CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Introduction
The construction industry is an important sector for a developing country like
Malaysia. Although it is not the main industry in Malaysia, it is still important, because
this industry affects both upstream and downstream users. The effect of the construction
industry is like a ripple effect. It benefits not only the major stakeholders in construction
projects, but also material supplies, raw materials, processed materials and so forth. It
also affects consumers such as house buyers. It also affects bank, in term of bank loans,
not only from the customers, but also from the developer or the contractor. On the big
picture, the construction industry spurs the economy of a country to some extent.
The construction industry is further divided into several types.
There are
residential construction, commercial construction, industrial construction and heavy
constructions (Shexnayder and Mayo, 2004). Residential construction consists of homes,
apartments, and assisted living facilities. Commercial construction deals with office
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buildings, stores, schools, and any other type of buildings other than homes. Industrial
construction, however, deals with manufacturing plants, high-tech facilities and
refineries. Heavy construction deals with dams, canals, bridges, tunnels and highways.
The construction industry is a labour intensive industry (Langford et al.1995).
The construction industry involves a lot of key players. They are client, architect,
engineer, quantity surveyor, contractor, sub contractor, blue-collared workers and general
workers. The roles of each and every one of the key players are second to none. Each and
everyone are dependable on each other. For example, without a civil engineer, there will
be no structural drawings. Without a contractor, no one will construct the structure.
However, for the context of this paper, only civil engineers will be studied upon.
Civil engineers are involved in several stages of constructions. They may be
involved in designing, supervising, managing the project, procuring materials, preparing
progress report, solving problems on the site and the list goes on. It is often expected of
engineers to perform a multi task of job. This is partly because due to the nature of
construction industry, engineers are expected to know almost everything. Besides that,
they are also expected to do multi tasking. Hence, there is a saying that " An engineer
hired, is equivalent to a quantity surveyor, a sales purchase officer, a design engineer, a
project manager and an on-site engineer." This shows the importance of a civil engineer
towards an organization.
The thesis is not a study of management philosophy, construction techniques or
problems in construction. However, it focuses on the human resources issues. In view of
this, it is exploring the needs of employees in terms of motivation, focusing on the needs
of civil engineers in the construction industry. The importance of identifying the needs of
this technical profession is vital for construction managers to retain them. This is based
on the belief that the core of a company is the employee. The employees are the driving
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force for a company. When employees are satisfied and happy, their effort brings returns
in magnitudes. They not only tend to achieve their personal goals, but indirectly, they
help to achieve the firm's goals as well. This in the end helps in gaining competitive edge
for the company.
Motivation is the driving force in individuals that drives them physiologically and
psychologically in order to pursue their goals and needs. There are two types of
motivation, extrinsic and intrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is about self-fulfillment in
completing a task, while extrinsic motivation is regarding tangible awards, such as money
and benefits (Lam & Tang, 2003). In order to keep employees happy, managers need to
know what motivates the employees. Besides that, understanding the motivational needs
of employees is very crucial. If the employees' needs are ignored, or unfulfilled, or made
in such a way that it is beyond the employees reach, the end result will be unsatisfied
employees. When they are unhappy, they tend to look elsewhere for better options, for
greener pastures. As mentioned earlier, employees are the core of a company. Without
them, is like a car without fuel. Thus, without employees or with unhappy employees, the
driving force is depleting or gone.
With the emergence of new management philosophy, such as Total Quality
Management, Just In Time Management, Lean Engineering, Business Process
Engineering, Benchmarking and even Knowledge Management, there is no doubt that
such management philosophies focus on management effectiveness and gaining
competitive edge. These management philosophies also emphasizes on the integration
between employees with the overall company's objectives, goals, and also working
environment. There is no denial that motivation plays a role in such management
philosophy. Thus, this shows that motivation should not be taken lightly anymore. It
should be integrated at every part and level of an organization to ensure not only a good
working environment, but most importantly, to ensure that your employees work for you,
effective and efficiently, without any complaints.
