National Institute of Construction Management and Research, Pune School of Distance Education

ASSIGNMENT 1 ON

CONSTRUCTION PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT NCP 22

____________________________________________________________________

SUBMITTED BY: Arunashish Mazumdar GPPM, REG NO: 212-06-14-10687-2141

____________________________________________________________________ DEPARTMENT OF GPPM NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH SCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION 25/1, BALEWADI, N.I.A. POST OFFICE, PUNE 411045

Date of dispatch: 27/08/2012

Date of receipt: _________________

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National Institute of Construction Management and Research, Pune School of Distance Education

CASE _______________________________________________________________________________ You are a Project Manager on a site where 3 km long tunnel has been undertaken. The site is remote and it takes 2 days travel to the nearest town. Supervisors, Technicians and skilled workers are engaged in dangerous and hazardous works. Absenteeism due to sickness, quarrels and drinking are leading to less progress at site and chances of accidents are increasing at site. Management has urged to do something so that time target can be achieved. Discuss how you will tackle the problem and increase the output of work.

INTRODUCTION Employees relations in an organization may be classified as under, Personnel Management. Industrial relations. Human relations.

Personnel management is that branch of management, which deals with people in as enterprise. Its activities refer to the development of policies and their implementation pertaining to manpower planning, employment and non-employment, training and development, salaries, wages, allowances and compensations, working conditions, communications, grievance handling, employees welfare and industrial relations. Industrial relations are the collective and formal relations between the workers and the management and the study of these relations as they pertain to conditions of work and employment. Human relations are those relationships in an organization, which come in to being based on individual interests and considerations other than personnel.

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National Institute of Construction Management and Research, Pune School of Distance Education The recognition that any organized enterprise is a social arrangement made up of many social units within it and with a complex of interacting attitudes, pressures and conflicts has been both theorists and practicing managers. Many problems in managing human resources stem from group behavior patterns, attitudes and desires, some of which arise from a company or some group, but many coming from peoples back grounds. MANAGEMENT is "the process of designing and maintaining an environment in which individuals, working together in groups, efficiently accomplish selected aims.

TASK IDENTIFICATION The problem relates to absenteeism, quarrel amongst staff, low output and safety hazard on site. The causes of the problem are inadequate facilities, attitudes and lack of socialization. Out of the Man, Materials, Machines and Money; the four ingredients of any ongoing organization, the Man is the only ingredient that has emotions, attitudes, back ground, behavior pattern and need for socialization. To overcome the given problem, one needs to address these facets in constructive way. OBJECTIVE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT A major objective of personnel management is to increase the effectiveness of every work unit in the organization and to enable the employees to derive a greater sense of personal satisfaction from their work and work environment. In todays society, the economic and technological situation of as enterprise is seldom static. Organizational relationships are subject to stress and strains all the time. Employees attitudes and feelings keep fluctuating depending upon the socio-political changes in the community. Personnel management function is sensitive to all these changes, keeps ahead of them and endeavors to introduce innovations and adaptations to meet every new situation.

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National Institute of Construction Management and Research, Pune School of Distance Education GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT 1) Care and skill should be exercised in the selection of employees. 2) Introduction to the job should be friendly, skillful and adequate. 3) Each employee should be made to feel that his efforts are really appreciated. 4) Careful and thoughtful consideration should be given to the probable effect each rule, each notice, and each practice will have on the feelings of all concerned. 5) Employees should have a part in planning those things which affect their working conditions. 6) There should be a sense of security and reasonable freedom from worry 7) There should be a constant an intelligent effort on the part of management to be absolutely fair in every policy and every practice. 8) Each employee should have a feeling of pride in the worthwhileness of his work and his company. 9) The organizational set-up should be such that there is no confusion in anyones mind as to his duties or responsibilities. 10) Conditions should be such that working proves to be a satisfying social experience as well as a means of making al livelihood.

