People and Organizational Management in Construction - Case Study Example

Contemporary Engineering Organization and Management Practice: SMEC Introduction SMEC an Australian firm and a global footprint, dealing in professional services provision. It deals with the provision of high quality consultancy services regarding major infrastructural projects. The firm has employed a staff of over 4,000 and has established its network in more than 40 offices in Africa, Australia, Asia Pacific, South Asia and North America. The type of consultancy services the firm provides ranges from project lifecycle to other broad sectors such as Mining and Underground Services, Water, Transport, Buildings and Urban Development, Social Development, Natural Resources and Environment and Renewable energy. The consultancy services include field investigations, construction supervision, laboratory testing, pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, computer modeling, project management, contract and tender management, commissioning and training. The firm’s international and Australian clients include multinational and local contractors, statutory bodies, government departments, utility organizations and International Financial Institutions charged with the mandate of coordinating and funding major infrastructure projects. Since its establishment, SMEC has delivered thousands of water, civil, power, environment and transport projects in over 80 countries. This essay illustrates the management practices of this company following an interview that was conducted on the company staff. However, it was difficult to obtain all the information since some of the questions were left unanswered due to privacy matters. Modern manufacturing, introduction Production process entails the way by which a business creates it products and services. SMEC is a consultancy firm, which offers high quality consultancy services to its clients. The production process of the firm involves various steps, which ensure that the client gets the best services possible. The first step in the production process involves designing of the element by the designer. This may include such projects as construction of transport networks such as roads, railway lines among others. The designer then requests the drafter to prepare the drawing after which the designer reviews what the drafter has prepared and marks the drawings up. This assessment is done to ensure that the drawing meets the client’s needs. After amendments are done to the drawing, the drawer then hands its over to the designer who, together with a multidisciplinary team, reviews the drawing again and provides comments on them. Following these comments, the drawing is amended again and it is finally issued to the client. This management practice meets score 5 since the company has introduced major efficient processing techniques in a formal way. Modern manufacturing, rationale The rationale behind these production processes entails a guaranteed coordination between the designer and the drafter, which ensures that, they produce what is required and satisfy the client with a quality product in accordance with their requirements. By offering quality services, the firm is able to remain competitive in the market thus, increasing its market share. SMEC has adopted various modern management practices such as benchmarking, client requirements, and competitiveness. Benchmarking is a process of comparing the performance and processes of ones business with other industries. The factors behind the adoption of these practices include motivating the employees to improve their services, thus, providing quality services that ensures that the company retains its competitive nature at the same time increasing its market share. This management technique meets score 5 because the firm introduced these production techniques to enhance quality and improve competitiveness. Process problem documentation SMEC receives its problems through comments the firm receives from its clients concerning the design or during construction. The problem is then exposed through a lesson register and sometimes through study cases. The solutions are fixed through interdisciplinary co-ordination. An example of a recent problem is the inconsistency between two different drawings of the RL levels of a bridge. This problem was raised by a client, and in turn the designer and the drafter reviewed the drawings separately and came up with a solution. However, it is very rare for the firm’s staff to come up with suggestions for improvements. This management practice scores 5 because problems are taken as part of the normal business processes and workable solutions are initiated. Performance tracking In order for the company to track production performance, various details have to be kept. For instance, every drawing produced contains the names of the people who are involved during the development. The designer and the drafter are involved in the drawing therefore, allowing traceability. This makes it easy for the company to follow the performance of a certain project. Concerning KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) used for performance tracking, the company does not use them during the design process but instead have a time and cost control. These KPIs which include final project cost under budget, project on time and number of RFI which rose during the tender period are only measured at the end of the project. The key performance indicators are reviewed by medium to higher management team including the firm’s managers. In this case, performance is continually tracked by the top management and communicated to the staff. This practice therefore meets score 5. Performance review The firm reviews its Key Performance Indicators by measuring and comparing the results. For instance, the client and the part of the firm’s staff recently met for a discussion concerning the firm’s performance and as a result, a decision was made to realign areas of dissatisfaction. Such meetings often involve the project director, project manager, design manager and high management representatives from the client. Minutes of the meeting are then prepared after the meeting detailing the task to be undertaken and the taskforce behind it. The firm is seen to review it performance frequently, results communicated and follow up plan undertaken thus meeting score 5. Performance dialogue The