Human Resource Management in the Construction Industry-Sustainability Competencies

While environmental sustainability has been the subject of much debate in the last decade, it was not until recently that attention started to shift towards human resource management as an enabler for sustainability. Yet, this is still a relatively under researched area. Much is still unknown about the role of an individual worker in contributing towards sustainable development. This paper addresses the gap by proposing a framework to measure sustainability competencies of employees within the construction industry sector. As part of the framework, four proficiency levels together with relevant descriptions are defined for a total of eight sustainability competencies. Suggested proficiency levels are then mapped to main construction related jobs based on the framework. An example is also given to illustrate the manner in which competencies should be assessed. This framework is original and of practical use to construction managers and human resource practitioners.


Introduction
There is a lot of ongoing discussion about environmental sustainability particularly since the aftermath of the Kyoto Protocol.Governments worldwide have taken measures to address these issues through global forums and conferences, deliberating on ways to reduce carbon emissions.It is obvious even to the most casual observer that environmental issues tend to dominate the discussion at a socio-political level with very little focus at an individual level.Dahl (2012, p. 17), however, stresses the importance of individual roles in attaining sustainability goals, claiming that 'what happens to the planet is the cumulative result of over 6 billion independent producing and consuming individuals'.
Spooner and Kaine (2010) maintain that traditionally, the focus on human resource management (HRM) is largely around aspects of task domains of the employment relationship such as recruitment, remuneration, employment conditions, training and development.More recently, there is a move towards the recognition of HRM as an enabler to achieve sustainability goals.For example, Wirtenberg et al. (2007) and Harmon et al. (2010) have illustrated the big picture of how HRM can play a role in sustainability management.They highlight that the critical goal for HRM in the next few years is the development of competencies, collaborative strategies and organisational capabilities to support an organisation's sustainability journey'.Wilkinson et al. (2001) discuss the role of human resources in achieving corporate and environmental sustainability.Dunphy and Griffiths (1998) claim that there are commonalities between human and ecological sustainability and both are to a certain extent interdependent.
None of the literature identified tackles the issue of how HRM might be used to build sustainability capabilities.This is especially lacking in the construction industry sector which is well-known for its '3D' image (dirty, difficult, dangerous).According to the Centre for International Economics Canberra and Sydney (2007), 23% of Australia's total greenhouse gas emissions actually come from the energy demand in the construction sector.The breakdown of prominent contributors of emissions within construction are the cement industry (20%), chemicals and petrochemicals (17%), iron and steel industry (16%) and aluminium/ non-ferrous metals (5%).The CRC Construction Innovation has also highlighted common barriers within the construction industry in Australia such as poor industry image, low levels of education in information and communication of technologies and management, poor employer-employee relations, procurement structures that promote adversarial site relationships and disparate occupational health and safety (OHS) legislation and guidelines across different states (CRC, 2004).
Against this background, it is vital that sustainability capabilities are developed within the construction industry.This paper addresses the gap by proposing a sustainability competency framework applicable to this industry.Project owners, construction managers and HR practitioners would find the proposed framework useful.

Background
First, some relevant concepts relating to HRM, for example, recruitment and performance management are given in this section.This is followed by an explanation of the link between competency as well as both the recruitment and performance management processes to set the context for the subsequent sections.

Recruitment and Selection
Recruitment is defined as a process of bringing in the right people who have the potential of making a positive contribution to a particular organisation regardless of whether it is for short term or long term (Bratton and Gold, 2003).Recruitment can be stimulated by the following reasons:  An employee decides to leave a company due to retirement or better job offer  Organisational expansion which requires immediate work force  Changes in global environment requiring different skilled employees Recruitment can be done either internally or externally.Internal recruitment involves hiring from within an organisation and could have potential benefits.Apart from significant savings from the cost of advertising, it can also act as a source of motivation to the employees who are able to see opportunities for career progression within the company.However, the downside of this is letting go of the opportunity of bringing new experiences and diversity to the organisation (Newell and Shackleton, 2002).

