The impact of high performance work practices on project performance. a case study of construction companies in South Africa

Abstract

A vast amount of research advocates that a tight link exits between high performance work practices (HPWPs) and organisational performance. Nonetheless, a detailed study indicating which of these practices offers significant performance in relation to multi-project environments is still lacking. Importantly, project performance is a measure of success in multi-project environments evident in construction firms. The objective of this study is to determine the impact of HPWPs’ bundles namely: recruitment and selection (RS), training and development (TD), performance appraisal (PA) and compensation system (CS) on project performance in the construction multi-project companies in Cape Town, South Africa. In this study, perceptual data was obtained using a questionnaire survey of 63 participants working as project team members and administrative staff respectively in select construction companies in Cape Town, South Africa. Stratified and convenience sampling techniques were used to selected the participants. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics with the help of SPSS, version 24.The statistical results show that out of the four HPWPs, only CS has a significant association with project performance.