Our aim in this project was to execute work of a 3.0 KM. long tunnel, which was located in a remote place. As done for any project, a clear concept of the project goal, so as to plan out activities and execute them efficiently was placed on the priority, so as to accomplish the goal at no extra cost and time. A construction project goes through 3 stages as mentioned below: 1) Pre-Construction Planning 2) Construction Stage 3) Post- Construction and Finalization

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National Institute of Construction Management and Research, Pune School of Distance Education Introduction to the Main Problem: - Construction of underground works is a challenging task, especially in a remote area. As mentioned in the assignment production at site is decreasing and the absenteeism in the workers is further adding to the woes. There may be various reasons for the decline in progress may be such as tough working conditions, physical obstruction at site, tough geological conditions, inadequate deployment of resources, hampered cash flow, poor site planning and coordination etc., but main reason here seems to be the unwillingness of the workers to deliver their best predominantly due to harsh working conditions and the general problems associated with a remote area and non-fulfillment of other factors affecting the human behavior and attitude. Common problems that are associated with the remote areas are listed below. 1) Accessibility: - working sites located in the remote areas are less accessible as compared to other sites. Generally these sites are connected with Kacha roads of inadequate width or even mule path operating with foot bridges or small culverts over the nallahs. Further hostile topographical conditions viz. steep slopes, landslides and involvement of forest, private land may delay the construction /widening of new/existing roads, making it difficult for the

transportation/mobilization of heavy construction equipment for the commencement of the work. Thus mobilization of man and machinery remains an area of concern in the early stages and optimum deployment of resources is not easily achieved. In case of natural calamities/disasters (viz. flash floods, earthquakes) life become very miserable as these areas remain cut off from the rest of the world for considerable time. 2) Basic facilities: - Remote areas are generally underdeveloped with bare minimum basic facilities in the areas like housing, transportation, communication, medical, commodities, entertainment etc. a) Shelter and food: - To start and to continue work at a remote site it is obvious that the first priority is to provide work facilities (accommodation, food etc.) to the staff at site,

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National Institute of Construction Management and Research, Pune School of Distance Education generally these areas are sparsely populated so the possibility of hired accommodation remains negligible and to provide hired accommodation to all of its staff in the nearest town may put substantial financial burden to the management and may also affect the routine working hours. Due to limited allocation of funds for the work facilities/shorter duration of the work/non availability of affordable construction material in the vicinity, shared temporary housing facilities i.e. by constructing sheds/ dormitories (corrugated sheets and angles) with common W/c, bathrooms are provided to the workers at site and continued till the completion of the project. Quality of food provided may not be up to the standards throughout the year as it would not be viable daily to go the nearest market and fetch fresh vegetables/ other edibles , workers has to content with the seasonally available local stuff and constant supply of potable water also remains in question. b) Medical and Health care: - Generally in the remote areas health care and medical facilities are provided at a public health center run by the Government or NGOs or at some places by the quacks. Medical care is limited to the general dieses or the first aid in case of injury or minor accident, In case of emergency (fatal injury or accident) workers have to rush to the nearest town and sometimes delay in the treatment may cause life. c) Communication and entertainment: -In the remote areas communication (telephone, Internet, electronic and printed media) and entertainment (theater, cinema, cable network, recreational centers, clubs etc.) sectors has very limited or negligible presence. Due to lack of various communication systems, it is difficult to remain in contact with the families and well-wishers, keeping them cutoff from the society. Further the non-availability of informative means (newspapers, magazines, television etc.) makes their life miserable as they remain uninformed about the social, economic, and political and other activities happening in and around and without entertainment facilities it is hard for the workers to

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National Institute of Construction Management and Research, Pune School of Distance Education come out of their monotonous routine keeping their mind filled with trivial issues, site related problems and other anxieties.

It is evident that for the want of decent living conditions, healthy food and staying away from the family, lack of medical facilities, lack of communication and entertainment means put derogatory effect on the workers. Feelings like insecurity, aloofness, homesickness, depression lead them to the bad habits of drinking, quarrelling etc. and distract them from their routine site related work and affecting the overall progress.

