Enhancing Leadership Capability and Organizational Skills Among Young Construction Engineers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24191/e-aj.v15i1.10755Keywords:
Leadership capability, Organizational skills, Young engineers, Construction industryAbstract
Significant changes in the generation of the Malaysian construction industry is that the older engineers are moving into retirement, and the newer workers are assuming top-level positions at an earlier age in their career. The shift has increased the requirement for efficient leadership and organizational abilities and potential, particularly involving multidisciplinary groups, the management of complex projects, and pressure-based judgment. The paper examines the leadership skills, challenges, and growth needs of young engineers in the Malaysian construction business. A Likert-scale structured questionnaire was applied using the quantitative design on 42 construction practitioners. It was revealed that the most relevant leadership skills were communication skills (78.57%), then problem-solving (69.05%), decision-making (66.67%), teamwork and collaboration (64.29%), and time management (57.14%). Conversely, the lower significance was given to technical knowledge (54.76%), adaptability (45.24%), and emotional intelligence (35.71%), underlining the increased focus on the soft skills in conjunction with technical competence. The main issues were found to be the lack of experience in the workplace, the inability to cope with work pressure, and communication issues, as well as an imbalance between academic education and requirements in the industry. The correlation analysis showed that leadership capabilities were not independent and instead were interrelated. Close relationships were found between competencies related to confidence, and the relationships between communication and motivation, integrity, and conflict-handling ability were moderate and strong, which accentuate the central role of communication in leadership effectiveness. As to the development strategies, practical site experience got the highest mean score (M = 4.740), then mentorship programmes (M = 4.590), self-learning (M = 4.521), and leadership workshops (M = 4.493), and the significance of experiential and relationship-based learning is emphasized. In general, the results demonstrate the necessity of the integrated system of leadership development, including the combination of technical, interpersonal, and experiential learning, to train the young engineer to be a successful leader in the construction industry.Significant changes in the generation of the Malaysian construction industry is that the older engineers are moving into retirement, and the newer workers are assuming top-level positions at an earlier age in their career. The shift has increased the requirement for efficient leadership and organizational abilities and potential, particularly involving multidisciplinary groups, the management of complex projects, and pressure-based judgment. The paper examines the leadership skills, challenges, and growth needs of young engineers in the Malaysian construction business. A Likert-scale structured questionnaire was applied using the quantitative design on 42 construction practitioners. It was revealed that the most relevant leadership skills were communication skills (78.57%), then problem-solving (69.05%), decision-making (66.67%), teamwork and collaboration (64.29%), and time management (57.14%). Conversely, the lower significance was given to technical knowledge (54.76%), adaptability (45.24%), and emotional intelligence (35.71%), underlining the increased focus on the soft skills in conjunction with technical competence. The main issues were found to be the lack of experience in the workplace, the inability to cope with work pressure, and communication issues, as well as an imbalance between academic education and requirements in the industry. The correlation analysis showed that leadership capabilities were not independent and instead were interrelated. Close relationships were found between competencies related to confidence, and the relationships between communication and motivation, integrity, and conflict-handling ability were moderate and strong, which accentuate the central role of communication in leadership effectiveness. As to the development strategies, practical site experience got the highest mean score (M = 4.740), then mentorship programmes (M = 4.590), self-learning (M = 4.521), and leadership workshops (M = 4.493), and the significance of experiential and relationship-based learning is emphasized. In general, the results demonstrate the necessity of the integrated system of leadership development, including the combination of technical, interpersonal, and experiential learning, to train the young engineer to be a successful leader in the construction industry.
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