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A competency-based model for construction supervisors in developing countries

Alfredo Serpell and Ximena Ferrada
Department of Construction Engineering and Management, lica de Chile, Santiago, Chile Ponticia Universidad Cato
Abstract
Purpose To analyze the role of construction site supervisors, including foremen and general foremen, as front-line managers. The role is treated as a critical labor function and a source of value-added for construction management. Design/methodology/approach An original model based on the labor competency management framework is proposed for training, developing and certifying construction supervisors in Chile and other developing countries. This model was developed from the ndings of a case study in which the competency framework was applied to a specic construction company. Findings This case study has demonstrated the signicant potential of the competency framework for the Chilean construction sector, with its underdeveloped human resources management methods. In particular, this framework can be an effective approach to achieving the competencies required by construction site supervisors who must deal with inadequately trained workers, as is the case in many developing countries. The structured approach of the competency framework can help companies create more objective schemes for the design and implementation of training programs. Practical implications The application of the competency approach can greatly improve the human resources management function in construction companies as well as the site performance of their personnel. The ndings obtained so far in Chile can also be projected to construction companies in other developing countries in the region. Originality/value This paper presents the rst application of the competency framework to a Chilean construction company. This study is also original in the sense that the application described here was carried out in an environment where human resource conditions are quite decient. Keywords Line managers, Construction industry, Human resource management, Competences, Developing countries, Chile Paper type Case study

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Introduction A company can be characterized independently of its organizational structure or the product it offers as a system of relationships among its parts and connected with its external environment (Libbrecht and Vandevyvere, 2002). An important component of this dynamic and exible architecture is the human factor, that is, the contribution made by people to the achievement of the companys strategic and business objectives (Drucker, 2002). In the view of Woodruffe (as cited by Hayes et al., 2000), competencies will be the common language of human resource systems in the future, and can be used to provide the necessary framework within which an organization can develop its personnel. The labor competency management approach is currently applied in many developed and developing countries (Mertens, 1996). However, there is as yet no single denition of the concept of competency. According to the Instituto Nacional de Empleo

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a (INEM, 1995), for example, professional competencies dene the effective de Espan use of skills that allow work to be performed having regard to the levels required by the job. More than mere technical knowledge, they also involve understanding and know-how . . . For Spencer and Spencer (1993), competency is an underlying characteristic of the individual that is causally related to a standard of effectiveness and/or to a superior performance in a job or situation. Mertens (1998), on the other hand, denes competency as the capacity demonstrated by a person to achieve a result that may or may not become an effective contribution. The common element in all of these denitions of the competency concept is that it involves peoples attributes, which are evaluated in terms of the degree to which the desired results are actually achieved. Woodruffe (1991) differentiates between areas of competency, a role- or job-related concept referring to what a person must be procient in, and competencies, a person-related concept describing the sets of behaviors that a person must adopt in order to perform the tasks or functions of a job in a procient manner. In this study, however, a different typology is proposed. We dene basic competencies as entry attributes, this is, the knowledge, abilities and attitudes of a person upon joining an organization; organizational competencies as those that are directly related to the values, policies and culture of the organization; and labor function competencies as a mixture of knowledge, abilities and psycho-social behaviors, both technical and generic to the function in question. The emergence of competency labor management may be considered as a break from the classic labor management methods of the Frederick Taylor and Henri Fayol school (Le Boterf, 2001). It is the latter approach, however, that still predominates in the Chilean construction industry, where management has conned itself to the bureaucratic roles of paying wages, complying with labor laws and recruiting and selecting personnel. The new labor management concept attempts to transform workers traditionally oriented only toward production and the carrying out of prescribed tasks into actors who go beyond what is prescribed, putting actions into practice and able to react to events; in short, to make a contribution to their job (Le Boterf, 2001). According to Evans and Lindsay (2002), one of the greatest limitations of the Taylor system and the promoters of scientic management was their failure to make use of some of the most important assets of any organization, which are the knowledge, talent and creativity of its workers. Though perhaps justiable at the time the system was created, when workers and foremen did not have the necessary education for work planning and decision-making, this shortcoming is no longer excusable in todays world. In the Taylor model, the foremans sole responsibility was to assure production. This tendency to minimize the human contribution to work is what led to the discrediting of the model (Vargas et al., 2001). Again according to Evans and Lindsay, the current thinking is that employees should design and improve work processes, inspect their own work and search for ways to increase the productivity of their efforts. This leads to a different way of looking at competencies of workers, and especially those of foremen, that is more oriented toward exploiting their personal qualities, knowledge and skills, or indeed, the entire range of their capabilities. In the competency labor management approach, personnel management becomes a strategic area where the management of talent is aligned with the objectives of the

