Impact of Work Motivation on Construction Labor Productivity

Poor performance of workers is a perennial problem for the construction industry worldwide. While there have been many studies reporting the influence of motivation on construction labor productivity (CLP), much of the evidence has been anecdotal in nature. Therefore, to address this gap, the objective of this study is to explore the relationships between the work motivation of workers and their productivity. The work-motivation scale was adopted for measuring the work motivation of 116 construction workers from 4 construction sites in India. Then, using nonlinear regression analysis, the relationship among their observed productivity and their motivation was established. The study reveals that amotivation, extrinsic regulation (social), introjected regulation, and identified regulation affect CLP. On the other hand, extrinsic regulation (material) and intrinsic motivation do not influence CLP substantially. The study also concludes that by increasing the motivation of workers, their productivity and their probability of staying and working at one particular site increase substantially. In this way, the findings can help training providers focus on and improve the significant motivational attributes of workers influencing CLP at construction sites.