Total people left homeless following above stated earthquakes 750,000

Total estimated damages Several billion USD

Source Akhavan, 2006.

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Considering the significance of these issues, one’s mind might be occupied by the question of why many buildings were destroyed during these past earthquakes in Iran. Some of the destruction is said to be due to inefficient design and lack of standard materials [1], [3] and [4] while many of the buildings with standard materials and proper design were destroyed during the earthquakes because of low quality of construction [5], [6], [2] and [7]. This places blame on the lack of skilled labour in construction projects. However, most of the researches conducted after each earthquake concentrated on the lack of proper design and materials [8] and [2], and little attention was given to unskilled workers in construction sectors. Therefore, it seems human resources, particularly in the area of skilled labour, play a crucial role in the quality of construction projects [1], [2] and [5].

According to the report of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) of Iran, the useful life of building in Iran is about 20–30 years, whereas, it is estimated about 80–100 years in the matter of developed countries [9]. This indicates that the low quality of construction in Iran is a vital flaw that can be overcome.

The authors conducted some interviews with the managers of Khorasan Rzavi Technical Vocational Training Organization (TVTO), Khorasan Rzavi HUD Organization, and Khorasan Rzavi Management and Planning Organization. Unfortunately, there are no worthwhile reports or statistics in regard of the number and percentage of skilled and unskilled labour, who have worked in construction industry of Iran.

2. Background of HRM

Human resource management (HRM) has been broadly defined as a field of organizational activity and professional practice. It has remained a complex and obscure entity, variously interpreted by practitioners and researchers [10]. Slotte et al. understood HRM as ‘‘covering functions related primarily to training, career development, organizational development, and research development. In addition to other organizational HR functions where these are intended to foster learning capacity at all levels of the organization, to integrate learning culture into its overall business strategy and to promote the organizations efforts to achieve high quality performance” [11].

HRM as an academic discipline includes the development of knowledge and expertise, and the enhancement of performance nowadays [12]. A forceful HRM system is also the most valuable asset of 21st century construction companies, as an enterprise’s productivity is closely correlated with its strategies [13]. The development of people, their competencies [aspects of successful professional performance (see Moore et al. [14])] and the process development of the total organization are the main concerns of HRM. With rapid changes in technology, worker’s needs, current market, and competitive environment, planning for human resources have become an important and challenging task for development. HR planning involves plans for future needs of employees, their required skills, acquisition of employees, and personnel development [15].

A quality HR program, personnel examination, and HR appraisement are the three basic areas of concern for modern enterprise HRM [16]. From a UK perspective, the purpose(s) of HRM can be defined as: ‘‘Supporting and facilitating the learning of inpiduals, groups, and organizations…” [17]. According to Sally, American researchers note that, ‘‘The purpose of HRM is to enhance learning, human potential, and high performance in work-related systems”. This definition suggests the performance orientation. Therefore, it is possible to identify different discursive resources being employed to define this complex, dynamic and emerging range of activities, and the dichotomy between learning and performance [18]. This research evaluates the execution of training and motivation methods in HRM practices as well as the performance of the respondent companies. Consequently, the HRM definitions by the American researchers are appropriate for the research.