firms meetings are structured by defining an agenda, including those topics that require urgent attention and then the performance is reviewed and potential solutions are discussed. During our most recent meeting, the client and our team discussed our performance and made decision in order to realign the areas of dissatisfaction. During these meetings, the company always has essential data to tackle the topics under urgent attention. The firm finds problem solving meetings to be very useful as long as the objectives are defined before the meeting starts. During these meetings, individuals raise different points of views that allow a more holistic approach to the problem. This ensures that all problems are solved adequately with support from all members. This management practice meets score 5 as the firm always has a clear agenda of problem solving and adequate data for its meetings. Target interconnection To motivate its workforce, the company applies strategies such as salary increase and promotions in order to ensure the firm attains its goals. The goals are shared to ensure they are cascaded down to the individual workers. The firm’s targets are connected to its performance and goals since both aim at making the firm profitable, despite the fact that they contain different interests. This firm’s management practice scores 5. This is because; its corporate goals are based on its shareholders values and clearly communicated to other individuals. Target time horizon SMEC, as any other company, has set targets with a time scale of one year (Shamil, 2001). The company mostly focuses on profit and the quality of work as the main goals and objectives. In addition, SMEC links its long term and short term goals and is able to meet its set short term and long term goals. This is in line with any other company that wants to emerge successful in the market. This management practice scores 5 because long term goals are often translated into short term targets in order to achieve long term goals. Targets are stretching In the beginning of every year, the firm’s top management set a higher target that creates a lot of pressure for the employees. In setting the yearly targets, the top management often apply a certain criteria whereby the areas producing more profits are subjected to higher targets with the expectation that when the weak areas start growing the degree of difficulty with regard to meeting the targets, will also increase. However, the firm is not always in a position to meet the set targets. This management practice scores 3 because the goals are set annually considering the performance of the divisions. Higher goals are set for top performing divisions. Managing human capital In order to motivate the employees, the firm’s senior managers are seen to discuss attracting and developing talented people. In addition, the senior managers get rewards for bringing in and keeping talented people in the company. In fact there is a policy within the company to encourage employees to refer colleagues they believe are suitable for a vacancy. This motivational of employees ensures retention, and makes them work hard towards the company’s success. This management practice scores 5 because senior managers are often evaluated and rewarded for the building a talented pool. Rewarding high performance The appraisal system is always applied on an annual basis. Self-evaluation is often conducted which is then discussed with the managers. From the assessment, the managers are then able to determine top performers who are then rewarded as a form of motivation. However, the firm has not yet set up a bonus system. This practice scores 3 because there is an evaluation system that is applied annually to identify top performers who are then rewarded. Removing poor performers In order to achieve its objectives, the company calls for good performance among its employees. Underperformers are given a three months warning after which they are fired from the company. There is no case in the company where by some individuals always just manage to avoid being fired. Most of the employees know their responsibility and work towards achieving the best results. This practice scores 3 because poor performers stay in position for sometime before being fired from the company. Promoting high performers Getting a promotion in this firm depends on an employees’ performance. Those performing well have a better chance to get promotions. For instance, evaluating the performance of two people who joined the company five years ago, the one with a better performance is guaranteed of a promotion. The top performers are identified through mid management evaluations. It is certain that there are poor performers too. This practice scores 3 because employees are promoted basing on their performance. Attracting human capital The company’s reputation in the market and its corporate culture makes its distinctive to work there as opposed to its competitors. SMEC is known for its good market reputation and a working environment that is formulated from the employee’s interaction in the work place. As a result, the firm attracts well-experienced employees who are able to add value to the company. According to the above explanation, this management practice scores 5 because it provides a good working environment and offers stronger reasons for talented people to join its workforce above its competitors. Retaining human capital The firm has an objective of retaining its human capital and especially the top performers. In a case where a star performer would wish to leave the firm, the firm will have to listen to the employee and make the offer that will ensure the employee is satisfied in order to make the employee be retained. This management practice scores 5 because the company seeks to retain its employees and would do anything to ensure its star performers are retained. Conclusion SMEC is a company that has a well built reputation among its clients. It uses various management techniques in human resource management to ensure that it remains competitive. The interview conducted among its staff established a close link between management and the success of SMEC. Nevertheless, some information was not available as it was sensitive to the organization or dealt with confidential issues. Reference Shamil, N., 2001. People and organizational management in construction. New York: Thomas Telford. Read More