Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management

Human resource management practices to improve project managers’ job

satisfaction
Florence Yean Yng Ling, Yan Ning, Yi Hao Chang, Zhe Zhang,
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ECAM
25,5
654
Received 16 February 2017
Revised 20 May 2017
3 July 2017
Accepted 27 July 2017
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Engineering, Construction and
Architectural Management
Vol. 25 No. 5, 2018
pp. 654-669
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0969-9988
DOI 10.1108/ECAM-02-2017-0030
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0969-9988.htm
Human resource management
practices to improve project
managers’ job satisfaction
Florence Yean Yng Ling
Department of Building, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Yan Ning
Department of Construction and Real Estate, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
Yi Hao Chang
Surbana International Project Management, Singapore, and
Zhe Zhang
Department of Building,
School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Abstract
Purpose – More attention should be paid to project managers’ (PMs) job satisfaction as they play an
important role in ensuring projects are completed successfully. The purpose of this paper is to identify human
resource management (HRM) policies and practices that lead to higher PMs’ job satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire survey was conducted on PMs who are working in
construction firms and project management consultancy firms. Data were collected via random, convenience
and snowball sampling. The data collected were analysed using partial least square-structural equation
modelling, independent samples t-test and Pearson’s correlation.
Findings – The findings show that PMs who are satisfied with their firms’ HRM practices and job rewards
also have higher job satisfaction. Several HRM strategies that give rise to higher job satisfaction are
identified, e.g. a system to recognise and develop talent, and taking active steps to identify and develop
backups in case of emergency. Unfortunately, some practices are not implemented to a significant extent, and
these include: systematically recruiting and retaining talented PMs, encouraging PMs to plan for their careers,
offering performance and development coaching, and appraising employees.
Research limitations/implications – The limitations include the low response rate and the relatively
small sample size of 81. The profile of respondents is largely from construction companies with more than
150 staff, and, therefore, the findings are more applicable to medium- to large-sized construction firms.
Practical implications – The study identified many HRM practices and policies that are significantly
associated with PMs’ job satisfaction, yet many of these are not implemented to a significant extent by the
employers. The practical implication is that employers of PMs should systematically implement these in order
that their PMs have higher job satisfaction which is important for a project’s success.
Originality/value – The originality of this research is that the HRM practices and policies that are associated
with job satisfaction of PMs are uncovered. Its value is in showing that PMs derive greater job satisfaction when
HRM policies encompass talent development, career coaching and a personalised management style. Among these
important practices, those that have been neglected were also identified. The study offers recommendations on the
HRM practices that firms should be put in place for their PMs to experience higher job satisfaction.
Keywords Human resource management, Talent development, Job satisfaction, Project managers, Job rewards,
Career coaching
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The construction industry is known to be labour-intensive ( Jamshidi et al., 2012), relying
largely on its human capital to meet project deliverables. Human capital is one of the most
difficult resources for organisations to manage due to the individuality of each contributing
Zina Tan’s assistance in some of the data collection and data analysis are acknowledged with
grateful thanks.
 member (Loosemore and Dainty, 2003). Yet, effective human resource management (HRM) Human
can ensure that employees are effectively used, company risk is reduced and the return on resource
investment maximised. management
Project managers (PMs) play a critical role in ensuring project success as they are
responsible for a multitude of tasks that include the management of project scope, time, cost, practices
quality and integration (Saladis and Kerzner, 2009).
Hence, the right HRM practices should be in place to retain construction industry 655
professionals (Loosemore and Dainty, 2003) such as PMs, in order to attract and retain them
(Chan and Dainty, 2007). A high turnover rate can lead to poor project performance and low
competitiveness (Du et al., 2006). It has also been found that adopting the right HRM practices
help to increase job satisfaction (Phua, 2012), and thereby reduce voluntary turnover.
Generally, effective HRM can bring about significant benefits such as risk elimination,
increased productivity and improved performance (Loosemore, 2000; Qureshi et al., 2009).
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However, there are few studies on PMs’ perspectives on their firms’ HRM practices. It is
not known if an organisation’s HRM practices would affect the job satisfaction of PMs.
If they do, specific HRM practices that give rise to higher job satisfaction need to be
identified to inform PMs’ employers.
The aim of this research is to investigate the association between HRM practices and
PMs’ job satisfaction. The specific objectives are to: identify HRM practices that PMs are
satisfied and dissatisfied with, examine HRM practices that give rise to higher job
satisfaction and recommend HRM practices that firms could adopt to enable PMs to have
higher job satisfaction.
This paper focuses on HRM practices that PMs in architectural, engineering or
construction (A/E/C) firms in Singapore are subject to. Singapore is an open market
economy and a developed country, and therefore the findings may be applicable to countries
that operate on a similar system.
This paper is structured as follows. After the introduction, a literature review of job
satisfaction and HRM is presented. This is followed by a description of the research method.
The next section covers results and discussion. Finally, recommendations and conclusions
are made.

