported by means of the policy of change security.

Under certain conditions, it also concerns fixed-term employees that have worked for the same employer. During the period of notice, employees are entitled to free time on full salary to look for a job or to participate in other measures that promote re-employment.

G. Pay Security

Pay security is based on the Pay Security Act, in accordance with which the state will ensure payment of employees' claims arising from an employment relationship in the event of the employer's bankruptcy or other insolvency.

The pay security authority will investigate the employer’s insolvency and the conditions for paying pay security on the basis of an employee’s application. Any claims the employer would be obliged to pay to his or her employee can be paid as pay security

he Unemployment Insurance Fund compensates the state annually for the difference between capital paid as pay security and capital collected from employers. The funds needed for the purpose are collected from employers in the form of unemployment insurance contributions.

H. Posted workers

The purpose of the Act is to ensure the posted worker certain minimum working conditions, such as a salary in accordance with the working conditions of the country in which the work is performed.


I. Non –Discrimination on Equality between Women and Men

The purpose of the Non-Discrimination Act and the prohibitions of discrimination contained in labour legislation is to ensure equal treatment of all jobseekers and employees and to protect them from discrimination in working life.

The Non-Discrimination Act applies to the basis of recruitment, working conditions, terms of employment, career advancement, education and the prerequisites of enterprising and support for industrial activities.

The Non-Discrimination Act prohibits both direct and indirect discrimination on the basis of

a) Age b) Ethnic or national origin

c) Nationality d) Language

e) Religion or belief f) Opinion;

g) State of health or disability h) Sexual orientation;

i) Other personal characteristics.

J. Young workers

This Act applies to work carried out by a young person under 18 years of age (a young worker) in an employment or civil service relationship

The occupational safety and health provisions of the Act also apply to students aged under 18 in an apprenticeship or training exercises carried out at school

The Act includes provisions concerning

a) The conditions of admitting young people to work; b) The regular working hours of young workers; c) The maximum working hours; d) The Distribution of working hours; e) The periods of rest given to young workers and occupational safety and health; f) The employers’ responsibilities to provide training and guidance; g) Special responsibilities concerning specific safety measures; h) Arranging medical examinations.

K. Protection of privacy in working life

The aim of the Act on the Protection of Privacy in Working Life is to implement the protection of privacy in working life. This Act lays down provisions on what kind of personal data the employer is allowed to process about employees.

The employer may only process personal data that is directly necessary for the employee’s employment relationship and concerns the rights and duties of the parties in the employment relationship or the benefits offered by the employer for the employee or arises from the special nature of the job’s duties

L. Working hours and annual holiday

Regular working hours may be based either on the general provision of an eight-hour working day or 40-hour working week, the provisions of a collective agreement, or agreements based on them relating to a particular workplace.


The employer and an individual employee may also agree on regular working hours within certain limits.

Regular working arrangements can be based on the average use of working hours, which means that the daily and weekly hours may vary as long as the working hours average 40 hours a week over a predetermined period.

The accrual of annual leave is calculated according to the holiday credit months and it is dependent on the length of the employment relationship

In employment relationships that have lasted for less than a year, two working days of leave and in employment relationships having lasted at least a year, two and a half working days are earned for each full holiday credit month before the end of the holiday credit year

Employee Regulation Acts in India

1. Notification procedures in the case of individual dismissal of a worker with a regular contract

Firms are required to give workers written notice of dismissal. For retrenchments, the relevant government authority must also be notified (art. 25F, Industrial disputes act, 1947).

For establishments with 100 or more workmen, the employer must also obtain permission from the relevant government authority before retrenchment can take place.

Retrenchment is defined as termination for whatsoever reason, except in the case of disciplinary action (see e.g. State Bank of India v. N Sundara Money [1976] 3 SCR 160).

Calculation (for EPL indicators): based on retrenchment; average of large and small establishments ((2+3)/2 = 2.5)

2. Delay involved before notice can start

Written notice of dismissal can be handed to the employee.

Courts may require that an employee be given warning prior to dismissal and a fair hearing. Where an employee is dismissed for disciplinary reasons, courts usually examine whether appropriate warning was given prior to dismissal.

For large establishments, permission for retrenchment must be received from the relevant government authority. The government authority must decide within 60 days from the date of application by the employer.

In case there is no decision in 60 days, it is deemed that permission is granted.

Calculation (for EPL indicators): based on retrenchment; average of large and small establishments (1 day for written notice + 6 days for warning and hearing+ 60/2 days for permission) = 37 days

3. Length of notice period at different tenure durations

In case of retrenchment: workers with no less than one year’s tenure are entitled to one month’s notice or payment in lieu of notice. Establishments with 100 or more workmen are


required to give workers three months’ notice or payment in lieu to workers with more than one year’s tenure.

Calculation (for EPL indicators): based on retrenchment; average of large and small establishments

Notes-

i. Three tenure durations (9 months, 4 years, 20 years). Case of a regular employee with tenure beyond any trial period, dismissed on personal grounds or economic redundancy, but without fault (where relevant, calculations of scores to compute OECD EPL indicators assume that the worker was 35 years old at the start of employment).

ii. Averages are taken where different situations apply – e.g. blue collar and white collar; dismissals for personal reasons and for redundancy.

4. Severance pay at different tenure durations

Workers with no less than one year’s tenure who are dismissed for retrenchment are entitled to 15 days pay for each completed year of continuous service or any part thereof exceeding six months.

