DỰA vào các học THUYẾT PHÂN TÍCH các NHÂN tố ẢNH HƯỞNG đến GIỮ CHÂN NGƯỜI LAO ĐỘNG TRONG CÔNG TY e

DỰA VÀO CÁC HỌC THUYẾT PHÂN TÍCH CÁC NHÂN TỐ ẢNH
HƯỞNG ĐẾN GIỮ CHÂN NGƯỜI LAO ĐỘNG TRONG CÔNG TY
FACTORS INFLUENCING THE EMPLOYEES RETAINING IN
ORGANIZATIONS

CONTENTS
Part I. Maslow Hierarchy of needs and Vroom’s Expectancy Theory,
Porter&Lawelr’s Expectancy Theory.................................................................2
1. Maslow Hierarchy of needs.......................................................................................2
2. Vroom’s Expectancy Theory, Porter & Lawler’s Expectancy Theory........................3
Part II. Human Resource At Construction Companies ...............................................5
1. Analyzing the needs and factors influencing the leaving decision of
employees at construction companies..........................................................................5
2. Analyzing the needs and factors influencing the leaving decision of employees
at construction companies.............................................................................................7
Part III. Strategies To Retain Talented Empoyees................................................................8
1. Assuring that the jobs are appropriate with the employees........................................8
2. Emphasizing the importance of the employees to the company................................8
3. Creating attractive challenge......................................................................................9
4. Recognition and worthwhile rewarding.....................................................................9
5. Building and maintaining good relationships with employees...................................10
6. Paying attention to work-life balance and personal life of employees.......................10
7. Connecting the employee’s efforts with their respective goals..................................10
8. Maintaining good relationships with the employees who leave the company...........11
Part IV. Conclusion..............................................................................................................12
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Part I
MASLOW HIERARCHY OF NEEDS AND VROOM’s EXPECTANCY THEORY,
PORTER&LAWELR’s EXPECTANCY THEORY

1. Maslow Hierarchy of needs
Maslow's hierarchy of needs was proposed by psychology professor – Abraham
Maslow in his 1943 paper “A theory of Human Motivation” and has become one of the
most important theories in Business Management.
According to Maslow’s theory, basically, human needs are divided into 2 main
groups: basic needs and Meta needs.
Basic needs involves human’s physiological needs i.e. food, water, sleep, shelter
etc. These are fundamental needs. In the absence of these needs, human cannot survive
thus they would fight to have these and survive.
Higher-levels needs are called Meta needs. These needs involves psychological
factors i.e. demanding for fairness, care, happiness, social status, respect, individual
recognition
Basic needs are usually prioritized to be satisfied first then the Meta needs go
after. For any particular human, without food and water and other basic needs, they will
not care about needs for beauty and respect
There are 5 levels in Maslow hierarchy,
in which human needs are listed in a
pyramid order
Basic needs at the lower levels
of the hierarchy need to be met first
before pertaining to higher level needs.
Higher level needs will arise and will
grow stronger upon the satisfaction of
lower-level

stages

in

Maslow’s

hierarchy of needs


First level: physiological needs – water, food, shelter, sex, breath, digestion
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Second level: safety needs – This includes personal security, financial security,



health security, Safety net against accidents/illness and their adverse impacts.
Third level: Love/Belonging needs - interpersonal and involve feelings of



belongingness. Humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance. They need
a happy family and reliable friends.
Fourth level: esteem needs - This involves the need to be respected, accepted and



trusted
Fifth level: self-actualization - This level of need pertains to what a person's full



potential is and realizing that potential. Maslow describes this desire as the desire to

become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of
becoming.