Performance Management
Performance management has always been a highly debated issue (Storey, 1992).One reason is because of the lack of agreement about its definition.What exactly constitutes performance management?Storey (1992) proposed that performance management 'refers to any designed activity related to the performance of employees', claiming that it was similar to performance -related pay (PRP).Bevan and Thompson (1992) claim that a performance management system includes the following characteristics: clear communication of goals to employee, conducting formal reviews of progress; using the reviews to establish training requirements.
A more recent literature defined performance management as merely a process of assessing an employee's progress towards achieving a company's goals and is perceived as a useful tool in determining rewards and penalties (Loosemore et al., 2003).Performance management had received many criticisms since its proposal.Despite its usefulness, McGregor (1960) criticized its value claiming that it is demotivating and creates a judgmental setting.Even Deming (1982) the quality expert, raised his concern calling appraisal a 'deadly disease' as it opens up a doorway to blame employees for systematic problems which arise in an organisation.Hence, performance appraisal has always been deemed to be the least popular of all the other activities in HRM.Yet, its significance cannot Siew, R Y J (2014) 'Human resource management in the construction industry -Sustainability competencies', Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and Building, 14 (2) 87-103 89 be refuted or diminished for indeed the failure to show any evidence of management control would indicate ineffectiveness (Bratton and Gold, 2003).Lately, the focus of organisations in integrating human resource management together with its business strategies has resulted in companies perceiving performance management as a form of systematic approach towards performance management (Loosemore et al., 2003).
Among the many advantages of performance management which have been identified by Bratton and Gold (2003) are:  Boost morale and levels of motivation  Help identify suitable candidates for promotion  Aid in the setting of organisational goals  Identify areas which require training and development.

Linking Competencies with the Recruitment and Performance Management Processes
There is no doubt that competencies are very closely linked to both the recruitment and performance management processes.Four steps are detailed here for the reader.The first step typically involves reviewing the competency dictionary.The competency dictionary consists of descriptions of competency and the various proficiency levels (see Section 3).The second step involves the job design where proficiency or competency levels are selected by the manager or HR practitioner (depending on the requirements of a job).The selected proficiency levels are then used as a basis for guiding the recruitment process where suitable candidates are sourced.The third step involves assessing the performance of an incumbent.The performance of an incumbent (or holder of a particular job) is assessed based on how well they have achieved the required competency level.After the performance management process, gaps in competencies are identified in the fourth step.
Gap is referred to as the difference between the actual proficiency level and the required proficiency level for any given competency.

Performance Management in Construction Companies
It was reported that PRP is the most popular evaluation technique in the construction sector.PRP focuses wholly on output and process criteria and employees are rewarded based on the achievement of goals (Loosemore et al., 2003).According to Druker and White (1996), one of the major challenges in the construction industry is the capacity to perform efficient PRP systems partly because of the somewhat 'volatile' nature of the construction industry where employees are constantly rotated around different projects.To achieve this, a few methods such as competency-based or skills-based systems have been developed.The distinctive feature among all of them is the nature in which assessment is carried out.Some adopt a qualitative approach through the description of an employee's performance while others adopt a more quantitative approach via an employee performance rating scale.
Yet, to this end, there is hardly any proposal recommending sustainability competencies for employees within the construction industry.'You can't manage what you don't measure'.Without sustainability competencies, there is simply no indication as to how employees are contributing or working towards the attainment of sustainability goals.The following section in this paper fills this gap accordingly.

Competency Dictionary
Although, the CRC Construction Innovation (Dingsdag et al., 2006) has published a construction safety competency framework, this is still inadequate.The competencies suggested as part of the framework take on a narrow view and focuses only on health and safety competencies instead of taking on a broader view of sustainability to also include environmental issues.In addition, there are no guidelines as to how these competencies should be measured.This paper addresses existing limitations by proposing a competency dictionary comprising of eight sustainability competencies together with detailed descriptions by proficiency levels.
The four proficiency levels used in the competency dictionary is broadly defined in this paper as follows: P1: Demonstrates basic knowledge/understanding of subject matter P2: Applies knowledge and analyses outcomes stemming from action P3: Manages, develops action plans to mitigate negative impacts P4: Provides advisory services and drives performance based on extensive experience.
Each of these eight sustainability competencies is also mapped to the competencies suggested by CRC Construction Innovation so that the readers can compare them directly (top right hand corner-see Appendix A for explanation of the safety management tasks (SMTs) and Dingsdag et al. (2006) for more detailed elaboration).
Siew, R Y J ( 2014 This competency focuses on the ability to ensure that project risks are identified and analysed and that appropriate responses are planned, monitored and controlled.Project risk management is a structured process that allows individual risk events and overall project risk to be understood and managed proactively, optimising success by minimising threats and maximising opportunities.
Learns to apply risk management tools to identify project risks.
Analyses and update risk register with response plan to resolve low impact risks.
Develops and integrates risk management plan with appropriate tools and template to track potential risks.
Advises project team on proactive risk management plan that is in line with organisational policies and procedures to ensure project success.
Activities relating to the proficiency levels

