An assessment into the effectiveness of motivation as a technique for improving labour productivity in the construction industry in Kampala

Abstract

Construction industries especially in developing countries face the problem of low productivity. This is partly because the labour is not motivated to carry out the various activities. This study was conducted with the aim of assessing the effectiveness of used motivation techniques in increasing produoof foremen, site engineers, clerks of works and operatives in the Ugandan construction industry. By using a closed end questionnaire survey on construction workers in Uganda, the motivation techniques used for each category nof workers mentioned above were identified as well as the preferred techniques by the same workers. With this the motivation techniques that increase the productivity of the workers were established. The results indicated that inappropriate motivation techniques are used to attempt to boos the morale of the operatives who make up the biggest number percentage of construction workers. On the other hand, some of the techniques used for other categories actually increase the productivity of the respective workers. Management and supervisory teams should develop motivation schemes and they ensure that they work. This will necessitate application of an overall proper managerial effort in planning, organising, coordinating and controlling projects. The plan should include all categories of labour that contribute to the productivity of the project as a whole.