Persad, A (2020) Strategies to retain skilled assistant project managers in construction industries. DBA thesis, Walden University, USA.
Abstract
Approximately 160,000 assistant project managers in the construction industry willingly left the U. S. labor workforce in 2018. The cost of replacing an employee could amount up to 200% of the departing employee's annual salary for construction companies. Grounded in Herzberg's two-factor theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to investigate effective organizational strategies business leaders used to retain skilled assistant project managers. Six participants were senior project managers from construction companies in Manhattan, New York, with more than 10 years of experience in the commercial construction industry. Data came from semistructured interviews and a review of company documents. Yin's 5-step data analysis approach resulted in 3 themes; intrinsic motivation, performance enhancement, and occupational safety. Business leaders could improve intrinsic motivation through job autonomy, simplifying the process, preventing a monotonous work environment, and fair pay. Identified strategies for performance enhancement includes appraisal, job training, reducing work-related stress, and the use of collaborative technology. Safety schemes, such as providing tangible rewards to encourage safety-related practices among employees, could reduce occupational safety. The implication for social change includes the potential for companies’ growth, leading to employment opportunities for local community people, reducing undue financial stress, and improving families' standard of living.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Klein, J |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | case study; employee; employment; motivation; safety; training; workforce |
| Index terms: | documents, appraisal, data analysis, interview, organizational strategy, motivation, construction company, New York, strategy, work environment, occupational safety, construction industry, project manager, case study, commercial construction, employment |
| Subjects: | data analysis and analytics, business, profession, data collection methods, industry analysis, occupational health and safety management, professional development, management, psychology, organization, construction type, Geography, factor and component analysis |
| Topics: | Geographical Context, Health and Safety, Information Management, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Construction Technology, Roles and Professions, Human Resources, Organizational Design |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here