Differences in the Human Dimensions of Specialty Field Leaders and General Contractor Project Managers

The shortage of workforce in the construction industry has placed a demand on engineering and construction firms to attract and retain even more workers. The competition for qualified skilled workers within the construction sector and from other industries has impacted the labor turnover in the industry. The repeated cycle of training new hires due to labor turnover may affect organizational and project performance. Construction firms should seek tactical human resources initiatives to attract new hires, develop old hires' skills, and retain talent in their workforce. This study investigates the differences in human dimensions of individuals engaged on construction job sites. The aim of this paper is to identify distinctive human dimensions of skilled trades workers, essentially required for job transition within the construction industry. This study adopted HEXACO personality inventory, Emotional Intelligence, and Q-DiSC behavioral diagnostics to determine personality trait differences and peculiarities between 133 project managers working for general contracting firms and 88 Specialty field leaders in the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning trades. The data collected from the 221 construction professionals were analyzed using the independent t-test to evaluate the statistically significant differences in the means of personality traits between the groups. Sincerity, Fairness, Greed-Avoidance, Fearfulness, Prudence, Inquisitiveness, and Social Awareness, among other measures, were significantly different between the groups. The differences recognized between the groups in this study can afford employees a better perspective of the traits common to the new jobs for smooth job role transition within the construction sector.