2. Literature review
2.1 Job satisfaction
Job satisfaction is an overall measure of the degree to which the employee is satisfied and
happy with the job (Hackman and Oldham, 1980). Job satisfaction and dissatisfaction are a
function of the perceived relationship between what one wants from one’s job, and what one
perceives it as offering or entailing (Locke, 1969). Hulin and Judge (2003) defined job
satisfaction as psychological responses to one’s job, including cognitive (evaluative),
affective (or emotional) and behavioural components.
Satisfaction with job rewards is one of the components of job satisfaction as it measures
whether the job rewards can meet employee’s expectation (Balzer et al., 1997). Satisfaction
with HRM practices measures the appeal of HRM practices (incentives, benefits, training,
support from managers, employee engagement, etc.) (Alfes et al., 2013; Tran et al., 2013) to
employees. Employees’ satisfaction with HRM practices is linked to their behaviour and
intention to stay (Alfes et al., 2013; Kehoe and Wright, 2013).
It is important for PMs who work in the construction industry to have job satisfaction
because improving job satisfaction helps in retaining valuable employees who can help
sustain the company and decrease the turnover rate (Lee and Way, 2010). In a project team,
when job satisfaction is met, team members feel internally connected with the
project and are willing to work hard to make the project successful (Rezvani et al., 2016;
Schmid and Adams, 2008).
 ECAM 2.2 Human resource management
25,5 HRM refers to policies and practices that influence an employee’s behaviour, attitudes and
performance (Noe et al., 2012). HRM policies are the principles and guidelines while HRM
practices are the specific methods to express the policies. How the policies are implemented
and the effects perceived by employees might be different from the intention of the
policies (Kinnie et al., 2005; Kooij et al., 2010). The five basic constructs of HRM that support
656 high-performance work systems are staffing, work design, training, compensation and
performance management.
2.2.1 Staffing. HRM starts with the staffing process. Some avenues whereby job
opportunities are made known and filled include advertising in print media (Noe et al., 2012),
headhunting, word-of-mouth recommendation (Raidén et al., 2009) and choosing those who
are related to existing staff (Hutchings and Weir, 2006).
Selection methods vary across different companies and industries. Interviews are
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commonly used but can be unreliable and biased when not properly handled (Posthuma
et al., 2002). Noe et al. (2012) also suggested a variety of tests such as physical ability,
psychometric and technical skill tests to pick potential candidates. It is not known which
types of selection method are effective in the recruitment and selection of PMs.
2.2.2 Work design. Noe et al. (2012) proposed that work design should include the
following features: participation in planning changes, work being organised in teams, job
rotation to develop skills, use of a variety of skills, opportunity for decision making and
access to information. Among these, it is not known if PMs prefer HRM practices that give
them opportunities to make decisions and access to information.
2.2.3 Training. The next element of HRM is training. Bratton and Gold (2003) stressed
the importance of maintaining and developing employees’ existing capabilities. Training
can help employees feel more valued (Sisson and Storey, 2000), which increases their
motivation and loyalty to the company. Fraser (2000) discovered that employees who have
attended some training are likely to be more effective in their work, but it is hitherto not
known if this is useful for PMs.
2.2.4 Compensation. HRM involves setting up a system to reward and retain
contributing employees, motivating them to strive for the best while attracting suitable
candidates for the job (Tan and Torrington, 2004). A reward system can be classified
broadly as monetary and non-monetary. For a reward system to be effective, it has to be
adequate, equitable, balanced, cost-effective, incentive-providing and accepted by
employees (Patton, 1997).
2.2.5 Performance management. Performance management has a dual functionality to
focus on maximising individual, team and organisational performance while facilitating
employees’ career development (Raidén et al., 2009). Seeking employee feedback allows the
management to identify the areas that they are doing right and those that need
improvement, and helps to foster an environment of trust and respect (DeVoe, 1999).
Another aspect of performance management is the performance appraisal. It is a
sensitive process as it involves measuring an employee’s contribution towards company
objectives with the purpose of deciding rewards and penalties (Loosemore and Dainty,
2003). Performance appraisal should be employee centric to help them improve their
performance (Mullins, 1999). However, in construction industry, the assessors, usually the
PM’s supervisors, are unable to assess the individual’s day-to-day performance as there is
disparate locale problem (Druker and White, 1995).

2.3 HRM and project managers

HRM practices need to be carefully crafted for project-based employees such as PMs.
Companies need to assign an optimal number of projects to such employees in order for
 them to meet their career aspirations but not overload them as this causes burnout or Human
work-life imbalance (Turner et al., 2008). Companies also need to craft their HRM practices resource
carefully to ensure employees working in a rapidly changing project-based environment management
are treated well and ethically (Huemann, Keegan and Turner, 2007; Huemann, Turner and
Keegan, 2004). practices

2.4 HRM practices and job satisfaction 657

Organisational behaviour theory proposes that appropriate use of people improves
organisational effectiveness, and when mediated by effective HRM, these employees have
lower intention to leave and better job satisfaction (Koys, 2001). Studies have found that
HRM practices have significant positive association to job satisfaction (Kaya et al., 2010;
Mudor and Tooksoon, 2011; Majumder, 2012). Kinnie et al. (2005) found that satisfaction
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with some HRM practices is linked to commitment to job, which is also related to job
satisfaction. These studies did not focus on PMs in the construction industry. For example,
Kaya et al. (2010) and Majumder (2012) investigated the banking sector while Parvin and
Kabir (2011) studied pharmaceutical sector.