REMEDY FOR LACK OF SOCIALIZATION It is natural that in such a remote location the workers are far removed from their families and societies. Even the avenues of socialization like shopping complex, Cinemas, temples, school, etc. are in a nearest town, journey to which takes two days. Almost same situation prevails in the cantonment of army also. Army has found out solution by long experience in providing sports facilities on the camp, providing entertainment equipment like TV, music systems, open theatres, and communication facilities to converse with their family members, fixed vacation after service of particular period on the camp etc. Same things can be implemented here also with necessary improvisations. REMEDY FOR SAFETY CONCERN By the very nature of project it is hazardous. The terrain is unknown, the sub surface uncertainties, specialized custom made giant machineries etc. add to the feeling of being unsafe. It is well known that the work force is a bit apprehensive about the bosses issuing orders from the air conditioned cabins. If the Project Manager or the supervising staff lead the work force from front, their safety concern would ease to a great extent. Training in safe work practices, introduction of latest safety

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National Institute of Construction Management and Research, Pune School of Distance Education tools, on job medical facilities, Compensation package for post-accident events go a great deal in easing the safety concern. REMEDY FOR INGRAINED WRONG HABITS AND ATTITUDES Work force is drawn from the society. When a man comes to work, he brings with him his belief system, prejudices, habits, attitudes etc. Every workman is different due to his social background, upbringing, social ties, skills, education, attributes, culture and ethnicity. Out of these entire entities attitude is the concern of every Project Manager. They need to be brought to a common platform by suitable training programs. A temple at site, spiritual recourses by saints, live entertainment programs by mimicry artists, screening of movies etc. also helps a great deal in breaking the monotony of work and life. JOB DESIGN AS A TOOL FOR PERSONAL MANAGEMENT Job design has emerged as an important application area for work motivation. Job design concerns and approaches are considered to have begun with the scientific management movement at the turn of the century. Frederick Taylor suggested that task design might be the most prominent single element in scientific management whose goal was to maximize human efficiency in jobs. The scientific management approach evolved into what is now generally called job engineering. This industrial engineering approach is concerned with product, process and tool design; plan layout; standard operating procedures; work measurement and standards; worker methods; and humanmachine interactions. JOB ENRICHMENT AS A TOOL FOR PERSONAL MANAGEMENT As opposed to job enlargement, which horizontally loads the job, job enrichment vertically loads the job; there are not necessarily more tasks to perform, but more responsibility and autonomy. Thus workers job may be enriched by: Giving workers more altitude in deciding about such things as work methods, sequence and pace or by letting them make decisions about accepting or rejecting materials.

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National Institute of Construction Management and Research, Pune School of Distance Education Encouraging participation of subordinates and interaction between workers. Giving workers a feeling of personal responsibility to their tasks. Giving feedback on job performance. Involving workers in analysis and change; physical aspects of the work environment such as layout of office or plant, temperature, lighting and cleanliness. Though this method has its limitation of success when it comes to deal with workman with low level of skills. MONEY AS A TOOL FOR PERSONAL MANAGEMENT Money can never be overlooked as a motivator. Attractive salary structure, career planning, perks, canteen facility, health benefits, production incentives, behavior incentive, education incentive for children, loan facilities for house construction in native, insurance cover etc. makes employment precious for the worker to loose. PARTICIPATION AS A TOOL FOR PERSONAL MANAGEMENT There is no doubt that most people in the center of an operation have knowledge both of problems and solutions. As a consequence, the right kind of participation yields both motivation and knowledge valuable for enterprise success. Need and their fulfillment at site:Above are the some of the reasons discussed, affecting the progress at site. Some reasons are site specific, while others are common to every place and are related with human resource management. Problems that are associated with the remote area cannot be rectified completely, but these can be mitigated to a certain extent to have a congenial environment to live and to work at site for the workers. Once the basic needs of the workers are addressed and are fulfilled at site, they start contributing towards achieving the organizational goals with their full potential. Here are the measures suggested, that can be implemented to improve the progress at site.

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National Institute of Construction Management and Research, Pune School of Distance Education 1. To provide better basic facilities: - Living conditions can be improved at site by constructing a staff camp having masonry type quarters with proper ventilation and civic facilities to accommodate all the staff and workers. Proper fencing of the camp shall be done in order to keep the check on trespassing and for the security of the staff members. Each staff member or worker shall be issued at least a wooden cot with mattress, a table, a chair and a steel almirah to keep their belongings. Sufficient number of water tankers shall be deployed to meet the daily requirements of drinking water and water for other use. DG sets of required capacity shall be installed within the camp as an alternate arrangement for the electric supply. Subsidized Mess facilities shall be provided to the workers. Mess shall be managed by the workers itself on contributory basis, whereas the management shall ensure that health and hygiene standards are followed and maintained.