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1.2
Problem Statement
"A frequent observation of young engineers indicates that many of them are unhappy in
their jobs. This is in spite of the numerous internal and external training programs
attended by an increasing number of engineering and technical supervisors. Why do
trained supervisors often fail in motivating young engineers?" (Westbrook, 1982)
"The United States Air Force is currently experiencing a severe shortage of scientific,
engineering and technical personnel…" (Rumsey and Moor, 1982)
"…job satisfaction is significantly lower among military officers than among their
civilian counterparts, it was desired to explore the motivational factors among this group
of base-level engineers in order to determine whether local supervisors could
significantly affect job satisfaction and motivation…" (Rumsey and Moor, 1982)
" Motivation has become one of the most widely discussed concepts in general
management. Although it has not generated the same enthusiasm in the construction
industry, substantial efforts have been made to apply the concept to construction
operatives" (Olomolaiye & Price, 1989)
" Despite the significant improvements being made by modern technology to equipment,
materials and methods of design and construction, actual productivity in the construction
industry is often seen as being below par when compared with that within other
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industries. Some industry experts point to the need for better management of human
resources" (Mansfield & Odeh, 1991)
"It has been estimated that there is a shortage of about 17,000 engineers by the year 2000
of which civil engineers account for about 30%" (Gue, 1996)
" Management's failure to reward engineers with motivations beyond those appealing to
non professionals has resulted in a higher rate of turnover among the former than among
the latter group on comparable organizational levels" (Petroni, 2000)
" There is a growing need to retain engineers in the workforce beyond traditional
retirement age. However, little research has been conducted in the area of the motivation
and therefore, retention and productivity- for these valuable employees" (Robert, 2002)
" Workers on civil engineering projects are frequently confronted with problems that
could lead to demotivation" (Ng et. al 2004)
The quotations above show the problems that are faced in the construction sector
today. Although attention has been focused on the issue of motivation among engineers
20 years ago, the issue of motivation and meeting the motivational needs of engineers
still present today. This also shows the seriousness of losing engineers to other firms, and
that attention should shift to how to motivate and retain engineers.
In today's society in Malaysia, the supply of engineers, especially in the
construction industry is less than the demand. The lack of engineers or the small pool of
engineers available causes a high demand for engineers. When the demand is high,
certainly construction firms will try to attract and retain engineers into the firm. This may
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be done by offering higher salary. This has caused construction companies facing risk of
losing their engineers to other firms, which offer better benefits. Besides that, when
engineers know that they are highly in demand, they have better options when it comes to
work. They also may be tempted to leave their current firms to look for greener pastures.
According to Hessen (2000), who conducted a study on design engineers, the
increase in demand has caused design engineers to have higher salary expectation at all
levels. Employees are important towards the firms they work at. Good employees are
assets to the companies they work for. The same goes to construction firms or design
firms. Construction professionals such as engineers, architect, quantity surveyors or
project managers are valuable to the firm. Their expertise is so valuable in such a way
that it provides the winning edge for the firm they work in.
Losing good employees will affect the performance of the current firm. When an
employee leaves, so does his/her expertise. One's departure may also affect the morale of
the people whom he worked with, or his subordinates. The rippling effect is devastating
to the firms.
Fitz-enz (1997) stated that the average company loses approximately $1 million
with every 10 management and professional employees who leave the organization. He
also noted that with addition to direct and indirect costs, the total cost of an exempt
employee turnover is a minimum of one year's pay and benefits, or a maximum of two
year's pay and benefits.
Furthermore, it is difficult to find an identical replacement, in terms of
knowledge, abilities, capabilities and expertise. This is because, in engineering, a fresh
graduate's universities knowledge may not be enough in the working field. A fresh
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graduate still have to start from the basic level, in order to learn the tricks of the trades.
Only after working for sometime, one will be able to master his/her trade well. And only
when they are more experienced and more capable in their expertise, will they become
more valuable and marketable. Thus, it is hard to replace an experienced engineer. If a
fresh engineer is hired to replace the more experienced engineer, the fresh engineer
needed to be trained from the basic again. Here, much time and money is lost here. Time,
is something that construction firms lack of, and time is also sometimes the winning edge
to be competitive.
According to Bessell et al. (2002), managers often fail to utilize motivation in
order to retain their employees. This is partly because they lack sound understanding of
motivation, or it could be they fail to understand the needs of their employees. This is
further supported by Oglesby et al. (1989), who claimed that most managers thought
what motivates them, would therefore motivate their employees. Therefore, managers
used the wrong techniques in retaining their employees.
Oglesby et al. (1989) quoted,
"Since measurements of the effect of money on productivity are undependable, the
assumption is that it is a motivator. For on-site managers, the alternative approaches to
motivation are often unknown, untried, tricky or frightening. Who knows, money may
work."