2.5 Knowledge gap

Lim and Ling (2012) investigated the HRM practices adopted by construction firms that give
rise to job satisfaction of their professional staff. Their sample comprised largely engineers
and quantity surveyors, with little emphasis on PMs. Phua (2012) found that the job
satisfaction of construction professionals is higher when their HRM preference matches the
practices adopted in their organisations. The study did not investigate the specific HRM
practices that give rise to job satisfaction. While some studies covered HRM in construction
projects (e.g. Loosemore and Dainty, 2003), hitherto, no comparison has been made between
the satisfactory and the unsatisfactory HRM practices of construction firms. It is also not
known if PMs are satisfied with the HRM practices adopted by construction firms. There are
also few studies on PMs’ perspectives on their company’s HRM practices. The fieldwork
was, therefore, undertaken to fill the knowledge gap.

3. Research method
Using the survey research design, a questionnaire with three sections was drawn up based
primarily on Noe et al. (2012). The first section gathered general information on the PM
respondents and their firms. The second section sought information on the HRM practices of
respondents’ firms gleaned from the literature review. The final section asked respondents
for their perspectives on their firms’ HRM practices. A pilot test of the questionnaire was
conducted with three PMs and minor changes were made.
The population was PMs who worked in Singapore’s construction industry. The sampling
frame comprised PMs from construction firms that are registered under the General Building
and Civil Engineering workheads of the Singapore Building and Construction Authority.
The samples were randomly selected and augmented with convenience and snowball
sampling to increase the sample size.
The data collected were analysed using the SPSS software. Besides descriptive statistics,
t-test of the mean, independent samples t-test and correlation analysis were conducted.

4. Characteristics of the sample

A total of 430 questionnaires were sent out via e-mail and postal mail to construction firms.
In total, 81 completed questionnaires were collected, giving a response rate of 19 per cent, which
is usual for surveys of this nature. Among the returned questionnaires, 65, 19 and 16 per cent
were based on convenience sampling, random sampling and snowball sampling, respectively.
 ECAM All the respondents were from different companies. In total, 73 per cent of them work as PMs in
25,5 construction firms while the other 27 per cent were PMs for project management consultancy
firms. The projects that they were involved in have clear start and end dates, and typically do
not last more than three years.
The profiles of the respondents and their firms are presented in Table I.
The respondents were all PMs, with the majority having more than ten years of
658 experience in the construction industry. The firms are well distributed in terms of number
of employees. In total, 89 per cent of the respondents’ firms have an HR department, which
suggests that most firms recognise the need for an HR department to maximise the
potential of their employees. Respondents were asked to indicate their level of satisfaction
with the HRM practices implemented by their firms on a seven-point scale, where
1 ¼ extremely not satisfied, 4 ¼ neutral and 7 ¼ extremely satisfied. The responses were
classified into three categories (dissatisfied ¼ ratings of 1, 2 and 3; neutral ¼ rating 4;
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and satisfied ¼ ratings of 5, 6 and 7). Table I shows that 25 per cent of the PMs are
dissatisfied with their firms’ HRM practices, 34 per cent are neutral and 41 per cent are
satisfied with the practices.
The relationships between satisfaction with different types of rewards, HRM practices and
job satisfaction were explored using the partial least square-structural equation modelling
(PSL-SEM). PLS-SEM was chosen because it can estimate the complex cause-effect
relationships between different practices and satisfaction categories. Four measured variables
(i.e. satisfaction with salary (R1), promotion opportunities (R2), welfare package (R3) and total
package (R4)) were labelled as satisfaction with job rewards (Y1). The PLS-SEM results show
factor Y1 has adequate reliability and validity (see Table II). All loadings are greater than 0.50
with t-values greater than 2.58 (Hulland, 1999). This indicates acceptable indicator reliability.
There is a high level of reliability of internal indicators within each factor as the values of
composite reliability are over 0.7 (Bagozzi and Yi, 1988). A satisfactory level of convergent

Description Number Percentage

Respondents’ experience in construction (years)

⩽5 13 16.0
W5–10 29 35.8
W10–15 11 13.6
W15–20 17 21.0
W20 11 13.6
Type of firm
Contractor 59 72.8
Consultant 22 27.2
Size of firm
1–150 staff 20 24.7
151–300 staff 28 34.6
301–450 staff 6 7.4
W450 staff 27 33.3
Presence of HR department
Yes 72 88.9
No 9 11.1

