Essay Sample on Human Resource Practices and Policies

Introduction

Keeping track and implementing human resource policies in the construction industry is much more complex compared to other industries. The nature of construction presents numerous challenges to the HR experts when executing and enforcing human resource policies. In a construction company, the human resource is a critical department, especially in finding skilled workers from an often limited talent pool (Development, 2012). HR professionals in this industry need to have an in-depth understanding of staffing, training, and the retention of employees. This ensures the effective and smooth running of the human resource department in the organization. This report aims to review human resource policies and practices in ABLE PTE Construction Ltd. The report will cover the training and development of employees to ascertain their effectiveness in achieving the objectives and goals of the company. Lastly, the report will also make recommendations for improvement.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

ABLE Construction PTE Background Information

ABLE Construction PTE Ltd started as a general work contractor in 1995. Throughout the years, the firm has undertaken numerous challenging projects and amassed skills, experience, and know-how in design and building solutions, building trades, and project management services. Presently, the group undertakes the role of the major contractor for medium size and small projects and undertakes project management services to manage specialist trades for commercial projects. The company also offers engineering solutions and design inputs as value added services to its clients. The success of the company of the years can be attributed to it's dedicated, experienced and knowledgeable workforce. The human resource department is a critical part of the company.

Analysis of Human Resource Development Policies

Human resource development (HRD) has been applied to the extensively varying activities of the organization. Researchers in the human resource development field have opined that HR development includes training and development of employees, organizational development as well as career progression (Nadler & Wiggs, 2015). Additionally, they have defined it as a strategic management of training advancement and professional education involvements geared toward supporting the realization of organizational objectives, while simultaneously ensuring the complete realization of the skills and knowledge of employees.

The success of the construction industry is based on the level of quality control exercised by construction companies. Construction firms are investing more money in enhancing their training programs so as to minimize defects as opposed to trying to fix issues when they occur. Implementing human resource policies that take into account the development and training of the employee is key to success and realization of the company's goals and objectives. Construction Firms should commit themselves in ensuring all employees have access to learning, training and development opportunities which facilitates them to become appropriately skilled and knowledgeable to execute their duties effectively. This also assists them in developing their talent in a manner that fits with the firm's development strategic objectives (Swanson & Holton, 2009). Construction firms should consider it suitable to base training and development opportunities of the business requirements. In this case, the decision regarding investment in the training and development of employees will be informed by the business needs and also the employee member's personal needs.

Training of employee aims at changing their behavior so as to enhance their skills to conform to the standards that exist in the firm. Training and development of manpower have the major role of enhancing skills and knowledge in the construction firms. Through this continuous training and development of employees, the company is able to get accustomed to industry trends. Hence, construction firms should improve the skills and knowledge of their employees continue to ensure the realization of optimal performance and increased productivity.

Construction firms make use of on-job training to support new practices. In this case, employees basically get pre-paid courses in recognized processes, procedures, regulation mostly at a different location than their workplace, and would be expected to apply this contracted knowledge and skills later in their workstations. Other constructions firms are presently sending trainers to the location and provide on-job training together with facilities. When undertaking training development for its large number of skilled bricklayers' workers, these firms use a unique approach of on-job training referred to as apprenticeship training. The training in this methodology is mostly carried out in established standards by government agencies.

Description of Current Policy and Practice

ABLE Construction Ltd implements several HR policies and practices in realizing their objectives and goals. The company has implemented various training and development programs to achieve a large pool of skilled and knowledgeable employees (Duane, 2013). These practices include on-job-training; this supports new practices for employees, provision of apprenticeship programs, implementation of assessment and customized training, the creation of mutually beneficial programs, off-the-job training and training of employees throughout the year.

Critical Evaluation of ABLE Construction Practices

Provision of Apprenticeships

ABLE Construction Ltd provides apprenticeships to its employees. This is an ideal way in which the company uses to provide training to potential industry members whereas equally getting workforce from an enthusiastic group of people. These programs provide training in numerous crafts to offer apprentice an extensive base knowledge prior to selecting the career path to follow. Besides technical skills, these programs also assist in teaching leadership, ethics, teamwork, as well as other essential life and work skills (Nadler & Wiggs, 2015). These apprentice programs are provided for the purpose of empowering and training the construction workforce. The company also uses these apprentice programs when recruiting new employees prior to starting their full-time job.