business as well as its vision and mission (Vargas, 2002). The approach begins with an overall view of the company as a complete organization and of its human resources subsystem. Employee selection and recruitment, incentive policies and, above all, personnel training and development are driven by labor competency norms designed as a function of the requirements of business processes and their performance indicators. As reported by Antonacopoulou and Fitzgerald (1996), many see the competency management approach as a reference framework for a system that can design the inputs for an organizational plan and deliver outputs in the form of employee performance through the application of criteria for recruitment and selection, training and development, personnel changes, and payment and benets schemes. With the implementation of a competency framework, personnel are seen as the main source of value added (Alles, 2000). The various levels of management, who have traditionally managed human resources similarly to any other physical asset as a mere cost, nd themselves required to adopt a type of management they have not been educated for. This is occurring both among professional staff, who usually have technical training, and work supervisors, general foremen and foremen, whose training is usually minimal. A good human resources management function should be aligned with the strategy of the organization, and this can be efciently achieved through the application of the competency approach. Some have pointed out, however, that there is always a risk that human resources systems can damage an organizations competitive advantages, inhibiting the mobilization of new competencies or the appropriate exploitation of existent ones (Lindgren et al., 2004). In the case of the Chilean construction industry, the development of workers competencies is so inadequate that any action taken on human resources will likely produce a signicant improvement over the current situation. The competency approach can provide a framework that would serve as a useful guide for developing systematic training plans for construction personnel in a developing-country context. The building industry exists to meet the need for housing and infrastructure and is thus an important sector of every countrys economy, employing large numbers of people. In Chile, construction accounts for an average of 8.4 percent of GDP and provides jobs to an estimated 500,000 workers. Nevertheless, it also suffers from a notable waste of talent and human potential. One of the causes, as highlighted by Datta (2000), is managements traditional lack of commitment to the development and training of its labor force. Indeed, it is telling that there exists no ofcial government or industry-wide qualication system for construction workers. Each company determines the skill levels of its personnel according to its own qualication system, if it has one at all. The globalized context in which Chilean construction companies now operate demands the capacity to adapt quickly to changes, challenges and opportunities. In this new scenario, exibility, initiative and multiple abilities are qualities that company personnel must have. Site supervisors in particular are being confronted with competency requirements for which they are not well prepared. Tasks are not as narrowly dened as in the past and have become more service oriented, making social skills increasingly important (National Centre for Vocational Education Research, 2003).

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In the face of these new demands, construction companies regardless of their size must incorporate in their management strategies the management of their own personnel, and especially the development of their competencies. In Chile the industry has been slow to value non-professional labor, and this has given rise to a signicant gap between construction companies need to implement new competitive strategies and the actual daily conduct of their human resources management and development. A military style of organization is common in these rms, with well-dened lines of authority and superior-subordinate relationships. The result is an almost total absence guez, of site supervisors participation in workplace decision-making (Serpell and Rodr 2002). In this article, we describe the application of the competency labor management framework to the management of human resources in a Chilean construction company. Our analysis will focus on just one of the various employment positions typically found in such an enterprise, which is the construction site supervisor function. Included in this job category are general foremen and foremen. The role of the site supervisor is discussed and interpreted as a critical labor function due to its impact on site productivity, quality and general site performance and its importance for achieving the objectives of a construction project. The main concepts and principles of the competency framework as applied to the construction site supervisor position are also discussed, and the concept of a critical labor function is explained. Finally, the central results obtained from the application of these concepts to a particular construction rm are presented together with the implementation model derived. Work culture and management practices in the Chilean construction industry In Latin America, the construction industry has one of the lowest levels of development of all economic sectors. The situation is even more blatant when compared with the building industry in developed countries. The use of modern technological tools to deal with the various problems faced by the Latin American construction sector is guez, 2002). notoriously insufcient (Serpell and Rodr Among the various causes of this underdevelopment, one of the most important is the strong resistance to change displayed by construction companies, who tend to stick to the same work methods as long as they generate good results, even if those methods are neither the safest nor the most efcient. This situation has its roots in certain cultural traits of Latin Americans, who display high levels of distrust when faced with the unknown. The result is an attitude of wariness in any situation that changes or guez, 2001). alters what it is considered to be normal (Rodr This phenomenon is also present in the Chilean context and has the effect of limiting the implementation of new practices, with older workers the most reluctant to accept lez, 2001). Furthermore, since the construction sector values a persons changes (Gonza years of experience in the business above all else, there is an attitude of contempt toward new knowledge that leads to a lack of interest in professional upgrading and training activities that could contribute to a general improvement of construction guez, 2002). activity (Serpell and Rodr On building sites, communication between site managers and supervisors is generally poor due to the lack of processes that would allow a more uid contact

