Employee Resourcing in the Construction Industry Strategic Considerations and Operational Practice

Construction is one of the most challenging industrial environments for effective people management. It is characterised by geographically dispersed projects, production-oriented management styles, long working hours, high levels of staff turnover and employment practices grounded in the traditional ‘personnel’ paradigm. The employee resourcing function – recruitment, selection and deployment – is largely reactive and intuitive, and fails to draw on the longer-term benefits of strategic human resource management (SHRM). This book explores the challenges inherent in employee resourcing in-depth. It provides insights into the strategic considerations and operational approaches adopted by large construction organisations in deploying their human resources. It presents an improved framework for informed SHRM-style decision-making derived from an extensive study conducted within eight major construction organisations. This book provides a valuable resource for both students and practitioners interested in evaluating and improving current organisational practice.

1. Introduction 2. Background 3. Current Models and Contemporary Themes 4. Components 5. SHRM in the Construction Industry6. Approaches to Employee Resourcing in the Construction Industry7. The Compatibility and Conflicts Between the Employee Perspectives, Project Requirements and Organisational Priorities 8. Operational Implications of Reactive Resourcing Decision-Making 9. Strategic Considerations 10. The Need for a Decision-Support Mechanism 11. An Integrated Model 12. Conclusions

Ani B. Raiden is Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management at Nottingham Business School. Andrew R. J. Dainty is Professor of Construction Sociology at the University of Loughborough. Richard H. Neale is Head of the Faculty of the Built Environment at the University of Glamorgan.