2. Vroom’s expectancy theory, Porter & Lawler’s expectancy theory
A person will decide to behave or act in a certain way because they are motivated
to select a specific behavior over other behaviors due to what they expect the result of
that selected behavior will be. This is the main content of the Expectancy theory
proposed by Professor Victor Vroom – Professor at Yale school of management – Yale
university in 1964. This theory was later added, edited and completed by 2 scholars –
Porter & Lawer in 1968. It has become the most important theory in the theory of
Organizational Behavior, complementing for Maslow hierarchy theory.
Expectancy theory is based on the following formula:
Expectancy x Instrumentality x Valence = Motivational Force
*, Instrumentality (Reward) = Instrumentality is the belief that a person will receive a
reward if the performance expectation is met (What is my reward?)
*, Expectancy (Performance) Expectancy is the belief that one's effort will result in
attainment of desired performance goals (How and what I should do to complete the
goal)
*, Valence (niềm tin) = Valence is the belief that one will be rewarded upon their
completion of goals and tasks (if the employers will recognize my efforts).
The outcome of these 3 factors/variables is motivational force. This is the source of
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strength, which the leaders can apply to lead an organization in the way to meet its
goals/objectives. When an employee wants to be promoted, the promotion would be
highly attracted to that employee. If an employee believes that if h/she does a good job
on a timely manner, then h/she will be appreciated; it means that this employee has high
expectation. However, if it comes to the knowledge of that employee that the company
will seek from external source to fill in the vacant position or managerial position rather

than seeking from internal source, that employee would have low instrumentality and it
will be more difficult to motivate this employee for better performance.
V.Vroom model was edited and added. In the process of forming and pushing
motivation, there are 4 basic factors: encouragement, effort, effectiveness and reward. It
is of the manager’s expectation that this process go continuously without interruption
Porter & Lawer’s expectancy theory

There are 3 steps in the process of Expectancy theory: Effort  Performance 
Outcome. In order to achieve the best result, the following methods can be applied:
*, Increase expectation from effort to performance
*, Increase expectation from performance to outcome
*, Increase satisfaction

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Part II
HUMAN RESOURCE AT CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES

1. The position of human resource at construction companies
1.1.

The role of human resource

It is common that the first reaction of companies upon confronting difficulties is cut
down human resource cost. It is expected that the lay-off and cut-down salary would
work in the difficult times. This is one of the biggest misunderstanding in construction
companies, especially in specialized construction companies i.e. hydroelectricity and
industrial construction. It takes quite a long time for a worker to excel the skill of running
crane equipment or an advanced drilling machine which is worth billions of VND. It

takes 2 years to complete the course of technical worker, at least 5 more years to work as
a supporting worker and a bunch of other expenses due to machine error, wrong way of
processing, and the expense of failing the targeted schedule if that employee quit the job.
It also takes a lot of time, money and human resource to replace a key engineer in charge
if a construction site. This can consequently lead to the failure of meeting the quality and
time requirement, and worsely, the company might have to compensate for customers.
For senior manager positions, the failure in retaining talented staff might result in the
disintegration of departments and teams. Such damages are more than enough to make
the leaders understand that human resource is the most treasured asset in an organization.
1.2.

Actual facts at construction companies

a, Human Resource:
The human resource for construction companies are mainly from Vietnam. The workers
qualify from school for technical workers of which the course lasts from 1.5 to 2 years.
Technical/Business/Financial managers might be recruited from colleges and
universities. For those specialized fields i.e. subway, nuclear electricity, highly-precise
industry, after recruiting, the company has to conduct overseas training course, which is
very costly. Besides, the company has to pay other additional cost due to the weak
performance of the new employees when they are newly recruited. Usually, it takes from
2 to 3 years for workers running machines at construction site to excel their job. For
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engineers and accountant, it takes from 3 to 5 years to be really confident with their job.
For managerial position i.e. directors, managers, it takes 7 to 10 years to train one
b, Infrastructure:
It is a striking characteristic of Construction Company that their works are
associated with the construction sites. With advanced equipment as currently, the

construction time has been shortened significantly, thus the infrastructure for employees
is usually just temporary. For hydroelectric site, the time lapse for building and usage is
usually 5 years. On the other hand, these construction sites are often located at remote
areas, which the electric/ water / transportation /school /hospital infrastructure is not
satisfactory. These issues influences quite significantly to the lives of those workers
working there
c, Working environment:
Outcome is the best measurement for the worker’s capabilities and performances
at construction sites. The job of each individual is an integral part of an agreed plan
which details the targeted completion date to meet customer’s requirements. Highpressure working environment creates opportunities for all employees to work and
achieve the targeted position and desired salary by their own capabilities, yet they would
be left out if failing to meet the job’s requirements
d, Working time policy:
Working time of workers at construction sites depend on the targeted completion
date for the site. Depending on the characteristics of the sites, basically, the construction
jobs need to be conducted continuously, regardless of days and nights to guarantee that
the work is being done in accordance with the plan. For example, the work at
hydroelectric construction site is often divided into 3 shifts per day.
e, Salary and remuneration policy:
Depending on the characteristics of each company and each construction site, the
employee’s income varies based on the performance of each individual. In times of
economy difficulties, construction industry is severely influenced. The majority of
construction sites confront the insufficiency of capital, which leads to delay and
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interruption. Therefore, maintaining stable income for employees is a big challenge for
companies
f, Social security:
Besides the policies regarding pension, social insurance as stipulated by the

