Debre Berehan University College of Engineering

Departement of Construction Technology and

Management

Human resources management in construction

(COTM 5162)

Chapter 2: Human resources function

March 2024
 2. Human resources management

 For many years, the role of personnel administration was very

much a procedural one with the transaction of staff matters
such as leave, pensions, salary occupying much of the
personnel officer’s time.

 In this model, personnel staff reacts to immediate or short-

term matters leaving no time to adopt a strategic approach to
the management of the organisation’s employees.
 Training and development activities took place but were to
meet very short-term needs.
 In this ‘traditional’ model, the activities of the Personnel
Department were not seen as a means of adding value to the
organisation.
 With the expansion of market-type economies and
accompanying economic growth, the traditional model was
found to be not suited to efficient operation in a competitive
environment
 And so there has been a gradual shift in emphasis - from the
traditional ‘personnel’ orientation which was confined to
transactional staffing matters and conditions of service
performed by relatively low-skilled persons to a system where
appropriately skilled personnel staff promote their expertise to,
and work throughout.
 In this new role, HR professionals adopt a proactive approach to
their role in the organization.
 The change in name from ‘Personnel Administration’ to ‘Human
Resource Management’ is a reflection of this evolutionary
process.
• Human Resource Management (HRM) must be based on a
strategic approach which
 adds maximum value by aligning its activities to the business strategies
of the organization
 provides a framework in which to plan and manage HR activities in the
organization
 enables the linking of Human Resource Development (HRD) to the
organization's broader HRM system
 increases awareness of HRD and training as a key management and
organizational development tool
 Facilitates assessment of the effectiveness of HRD activities within an
organization.
 With this background, Human Resources Management (HRM)
can be defined as branch of management that deals with
managing one of the resources of the organization-Human
Resources.
2.1 Human resources functions
 Human resources functions can broadly classified into
managerial and operative function. The managerial functions
include planning, organizing, directing and controlling the
human resources
 Operative functions on the other hand include
operational/routine activities in which the human resources
department will be doing as day today activities such as
human resources planning, job analysis, employee motivation,
performance management and training and development etc.
2.1.1 Managerial Functions

A) Planning
 Plans give the organization, its objectives and set up the best
procedure for reaching them.
 The first step in planning is the selection of goals for the
organization. Then objectives are established for the subunits
of the organization its divisions, departments, and so on.
 Of course, in selecting objectives and developing programs,
the manager considers their feasibility and whether they will
be acceptable to the organization’s managers and employees.
• Generally plan, will help us:
– What to accomplish (goals)
– When to accomplish the goals
– What resources to use
– Who should accomplish what
– Where to accomplish
– What methods to use
– Assess all possible scenarios including the best and worst
and what actions to take
B) Organizing

 Organization is a structured process in which people interact

and influence each other in order to achieve objectives.
 Organizing refers to the process of designing jobs and
departments and determining authority relationships in
organizations.
 Once managers have established objectives and developed
plans or programs to reach them, they must design and staff
an organization able to carry out those programs successfully.
 Although they must interact effectively, such people cannot
be organized on an assembly-line basis.
 It is clear, then, managers must have the ability to determine
what type of organization will be needed to accomplish a
given set of objectives.
 And they must have the ability to develop (and later to lead)
that type of organization.
• Organizing:
 Permits people to work
together in order to achieve
goals that will be difficult or
impossible for them to
achieve in their own
 Helps to achieve synergy
 Avoid duplication of resources
 Establish authority
 And facilitate communication
• Some issue in organizing
 Specialization (division of labor)

 Grouping jobs into departments and

structuring (functional, product,
customer, geographic, matrix)
 Determining authority relationships
(span of control, chain of command,
unity of command
 Delegation of authority

 Centralization and decentralization

C) Leading

 After plans have been made, the structure of the organization

has been determined, and the staff has been recruited and
trained, the next step is to arrange for movement toward the
organization’s defined objectives.
 This function involves getting the members of the
organization to perform in ways that will help it to achieve its
established objectives.
 Whereas planning and organizing deal with the more abstract
aspects of the management process, the activity of leading is
very concrete;
 it involves working directly with people by influencing, inspiring
and empowering employees to work toward the leaders’ vision.
 In general Leading involves:
– Building successful Groups and teams in organizations
– Motivating people
– Communication
– Organizational change
C) Controlling

• Finally, the manger must ensure that the actions for the
organization’s members do in fact move the organization toward
its stated goals. This is the controlling function of management,
and it involves four main elements:
 Establishing standards of performance

 Measuring current performance and comparing it against the

established standards
 Detecting deviations from standard goals in order to make
corrections before a sequence or activities is completed.
 Taking action to correct performance that does not meet those
standards
 1 2 3 4
Compare Determine
Establish Measure need
Performance for
Standards Performance against corrective
standards action

Maintain Correct Change

the the
Status Deviation Standards
• In general controlling is the process of measuring
performance, comparing it with the objectives, and making
any necessary adjustments. The purpose of control includes:
 Adapting to changes
 Minimizing consequences of errors
 Helping the organization cope with complexities
 Improving efficiency.
2.1.2.Operative Functions

• Human resources planning :-

 Human resource planning or HRP refers to a process by which
the company to identify the number of jobs vacant, whether the
company has excess staff or shortage of staff and to deal with
this excess or shortage.

• Job analysis design :-

 Another important area of HRM is job analysis. Job analysis
gives a detailed explanation about each and every job in the
company. Based on this job analysis the company prepares
advertisements.
• Recruitment and selection :-

 Based on information collected from job analysis the company prepares

advertisements and publishes them in the news papers. This is
recruitment. A number of applications are received after the advertisement
is published, interviews are conducted and the right employee is selected
thus recruitment and selection are yet another important area of HRM.
• Orientation and induction :-

 Once the employees have been selected an induction or orientation

program is conducted. This is another important area of HRM. The
employees are informed about the background of the company, explain
about the organizational culture and values and work ethics and introduce
to the other employees.
• Training and development :-
 Every employee goes under training program which helps him to put
up a better performance on the job. Training program is also
conducted for existing staff that have a lot of experience. This is called
refresher training. Training and development is one area were the
company spends a huge amount.

• Performance appraisal :-
 Once the employee has put in around 1 year of service, performance
appraisal is conducted that is the HR department checks the
performance of the employee. Based on these appraisal future
promotions, incentives, increments in salary are decided.
• Compensation planning and remuneration :-
 There are various rules regarding compensation and other
benefits. It is the job of the HR department to look into
remuneration and compensation planning.

• Motivation, welfare, health and safety :-

 Motivation becomes important to sustain the number of
employees in the company. It is the job of the HR department to
look into the different methods of motivation. Apart from this
certain health and safety regulations have to be followed for the
benefits of the employees. This is also handled by the HR
department.
• Industrial relations :-
– Another important area of HRM is maintaining co-ordinal
relations with the union members. This will help the
organization to prevent strikes lockouts and ensure smooth
working in the company.
Thank you