Table I. Satisfaction with firm’s HRM practices

Characteristics Dissatisfied 20 24.7
of respondents Neutral 28 34.6
and their firms Satisfied 33 40.7
 validity of the factors was achieved by examining the values of the average variance Human
extracted more than 0.5. resource
Figure 1 shows the two path coefficients of the PLS-SEM model are significant. The path management
coefficient between Y1 and Y2 (Satisfaction with HRM practices) is 0.794, while the path
coefficient between Y1 and Y3 ( Job satisfaction) is 0.718. The result indicates that a higher practices
satisfaction with the job rewards offered (Y1) leads to higher job satisfaction (Y3).
In addition, when PMs are more satisfied with their firms’ job rewards (Y1), they have 659
higher satisfaction with the HRM practices of their firms (Y2). The results indicate that
when PMs are more satisfied with their job rewards (measured by salary (R1), promotion
opportunities (R2), welfare package (R3) and total compensation package (R4)), they also
have higher job satisfaction (Y3) (see results in Table V ).
The PLS-SEM test did not show a significant causal relationship between satisfaction
with HRM practices (Y2) and job satisfaction (Y3). However, significant correlation between
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Y2 and Y3 is found in the Pearson’s correlation analysis (see Table V, r ¼ 0.562, p ¼ 0.000).
This indicates a significant association between PM’s satisfaction with the HRM practices of
their firms and their overall job satisfaction.

Indicators Loadings t-value Factors

R1: satisfaction with salary 0.856 27.98 Y1 Satisfaction with rewards

Composite reliability ¼ 0.880
Average variance extracted ¼ 0.648
R2: satisfaction with promotion opportunities 0.757 8.352
R3: satisfaction with welfare package 0.716 7.943
R4: satisfaction with total compensation package 0.879 29.040 Table II.
Y2: satisfaction with HRM practices 1.000 – Measurement model
Y3: job satisfaction 1.000 – evaluation

R1 Salary
0.856
R2
Promotion
opportunities
0.757 Y1
Satisfaction
with job
rewards
R3 Welfare 0.716 0.794***
package
0.879
Y2
0.718***
Satisfaction
with HRM
practices
R4 Total 0.562***
package
Y3
Job
satisfaction
Figure 1.
: Path coefficient showing causation Relationship between
: Pearson’s correlation. The number is r value satisfaction with
the job, rewards and
Notes: Numbers linking Y1 and R1 to R4 are the factor loadings. HRM practices
***p < 0.001
 ECAM 5. Results and discussion of HRM practices
25,5 In the survey, respondents were asked to indicate the HRM practices adopted by their firms
and their satisfaction with compensation and promotion. The results are shown in Tables III
and IV, respectively. The responses were categorised according to how the PMs felt about
their firms’ HRM practices: dissatisfied, neutral or satisfied.

660 5.1 Recruitment and selection

Table III shows that among the different recruitment methods, filling job vacancies through
recommendation is the most frequently used method (42.0 per cent), and among PMs who
are satisfied with their firms’ HRM, this is also the most often used method (n ¼ 11). Hiring
staff via recommendation or contacts can be a source of high-quality applicants, especially
in the case of employee referrals since the referring employees have to vouch and put their
reputation on the line for the person they are recommending into the company (Vijava,
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2012). Recruiting through friends and recommendations has the downside of not leveraging
on diversity and ending up with a socially homogenous group of employees (Marsden,
1994). The second most frequent recruitment method is through websites, but the relative
low usage (19.8 per cent) suggests that companies are not leveraging on various internet
platforms for recruitment purposes.
Table III shows that the majority (92.6 per cent) of the PMs were selected through
interviews, followed by the technical skill selection test (21 per cent). Posthuma et al. (2002)
have also found that the interview method is consistently used by most companies.
Technical skill selection test allows employers to assess the competency of applicants as
well as the claims they make in their resumes. A large proportion of PMs who are satisfied
with their firms’ HRM practices were selected through interviews (n ¼ 29).

5.2 Work design

Table III shows that most of the decision makers in projects are the team members
(44.4 per cent) and PMs (42 per cent). The final authorities in decision making are: project
directors (50.6 per cent), PMs (29.6 per cent) and project team (19.8 per cent). Among PMs
who are dissatisfied with their firms’ HRM, a large number of them are the final authority in
decision making (n ¼ 9 out of 20). On the other hand, among PMs who are satisfied with
their firms’ HRM, in majority of the cases, the project directors as the final decision-making
authority (n ¼ 20 out of 33).
The result indicates that most construction companies appoint someone in senior
management to be held accountable, and this is also what PMs prefer. While Noe et al. (2012)
found that decentralised decision-making results in high-performance work, this study
found that PMs are more satisfied when their directors have the final authority in decision
making. This could be attributed to the time-consuming and costly nature of the decisions in
construction projects. A higher-ranking employee in the organisation is also likely to have
more expertise and experience to make well-informed decisions to ensure the project
deliverables are met, and this takes away much of the pressure from PMs.
Information sharing is another component of work design to produce high-performance
employees. The questionnaire requested PMs to rate the level of accessibility of information
in their firms, with 1 being highly inaccessible and 7 being highly accessible. Table IV
shows that accessibility of information (B3) is significantly high (mean ¼ 4.98; p ¼ 0.000).
Table IV also shows that there is significant difference in the ratings for this item between
PMs who are satisfied with, neutral or dissatisfied with their firms’ HRM practices. Those
who are satisfied with their firms’ HRM practices have significantly better access to
information than those who are neutral or dissatisfied. This suggests that effective HRM
requires companies to give PMs adequate access to information. Companies should adopt
practices aimed at increasing the accessibility and retrieval of information by PMs.
 PMs dissatisfied PMs neutral PMs satisfied
Human
with firms’ HRM about firms’ with firms’ resource
(n ¼ 20) HRM (n ¼ 28) HRM (n ¼ 33) Total management
% out of % out of % out of % out of 81
Description No. Total No. Total No. Total No. responses
practices
Recruitment and selection
Recruitment methods 661
Through websites 5 31.3 4 25.0 7 43.8 16 19.8
Online employment agencies 5 38.5 2 15.4 6 46.2 13 16.0
Print media advertisements 3 27.3 3 27.3 5 45.4 11 13.6
Executive search consultants 0 0 3 42.9 4 57.1 7 8.6
Friends/recommendation 7 20.6 16 47.1 11 32.4 34 42.0
Selection methods
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Interviews 20 26.7 26 34.7 29 38.7 75 92.6

