Challenges of Managing Human Resources for Large Infrastructure Projects

Pradeep is a project management practitioner with a vast and rich experience of 25 years in various capacities for the project management of diverse and large infrastructure construction projects.

  Resource Management   Talent Management  

Infrastructure projects normally run over a considerable period of time and require a large pool of various categories of human resources. However, the lifecycle patterns and nature of uncertainty with projects make the management of human resources very challenging, from planning to closeout.

Projects are done through people—the success and failure of the project lies in the hands of people who manage it. But surprisingly, the management of the human aspect of the project is not paid as much importance as technology, processes and finance.

The inherent characteristics of uniqueness and uncertainty—and the temporary nature of projects—make the project work environment unique in many ways, and quite different from other industries. These distinct characteristics of the projects create challenges in managing the human resources associated with them.

Challenge 1: Temporary nature of the job
The projects mostly have either a matrix or projectized organization structure, which are basically temporary structures formed for the duration of the project only. Such organizations are usually discontinued after the completion of the projects, and the people associated with the project either return to their parent department or organization, or move to another project or function—and sometimes to another …

Please log in or sign up below to read the rest of the article.