Motivation among construction workers in Turkey

The role of management is to apply organisational resources to achieve organisational objectives. The nature of commercial enterprise necessitates the desire for increased productivity and efficiency, and workforce motivation is acknowledged to be an influencing factor in these areas. Theory suggests that motivational factors follow a hierarchical format where higher level needs become dominant when lower level needs have been fulfilled, and improvements in motivation are facilitated more effectively through the higher level needs. This study looks at factors affecting the motivation of workers on Turkish construction sites. 370 construction workers were asked in a questionnaire to give examples of positive and negative factors which affect their motivation at work. It was found that money earned is the foremost motivating and de-motivating factor in the eyes of the construction workers. As a result it is suggested that workers on Turkish construction sites are managed in a way which limits their opportunities to fulfil higher level needs, and in order to increase worker motivation, and therefore productivity, the management of such workers should move away from control through external means and towards control through internal and cultural forces.