Identifying Determinants of Construction Worker Performance on Construction Sites: a Literature Review

International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology, Vol. 8, No. 1, February 2017 Identifying Determinants of Construction Worker Performance on Construction Sites: A Literature Review Chioma S. Okoro, Innocent Musonda, and Justus Agumba executing the processes and activities in construction, they Abstract—The construction industry in many developed and have a significant influence on labour productivity and it is developing countries suffers from delays and cost overruns due important to know what they need and what affects their to poor labour productivity. This paper aims to identify performance [9]. Continuous attention to the determinants determinants of construction workers’ performance on of construction workers’ performance is vital if maximal construction sites in terms of ratio of output to input (productivity). A literature review of relevant literature was productivity in the industry is desired. conducted from journals and conference proceedings and Research has been conducted on the determinants of theses, based on international and South African context. The labour productivity. Ref. [10] used a Health and Labour study identified that wages/salary, working time, financial Questionnaire and a Quantity and Quality instrument to initiatives, communication, nutrition, fatigue and health, measure the effect of health status of workers (including adequacy of plans and specifications, availability of industrial and construction workers). Reference [11] consumables, education and training on the job, management dynamics, safety measures and proper work planning explored project managers’ perceptions (in Uganda) on the determine construction workers’ performance on construction labour productivity factors in relation to time, cost and sites. The findings of the present study could help constitution quality only. Ref. [8] focused on the role of health on managers and supervisors in taking measures to improve their productivity; specifically, physiological conditions (such as workers’ productivity. body temperature, heart rate, oxygen consumption) and job- site physical environmental stressors (i.e., physical elements Index Terms—Construction workers, performance, productivity. which affect the human metabolism such as temperature, humidity, vibration, noise, lightning, airflow and ventilation). Ref. [6] conducted a quantitative study among I. INTRODUCTION construction managers, supervisors and administrative personnel on measures of labour productivity, while Ref. [9] Construction is a key activity within any economy, given investigated the perceptions of craft workers themselves. its contribution to the gross national product of any Ref. [12] studied the influence of work-life conflict issues economy and employment prospects [1], [2]. The on performance of construction workers. The current paper construction industry, however, faces a problem of reviews and identifies a more comprehensive list of declining rates of productivity and lack of productivity determinants of productivity of workers in the construction standards due to poor performance of construction workers industry. [3]. Improving the status quo regarding labour productivity Therefore, the objective of the study is to identify has been a challenge in the construction industry over the determinants of construction worker performance. This years [4]. Construction labourers are the human input in the objective was achieved by a search of online databases construction process and as such are the most dynamic including Ebscohost, Science Direct, Academic Search elements of the construction industry [5]. Construction Complete, UJoogle, Emerald Insight and Google, using key workers make up 30-50% of the overall production cost, words and phrases including “construction worker”, which is a fairly good portion of the total cost of a project “productivity determinants”, “performance determinants”, [6]. Since construction workers constitute this large part, “factors influencing construction labour productivity”. their performance or maximum productivity is an important Journals and conference proceedings were consulted. The factor contributing to the successful completion of a given succeeding sections present the findings of the study and project. conclusions. Performance is a measure of productivity and is defined as a ratio of estimated unit rate to the actual unit rate produced [3]. II. DETERMINANTS OF WORKER PERFORMANCE Ref. [7] argued that construction productivity is mainly dependent on human effort and performance. Performance According to [6]-[8], the productivity of workers is can be defined as the amount of output produced by a affected by many factors and is chiefly linked to worker given a certain input, during an activity or process performance in terms of: [8]. Since construction site workers are the major players 1) Time (based on the project duration): the extent to which workers accomplish work goals within a minimum amount of time and effort or completion of a Manuscript received April 18, 2016; revised June 20, 2016. C. Okoro, I. Musonda, and J. Agumba are with the School of Civil given work within a reasonable time limit; Engineering and the Built Environment, Department of Construction 2) Cost (based on the project financial expenditure); Management and Quantity Surveying, University of Johannesburg, South 3) Safety measures (based on the amount and significance Africa (e-mail: [email protected]). doi: 10.18178/ijimt.2017.8.1.703 60 International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology, Vol. 8, No. 1, February 2017 of accidents, damages and injuries during the process), B. Communication relates to the extent to which the worker practices rules Productivity is improved when information flows are of safety to protect self and others; and increased and employees understand and identify with the 4) Quality: determined by, inter alia, the accuracy (extent company’s goals and objectives [12]. Poor communication to which the work is free from errors/omissions), due to inaccurate instructions and inaccurate drawings lead thoroughness (completion of work with all details to work stoppages as consultants reject work, rework and covered, conformity to plans and specifications, and delays due to repetition of instructions [11]. Stressing the avoiding the necessity of performing further work or importance of information flow among team members on rework to complete it); and neatness (the extent to construction projects in South Africa, [17] contended that which the finished work meets the standard for communication breakdowns, which can either be minor or cleanliness and orderliness). major, threaten project performance in terms of errors, References [13] and [14] opined that the success of a rework and delays. project primarily depends on the above-mentioned performance parameters, which are interrelated. For C. Construction Materials and Methods instance, quality failures may result in time and cost Proper work planning and adequacy of plans and overruns; the control of time cannot be addressed in specifications ensure that workers perform their designated isolation from resources and cost. If projects are not tasks efficiently [8]. Poor construction methods due to lack completed within the given time frame, additional costs may of planning, poor sequencing of works, incompetence of be incurred, workers may rush to complete the tasks and supervisors and designs that are not easily buildable (that is, make mistakes. When workers are put on severe time designs that do not account for availability of materials and crunches, they are more likely to take short cuts and safety appreciation of construction techniques) slows down the is compromised. Quality is also compromised as defects progress of work on construction sites [8], [11]. occur and reworks increase, resulting in budget increases Unavailability of tools and constant breakdown of [14]. However, Ref. [6], [15] argued that the above criteria equipment also hinder productivity [1], [9], [11]. could be expanded to include resourcefulness and initiative D. Workforce Education and Training work habit (the extent to which a worker practices rules of safety to protect self and others and the extent to which a Ref. [16] opined that education and training increases the worker accomplishes work goals with a minimum amount ability of labourers to gain more knowledge from practical of time and effort); job skills and ability (including, inter on-the-job training sessions, which in turn increases alia, the physical condition of the worker, i.e., the extent to productivity. Training and education of the workforce which the worker is physically capable of performing should be continuous and satisfactory [8]. strenuous aspects of the job and do it within a specified E. Motivation time, teamwork and co-operation); and quantity of work Employees are capable of performing at high levels when (measured by the amount/volume of work produced in motivated to do so; and when workers are treated with relation to the amount of work requiring completion or respect, commitment to the organisation and trust in attention at the time); completion of work on schedule (the management are increased, leading to increased extent to which a worker completes work in a given or performance [12]. Job content and satisfaction, a sense of reasonable time limits); efficiency (completion of tasks in participation and/or responsibility, perceived status of an effective and timely manner and adhering to policies for

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