Professionals’ recruitment and selection practice in construction companies

The purpose of this study is to assess the professionals’ recruitment and selection (RS) practice and its impact on performance of construction companies in the context of Ethiopian construction industry. Questionnaire survey, semi-structured interview and document analysis were used to collect the data. The practice was evaluated using descriptive analysis and multiple linear regression was used to analyze effect of the practice on performance of the companies. The findings indicate that the RS practice needs improvement to enhance innovation and creativity, efficiency, retention of professionals, and motivation. The challenges that affect effectiveness of the RS practice are high turnover rate of experienced professionals, lack of evaluation of the effectiveness of the dominant recruitment method; i.e., recruiting through referrals, and clients’ strict contractual requirements of key personnel’s profile. Considering the findings, an improvement framework with three pillars was developed. Pillars of the improvement framework are harmonizing the RS with the industry practice and aligning it with organizational strategic goals, integrating improvement mechanisms to the RS dimensions, and instilling continual monitoring and controlling as integral part of the practice. The findings and the improvement framework would provide valuable guidance for the construction companies aiming to improve their RS practice.