Study of the impact of management skills on labour productivity in the building construction industry in Uganda

Abstract

The construction industry plays a significant role in integrating the economy of any developing country. Moreover, the growing rate of building construction projects has led to an increasing demand of competent first line managers (FLMs) in the building construction industry, who possess the right skills to effectively manage and supervise construction projects. FLMs’ incompetence leads to cost and time overruns as well as poor quality work thus affecting labour productivity. The aim of this investigation was to study the impact of management skills on the productivity in the building construction industry in Uganda. Both quantitative and qualitative research approaches were used to gather data from 155 respondents who were purposively selected. This study categorized management skills under three groups: conceptual, interpersonal and technical skills. Their impacts were assessed using Relative Importance Index (RII) as a basis for analysis and a model was developed. The relationship was determined using regression analysis in R-Studio software. Findings revealed technical skills as the most significant management skill, followed by interpersonal skills and lastly conceptual skills. Model results showed a fairly strong significant effect with, R2 above 0.70 an indication of a strong relationship between construction management skills and productivity. It is recommended that adequate attention should be paid to training, retraining and continuous professional development of people charged with supervisory roles on construction sites so as to achieve higher construction worker’s productivity. Key words: Management skills, Productivity, Building construction, First Line Managers.