between them. This is exacerbated by the inadequate organizational culture existing in the Chilean construction sector. A cultural analysis of the industry reveals that it is a heavily macho environment whose workers are generally drawn from the lower social classes and value highly the respect, loyalty and commitment of their fellows lez, 2001). (Gonza A number of other characteristics of the industrys organizational culture identied lez study are given below: in the Gonza (1) Lack of formal hiring procedures at the operational level: there are two types of hiring: one for direct operational workers and crew supervisors performing site labor, and another for middle and top managers. For the rst type it was found that there was a total lack of formal procedures, while for the second, there was greater formality and specialized resources were employed. Another interesting characteristic peculiar to the construction culture is that the hiring process usually involves the supervisor and his group of workers, the entire construction gang. This explains the strong loyalty of workers to their boss. (2) Machismo: it was found that the great majority of construction personnel are male, the result of deeply rooted attitudes among managers that construction is strictly a mans job. On the other hand, the workers themselves expressed an acceptance of women on construction sites, though the sincerity of such opinions must be questioned. (3) Dominance of strong hierarchical structures: as noted earlier, there generally exists a military type of organization with very strong lines of authority and superior-subordinate relationships. This results in an almost total lack of worker and supervisor participation in workplace decision-making. Further consequences are the strong ties that develop between workers at the same level and the paternalism between superiors and subordinates at the building site. (4) Lack of education and formal training: at the operational level, workers generally learn by doing and from their more experienced fellows. There is a notable lack of professionalism in work at this level, and although management has lately shown more concern, the situation is still very much what it was years ago. This state of affairs is also the result of the informality in hiring procedures, added to the fact that construction is a job open to anyone. (5) Short-term mentality: the management of most construction companies, and particularly the smaller ones, generally exhibit very short-term work horizons, poor planning, little interest in making improvements and a focus on quick prots. This plus the fact that the majority of building rms are, in fact, relatively small results in a lack of continuity in construction activity that also affects industry personnel. The workers are inuenced by these phenomena and thus also tend to adopt a short-term outlook. (6) Use of oral communication and highly informal language: as with many other work activities that are seen as male (e.g. mining), it was found that most communication in construction takes place orally, especially on actual building sites. Furthermore, the language used is peppered with industry slang and loud obscenities. This, however, does not necessarily imply a lack of respect between personnel at the same or different hierarchical levels.

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(7) Responsibilities are unclear: construction personnel generally avoid being held accountable for occurrences at the job site even when they are in charge. Responsibilities in this sector thus tend to be poorly dened. This is also the case for other types of employment, and is typical of the Chilean organizational guez, 2001). culture (Rodr (8) Low self-esteem of construction workers: many workers feel that construction is a dirty job and for this reason enjoys low social prestige. This is particularly true of the housing sub-sector. (9) Lack of employment continuity: this is a well-known characteristic of the construction sector that affects the motivation of workers and reinforces their short-term outlook. The study also showed that although construction workers accept this aspect of the industry, employment uncertainty has a serious impact on the behavior and attitudes of construction personnel. For this reason, people in construction place a high value on job stability and try to secure it by building personal connections with managers who can provide greater continuity through a highly paternalistic relationship. This phenomenon is peculiar to construction, as in Chile such is generally not the case. (10) Invariability of processes: people in the construction industry exhibit a strong tendency to do their jobs in the same way they have always been done, and are determined to continue doing so. The result is a resistance to change and very conservative attitudes. This pattern was observed not only in workers but among managers as well. (11) Celebration of the completion of structural work: it is a tradition in the industry to hold a celebration to mark the completion of the structural phase of building construction. These events, in which all employees at the site take part, were the only formal construction project rite observed during the study. (12) Construction is a dangerous work: there is a deeply rooted feeling among workers that they must be stoic in facing the risks present in construction work. This feeling generally leads to a resistance to use safety equipment or adopt safe work habits. Nevertheless, it was also observed that these attitudes have evolved very signicantly over the last decade. (13) Flirtatious behavior towards female passers-by: this aspect of construction site culture can almost be considered a tradition. The motivation for such manifestations is usually to show off ones creativity in front of fellow workers as a way of gaining prestige and status within the group. (14) Managers paradigms or myths about workers: it was observed that construction managers hold rmly to many paradigms about construction work that constitute strong barriers to workers development and participation. These included the following: . construction workers must be subjected to strict supervision in the workplace; . construction workers are unable to offer new ideas or solutions; . construction workers are unable to make decisions; and . construction workers are always trying to evade their duties.

