Best Practice Strategies for Workforce Development and Sustainability in Construction
Publication: Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction
Volume 28, Issue 1
Abstract
Due to the dynamic and recurring nature of construction operations, employee turnover rates remain relatively high. This high employee turnover rate presents challenges to the industry, the economy, and society as a whole. In addition, this high turnover rate leads to a significant shortage of skilled laborers given the reduced interest of new generations in construction. To overcome these challenges, it is paramount to initiate a systematic process, based on research and feedback from industry experts, to attract and develop skilled employees and then implement strategies to nurture and retain the attracted employees. A systematic process would increase workforce sustainability, a measure of the extent to which a workforce is nurtured and retained. The goal of this study was twofold: (1) to identify potential strategies to assess and improve workforce development and sustainability in construction, and (2) to statistically validate the identified strategies using feedback from field personnel in the construction industry. A survey process that collected data from a panel of expert and field personnel was carried out to achieve the goals of the study. The research findings led to the identification of multiple strategies contributing to workforce development and sustainability in construction; the identified strategies fell into seven workforce sustainability attributes, namely: nurturing, diversity, equity, health and well-being, connectivity, value, and maturity. This study makes a significant contribution to construction practice by providing a list of strategies that construction organizations can utilize to develop and sustain a skilled, motivated, and productive workforce.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This study was partly funded by the Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Opinions and views expressed are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of CPWR or NIOSH. The authors thank CPWR and NIOSH for providing funding to conduct the study.
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Published In
Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction
Volume 28 • Issue 1 • February 2023
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 8, 2022
Accepted: Aug 19, 2022
Published online: Oct 31, 2022
Published in print: Feb 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Mar 31, 2023
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Business management
- Construction engineering
- Construction management
- Employees
- Employment
- Engineering fundamentals
- Field tests
- Industries
- Labor
- Mathematics
- Methodology (by type)
- Organizations
- Personnel management
- Practice and Profession
- Research methods (by type)
- Statistics
- Sustainable development
- Tests (by type)
- Validation
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