Recent orders
The Key Human Resource Challenges Facing Construction (2)
The Key Human Resource Challenges Facing Construction Companies In Europe
Introduction
As European countries advance their developments, construction firms play vital roles in the betterment of roads, pavements, houses and other types of buildings to support other developmental projects. Unfortunately, most of the construction companies across the globe, including Europe, face some challenges and problems that could adversely affect their operations (Hussin, Rahman & Memon, 2013). Since the construction industry tend to be large institutions that rely on different parties including construction companies, contractors and subcontractors, and numerous people from varied backgrounds, it (the construction industry) encounters diversified issues that revolve around management of human resources.
Problem
The booming construction industry in Europe has brought along Human Resource (HR) issues related to work safety and finding qualified staff.
Research Question
What are the he key human resource challenges facing construction companies in Europe?
Objectives
To identify the common challenges faced by construction industries across Europe as it relates to Human Resource Management
To identify the specific Human Resource areas that needs improvement so as to combat the issues identified
To assess the contemporary Human Resource Issues issues that have emerged as a result of technological advancement within the construction industry in Europe.
To explore the possible recommended solutions to solve these issues.
Literature Review
Health And Safety Issues
Several deaths and injuries have continually tainted the construction industry. Since construction companies operate with risky equipment and tools that entail heavy machinery and electricity, injuries and deaths among employees tend to be common (Cooke & Lingard, 2011). Besides, exposure to loud noise and poisonous fumes could attract more harmful effects among the workforce.
Finding Skilled Workers
Many construction contractors encounter lots of trouble while trying to recruit appropriate workers for their projects. As more projects emerge in Europe and other parts of the globe, the number of available skilled workers would shrink (Black, Engbersen & Okólski, 2010). Conversely, more than half of construction firms would not find their desired workforce. As a result, some companies may fail to complete their projects on time, and may not deliver high quality projects.
Advancement In Technology
As technology advances, it significantly influences operations and processes in the construction industry. Unluckily, the construction industry tends to be slow with regards to adoption of new and changing technologies (Lu, Huang & Li, 2011). Since construction companies and their subcontractors could use different types of software and programs, it would be a challenge to harmonize and streamline all operations. As a result, productivity and performance of workers could drastically decline when construction firms and their subcontractors embrace unsuitable technologies or fail to adjust and adopt new technologies. Hence, construction firms could fail to embrace the otherwise beneficial technological changes due to prevailing high costs and difficulties.
Workplace Diversity
Although diversity in the workplace could attract some vital benefits to the different industries, certain challenges tend to exist. Workplace diversity could attract synergy that facilitates better performance, problem solving and critical thinking of the workforce. However, such workplace diversity could draw unwanted effects that may entail discriminations, disrespect and hostility due to specific reasons that could include biases and prejudices (Burkard, Boticki & Madson, 2002). Consequently, unmotivated and less-productive workforce would emerge.
Payroll
Since apt remuneration is vital for virtually every employee, firms should endeavor to ensure they attain such an objective to attract and sustain their desired workforces. Unfortunately, some organizations may encounter high employee turnovers, high absenteeism and reliance on less-motivated workforces due to poor remunerations that could exist due to failures of employed payroll software (Kazaz, Ulubeyli & Tuncbilekli, 2012). Faulty payroll systems could lead to unwanted outcomes that could entail unnecessary deductions and overpayments that adversely impact on businesses and their employees. Accordingly, payroll systems which tend to be ever changing pose lots of challenges to construction and other organizations.
Research Design
This research will adopt a descriptive research design. The relevant aspects related to HRM issues within the construction industry will be looked into by gathering data from secondary resources that include articles and books. The qualitative research design would endeavor to describe and explain the major HR issues affecting construction firms in Europe. Luckily, the approach encourages objective analysis and evaluation of the situation as well as presentation of detail information about the subject under study (Pandve, 2016).
Conclusion
Construction firms in Europe are facing certain HR related issues that could attract adverse consequences if the concerned companies fail to adequately address them. The main HR issues facing the construction industry entail payroll, advancement in technology, workplace diversity, finding skilled workers and health and safety factors. Conversely, the otherwise booming construction industry in Europe has brought some HR issues related to work safety and acquisition of skilled staffs.