Besides that, the motivational needs may vary from age groups. The needs for
younger engineers may differ from the needs of senior engineers. However, there has
been a lack of attention in this area. Managers usually assume that all employees will be
motivated by the same motivational needs. This may be true to a certain age groups of
engineers, but it may not be true to other age groups of engineers. Such failure in
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understanding the needs of the employees will create a backlash in employees'
motivation.
Engineers in general, are rather unique and secretive individuals. Their behaviour
and needs are different from accountants, lawyers, salesman or even entrepreneurs.
Engineers are usually very task oriented, and they believe in achieving personal goals and
organizational goals. From the nature of their work, and their behaviour, engineers'
motivation needs varies as compare to other profession. How significant are the
difference, is anybody's guess. Due to their unique behaviour, their working environment,
as well as their motivation needs should be tailored to the engineer's needs. In saying so,
how much is known about engineers in general, and civil engineers in particular?
Having compared the needs of civil engineers within their own age groups and
with other profession, lets not forget about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Are civil
engineers extrinsically motivated? Do they look only for monetary rewards? Perhaps,
they may be intrinsically motivated.
1.3
Aims and Objectives of Research
There is no deny that a lot of key factors are involved in order for a construction
firm to be successful not only in the context of construction project, but also successful in
meeting the firm's goals. Having said that, it is an understatement to say that employees'
motivation does not play a part in it. Indeed, this topic is often overlooked and neglected
because most people looks at the big picture, but neglect the finer details of an artwork.
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Thus, it is with a strong hope and desire that, with this research, I could come out
with a comprehensive study on what motivates civil engineers. This will further break
down into the motivational needs of civil engineers. Very much often, in Asian cultures,
monetary benefit plays a big part in our work, as well as motivation. This research will
further emphasize and lists out possible needs that civil engineers consider important to
them.
Besides that, this research will also stresses on the demotivators of civil engineers
work. This is to provide a better understanding of what demotivates or inhibits them from
a satisfactory work in a day. This, will indirectly points out the problems that civil
engineers faces in their work place. And from there, a corrective action may be suggested
and discussed to provide a better understanding on the needs and the demotivators.
Below is a list of the aim and objectives of this study
1. To study on the motivator of civil engineers in construction
2. To find out on the demotivators or the dissatisfiers of civil engineers in their work
3. To identify if engineers are extrinsically or intrinsically motivated
4. To suggest how managers can retain and motivate their engineers
1.4
Scope of Study
The scope of this study is on civil engineers involved in the construction sector
which includes design engineers and construction engineers. Civil engineers in the
academic fields and other disciplines such as sales, marketing or anything beside
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construction are not included in this study. There is no limit in age as one of the
objectives is to study how the age factor affects the motivational needs of civil engineers.
This research will focus only on local engineers. With this research, it provides a
collection of field data and analysed data of motivational needs for civil engineers. Not
only will it benefits the engineers themselves, but also it will provide a platform for
managers to make their engineers happy, to keep them and to retain them in the firm.
1.5
Research Methodology
This section shows the process of achieving aims and objectives of the research.
For problem statement and literature review, reading materials such as journals, books,
and conference papers are used to provide in depth coverage of literature review and the
problem statement. Nevertheless, the Internet is not to be forgotten as it is also used as a
portal to obtain necessary information to assist in this research.
Questionnaires are used to obtain necessary data from the targeted group of study.
From the data collected, an analysis is conducted and the result will be used to derive the
conclusion and the recommendation.
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1.6
Organisation of the Thesis
This thesis is made up of six chapters. They are:
Chapter 1: It highlights the introduction of the subject of study. It also stresses on the
problems statement, aim and objectives, and research methodology of this study.
Chapter 2: This chapter reviews on the role of civil engineers in constructions. It also
provides an introduction of civil engineers, from the past until today. This chapter also
highlights on the behaviour of civil engineers.
Chapter 3: This chapter highlights the introduction of motivation and the basics of
motivational theories. It also focuses on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, motivational
needs and motivation in construction.
Chapter 4: This chapter reviews on the research methodology and also focuses on the
preparation of questionnaire. The process of data collection and data analysis is also
highlighted in this chapter.
Chapter 5: This chapter focuses on the analysis process of the data collected from the
questionnaire. A mathematical and statistical approach is used to analyse the data.
Chapter 6: This chapter, focuses on the conclusion and recommendation on the
motivational needs of civil engineers. This chapter serves as a good platform for
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discussion as certainly some of the queries raised before will be answered. Nevertheless,
to every answered question, there will be ten more new questions.