government, the employees are receiving other allowances i.e. regional allowance,
poison allowance and other supporting policies depending on the current situation of the
company

2. Analyzing the needs and factors influencing the leaving decision of
employees at construction companies
Understanding the needs of employees at any companies is crucial to build an
effective human policy. For construction companies, the analyzing is as the following
2.1. Seniors managers
After a long time working at the company and achieving key positions, those financial
needs, recognition and esteem needs are no longer too important to these groups. Their
career success guarantees them the respect & recognition of colleagues and financial
security. Thus, the decision to leave the company might be influenced by the following
factors:
*, The strategy of the company is no longer suitable: continuous success within a certain
scope of work will lead to boredom, declining interest and creativity. If the company
does not expand its scale and its business fields to bring out new challenges, senior
managers might leave the company to seek out for new opportunities in other fields.
*, The company structure is not transparent and clear in determining responsibilities and
rights of managers
2.2. Managers and middle-level staff
According to human resource reports of some construction companies, middlelevel staff and managers under the age of 35 belong to the group with highest turnover
rate. There have been many reasons explaining these i.e. family reasons, unsecure
finance, not-so-good remuneration package. However, there is another reason which
arises from the employers, of which they do not communicate clearly with employees to
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make employees understand their roles in the company and their career path in the
company.

2.3. Direct workers at construction sites
For direct workers at construction sites, the most important factor is income. In
order to have income, job must be available. Thus, it is the employer’s job to provide
sufficient jobs for workers if the company wants to retain them.

Part III
STRATEGIES TO RETAIN TALENTED EMPOYEES
Retaining good employees is among the top priority of the managers, since if the
company fails to keep them, the company would face particular difficulties

1. Assuring that the jobs are appropriate with the employees
In order to do this, the managers should consider the employee’s passion, skills,
capability, experience, motivation and desire of the employees. Focusing only on making
a match between their skills and their jobs is not enough
For example, upon realizing that an employee’s skills and experience match with a
new job of the company, but he does not seem to be interested with that kind of job, the
managers tend to make negative impact on both the employees and the company. He
would not be motivated to perform the job the best as he can and he might quit because
he feels that the company do not adequately recognize his ability. If a manager assigns a
constructing worker to run an excavating machine, it is very likely that the machine will
be broken, let alone work accident might happen

2. Emphasizing the importance of the employees to the company
The employees will feel more belonging to the company if they feel that their job
can have a good contribution to the company’s development
One of the reasons making the employees quit the job is that they are not clear
about what the company is doing and how their job contributes to the company.
Insufficiency of information reduces job independence and creativity. In the absence of

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understanding the company’s requirement for them, they will work just at an acceptable
level, which then make it difficult for other ones
There are many ways to communicate with employees. A successful example can
be listed as the case of Mr. Simon Cooper – President of Ritz Carlton. He built a
corporate culture at Ritz Carlton, in which the employees are respected and encouraged
to better do their job and increase their commitment with the company. Every morning,
every branches of Ritz Carlton spend 15 minutes to share interesting stories, information
and tales of good employees, so that the job passion is transferred from managers to
employees and gives the employees the chance to know more about each other. If you
ever visit Ritz Carlton, it will be noticed that Ritz’s employees are happier than those
with the same salary at other companies

3. Creating attractive challenge
Giving too much favor to an employee or “pampering” them with simple job can
make them bored and gradually lose creativity, enthusiasm and motivation for the job
John Makerte and “Super Star club” is a good example. John Makerte – president
of Allied Breweries – beverage group, set requirements for employees to remember
frequent customers and their favorite drinks. Any bartender who manages to remember
the name and drink of 100 customers, h/she will be rewarded with a badge and a bonus
and their name will be added to the “Super Star Club”. At first, this challenge was
thought to be impossible to apply. But later on, many employees have been added to the
club. This has created an enthusiastic working environment in the company