Cognitive ability test 1 12.5 1 12.5 6 75.0 8 9.9
Personality inventories 3 50.0 1 16.7 2 33.3 6 7.4
Technical skill test 5 29.4 3 17.6 9 52.9 17 21.0
Work design
Decision makers in project
Project manager 9 26.5 12 35.3 13 38.2 34 42.0
Project team (consensus) 8 22.2 14 38.9 14 38.9 36 44.4
Director 5 31.3 4 25.0 7 43.8 16 19.8
Final authority in decision making
Project manager 9 37.5 8 33.3 7 29.2 24 29.6
Project team (consensus) 4 25.0 6 37.5 6 37.5 16 19.8
Director 7 17.1 14 34.1 20 48.8 41 50.6
Training and development
Basis of selection for training
No training 2 50.0 0 0 2 50.0 4 4.9
Merit/based on performance 3 13.6 7 31.8 12 54.5 22 27.2
Chosen by direct supervisors 11 22.0 20 40.0 19 38.0 50 61.7
Voluntary basis/express interest 12 27.3 14 31.8 18 40.9 44 54.3
Frequency of training
No training 0 0 0 0 1 100.0 1 1.2
Once every quarter every year 3 18.8 6 37.5 7 43.8 16 19.8
Once every half a year 5 25.0 5 25.0 10 50.0 20 24.7
Once a year 7 30.4 8 34.8 8 34.8 23 28.4
Others 5 23.8 9 42.9 7 33.3 21 25.9
Number of training courses attended in last 24 months
0 1 11.1 4 44.4 4 44.4 9 11.1
1 to 2 9 26.5 13 38.2 12 35.3 34 42.0
3 to 5 6 20.7 10 34.5 13 44.8 29 35.8
W5 4 44.4 1 11.1 4 44.4 9 11.1
Type of trainers
No training 1 100 0 0 0 0 1 1.2
In-house trainers/staff 1 50.0 1 50.0 0 0 2 2.5
External trainers 9 37.5 6 25.0 9 37.5 24 29.6
Mix of internal and external trainers 9 16.7 21 38.9 24 44.4 54 66.7
Type of training
Safety 17 25.4 21 31.3 29 43.3 67 82.7
Scheduling 8 32.0 5 20.0 12 48.0 25 30.9
Financial/costing 6 20.7 10 34.5 13 44.8 29 35.8
Regulatory 11 20.8 19 35.8 23 43.4 53 65.4 Table III.
Breakdown of
HRM practices in
(continued ) PMs’ firms
 ECAM PMs dissatisfied PMs neutral PMs satisfied
25,5 with firms’ HRM about firms’ with firms’
(n ¼ 20) HRM (n ¼ 28) HRM (n ¼ 33) Total
% out of % out of % out of % out of 81
Description No. Total No. Total No. Total No. responses

Others 0 0 6 37.5 10 62.5 16 19.8

662
Compensation
Package includes
Overtime pay 1 12.5 3 37.5 4 50.0 8 9.9
Paternity/maternity leave 9 18.4 16 32.7 24 49.0 49 60.5
Medical benefits 18 23.7 28 36.8 30 39.5 76 93.8
Transport allowance 15 23.1 21 32.3 29 44.6 65 80.2
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Dental benefits 5 12.2 15 36.6 21 51.2 41 50.6

Mobile phone allowance 14 21.5 25 38.5 26 40.0 65 80.2
Performance management
Feedback collection method
No collection of feedback 7 46.7 5 33.3 3 20.0 15 18.5
Feedback boxes 2 11.1 6 33.3 10 55.6 18 22.2
Online feedback 6 20.7 11 37.9 12 41.4 29 35.8
Oral feedback 6 23.1 8 30.8 12 46.2 26 32.1
Anonymity of feedback
Anonymous 8 21.6 12 32.4 17 45.9 37 45.7
Not anonymous 7 20.6 13 38.2 14 41.2 34 42.0
Performance appraiser
No performance appraisal 3 75 0 0 1 25 4 4.9
Immediate supervisor 13 24.5 19 35.8 21 39.6 53 65.4
Senior management 12 24.5 14 28.6 23 46.9 49 60.5
Fellow professional staff 0 0 0 0 1 100 1 1.2
Subordinates 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 0
Whether appraisal results are made known to PMs
No performance appraisal 3 50 1 16.7 2 33.3 6 7.4
Yes 11 21.2 16 30.8 25 48.1 52 64.2
No 6 26.1 11 47.8 6 26.1 23 28.4
Table III. Note: Results may not add up to 81 as some respondents indicated more than one option

Measures include centralising the information database, converting archives of past

projects to softcopy and uploading it to the company’s intranet. This will improve PMs’
accessibility to information that can assist them in making informed and timely decisions,
thereby improving schedule performance.