Further information of a general nature on Chilean construction workers may be found in a study by the Chilean Construction Industry Chamber of Commerce (1993). Some highlights of the study, based on 849 workers and foremen interviewed at different construction sites around Chile, are given in what follows: . More than 60 percent of the workers were under 35 years of age. . Nearly 65 percent of the workers had worked more than 5 years in construction but less than 30 percent had worked more than 15 years in the industry. . About 60 percent of the workers went into construction for economic reasons (30.1 percent could not nd other work and 29.3 percent hoped to earn more than in previous jobs), while 26.5 percent were there because they were familiar with the work and enjoyed it. . More than 91 percent of construction workers had learned their trade exclusively on the job rather than through formal study. . Only 15.3 percent of those interviewed had taken at least one training course during their working life. . More than 75 percent of the workers have not completed their grade-school education and more than 30 percent did not nish elementary (primary) school. Unfortunately, no study of construction workers similar to the one just cited has been conducted over the last decade. However, the present authors knowledge of the lez, 2001; Gonza lez, industry and indirect data gleaned from other research (Gonza 2002) suggest that little has changed since 1993. lez (2002), the management of construction projects in Chile is According to Gonza characterized by an organizational structure strongly based on experience and a certain degree of professionalism. Most site managers are university-graduate professionals with experience in the kinds of projects they oversee. The study also found that these managers tend to use relatively at organizational structures which enable a higher degree of exibility and functionality in decision making and less bureaucracy. Their main concern is the lack of qualied personnel. Training programs aimed at improving site performance are non-existent for workers and even for the managers themselves. This situation undermines any possibility of implementing changes at the construction site level. Because of the prevailing culture in the industry and its strongly hierarchical structure, the possibilities for workers participation in decision-making are also very lez discovered an additional barrier in the form of a belief limited. In addition, Gonza common among some managers according to which workers are mere mechanical elements that carry out orders to the letter and have no interest in contributing further. This view is not consistent with workers own expressions of their willingness to assume more responsibilities, and clearly puts limits on their ability to participate lez, 2001). These managers distrust of the workers is demonstrated by the strict (Gonza controls they maintain at building sites and their frequently repeated opinion that workers cannot be left unsupervised. The construction site supervisors role Construction site supervisors are responsible for directing the execution of basic construction project work operations, as well as for communicating the projects

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objectives and goals to the workers. They are in permanent contact with site personnel, responding to their needs and observing and checking their performance. Also, supervisors must implement general planning guidelines at the construction work level, serving as a nexus between the project manager and the workers. This requires that supervisors prepare work plans and communicate them to the workers charged with their execution. Due to their close involvement with site activity, supervisors management efforts impact directly on the productivity and nal quality of the work they are responsible for. Their performance is thus of particular importance for achieving a projects objectives. Although most construction managers and site professionals recognize the importance of site supervisors to the successful execution of construction projects, this is not clearly reected in actual practice. On-site observation has shown that the role of these supervisors is subject to various restrictions. Some indications of this phenomenon include the following (Serpell and Ureta, 1989): . Supervisors are generally excluded from improvement and training programs. Most of them did not nish school and their professional development consists mainly of on-the-job experience and learning from more experienced site personnel. . Their authority to make decisions is usually quite limited owing to the fact that they are considered as workers instead of site management. . They are restricted to functional tasks and are lax in the control they exert over their workers. . Their status is relatively low in the eyes of the workers, who are aware that they (the supervisors) are not clearly supported by management or consulted on decision-making. According to the previously cited Chilean Construction Chamber study (1993), there are serious weaknesses in the training of site supervisors (general foremen and foremen) and a lack of middle-level professionals or technicians with one or two years of specialized training in construction for supervisory positions. Among the most important deciencies currently encountered in the construction sector as regards site supervisors, we may mention the following: . A lack of formal training to qualify site supervisors for taking on supervisory responsibilities. There is no an ofcial supervisor job denition to orient their training. . Current training activity is insufcient to supply the number of supervisors required by the market. . The lack of appropriate training for site supervisors increases construction costs due to their inability to carry out work planning, communicate effectively with workers or properly direct work activities. . Inappropriate supervisory personnel selection processes. Supervisors tend to be workers with experience in site work and strong personalities that set them apart from their fellow workers, but without formal knowledge or training in management skills.

There is no national qualication system that evaluates and certies site supervisors. Their skill qualication levels are set by each individual company, thus creating a supply of supervisors that is neither uniform nor comparable.

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In the last few years, some Chilean construction companies have begun to change their view of the site supervisors role and are implementing a new vision of the position in their organizations. On this approach, site supervisors are seen as rst-line managers, meaning that their function is recognized as belonging to the management level. The focus of the supervisors management role is thus to direct the basic work processes for executing construction. This means that activities formerly the preserve of higher management levels are now becoming part of the site supervisors work at the operating level. In this new role, supervisors are now qualied to design, develop and manage their work teams for performing construction work. The new leadership function for directing the members of their teams has thus become another required competency. As regards the classic functional control activity in which site supervisors conned themselves to overseeing the carrying out of tasks, this has also changed. Supervisors must now assume many other functions such as management control, operational planning, evaluation of planning goal execution, and quality control. Charged with these new responsibilities, supervisors are required to develop skills and abilities for communicating effectively and coordinating the activities of external suppliers and subcontractors. To ensure that personnel at the various levels, and particularly site supervisors, attain the required competencies, a number of construction companies are adopting and implementing the competency labor management framework. One of these companies approached the authors to request guidance in the frameworks application. A complete list of competencies was developed for each of the companys occupational groups, with denitions tailored to the rms specic needs. One of the target occupational groups for competency denition was the supervisor group. Application of the framework In this section we present the results of a specic application of the competency-based labor management framework to the site supervisors job at a Chilean construction company. Founded in 1981, the company specializes primarily in the following construction markets: buildings (more than 400,000 square meters constructed), water and sewage, roads and highway and other civil infrastructure. It is also involved in the real estate market, where it develops its own projects. Over the last several years the rm has demonstrated a strong desire to become one of the leading and most competitive construction companies in Chile, and to this end has adopted a well-dened strategic vision. Though not unusual in developed countries, this is quite exceptional in the Chilean building industry where few companies have embraced such practices. To achieve its objectives the rm has implemented several innovations and advances to improve its performance in different areas. As an example, during the course of this study the company successfully completed its ISO 9001 certication and was implementing innovative information technologies for performance control at construction sites. It has also announced a rigorous human resources policy aimed at creating a highly competent work force who demonstrate the most appropriate work

