Improving subcontractor's motivation by construction managers

The ability to motivate is one that is crucial for a manager in any professional field. The role of a project manager is no exception with the need to keep the subcontractors motivated and working efficiently in order to meet targets and deadlines. By improving the level of motivation you predictably increase the level of efficiency of employees and as a roll-on effect the achievement of project goals will be more assured. Motivation in the construction industry is often overlooked due to the short nature of many construction projects as well as the high turnover of employees and subcontractors from job to job. Nonetheless, if more emphasis were to be put on employee and subcontractor motivation, then project success would be easier to attain as the subcontractors would be working more efficiently and be more likely to achieve their targets and deadlines. With the benefits of improved motivation including increased project security and increased productivity, projects are more likely to meet targets and budgets. A research project has been taken with the aim to provide ways for management to improve subcontractor motivation and monitor its progress. This paper reports on the findings of the early stage of literature review. It has been found that not enough measures were being taken at the present time to positively influence subcontractor motivation and that there are many successful ways of motivating subcontractors in the construction industry, including things such as incentives, positive reinforcement, work facilitation and work participation. In particular, it was found that the main detail to take into consideration was that every worker is different and will respond differently to different motivation techniques. For this reason it is important to understand the workforce of subcontractors and motivate them accordingly.