5.3 Training and development

Table III shows that while the majority (61.7 per cent) indicated that supervisors determined
who could be selected for training, and 54.3 per cent reported they were allowed to express
their interest in being selected for training. However, what stands out for firms where PMs
are satisfied with the HRM practices, as compared to those who are not satisfied, is that the
selection for training is based on merit or performance (54.5 per cent satisfied).
In terms of frequency of training as stipulated in company HRM practices, the majority
have at least one training annually, with some twice or four times a year. In firms where
PMs are more satisfied with their HRM practices, the policy is to send PMs for training once
every six months (50 per cent satisfied). The majority (88.9 per cent) of the respondents had
attended at least one training programme in the last 24 months. Attending more training
courses does not necessarily make PMs more satisfied because work piles up when they are
 away, and they may be required to catch up on work at night or put in extra hours when Human
they return to work (Nilson, 1999). resource
The type of trainers impacts the learning process of the individuals. The majority management
(66.7 per cent) had a mix of external and internal trainers (Table III). When firms adopt a mix
of internal and external trainers, there is lower percentage of PMs who are unsatisfied practices
(16.7 per cent unsatisfied). External trainers are usually trained personnel from external
agencies with the necessary knowledge and presentation skills to deliver the desired 663
material. In comparison, in-house trainers cost less and have more hands-on experience.
A mix of trainers is recommended to leverage the advantages of both to provide a more
comprehensive learning experience for the PM.
It is no surprise safety training is the most prevalent (82.7 per cent), followed by training
in regulations (65.4 per cent) (see Table III). This is in part due to the need to be informed of
fast changing workplace safety and health regulations and to comply with them. Companies
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know that if there are safety violations, their construction sites may be compulsorily shut
down by the authorities through the issuance of stop work orders, and safety breaches have
significant repercussions on a project’s progress.

5.4 Compensation
Besides the basic salary, the top three items in PMs’ compensation package are: medical
benefits (93.8 per cent); transport allowance (80.2 per cent); and mobile phone allowance
(80.2 per cent), and PMs who are satisfied with their firms’ HRM practices also receive these
benefits (see Table III). The finding is consistent with Lim and Ling (2012) who found that
employees with adequate medical insurance coverage also have higher job satisfaction.
Table IV shows that overall, PMs are significantly satisfied with their salary (R1),
promotion opportunities (R2), welfare package (R3) and total compensation package (R4).
When comparing across the three groups of respondents (dissatisfied, neutral and satisfied
with HRM practices), the level of satisfaction with compensation and promotion in each
group goes up when the group is more satisfied with the firms’ HRM practices.
The implication is that firms need to pay close attention to HRM practices pertaining to
compensation and promotion in order to retain their staff.

5.5 Performance management

Giving feedback to employees is as essential as receiving feedback from them to foster an
environment of trust and respect (DeVoe, 1999). However, 18.5 per cent of the respondents
reported there is no collection of feedback in their firm and many of the PMs in these firms
are dissatisfied with the HRM (46.7 per cent) (Table III). This diminishes an avenue whereby
employee commitment to the company can be developed as employees lack a channel to
voice their concerns and suggest improvements (Donnelly, 2010). Firms that collect
feedback do so through online system (35.8 per cent), oral response (32.1 per cent) and
feedback boxes (22.2 per cent). PMs who are able to give feedback anonymously are more
satisfied with their firms’ HRM practices (45.9 per cent). Feedback may require the condition
of anonymity if it is sensitive or controversial (e.g. whistleblowing). In addition, while the
collection of feedback is important, management must also act on the feedback received to
foster a two-way trust and communication (DeVoe, 1999).
Table III shows that performance appraisal is usually conducted by the immediate
supervisor (65.4 per cent), and/or senior management (60.5 per cent). A larger percentage of
those who are satisfied with their firms’ HRM practices are appraised by senior
management (46.9 per cent). Appraisal by peers and subordinates was virtually non-existent
although it is a crucial component of the 360-degree appraisal system that is extensively
encouraged by academics (Walker and Joines, 2004; O’Boyle, 2013). This may be because not
many companies in Singapore see the benefits of investing resources in implementing the
 ECAM D vs N D vs S N vs S
25,5 Overall t value/ D N S t-value t-value t-value/
Code Description mean sig (n ¼ 20) (n ¼ 28) (n ¼ 33) /sig /sig sig