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attitudes and behavior for each job or task. When this study was conducted the company had more than 1,500 employees working on different construction projects. Though a relatively young company, it already possesses a strong organizational culture that promotes the participation of all employees within the organization. The application of the competency framework reported on here is in fact the rst such effort in the Chilean construction industry. The actual implementation of the framework involved designing an education and training plan based on labor competencies. Development of the plan was completed in ve months. Our study began with a series of meetings with the companys Quality Management Coordinators Committee, the entity in charge of the project, to gather information about the objectives and requirements of the organization as they affected the design of the training plan. Once the project scope was dened, an analysis of the business process was initiated and the companys critical labor functions were thus identied. The competency prole development stage included many meetings with personnel who performed the various labor functions under analysis so as to better identify the required competencies for successful job performance. During these meetings, the authors observed that attitudes among all of the people involved regarding the application of the framework were very positive. Most were satised with the companys labor policies and expressed high expectations regarding the potential of the competency scheme for furthering their professional careers. Once the different competency proles had been developed, the skill levels of personnel who performed the various labor functions for which competency proles were dened were then evaluated in order to identify the training gap and subsequently dene a training plan for the company. It should be noted here that our purpose was not to improve what already existed at the company or to achieve ideal performance levels, but rather to identify labor proles, such as the one for site supervisor, that clearly matched the companys needs. It was then possible to identify those critical competencies the personnel in question were lacking and initiate the necessary training processes. Also of importance is that no attempt was made to compare the performance of site supervisors in Chile with that of their counterparts in developed countries, for to do so would have required that the Chileans overcame many fundamental weaknesses before the possibility of further progress could be considered. As part of the application of the competency-based management framework, an implementation model was developed and is shown here in Figure 1. In what follows, the models principal stages are explained with emphasis on the site supervisor function. Each stage is represented by a rectangle corresponding to an activity to be performed. Analysis of business processes The purpose of this stage was to analyze certain items of information that were relevant to the purposes of the company. One such item was the organizations strategic directives; another was its clients requirements. The idea was to align the competency approach with the companys business priorities in order that the competencies developed were those that were genuinely required. In this review phase the company mission and characterizations of its main products and services were

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Figure 1. Competency-based labor management implementation model (ovald represent inputs or results and rectangles represents activities)

clearly dened. The rms vision and the strategic objectives that framed its then-current strategic priorities were examined together with its organizational values, its principal policies and its human resources management function. Emerging from this analysis were the principal required organizational competencies. One of these competencies was the occupational category of site management. Identication of Critical Labor Functions (CLF) Using the information generated in the previous stage, the main critical labor functions for each organizational function were identied. In the site management occupational group, site supervision was identied as a critical function, although initially the functions title was left open. At this point the emphasis was on the function itself rather than its formal title or name. As well as identifying this function, an analysis of the specic characteristics of its business process was carried out, covering the purposes of the process, its critical characteristics and its specic outputs. In addition, the functions relationships and its coordination with client and supplier processes were specied. Performance indicators for the business process were also dened in this stage. Development of the competency prole The background information obtained in the rst two stages of the analysis was employed in the third stage, which consisted of determining the site supervisors

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competency prole. This was accomplished through an examination of the critical activities engaged in by the supervisor in fullling his role as a rst-line manager. The rst task was to specify the title of the function, which in this case was site supervisor. In the opinion of those who participated in the study, the designation of a title was not a trivial matter. It must not be the name of a profession or occupation, but rather should clearly express the nature of the function and its output. The purpose of the function was then described in terms of the site supervisors main activity or activities and formulated in such a way as to express the specic actions involved (to supervise, to plan, etc.). This was followed by a breakdown of these activities, beginning with the most general and proceeding to the most detailed, the latter including the planning of operational processes, leading work crews, and supervising work progress, among others. A third level of breakdown described the critical activities with a sufcient degree of detail as to correspond to the specic responsibilities of the site supervisor. This was done in such a manner that responsibilities were not identied with tasks, as it was expressly desired to avoid the confusion of the two. The wording began with an action verb and continued with the object of the verb to which the action was applied, indicating any quality or safety conditions attached thereto. The analysis for the labor function of site supervisor is shown in Table I.
To plan the site and operational processes in accordance with tactical plan of construction project and company policies To plan and implement operational actions of work teams in accordance with project cost, time, quality and safety indicators To distribute and control resources required by basic site operations in accordance with process plan and quality standards To coordinate execution of site activities at the different work faces based on operational plan