References
Black, R., Engbersen, G., & Okólski, M. (Eds.). (2010). A continent moving west?: EU enlargement and labour migration from Central and Eastern Europe. Amsterdam University Press.
Burkard, A. W., Boticki, M. A., & Madson, M. B. (2002). Workplace discrimination, prejudice, and diversity measurement: A review of instrumentation. Journal of Career Assessment, 10(3), 343-361.
Cooke, T., & Lingard, H. (2011). A retrospective analysis of work-related deaths in the Australian construction industry. In ARCOM Twenty-seventh Annual Conference (pp. 279-288). Association of Researchers in Construction Management (ARCOM).
Hussin, J. M., Rahman, I. A., & Memon, A. H. (2013). The way forward in sustainable construction: issues and challenges. International Journal of Advances in Applied Sciences, 2(1), 15-24.
Kazaz, A., Ulubeyli, S., & Tuncbilekli, N. A. (2012). Causes of delays in construction projects in Turkey. Journal of Civil Engineering and Management, 18(3), 426-435.
Lu, W., Huang, G. Q., & Li, H. (2011). Scenarios for applying RFID technology in construction project management. Automation in construction, 20(2), 101-106.
Pandve, H. (2016). Qualitative research in Ergonomics: An added advantage. J Ergonomics, 6, e150.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Birth of the Republican Party
The Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Birth of the Republican Party
The video lecture was about the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Birth of the Republican Party; events which occurred from the year 1854 to 1855. From the lecture, I learnt that the Kansas-Nebraska Act was created in 1854, it repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and allowed these two new territories to decide whether they wanted to be slave or free states (YaleCourses, 2008). This created a huge divide between North and South that would lead to the creation of the Republican Party. The Kansas-Nebraska Act was designed by Stephen Douglas to get rid of slavery in these two new territories. To start, Douglas challenged William L. Dayton’s amendment to create an anti-slavery political party at the territory’s convention by stating that these territories were open to slavery. Kansas and Nebraska were the two new territories that had been created by the Kansas-Nebraska Act (YaleCourses, 2008). The Missouri Compromise had been passed, which was a deal between President Millard Fillmore and Congress to settle the issue of slavery in the country. The deal allowed slavery in Missouri, but it also prevented it from spreading any further or affecting slavery in other states.
I also learnt that after the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed, two pro-slavery and two anti-slavery political parties were created. The former of the two pro-slavery parties was for slavery and the latter for anti-slavery (YaleCourses, 2008). The anti-slavery party was not a legal party because there was no way for them to represent their people. The Democratic Party ran on a platform stating that they would oppose any state or territorial laws that made it free territory by popular sovereignty, meaning that people in the territories themselves would decide whether it should be a free or slave territory. The Kansas-Nebraska Act also created a new political party, the Republican Party which supported slavery in all territories and opposed any form of abolition. Douglas led the Republican Party to victory over the Democratic Party in the 1856 presidential election. However, because a majority of voters in the territories did not vote for Douglas, defeated by Stephen Douglas. The Kansas-Nebraska Act had been passed, which was a deal between President Millard Fillmore and Congress to settle the issue of slavery in the country. The deal allowed slavery in Missouri, but it also prevented it from spreading any further or affecting slavery in other states. After Kansas and Nebraska became free territories, political pressure grew stronger against slavery within that portion of the North that would soon become states (YaleCourses, 2008). In 1854, three years before Kansas and Nebraska became free territories, Stephen Douglas challenged William L. Dayton’s amendment to create an anti-slavery political party at the territory’s convention by stating that these territories were open to slavery. After President Fillmore signed the bill, Kansas and Nebraska became free territories which made them much more appealing than a slave territory. This meant that more people from the north would settle there, thus increasing the chances of those territories becoming free states. The growing controversy surrounding slavery caused immense political pressure within a portion of the North that would soon become states.
When people were talking about Democratic party before the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed, most people thought that it was going to be beneficial for all of them. However, in my opinion, when looking at it from this perspective, although the act was passed, it caused a lot of controversy in the country and divided people further. Additionally, it caused a further divide between North and South which led to the creation of the Republican Party.
