Exploring the Relationship between Construction Workers’ Communication Skills and Their Productivity

Abstract

In this globally connected world, construction sites are becoming multicultural workplaces. Workers from different places, cultures, and social backgrounds are increasing workplace diversity. However, the literature shows that workplace diversity can have a negative influence on workers’ performance. The findings suggest that, when workers who speak different languages must collaborate on a project, their workplace communication is poor, which ultimately affects construction labor productivity (CLP). To date, this claim has been based only on theoretical constructs, and no empirical research on the subject has been conducted. Therefore, the present study attempts to address this gap by investigating the relationship between the four communication skills of construction workers—listening, reading, speaking, and writing—and CLP. To do so, survey instruments were developed to measure all four communication skills of the workers. Subsequently, the language of the survey instruments was translated into the local language of the workers, and all four communication skills of 114 construction workers were measured. In the next step, the same workers’ productivity was measured directly at construction sites. The data on the workers were collected from six construction sites in India where a training yard facility was available. Through regression analysis, the relationship between the four communication skills and productivity was established. The result is that, of the four communication skills, an increase in listening and writing skills impact the productivity of workers positively, while an increase in speaking and reading skills affect it negatively. Thus, the study concludes that instead of enhancing the speaking skills of the workers, contractors must focus on improving the listening and writing skills of workers to enhance CLP.