Andrew Dainty

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.

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.

Communication within project-based environments presents special challenges. This is especially true within the construction industry, where interaction tends to be characterised by unfamiliar groups of people coming together for short periods before disbanding to work on other endeavours. This book examines communication at a number of levels ranging from interpersonal interactions between project participants to corporate communication between organizations. Several non-typical perspectives on the process of communication are introduced to encourage the reader to think about communication in a more innovative manner. The combination of differing perspectives illustrates the diversity of communication problems facing those working within project-based environments. Practical guidance is provided on possible solutions to communication problems, and a number of examples and case studies are presented.

Communication within project-based environments presents special challenges. This is especially true within the construction industry, where interaction tends to be characterised by unfamiliar groups of people coming together for short periods before disbanding to work on other endeavours. This book examines communication at a number of levels ranging from interpersonal interactions between project participants to corporate communication between organizations. Several non-typical perspectives on the process of communication are introduced to encourage the reader to think about communication in a more innovative manner. The combination of differing perspectives illustrates the diversity of communication problems facing those working within project-based environments. Practical guidance is provided on possible solutions to communication problems, and a number of examples and case studies are presented.