B3 Accessibility of information 4.98 6.996 4.15 4.89 5.55 −2.068 −4.305 −2.386
in company 0.000** 0.044* 0.000** 0.020*
C6 Relevance of training and 5.49 11.250 5.00 5.36 5.91 −0.911 −2.338 −2.207
664 development courses to job 0.000** 0.367 0.028* 0.032*
R1 Satisfaction with salary 4.60 5.399 3.75 4.57 5.15 −3.235 −5.585 −2.773
0.000** 0.002** 0.000** 0.007**
R2 Satisfaction with promotion 4.41 3.105 3.50 4.29 5.06 −2.417 −4.962 −3.225
opportunities 0.001** 0.020* 0.000** 0.002**
R3 Satisfaction with welfare 4.72 5.586 3.60 4.75 5.36 −3.843 −5.587 −3.020
package 0.000** 0.000** 0.000** 0.004**
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R4 Satisfaction with total 4.47 3.598 3.35 4.29 5.30 −3.416 −7.638 −4.768
compensation package 0.000** 0.001** 0.000** 0.000**
Table IV.
Company practices Y3 Job satisfaction 4.75 4.163 3.95 4.54 5.39 −1.646 −4.178 −3.749
and PMs’ satisfaction 0.000** 0.106 0.000** 0.000**
with HRM Notes: D, PMs dissatisfied with firms’ HRM practices; N, PMs neutral about firms’ HRM practices; S, PMs
practices (Y2) satisfied with firms’ HRM practices. *0.05; **0.01

360-degree appraisal system or they feel that peers may have conflict of interest when rating
their colleagues as they are seen as competitors.
Table III shows that the appraisal results were made known to the majority of the PMs
(64.2 per cent), with significantly more of those (25 of 52 or 48.1 per cent) who are satisfied
with their firms’ HRM practices enjoying this privilege. This way, PMs will have a better
understanding of the areas they have done well in and those that need improvement, which
will assist them in their career progression planning. For appraisals to be effective,
discussions on career development and performance should be conducted separately as a
performance discussion may contain criticisms that may distract attention from matters on
career progression that require individuals to be constructive (Lawler et al., 2012).

6. Job satisfaction and HRM practices

Objectives 2 and 3 were to identify HRM practices that give rise to higher job satisfaction
and recommend them for adoption, respectively. Based on Pearson’s correlation analysis,
several HRM practices that are significantly correlated with a PM’s job satisfaction are
identified (see Table V ).
The first set of HRM practices that are significantly correlated with job satisfaction
relate to talent development. Of these, companies need to recognise the need to develop
talent (X1), be willing to develop talent (X2), be aware of the objectives of talent
development (X4), and take active steps to identify and develop backups (X5) to ensure
business continuity. To increase the job satisfaction of PMs, it is recommended that firms
adopt more of the following HRM practices: assess individual potential (X6), and recruit
(X7), develop (X10), and retain (X21) talented people as these practices are hitherto not
adopted to a significant extent. It is further recommended that supervisors model
development by developing themselves (X24). Talent development is important
for attracting and retaining talented PMs, and also for their career development
(Noe et al., 2012; Mehdiabadi and Li, 2016).
The next set of HRM practices relate to coaching. All the HRM practices under
coaching are significantly correlated with a PM’s job satisfaction, but none of these are
adopted to a significant extent (Table V ). Firms hiring PMs are recommended to
encourage them to plan for their career (X11), and offer them career counselling (X12),
 Pearson’s
Human
correlation with resource
t-test Y3 management
Sig. Sig.
Code Description Mean t-value (1-tailed) r (2-tailed)
practices
R1 Satisfaction with salary 4.60 5.399 0.000 0.616 0.000**
R2 Satisfaction with promotion opportunities 4.41 3.105 0.001 0.491 0.000** 665
R3 Satisfaction with welfare package 4.72 5.586 0.000 0.485 0.000**
R4 Satisfaction with total compensation package 4.47 3.598 0.000 0.435 0.001**
Y2 Satisfaction with HRM practices 4.14 1.008 0.158 0.562 0.000**
Y3 Job satisfaction 4.75 4.163 0.000 1.000 –
X1 Recognise the need to develop talent 4.56 4.270 0.000 0.445 0.001**
X2 Willing to develop talent 4.39 2.693 0.004 0.348 0.014*
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X3 Know how to get work out of employees effectively 4.51 3.632 0.000 0.516 0.000**
X4 Aware of the strategic objectives for talent development 4.44 3.008 0.002 0.458 0.001**
X5 Take active steps to identify and develop backups in
case of emergency 4.48 3.150 0.001 0.497 0.000**
X6 Assess individual potential 4.03 0.166 0.434 0.433 0.002**
X7 Recruit talented employees 3.74 −1.618 0.055 0.286 0.046*
X8 Select or participate in selecting talented employees 3.75 −1.561 0.061 0.286 0.051
X9 Train talented employees 3.91 −0.530 0.299 0.266 0.067
X10 Develop talented employees 3.91 −0.579 0.282 0.365 0.011*
X11 Encourage individuals to plan for their career 4.03 0.177 0.430 0.285 0.047*
X12 Offer career counselling 3.68 −1.831 0.036 0.316 0.035*
X13 Effectively offer performance coaching 3.95 −0.331 0.371 0.305 0.039*
X14 Effectively offer development coaching 3.91 −0.579 0.282 0.297 0.042*
X15 Appraise employees 4.10 0.684 0.248 0.331 0.019*
X16 Provide regular feedback on performance 3.57 −2.663 0.005 0.265 0.086
X17 Manage high potential employees effectively 4.11 0.670 0.252 0.429 0.002**
X18 Manage highly professional employees effectively 4.15 0.874 0.192 0.414 0.003**
X19 Encourage knowledge transfer 4.52 3.609 0.000 0.256 0.083
X20 Encourage the transfer of professional contacts 4.05 0.366 0.358 0.197 0.185
X21 Retain talented employees 4.19 1.092 0.139 0.334 0.021*
X22 Work with a diverse group of people effectively 4.29 1.902 0.030 0.402 0.004**
X23 Recruit employees who are not well suited for their jobs 3.88 −0.682 0.249 −0.237 0.113
X24 Superiors model development by developing themselves 3.96 −0.261 0.398 0.403 0.005** Table V.
X25 Demonstrate special competencies to build talent 3.99 −0.080 0.468 0.249 0.095 HRM practices and
Notes: *0.05; **0.01 job satisfaction (Y3)

