The document describes a case study of efforts to improve labor productivity at an army site construction project in Dubai. The site was experiencing low productivity levels among its largely inexperienced workforce. Under the leadership of project manager Cheran M.Nedunjeralathan and with support from SPCS, a three step approach was implemented. This involved pre-training workers, ongoing training and measurement of productivity as work progressed, and mentoring workers. This approach helped increase average worker productivity by over 100% and saved the organization approximately 4,000 man days. Key factors for this success included benchmarking, collaborative working, ongoing performance management, and leadership support.

1. CASE STUDY
ARMY SITE
SPML- Dubai
Case Study on Labour Productivity Enhancement through
Incubation, Monitoring and Mentoring
Case Study Date: April 2015/ Dubai/ SPCS/Army Site-09
Buildings
• To present the role and importance of productivity in a civil
engineering environment
• To evaluate existing methods and techniques of productivity
improvement
• To pinpoint the areas that lead to unproductive work and find
remedies
• To establish the impact of motivation of workers on productivity
• The Army Site is a construction project of SPML in Dubai. The site
is a Configuration of 9 buildings (RB 1 to RB 9) that are being
constructed. Each building is ground plus four floors.
• The average construction area of each building is 17,293 sqm. The
overall all construction area of the project is 1, 55,634 sqm. The
project is being executed with the help of a total workforce of
1350 people. The overall project value is AED 530 Million.
LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY
• The labour productivity on the site was extremely poor for
block work. Majority of the SPML workers hired were fresh to
their trade with very limited skills and experience. This
significantly impacted productivity and overall quality of work
on block work.
• The case study covers the approach taken by Project Manager
Mr.Cheran M.Nedunjeralathan with the support of SPCS
team. Under Cheran M.Nedunjeralathan’s leadership the
team enhanced the productivity level through a focused
approach that involved incubation, monitoring and mentoring
of workforce.
Cheran M.Nedunjeralathan is an experienced project manager.In a
career spanning 28 years he has been involved with major high-profile
projects include Commercial & Residential Projects such as
apartments, Retail & Office Blocks in Dubai and India.
ABOUT THE SITE
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
LEADER BIO
KEY CHALLENGES

2. CASE STUDY
He is a hands on leader who believes in the virtues of training and
team building. These virtues were demostrated in efforts to drive
productivity enhancement at the Army Site in Dubai
He holds a B.E. in Civil Engineering Advance course in Project
Planning and Management System.
• Total number of workers trained = 171 Nos
• Average productivity of all workers at start of project = 2.3 sqm
• Average productivity of workers at post training towards the end of
project = 4.69 sqm
• Total number of training hours across all 5 trainers = 1500 hours
approx.
Percentage Distribution of Workers by Grades
Grades Pre-On Site Training Post Training
A 9% 45%
B 34% 41%
C 51% 14%
D 6% Nil
The site leadership lead by Mr.Cheran M.Nedunjeralathan leveraged the support of the
SPCS team to help drive productivity enhancement. They followed a three step approach
to enabling producitivity enhancement.
Step 1: Pre-training & Incubation:
• All the workers joining the site were put through a structured training program
at the SPCS training Yard in Dubai. This training program was for 15 days and
objective of the training was to provide the skills necessary to execute the task
on site. Most workers were trained on becoming masons and helpers.
• Before training at the yard the worker productivity was measured. This
productivity was then again measured post training. Based on the productivity
levels the workers were graded from A to D. A being the highest grade a worker
can get and D being the lowest.
• These workers were then deployed on site.
Step 2: Onsite Training & Measurement
• Once the workers were deployed on site, it was found that their productivity
was less than the sub-contractors working on site. The team benchmarked the
worker performance with sub-contractor staff and worked as a team to reach
this benchmark.
• SPCS team deployed five senior trainers on site. These trainers started to trainer
workers in batches of 10 as they were working on the site. Each batch was
trained based on the specific skilling needs for that set of trainees.
• The performance of the trained workers was continuously supervised by the
trainers and the same was measured on a daily basis.
• The worker productivity was monitored on a daily basis and the workers were
graded post the onsite training. The revised grades of workers was noted and
used as part of mentoring.
Step 3: Mentoring
• Once a worker’s performance has achieved a benchmark with that of the sub-
contractors, the supervisors on site under the guidance of Mr. Cheran
M.Nedunjeralathan ensured sustained performance. This was done using three
approaches:
o Planning
o Enhanced Skill training and motivation of workers
PRODUCTIVITY DATA
APPROACH

3. CASE STUDY
o Supervision
• The planning aspect involves deploying the resources for the right activity on
site.
• The team focused on continuous skill improvement through the use of workers
and ensuring that the motivation levels are high. This was also done using a
carrot and stick approach. Whenever worker performance dipped, the workers
were made aware that they would be moved to a helper role which would result
in lesser compensation. At the same time, workers with higher productivity
were given recognition through showcasing of the A Grade that is achieved by
them.
• Continuous productivity delivery requires strong supervision. Supervision efforts
at the site were focused on creating an effective work environment and
ensuring collaborative efforts to achieve the end goals of the site.
The following factors were highlighted a critical reasons for low productiivty of workers at
the site:
• Limited skills to do the task at hand.
• Lack of experience of Workers
• Lack of experience of Helpers
• Lack of proper co-ordination between helpers and workers
• Rework due to errors done because of poor skill level
• Lack of team spirit amongst workers
• Lack of recognition of good and efficient workers
• Communication problem among workers and supervisors
• Lack of monetary incentives
• Lack of regular monitoring of worker performance
There were a number of critical succcess factors that resulted in the enhancement of
Labour Productivity at the Army Site. These factors are replicable and can be used across
sites to help drive Labour productivity enhancement
Getting the team on board
• Bringing the SPCS on board early to help drive intervention
• Working with the SPCS team and spending time to thoroughly
understand the end productivity goal- in this case get productivity
level of workers on par with sub-contractor staff.
Defining the project for success
• Benchmarking the productivity levels at the outset with that of sub-
contractors. This helped set a goal for the team to work towards.
• Clear timelines which were rationally set and understood by all
• Leadership of Mr.Cheran M.Nedunjeralathan ensured that all
stakeholders approached the problem with an open and collaborative
mindset.
Creating the culture: collaboration at the heart of success
• Adopting Collaborative Working Principles at every opportunity.
SUCCESS FACTORS
PRODUCTIVITY IMPACT
FACTORS

4. CASE STUDY
• Comprehensive Stakeholder Management and Communications
• Creating a sense of ‘Special’ and consciously build an ‘A’ team
environment.
• Highlighting A grade workers and making it an aspirational goal.
Managing the performance
• Use of qualitative and quantitative KPIs as metrics of productivity
measurement
• Employment of specialized trainers from SPCS to help drive
transformative change in worker productivity
Client leadership
• Client Leadership in clearly defining end user requirements and
creating understanding.
• Client Single Point of Responsibility
• If we take that the project duration was for 4 months. The
improvement in labor productivity of over 103% caused effective
training of workers has helped the organization save
approximately 4000 man days.
OUTCOME