4. Recognition and worthwhile rewarding
Loyalty and respect of employees are not mainly decided by money. Sometimes,
they prefer a public compliment to a bonus
To create motivation for a constructing team to complete the job in accordance
with the schedule, the director promises to give a bonus of VND20 million if the job is

completed on time. If the job is completed 1 day earlier, the bonus would be VND30
million and the compliment notice will be spread out to the whole company as well as to
other constructing teams. That constructing team would be known among the company.
The bonus is not huge but it is certain that the employee’s feeling for their employer will
9


be lifted. And the employers would not have to worry too much about future tasks
assigned to this team

5. Building and maintaining good relationships with employees
A good working and personal relationship with employees is the key factor to win
trust and long-term commitment of the employees. Therefore, besides work, it is advised
that the managers should spend time sharing with employees about daily life.

6. Paying attention to work-life balance and personal life of employees
Even though employees are “hens giving golden eggs”, the company should not
abuse, exploit them and make them work under high pressure. It should not be forgotten
that everyone has personal life and the employees would highly appreciate if the
employers respect their personal life
To those teams working at remote areas, besides assigning tasks, the employers
should understand about the living conditions at the working sites. There are many
factors influencing their decision to quit the job. For example, when an employee in
charge of financial aspect of the site wants to quit, the managers should find out
immediately what makes him want to quit. Is it about the income, or family reasons of
which he wants to spend time taking care of his family? In such cases, the managers can
propose to let him relocate to the company’s head office. By doing this, the company can
retain the employees and it is certain that after resolving his personal matters, he would
be willing to continue the job at the construction site.

7. Connecting the employee’s efforts with their respective goals
A leader needs to understand what their employees value most. What is the
employee’s motive to dedicate their capabilities? Promotion, pay rise or satisfying
personal hobby/passion? Based on these understanding, a manager can connect the
employee’s job with their objectives, which will consequently make them feel that their
personal goals will be met if they continue to pertain to this organization
It should be noted that retaining employees means that the managers should point
out for employees their career path in the organization and this information can be
disclosed internally in the company. It should be made clear to the employees which
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positions they can achieve in a detailed time frame and in the fulfillment of particular
tasks. Upon being fully aware of the career path, they will see the working path more
clearly. Besides, this will make employees more responsible to their particular job and to
the company and will accelerate their dedication to the company.

8. Maintaining good relationships with the employees who leave the company
It is of no happiness to accept the fact that good employees leave the company. However,
to true leaders, the way how the company treats the one who leaves is also a way to
retain the good employees.
In some cases, it is common that the employers tend to deny the efforts and
dedication of those employees who left and even make it difficult for the employees. This
is totally a wrong approach
Usually, there are 2 cases of which the employees leave the company. Firstly, the
employees might be highly capable, but the company has no room for them. Or else, the
employees might no longer be appropriate with the company’s orientation. In this case,
the lay-off process should be done in compliance with regulations to avoid future
conflict.
Secondly, when a good employees want to quit and the company has done all they

can to keep them but do not succeed. Thus, the best thing the company should do is to
make their job-switching process easy and quick. Besides that remuneration they are
entitled to in accordance with regulations, there should be a goodbye party and a small
gift to recognize their dedication and serve as sincere thanks of the company for their
contribution. These gestures would make other employees feel that this company is a
good one to work at. In addition, this would create a good image of the company in the
mind of those employees who quit. This can be considered as a good chance to promote
the company’s image and attract more talented employees in the future

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Part IV
CONCLUSION
Human resource is the most treasured asset of an organization. The development
of an organization can only be guaranteed by a strong human resource with talented,
honest and highly dedicated employees. Understanding human’s needs and behaviors to
figure out effective strategies of employees retaining is an art in the Organizational
Behavior Management, of which the managers need to study and apply flexibly &
effectively. There have been many studies and theories regarding this field. Within the
scope of this assignment, it is expected that we would give readers more information and
experiences in organizational behavior management in construction companies currently
We would like to extend our thanks to MBA PGSM program for providing us with
fruitful knowledge of this field
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References:
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