performance coaching (X13) and development coaching (X14) as these may give rise to
higher job satisfaction. Career coaching gives PMs the satisfaction that there is supportive
and developmental career management in their firms (Segers and Inceoglu, 2012). The
results further show that appraising PMs (X15) is significantly correlated with job
satisfaction, although this is not done to a significant extent. Appraisal is a form of
performance evaluation that can improve the performance of both employees and
organisations ( Javidmehr and Ebrahimpour, 2015).
The final set of HRM practices that are significantly correlated with job satisfaction is the
contextual management of PMs. Table V shows that when supervisors know how to get
work out of PMs effectively (X3) and know how to work with a diverse group of PMs (X22),
PMs tend to have higher job satisfaction. It is recommended that organisations be more
effective in managing PMs who have high potential (X17) and are highly professional (X18),
as doing so gives higher job satisfaction. When employees with high potential are well
managed, they perceive that there is distributive justice (Gelens et al., 2014), and this may
lead to higher job satisfaction.
 ECAM From the literature review, 25 HRM practices are identified. Among these, 18 practices
25,5 are found to be significantly correlated to job satisfaction. The other 7 (X8, X9, X16, X19,
X20, X23 and X25) do not affect job satisfaction significantly (see Table V ).

7. Limitations of the study

This study has several limitations. They include the low response rate and the relatively
666 small sample size. A higher response rate will give a more holistic representation. Also, the
profile of respondents is largely from construction companies with more than 150 staff.
This suggests the findings are more applicable to PMs working for contractors in
medium- to large-sized firms. It is recognised that the results of the correlation analysis
between HRM practices and job satisfaction cannot be construed as causation. As such, the
findings need to be interpreted carefully.
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8. Conclusion
This study investigated the HRM practices adopted in PMs’ firms and PMs’ job
satisfaction vis-à-vis their satisfaction with their firms’ HRM practices and rewards. Data
were collected via a questionnaire from 81 PMs, the majority of whom have more than ten
years of experience. Using PSL-SEM, it is found that satisfaction with job rewards leads to
job satisfaction.
The first objective was to compare and contrast the HRM practices of firms that PMs are
satisfied with or dissatisfied with. Compared to those firms where PMs are dissatisfied with
the HRM practices, the firms where PMs are satisfied adopted the following HRM practices:
using more external consultants to recruit PMs; subjecting potential hires to cognitive tests;
letting project directors be the final decision makers instead of loading this responsibility on
PMs; selecting PMs for training based on merit; sending them for training at least twice a
year; and having a mix of in-house and external trainers. PMs who are satisfied with their
firms’ HRM practices want to be able to give feedback anonymously, be appraised by senior
management, and be told of their appraisal outcome. The findings add to knowledge as they
inform firms on what they could do in crafting HRM practices to give rise to satisfaction.
The second and third objectives are to examine HRM practices that are significantly
correlated with job satisfaction, and recommend HRM practices that firms could adopt to
enable PMs to have higher job satisfaction, respectively. The correlation result shows that
talent development is significantly correlated with job satisfaction, but is not always
adopted to a significant extent. In addition, career coaching of PMs is not done enough,
although this would give rise to higher job satisfaction. It is recommended that
organisations invest time and effort in career coaching as this has been found to increase job
satisfaction, and also the value offering of employees to the organisation. Finally, it is
recommended that PMs be managed in a contingency or contextual style rather than with a
one-size-fits-all approach.
The results in Table V show significant correlation between Y2 and Y3. This contributes
to knowledge as it informs firms that they should set up their HRM practices carefully as
these have deep implications for PMs’ job satisfaction.

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Corresponding author
Florence Yean Yng Ling can be contacted at: bdglyy@nus.edu.sg

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