To lead internal and external work teams carrying To assign functions and their responsibilities among the different construction process stages in out project construction in accordance with accordance with projects human resources plan personnel management policies of organization To involve internal and external construction workers in quality system, safety and environmental practices in accordance with corporate policies To train and evaluate competencies of construction workers involved in basic construction processes in accordance with corporate and project policies Table I. Critical activities of the site supervisor (purpose: to supervise and coordinate the execution of the critical activities in the operational work in accordance with project plan) To supervise the progress of construction activities and their execution, ensuring compliance with the organizations quality system, safety and environmental standards To supervise the fulllment of construction objectives while ensuring compliance with legal safety and environmental regulations and company policies To measure progress of construction activities in accordance with projects tactical and operational schedule To report the state of progress of operational activities based on performance indicators and operational plan measures

The information and descriptions generated up to this point were enough to establish the knowledge, attitudes and behavioral attributes a site supervisor should possess in order to achieve a procient performance level. The competency prole should not be an abstract list of items obtained from a dictionary of competencies, but rather must be founded on a complete prior analysis that would enable a clear delineation of site supervisors performance criteria, training, performance levels and psycho-social behavioral characteristics. A correctly drawn-up prole will contain the elements necessary for an effective subsequent evaluation of the competencies involved. Table II shows the competency prole of the CLF under analysis that was obtained using the aforementioned procedure. The main output of this stage was the list of competencies for the site supervisor function. Evaluation of competencies The evaluation of the site supervisors competencies consisted of measuring their current competency levels against those established in the competency prole for the position. Due to the very nature of the competency framework, what needs to be measured is not what the site supervisor is potentially prepared for but rather, what he or she is genuinely capable of doing effectively. More precisely, the outcome of the supervisors actions should be measured against the standards established in the competency prole. In applying our model, we followed the formula given in the ISO 9000:2000 standard dening competency as demonstrated capacity. Besides the incumbent or candidate site supervisor and the human resources facilitators, those who carried out related functions such as the construction project manager also participated in the evaluation process.
Competency prole Education and training Understand the concepts and elements of the tactical and operational planning of a construction project Distinguishes and evaluates construction materials and equipment frequently used in construction projects Recognizes the different construction techniques Distinguishes and applies quality, safety and environmental procedures Leads operational working teams and involves them in operational planning Involves people in safety, quality and environmental practices Plans construction projects at the operational level Applies management tools to evaluate the progress of construction projects and evaluates quality Oriented to the mission and vision and strategic goals of the project Committed to the organizational values of the company Committed to the safety of personnel and the security of material resources Flexible and able to adapt in the face of aggressive environments and situations

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Abilities and performance

Attitudes

Table II. Competency prole of the site supervisor

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Depending on the specic objectives of a given evaluation, which in this case is to detect training requirements, other variables such as the organizations objectives or business priorities should also be considered. As an example, in a selection and recruitment process a candidate for site supervisor can be selected or eliminated through direct comparison with the positions competency prole. In our study we administered a competency prociency survey to a representative group of each of the organizations critical labor functions in order to evaluate them in terms of the competency proles. In the case of site supervisors, 24 persons were so evaluated. The results showed that in very few cases were the supervisors procient in the required competencies. The complete ndings for the three evaluated competency units are shown in Table III. Those who satised more than 90 percent of the evaluation elements constituting a competency unit were ranked as procient; those who satised 61 percent to 90 percent were deemed satisfactory; and those who satised only 41 percent to 60 percent or less were classed as unsatisfactory. For every competence unit, there was some persons who did not satisfy at least one such element. It is interesting to observe that according to the survey, site supervisors did not have the computer skills considered to be basic to their function, such as word processing, use of spreadsheets or Internet navigation. The nal result of this stage of our model was to dene the gaps between the competency prole standards and the actual demonstrated competencies of the companys site supervisors at the time the evaluations were conducted. It was found that not one supervisor successfully passed the evaluation. The gaps discovered were then interpreted in terms of training needs. Design of the training plan The training plan developed during our implementation of the labor competency model left aside all considerations not related to the competencies found to be required when the training needs were dened (in the previous stage). Once the problem (i.e. the gaps) was fully dened, the purpose or general objectives of the training actions were established and the specic competency units that needed to be addressed were selected for inclusion in the plan. The training methodology was also dened, giving special emphasis to those activities that involved the participation of the trainees. It is important that the training be highly individualized, both as regards the teaching methods and the evaluations. Group-level assessment was avoided. The training plan further included a monitoring stage to check on how supervisors put into practice at the work site their newly acquired competencies, plus an evaluation after a period of three to six months following training. The purpose of the evaluation was to measure the real impact of the site supervisors new competencies on their workplace performance.
Competency unit Procient (%) 8.3 4.2 4.2 Satisfactory (%) 62.2 87.5 83.3 Unsatisfactory (%) 29.5 8.3 12.5

