Workforce diversity management in the construction industry implications for civil engineering project success in Ashanti region in Ghana

Abstract

Diversity of construction workforce is increasingly given much attention because of global challenges in trends of employment. In developing countries, this is not seen as an important input despite the labour intensive nature of the construction industry and labour constituting a large percentage of total construction project costs. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the implications of workforce diversity management for construction project success in the construction industry in Ghana using Ashanti Region as a case study. The specific objectives were to identify key challenges to managing diversity, identify the benefits of effectively managing workforce diversity, assess the influence of workforce diversity management onproject success, and developing appropriate recommendations for enhancing project performance through effective management of diversity.The study adopted a quantitative research strategy involving the design of crossectional survey research design. The target population for the study comprised senior (most experience in terms of number years of working in the construction industry) site engineers and managing directors of 60 road construction firms registered with the Association of Road Contractors of Ghana (ASROC) in Ashanti Region. Census technique was employed in selecting 60 senior site engineers and 60 managing directors. A total of 120 questionnaires were administered and a response rate of 85% achieved.The study found that lack of experienced experts in managing diversity, cost of diversity management, and absence of priority by construction firms are the key challenges to managing workforce diversity.The study furthher revealed that, effectively managing workforce diversity gives employees more skills, knowledge, competencies and interest, and creates an inclusive and harmonious working environment. The study found that project success was influenced by aspects of workforce diversity management namely: encouraging team work at workplace, ensuring good University of Education,Winneba http://ir.uew.edu.gh xiii communication at workplace and avoiding discrimination. The study concluded that though there was lack of well-developed policies for handling diversity challenges, diversity management had a positive and significant influence on project success. The study recommended that construction firms in the Ashanti Region should make and implement policies that are geared towards managing diverse workforce in their firms.