Implementation of Assessments and Customized Training

Whereas ABLE Company recognizes that training and development are beneficial, not all staffs struggle with the same skills. This is why the company has continued to undertake an assessment on regular basis. These assessments are aimed at gauging the strengths and weaknesses of employees. This now informs the type of training to be undertaken on specific employee so as to fine-tune the identified areas they can enhance on. This customized training in the company has allowed for more productive training as well as higher approval of training by employees.

On-Job-Training

ABLE Construction Ltd makes use of on-job training to support new practices. In this case, employees basically get pre-paid courses in recognized processes, procedures, regulation mostly at a different location than their workplace, and would be expected to apply this contracted knowledge and skills later in their workstations (Storey, 2016). The company also sends trainers to the location and provide on-job training together with facilities. When undertaking training development for its large number of skilled bricklayers' workers, these firm use a unique approach of on-job training referred to as apprenticeship training. This method ensures that less cost is incurred in training and developing employees' skills and knowledge. This method is working effectively since employees are able to interact with experienced and knowledgeable who have experience and knowledge in certain constructions tasks and advancements.

Creation of Mutually Beneficial Relationships

ABLE Construction Ltd understands that training programs are of benefit to both the employer and the individual worker. These training programs allow these employees to prosper in their work environment by establishing a safe, challenging and attainable environment where they feel their contribution to the company is worth and valuable. This has brought about job satisfaction that has caused employees to stick together around for a longer period. Equally, the company has benefited from high-quality performance inclusive of fewer errors, safety concerns, lowered the cost of the job. There is also decreased employee turnover due to high job satisfaction. Training all workers, all time

So as to realize a large pool of qualified and skilled human resource, ABLE Construction Ltd has designed training to be taking part throughout the year. The firm has allocated a huge budget for its extensive training programs for its fresh employees. These employees are required to be trained on the skills required to undertake their tasks safely and productively. Nevertheless, this practice is not effectively working well for the company. It requires that the efforts of the firm regarding training should not stop at this point (Anthony et al., 2012). ABLE Construction firm should provide refresher courses for all employees regarding their age or job seniority to remind them of safety issues and constant learning. This practice will require huge budget allocation, time constraint and in turn, yield less productivity. The line managers should identify workers needs for improvement to conform to industry trends. This will ensure only specific workers are offered training for particular tasks that are vital for the realization of certain goals and objectives of the company.

Off-the-Job Training

Off-the-job training is another method of training development which ABLE Construction Company uses to train its employees. The management of ABLE Construction has applied films and simulations exercises. The use of films is to clearly demonstrate vocational and technical skills. The use of simulation exercises is to redevelop the actual cycles and are applied in assessing the needed capabilities for effective task performance. All off-the-job methodologies often proceed in development centers (Duane, 2013). This practice does not work well with the company. The cost and time implication involved in this method is not commensurate to the expectant yields. The company ends up using more resources and time yet benefit less from this trainings.

Recommendations

The company should draw experience and expertise of others where possible. The development activities will draw on skills and knowledge of present ABLE Construction employees. This has the benefit of allowing guidance, advice, and on-job-training to be administered in a manner that is directly relevant to the work context and highly applicable to the employees (Grugulis, 2015). Several people in the company can be engaged in supporting the development of others, such as colleagues, line managers, and mentors. This form of development can be in several forms such as seminars, face-to-face discussions, coaching, team meeting, and demonstrations. This form of activity will also save on time and cost that would have been incurred by the organization in other forms of training.

Make Use of the Induction Process

ABLE Construction Ltd should make use of the induction process to familiarize and integrate new employees into the new working environment. Having an effective induction process will ensure new employees are able to settle into the company. It will also ensure a smooth transition for...