Table III. Results of the survey of site supervisors competencies

Planning of site operative processes Leading internal and external teams Supervision of progress of site activities

Execution of the training plan This stage was not implemented during the application of our model. Once the design stage was completed, however, the construction company began the process of selecting training providers. This is a critical activity for ensuring the training will be effective and achieve the desired results. Evaluation Whether for determining training gaps or performing competency certications, the evaluation of site supervisors competencies will involve comparing their competency levels to those of a standard or reference (Vargas et al., 2001). The difference between the two applications resides in the complexity and extent of the evaluation used for certication, which requires the compilation of a variety of data in order to build a case for making a well-grounded judgement about the person being evaluated. Our evaluations of site supervisor competency were not conducted with a view to gathering sufcient data for the certication of candidates for this function. Nevertheless, it was explained to the company that as the implementation of the labor competency framework progressed and human resources personnel developed their expertise in the competency management approach, changes would have to be made to company practices on performance evaluations, which at the time of the study were done using strictly quantitative indicators. The new system would employ a mix of indicators: quantitative ones involving process performance parameters, and qualitative ones relating to internal and external clients satisfaction. The principal reason for not pursuing the certication of competencies was that there was then no certication system in Chile. A law establishing such a system based on the competency approach is, however, currently being debated in the Chilean Congress. The government entity that will be responsible for applying the law is known as ChileCalica, which falls under the purview of three government ministries. One of the main purposes of the proposed law is to allow workers to have their competencies certied on the job without regard to where or how they have acquired them (Chilecalica, 2003). Summary and conclusions This paper documents a rst effort to introduce the labor competency framework into the Chilean construction industry. As noted earlier, however, this application of the competency approach to a particular rm has not yet been completed, and it is still too early to evaluate its impact on company personnel. More time is needed to study all of the potential impacts. We may conclude, however, that the structured approach of the competency framework can help businesses develop more objective schemes for the design and implementation of training and for management of human resources in environments where these functions are currently inadequate. As regards the construction site supervisor, by dening the position as a management function, it takes on a strategic position in the companys organization chart, and the business process related to it becomes a critical one. The function is then no longer limited to the bureaucratic supervision of tasks, having assumed a much more active and committed role within the global strategy of the organization. Thus, the site supervisor now carries out activities that are a source of value added to the organization.

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Chilean construction companies, whose human resource practices are generally very traditional, are not yet able to adopt a human resource management approach in the sense of considering people as a strategic factor. The labor competency management framework, given that local conditions are taken into account, can serve as a very useful alternative to change this reality, given that: . The labor competency approach favors the development of the entire range of a persons attributes. Particularly in cases where high performance levels are demanded, the site supervisor is not restricted to just one way of doing things, which is what occurs when the supervisors job description is based only on the tasks to be performed. . With the labor competency scheme it is possible to address new requirements for the site supervisor, most notably the management competencies whose performance indicators are qualitative rather than quantitative. Some of the principal characteristics of the competency framework that were considered functional by the construction company when deciding its application to the construction site supervisor, are the following: . The value added of a function can be understood as the level of a persons contribution in terms of the production of output, the fulllment of objectives and the achievement of strategic goals. By denition, the qualitative competency variable is bound up with the vision/mission of an organization, area or process. . The determination of the critical activities of a function requires an exhaustive analysis of the site supervision process and its numerical and non-numerical performance indicators. In traditional practice, which is more functional in nature, the focus on processes has been absent. . Job description manuals are replaced by competency proles or standards that must be periodically revised. The competency prole has a generic character and to a certain extent it exists outside of the actual job context, a fact that radically differentiates it from the task itself. . Performance evaluation based on the quantity of tasks carried out by the site supervisor does not aid in measuring the value added of the supervisors work. What should be measured are competencies, a system of measurement implemented using diverse strategies but always involving comparison with a competency prole or reference. One last conclusion emerging from our application of a competency framework is that training plans should be modular, so that instead of just generating isolated knowledge, the organization can develop competency units with a high level of site supervisor participation. The site supervisors training should no longer be conned to a mere familiarization process covering only the technical aspects of the position. As with all training geared to imparting competencies, the emphasis needs to be placed rather on developing the capacity to learn how to learn.
References n Estrate gica de Recursos Humanos, Gestio n por Competencia (Strategic Alles, M. (2000), Direccio Management of Human Resources, Competency-based Management), Ediciones Granica S.A., Buenos Aires.

