SINGAPORE CONTRACTORS � HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES

Abstract

Dirty, Dangerous and Demanding are the common 3Ds associated with the construction industry. The 3Ds have deterred many locals from joining the industry. It is therefore important that contractors fine tune their current Human Resource (HR) practices, so that they are able to attract new people, and retain the current ones as well.

The aim of this research is to find out the current HR practices being employed by contractors. The specific objectives are to: (1) determine if the current HR practices adopted by contractors are effective; (2) find out the level of job satisfaction that construction professionals have with their current jobs; and (3) study the relationship between HR practices and job satisfaction. Data were collected via email surveys and face to face interviews. The sampling frame comprised randomly chosen main contractors who are registered with the Building and Construction Authority. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software was then used to analyze the data.

Analysis of the data showed that contractors’ professionals are significantly satisfied with their firm’s HR practices with the exception of (1) incentives added to a their base salary package; (2) their firms’ methods of obtaining feedbacks; (3) number of feedbacks that have materialized; (4) methods of resolving conflicts; and (5) the volume of work assigned to them. In addition, it was found that valuing the effort employees put into their job, giving an employee a chance to be involved in making crucial decisions, assigning appropriate volume of work to an employee, having an appropriate method for performance appraisal and having an appropriate organizational structure can significantly affect job satisfaction.

This research has concluded that effective HR practices would indeed lead to job satisfaction. However, the profile of the respondents suggests that the findings may be more applicable to people with at least a university’s degree and in similar economic situations. With better understanding of what professionals are seeking, contractors can efficiently channel their resources to create job satisfaction.