References
YaleCourses. (2008 November, 21). “A Hell of a Storm”: The Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Birth of the Republican Party, 1854-55. [Video file]. YouTube.
The juvenile system of Georgia
The juvenile system of Georgia
Name
Professor
Course
Date
Crime is an everyday occurrence within any set up of a community; the culprits are not restricted to any gender, race or age. Long time ago the justice system did not recognize if the person who had committed the crime was a child or an adult, as a result the young offenders were jailed together with the adults. The jailing together of the young convicts together with the adults had some effects such as the young convicts’ were molested, some ended up being taught new crimes. As a result of those happenings, the need for a separate system was deemed necessary thus the creation of the juvenile system (Rosenheim, 2002).
Juvenile system history
The first ever juvenile house in the United States of America was formed in the year 1824 in New York. The house was known as the house of refuge, after the success of the house other states soon followed suit and opened juvenile centers. The idea of just having a juvenile house was not enough, guided by research on child development which had taken place in the early 18th century, some reformers pushed for the formation of juvenile courts. The reformers were of the opinion that the juveniles should be rehabilitated rather than being punished. The cook county based in the state of Illinois became the first to establish a juvenile court in the year 1899, within the first 30 years of establishment of the Juvenile court other states followed (Rosenheim, 2002).
The difference between the juveniles courts and the other adult courts was unlike the adult courts where the proceedings was held according to the crime committed, the juvenile courts focused on the offender and thus arriving at the options that would facilitate the rehabilitation of the youth. In simple terms the juvenile courts were “civil” unlike the adults which were “criminal.” The juvenile courts were formed on the basis of “parens patriae” , that enabled the courts to make decisions that would not hurt the juvenile but reform the juvenile just the same way apparent would do to a child (Rosenheim, 2002).
Just like many states within the United States of America, Georgia also has juvenile services to help deal with the cases of crime among the youth. The first juvenile court in Georgia was established in the year 1911 in the Fulton County. The numbers of court has risen to about 92, while the juvenile facilities have risen to about 26, with every county within Georgia having a juvenile facility. All the facilities with about 4,000 employees have the responsibility of ensuring that the youths held at the facilities are taken care of. The juvenile department of Georgia is divided into four regions and eleven districts for easy management of both the secure facilities and the juvenile courts. The juvenile system of Georgia provide short and long term secure services, the centers that provide the short term facilities are known as (RYDCs), while the long term facilities are known as the (YDCs). The Regional Youth Detention Centers (RYDCs) are used to hold the youths awaiting trial and those waiting to be transferred to the Youth Development Campuses (YDCs). The YDCs are used to hold the youths who have been sentenced by the juvenile courts (Rosenheim, 2002).
Objectives of the research
The objective of the research is to find out:
Problems that have been facing the juvenile system in Georgia
Sociopolitical contributions to the problems
Multidisciplinary connection with criminal behavior
Theoretical ways that can solve the contemporary problems within the juvenile justice system
Proposed solution to the problems
Research Methods and design
My research is aimed at the people who work for the juvenile systems, those youths who have gone through the juvenile system. A significant amount of money is spent on the juvenile facilities; more and more youths are being sentenced to the juvenile secure facilities everyday. Research shows that some of the youths who have served time at the secure facilities still commit the offences that they committed (Rosenheim, 2002).
To assist in the research I managed to interview 5 people. Tony a youth who at one time was held at one of the secure facilities for the crime of Carjacking while armed, Dick who was held at one of the facilities for drug trafficking, and Charley who was held for arson. The other people were Vincent, who is a guard at one of the facilities and Connie an employee at the girls’ facility. I chose to work with this group of people as they had the direct connection with the juvenile system, some were employees of the juvenile system, thus enforcers of the law. Others had at one time gone through the juvenile system thus had the experiences of being in such institutions.