Antonacopoulou, E.P. and Fitzgerald, L. (1996), Reframing competency in management development, Human Resources Management Journal, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 27-48. mara Chilena de la Construccio n (1993), Plan Estrate gico de la Ca mara Chilena de la Ca n: Ana lisis Estrate gico del Sector de la Construccio n, Ca mara Chilena de la Construccio n, Santiago. Construccio n y capacitacio n permanente (Permanent Education and Training), Chilecalica (2003), Educacio Chilecalica, Santiago, available at: www. chilecalica.cl.htm. Datta, M. (2000), Challenges facing the construction industry in developing countries, paper presented at the 2nd International Conference on Construction in Developing Countries, Gaborone, November, pp. 119-27. Drucker, P. (2002), No son empleados, son personas (They are not employees, theyre people), Trend Management, Vol. 4 No. 4, pp. 16-22. Evans, J. and Lindsay, W. (2002), The Management and Control of Quality, 5th ed., South-Western College Publishing, Mason, OH. lez, A. (2002), Diagno stico para el mejoramiento de la administracio n de obras de Gonza n en Chile (Diagnosis for improving site management of building works in edicacio a y Gestio n de la Construccio n, Ponticia Chile), MSc thesis, Departamento de Ingenier lica de Chile, Santiago. Universidad Cato lez, C. (2001), Caracterizacio n de la cultura organizacional de la construccio n nacional y su Gonza inuencia en estrategias de cambio (Characterization of the national construction organizational culture and its inuence on change strategies), MSc thesis, Departamento a y Gestio n de la Construccio n, Ponticia Universidad Cato lica de Chile, de Ingenier Santiago. Hayes, J., Rose-Quirie, A. and Allinson, C.W. (2000), Senior managers perceptions of the competencies they require for effective performance: implications for training and development, Personnel Review, Vol. 29 No. 1, pp. 92-105. a para la ordenacio n de la formacio n profesional ocupacional INEM (1995), Metodolog n general de (Methodology for Organizing the Professional Job Training), Subdireccio n de formacio n ocupacional, Madrid. gestio a de las Competencias (Competency Engineering), Ediciones Gestio n Le Boterf, G. (2001), Ingenier 2000, S.A., Barcelona. Libbrecht, S. and Vandevyvere, P. (2002), Systemic competency management in support of the viability of organizations, paper presented at the 6th International Conference on Competency-Base Management, International Institute for Management Development, Lausanne. Lindgren, R., Henfridsson, O. and Schultze, U. (2004), Design principles for competence management systems: a synthesis of an action research study, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 28 No. 3, pp. 435-72. Mertens, L. (1996), Competencia Laboral: sistema, surgimiento y modelos (Labor Competency: System, Emergence and Models), International Labor Organization, Cinterfor. n por competencia laboral y la formacio n profesional Mertens, L. (1998), La gestio (Competency-based Labor Management and Professional Training), OEI, Madrid. National Centre for Vocational Education Research Ltd (2003), Dening Generic Skills: At a Glance, NCVER, Adelaide. guez, D. (2001), Gestio n Organizacional (Organizational Management), Ediciones Rodr lica de Chile, Santiago. Universidad Cato

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guez, D. (2002), Studying construction organizational culture: preliminary Serpell, A. and Rodr ndings, in Fellows, R. and Seymour, D. (Eds), Perspective on Culture in Construction, CIB Publication No. 275, pp. 76-91. n y capacitacio n de los capataces en la construccio n Serpell, A. and Ureta, A. (1989), Seleccio a de Construccio n, No. 7, (Selection and training of construction foremen), Revista Ingenier pp. 39-51. Spencer, L. and Spencer, S. (1993), Competency at Work: Models for Superior Performance, John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY. n y competencias en la gestio n del talento humano: Vargas, F. (2002), Competencias en la formacio os (Competencies for the Training and Management of Human convergencia y desaf Talent: Convergence and Challenges), Cinterfor, Montevideo. Vargas, F., Casanova, F. and Montanaro, L. (2001), El enfoque de competencia laboral: manual de n (The Labor Competency Approach: Training Handbook), Cinterfor, Montevideo. formacio Woodruffe, C. (1991), Competent by any other name, Personnel Management, September, pp. 30-3. Further reading o de normas de competencia laboral (Handbook of Labor vez, G. (2002), Manual para el disen Cha Competency Standards Design), Panorama Editorial, San Rafael. n de Operaciones de Construccio n (Construction operations Serpell, A. (1993), Administracio lica de Chile, Santiago. management), Ediciones Universidad Cato About the authors Alfredo Serpell is a Professor and Department Head of the Department of Construction lica de Chile. He attained his Civil Engineering and Management at Ponticia Universidad Cato lica de Chile, and his MSc in Architectural Engineer degree from Ponticia Universidad Cato Engineering and PhD in Civil Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin, USA. His research interests relate to people in construction, quality and productivity management and construction procurement and project management. He is the co-coordinator of the CIB Work Commission 107, Construction in Developing Countries. Alfredo Serpell is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: aserpell@ing.puc.cl Ximena Ferrada is a MSc student in the Department of Construction Engineering and lica de Chile. She obtained her BSc degree from Management at Ponticia Universidad Cato lica de Chile. She currently works in the Training and Labor Ponticia Universidad Cato Competencies Unit at DICTUC S.A. as the Head of Special Training and Labor Competencies Programs area.

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