Project practitioners' competency in Malaysian construction industry

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate which competencies are perceived importance by the project practitioners in order for them to perform accordingly towards achieving project objectives. At the same time, the study also allows the opportunity to evaluate their keenness on self-learning which is important for project practitioners to continuously enhancing their skills. Questionnaires are distributed at one of Malaysian Government Department, which is responsible for the construction of government infrastructure projects in the country. Total of 179 respondents gave their feedbacks during a training, a workshop and talk events. Six (6) types of competencies were measured. The findings indicate that three most important competencies perceived by project practitioners are Behavioral, Technical Generic and Generic competencies. On top of that, feedbacks on self learning elements shows that the project practitioners are agreeable and aware on the importance of learning and are willing to take up their own time to learn by themselves. This study revealed the behavioral competency is the most importance competency perceived by the project practitioners. With this information, the Department could plan the project practitioners’ development programs more effectively and drive the motivation to learn continuously. Effective learning creates skilled human resources who could withstand the competitive environment in the construction industry.