An exploratory study of motivation of management personnel in the heavy construction industry

This research focuses on identifying factors that boost and factors that hinder motivation of management personnel in the U.S. heavy construction industry. Specific objectives of this research are to: identify motivators and demotivators within this group of people; investigate the relationship between motivation and perceived productivity within this group of people; investigate relationships between job satisfaction and other factors such as age, work experience, time in position and education; identify the company policy or culture that creates either a positive (motivational) or a negative environment for this group of people; analyze the similarities and differences between motivating of management personnel and the workforce within the industry; and analyze the similarities and differences of motivating the management personnel in the heavy construction industry and other industries. A questionnaire was developed as a tool to collect data from ten heavy, civil construction companies. Several hypotheses were developed and the data were examined and tested using correlation, multiple regression and chi-square test methods, deriving conclusions and findings that lie within the scope of the objectives. Data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics as well as content analyses. For management personnel in the heavy construction industry in the U.S.A, some of the findings are synthesized as follow: the higher these individuals’ motivational level, the more likely they are to perceive themselves as more productive in their work; there seems to be no association between educational level and motivation; there seems to be no association between age group and motivation; there seems to be no association between time in current position and motivation; the more experience workers have in this industry or the older they become, the less likely it is that their motivation can be influenced by opportunities for promotion and comradeship among co-workers; those who earned only a high school diploma and those who have a degree higher than Bachelor’s seem to be more motivated than those whose highest level of education is an associate or bachelor degree; they can be divided into two groups in which certain intrinsic factors seem to highly influence the motivation of one group but not the other. For one group, motivation is highly influenced by a good supervisor, job satisfaction and feeling of accomplishment, while the other group’s motivation is influenced by pay raises, benefits and bonuses; the three factors that seem to have the most positive influence on motivation are feeling of accomplishment, job satisfaction and a good supervisor or leader, consecutively; and the three factors that seem to have the most negative influence on motivation are a bad supervisor or leader, lack of information and job dissatisfaction, consecutively.