Assessment
This section illustrates the manner in which performance ratings can be given to assess sustainability competencies.
Typically, most organisations adopt a 5 point rating scale as shown in Table 10.Consider a site worker taking on the competency safety auditing.The targeted proficiency level for safety auditing is P2 for a site worker.There are four likely scenarios here.Scenario 1: During the performance management process, if the site worker was rated at P1 (which is one level below the targeted P2 proficiency level) only one sublevel is introduced for the competency assessment.The assessor will be asked to select a 'pessimistic' sublevel -since the site worker has failed to master the competency at a P2 proficiency level and is automatically given a rating 1. Scenario 2: During the performance management process, if the site worker was rated at P2 (which is same as the targeted P2 proficiency level) two sublevels are further introduced to provide more nuance to the competency assessment.The assessor will be asked to select either 'most likely'if the site worker is deemed to have demonstrated full P2 proficiency level or 'pessimistic'if the site worker has demonstrated his competency at a borderline P2 proficiency level.Depending on the assessor's selection of the sublevels a final performance rating of either 2 or 3 is given.Scenario 3: During the performance management process, if the site worker was rated at P3 (which is one proficiency level above the targeted P2 proficiency level) two sublevels are further introduced to provide more nuance to the competency assessment.The assessor will be asked to select either 'most likely'if the site worker is deemed to have demonstrated full P3 proficiency level or 'optimistic'if the site worker has demonstrated his competency at a level slightly higher than a P2 proficiency level but insufficient to achieve a P3 level.Depending on the assessor's selection of the sublevels a final performance rating of either 4 or 5 is given.Scenario 4: During the performance management process, if the site worker was rated at P4 (which is two levels above the targeted P2 proficiency level) only one sublevel is introduced for the competency assessment.The assessor will be asked to select an 'optimistic' sublevelsince the site worker has demonstrated mastery of a competency above and beyond what is expected at a P2 proficiency level and is automatically given a rating 5.

Figure 4 Scenario 4 Conclusion
There is already a great deal of academic literature dealing with environmental sustainability.Yet, the role of human resource management towards the attainment of sustainable development is still an underdeveloped area of research.This paper makes an original contribution by proposing a sustainability competency framework applicable to the construction industry.The framework consists of a competency dictionary (eight competencies differentiated at four proficiency levels) and suggestions as to how these competencies can be measured.In addition, the proficiency levels required for different jobs within the construction industry are also mapped.Future research could possibly look into expanding the sustainability competency framework into other industries apart from construction.The number of participants in a working group can also be increased to further validate the proficiency levels which have been mapped to construction related jobs as shown in Table 9.Based on the recommendation in section 5, HR practitioners may wish to automate the competency assessment through an online platform.

Figure 1
Figure 1 Steps involved in identifying training gaps for employees

Table 2 Managing environmental aspects, impacts and OHS hazards
This competency refers to the knowledge and ability to conduct OHS audits or reviews including understanding of OHS management systems, strategies and standards, applicable regulations.It includes application of OHS strategies, processes and risk identification in the development of OHS audit programmes.

Table 3 Project risk management Siew
, R Y J (2014) 'Human resource management in the construction industry -Sustainability competencies', Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and Building, 14 (2) 87-103 94

Table 4 Safety recognition and reward
Siew, R Y J (2014) 'Human resource management in the construction industry -Sustainability competencies', Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and Building, 14 (2) 87-103 95

Table 5 Safety/ environmental reporting
This competency refers to the ability to monitor contractors/subcontractors to ensure that all parties are performing up to the standard required by legislation (i.e.environmental or health and safety).This competency refers to the ability to organise and convey OHS/environmental information, views and concepts in a concise and clear manner for a variety of audiences.It involves adopting the appropriate communication approaches to converse and influence others in selecting the best course of action to achieve desired results.

Table 9 Mapping proficiency levels to different construction industry jobs
Siew, R Y J (2014) 'Human resource management in the construction industry -Sustainability competencies', Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and Building, 14 (2) 87-103 100