2. To Provide Medical facilities and ensure safety measures at site: - basic medical facilities shall be provided to the workers by opening a dispensary with 5 to 6 beds with in the camp area. The management shall depute a full time resident doctor along with other trained paramedical staff. Sufficient stock of medicine for common ailments shall be made available all the time. First aid boxes shall be provided at site also An ambulance with lifesaving equipment shall be kept ready in case of emergency (fatal accident, serious illness), in order to shift the patient to the nearest hospital. A separate safety department shall be established to ensure the strict implementation of safety policies to provide best practicable safe working conditions at site. All the workers shall be provided with the personal protective equipment. By constituting site safety committees and by providing training to its members, the workers shall be encouraged to actively contribute and participate for the implementation/betterment of safety and health norms within the site. Safety officer shall maintain and analysis the data on work injuries,

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National Institute of Construction Management and Research, Pune School of Distance Education accidents and occupational health diseases for taking corrective actions and prevent the reoccurrence and also keep the site management aware of the safety programme and making recommendation to the site related safety improvements. 3. Better communication and entertainment facilities: - Telecommunication sector has made phenomenal growth in the recent times. Nowadays Telephones and Internet are easily affordable and is an effective means to stay connected and to communicate with each other. Printed media and electronic media (newspapers, magazines and television) are the source of information and entertainment. All these means acts as a stimulant enabling us to be in the positive state of mind by keeping us informed and updated with the day to day happenings, in touch with the dear ones and providing a sort of refreshment in the leisure time. In the remote areas the presence of traditional communication and entertainment facilities is almost negligible, for communication satellite phone facility can be availed and this facility can be extended to the workers by installing intercom system within the camp area allowing them to receive calls and can also make calls on payment basis. Satellite dishes are the easy and the affordable medium to gain access to the free satellite entertainment and informative channels providing their services round the clock and management can provide a television in the common room / mess for the workers, that shall keep them updated with the daily affairs and shall be a good source of entertainment during the off days.

4. Proper Site Management: - Proper site management means understanding and managing manpower for its optimum potential by good supervision and leadership, communication qualities. Supervision is the function of leading, coordinating and directing the work of others to accomplish designated objectives. A supervisor guides his subordinates so that they produce the desired quantity and quality of works within the desired time. A good

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National Institute of Construction Management and Research, Pune School of Distance Education supervisor ensures the proper delegation of duties and responsibilities to the subordinate staff. Effectively interpret and communicate management policies and directives to the subordinate and understand the problems of his subordinates, if they make mistake he is mainly interested in showing them how to prevent reoccurrence of such incidents rather than in punishing them on the other hand if intermediate milestones or targets are achieved he appreciates his team. Working schedule/ hours shall be strictly adhered to, and workers shall be provided weekly rests.

5. Transparency in the HR policies: - The people of an organization are its most important assets. Its success and failure are largely determined by the caliber of its workforce and the efforts it exerts. Therefore the policies and the methods an organization adopts to meet its manpower needs are of vital significance. The comprehensible and the transparent HR policies ensure that right kind of people are working at right places and shall not leave any element of doubt in the mind of joining/ existing staff regarding their contract period, salaries, wages, site specific incentives, promotions, leave, retrenchment benefits, job description and job stability etc., because term and conditions for all these aspects are mutually discussed and agreed between the employee and the employer before joining in an organization. So the company HR policies shall be amended accordingly and the employees shall be provided wages and other benefits as per the prevailing practices.

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National Institute of Construction Management and Research, Pune School of Distance Education CONCLUSION As a Project Manager this is a challenge. I shall strive to practice all that is mentioned above. It is a test of my leadership quality in leading from the front, in providing all the facilities to the workers on site within my powers. Welfare Amenities can be immediately started without seeking permission of corporate office. Such facilities are: Canteen Rest room Night shelter Clean drinking water Latrines and urinals Washing facilities First aid facilities Housing Crche Besides above immediate relief, I would approach the corporate office for setting up of a personnel department to look in to other expert areas like training need identification, imparting training in the fields of safety, skill enhancement and attitude change. I understand all above is going to cost the company, but the benefits of increased productivity and satisfied employees far out ways the cost.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Management in organization by Koontz and Odoneal, McGraw Hill Publications.

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