I asked the respondents in my research some questions that were able to bring out their thoughts on the juvenile system. For instance I asked a question such as do you know the functions of the juvenile system. The response I was able to get from the respondents enabled me to zero in on the problems facing the juvenile system as a whole. From the interview most people saw the juveniles’ centers as not a good idea, even though they appreciated the juveniles’ court. This will be able to come out in the course of the interview. The questions that I had written were used to conduct the research, as the discussion will show most people view the juvenile system.
Limitations of the research
The possible limitation of the research is the sample size was vey small and it cannot be able to be used to make a judgment on the juvenile system. During the interview I was able to notice that some of the respondents were giving very brief answers to some of the questions that I asked them as if they were in a hurry. That makes me feel that some of the answers given were not entirely sincere. Some of the questions were very personal that some respondents felt uncomfortable answering them, which meant that I had to skip them altogether or ask them later sometimes I had to rephrase the questions. Such an experience made me doubt some of the answers given in such a situation. Some respondents’ kind of exaggerated the situation in the juvenile system thus making the system look bad than it was actually was. Some of the questions were not answered satisfactorily by the respondents, which forced me to ask the questions all over again. That further made me doubt if the answers given were true. Some of the respondents gave answers they thought I wanted to have; in so doing they thought that they were being helpful.
Findings
My research revealed that most of the youth who ended up in the juvenile secured centers committed the crimes that they did because they were criminals, but some were pushed into crime by adults. Poverty was another factor that made some of the youths venture into crime, per pressure was the most outstanding reason why some of the youths committed crimes. Tony who was charged with armed carjacking and sent to the secured center explained to me that he became involved in carjacking as a result of the situation at home. His father is a drunk who do not care whether they go to school or not, his mother is a bartender and most of the time is not at home. His father is very violent when drunk who means the mother cannot stay at home even when of duty; Tony was forced to abandon his home and went to live with some young men. With no money to buy the latest trends of clothes and no one willing to give it to him, Tony joined the young men in carjacking so as to sustain himself.
Dick the other youth who was put in the secured centers gave her story explaining that it was his father who was using him for drug trafficking. Both of parents are drug users as well as drug drugs sellers, which meant that he had to do as told by the parents or face being thrown out of the home. From the two cases above involving Tony and Charley the youths were forced into crime by the situations back at their homes. Charley was involved in burning down the school library due to pressure from some of his peers who told him that in order to join the group he had to do something brave (Benekos, 2004).
Problems facing the juvenile systems in Georgia
The point that all the three former juveniles agreed to was that for the Juvenile secured centers to have an impact on the youth behavior more funs needs to put into the holding centers. Most of the centers both long term and short term are overcrowded. The reduction of the amount of funds through legislations has really affected the juvenile system in Georgia (Benekos, 2004).
Some of the juvenile are filled up with some youths who are first offenders with no possibility of being a danger to the community or any likely hood of reoffending. That means that some youths who had committed “small offenses”, most of them ends up in the centers for crimes that could have been handled from the outside with more effective and positive results. Another problem that was rampant was molestation especially on the facilities holding the female; some of the female were using sex to get favors from the male guards, some trials took a very long time (Benekos, 2004).
Conclusion
The juvenile system can only be beneficial if it rehabilitates the youths and make them better persons in the community. The facilities are of immense importance in the community but they should not be used as the dumping grounds for the young offenders in the community.
Recommendations
In order to facilitate proper rehabilitation of the youth in the secured centers more funds should be availed that would help in expanding the current centers. The juveniles who present low risk to the society should not be held in the secured institutions but should be left among the other people in the community but under surveillance or probation. Contact between the male custodians and the female juveniles should be minimized to avoid molestation.
Interview Questions
Juvenile system
Question 1: Do you know what the juvenile system is all about? If you do please explain
Question 2: Have you ever been sent to a juvenile institution for any crime? (If yes) what was the crime, and for how long were you held?
Question 3: What do you think about the juvenile system in Georgia?
Question 4: Do you think the juvenile system is achieving its goal of changing the behaviors’ of the youth
Question 5: What do you dislike most about the juvenile system in Georgia?
Reference
Benekos, P. J., & Merlo, A. V. (2004). Controversies in juvenile justice and delinquency. New York: LexisNexis.
Rosenheim, M. K. (2002). A century of juvenile justice. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
(Rosenheim, 2002)