Calculation (for EPL indicators): based on retrenchment

5. Definition of unfair dismissal

Fair: An employee can be dismissed on the charge of theft, habitual negligence of duty, disorderly behavior, bribery, lack of capability, financial irregularities or subordination. However, in most cases the employee is entitled to warning prior to dismissal and a fair hearing. However, company standing orders regulating dismissal must be approved by government authorities and typically severely restrict dismissal as result of disciplinary action.

Retrenchment, defined in a very wide way, is also generally fair provided that procedures has been followed correctly (e.g. State Bank of India v. N Sundara Money [1976] 3 SCR 160; State of Bombay and others v. Hospital Mazdoor Sabha & others [1960] 2 SCR 866).

Unfair: Dismissal is unfair if provisions for retrenchment or dismissal have not been properly followed, where the employee has not had an adequate opportunity to defend him/herself, during sickness, maternity leave, in retribution for filing a complaint, for taking part in peaceful trade union activities or as a result of discrimination.

For economic redundancies, in the absence of any agreement between the employer and dismissed worker, the employer should dismiss the worker who was the last person to be employed in the category.

Notes- Based also on case law, if court practice tends to be more (or less) restrictive than what specified in legislation.


6. Length of trial period

Employees appointed for a permanent post are usually kept on probation for a period of six months to a year, during which the employee’s suitability for the job can be assessed. The law does not stipulate any maximum probation period.

Calculation (for EPL indicators): average of typical minimum and maximum length

Notes- Initial period within which regular contracts are not fully covered by employment protection provisions and unfair dismissal claims cannot usually be made.

7. Compensation following unfair dismissal

In the event that a dismissal is found to be unfair, the court may reinstate the worker with back pay. In extreme cases where the employer argues strongly against reinstatement, the court may award compensation instead of reinstatement.

Labour courts typically take 3-4 years to settle disputes and make an award. The law stipulates that in case of illegal dismissal the workman dismissed is entitled to all the benefits under any law as if he/she had not been laid-off.

8. Reinstatement option for the employee following unfair dismissal

In most cases of unfair dismissal, the court orders reinstatement.


9. Maximum time period after dismissal up to which an unfair dismissal claim can be made

The application to the Labour court or Tribunal shall be made before the expiry of 3 years from the date of discharge, dismissal, retrenchment or otherwise termination of service, according to amended Industrial Dispute Act of 2010.

Notes- Maximum time period after dismissal up to which an unfair dismissal claim can be made

10. Valid cases for use of standard fixed term contracts

Temporary workers may be engaged for work which is essentially of a temporary nature likely to be finished within a limited time. Exemptions exist for some industries (information technology and business processing outsourcing) and export processing and special economic zones in some states.

11. Types of work for which temporary work agency (TWA) employment is legal

According to central labour contract laws and rules, contract labour is generally allowed for non-core activities (although with some industries or firms prohibited from using contract labour).

However, there is no consensus about what is the effective regulatory environment applying to the staffing industry and whether contract labour laws and rules apply to that industry. This creates a lot of regulatory uncertainty.


12. Are there restrictions on the number of renewals and/or prolongations of TWA assignments? (f)

No for both assignments and contracts between the worker and the agency.

Notes- Description based on both regulations on number and duration of the contract(s) between the temporary work agency and the employee and regulations on the number and duration of the assignment(s) with the same user firm.

13. Maximum cumulated duration of TWA assignments (f)

No limits for both assignments and contracts.

Notes- Description based on both regulations on number and duration of the contract(s) between the temporary work agency and the employee and regulations on the number and duration of the assignment(s) with the same user firm.

14. Does the set-up of a TWA require authorisation or reporting obligations?

Contractors and user firms with more than 20 employees are required to obtain a license (and pay a fee and security deposit) before engaging contract workers. The license is valid for 12 months, after which it can be renewed by following the same procedure.

The contractor is required to report any changes in the number of workers employed or their conditions of work to the licensing authority.

15. Do regulations ensure equal treatment of regular workers and agency workers at the user firm?

The wage rates and working conditions of the contracted worker must be the same as those of a worker employed directly by the user firm to do the same type of work.

16. Definition of collective dismissal

There are no additional regulations for collective dismissals but there are special regulations in the case of closure of an establishment with 50 or more workmen (art. 25FF, Industrial disputes act, 1947).


17. Additional notification requirements in cases of collective dismissal (g)

No additional requirements.

Notes- Notification requirements to works councils (or employee representatives), and to government authorities such as public employment offices. Only requirements on top of those requirements applying to individual redundancy dismissal count for the OECD EPL indicators.

18. Additional delays involved in cases of collective dismissal (h)


In the case of closure of an establishment with at least 50 workmen, workers are entitled of two months advance notice. Calculation (for EPL indicators): average of large establishments (0 additional days) and small establishments (30/2 additional days).

Notes- Additional delays and notice periods in the case of collective dismissal (only delays on top of those required for individual dismissals – as reported in Items 2 and 3 – count for the OECD EPL indicators)

19. Other special costs to employers in case of collective dismissals.

No additional requirements.

Notes- This refers to whether there are additional severance pay requirements and whether social compensation plans (detailing measures of reemployment, retraining, outplacement, etc.) are obligatory or common practice.

Engineering

Human resource management for const management