Critical leadership factors to enhance workers performance in the South African construction industry

Leadership is known to be linked with construction workers’ performance. Literature suggests that construction workers’ morale and engagement are boosted by effective leadership. For South African construction industry to play its part effectively in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of South Africa, increase in productivity is vital. Hence, to achieve this goal we cannot negate the need for quality leadership among our project leaders and construction professionals. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the critical leadership factors essential for the enhancement of construction workers’ performance for effective project delivery in the South African construction industry. The primary research data were collected through the use of a structure questionnaire survey targeted at 81 construction professionals in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. Respondents were selected using purposive sampling technique. Data from the questionnaire were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0 software. Mean values and standard deviation were computed. The ranks of the critical leadership factors to improve workers’ performance were established. Findings from the study revealed that effective communication within the project environment and proper planning of work for the workforce are of the optimum importance for performance enhancement and effectiveness. The study also revealed that the enlistment of subordinates in a common vision by appealing to shared aspirations contributes to optimum performance. It further revealed that good dispute management, continual search for innovative ways of improvement, setting exemplary actions by the leader, proper supervision of work, regular meeting with subordinates, and contingent rewards for job well done are all essential for organisational effectiveness and performance enhancement. The study contributes to the body of knowledge on the effects of effective leadership on project delivery and in turn project success in the South African construction industry. © 2018 The Authors. Published by Diamond Congress Ltd. Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Creative Construction Conference 2018.