Human resource management practices of real estate companies in the Philippines : basis for framework development / Alma Abueg Tan. 6

Thesis (Ph.D.)-- Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, 2017.;A dissertation presented to the faculty of the College of Business and Government Management Graduate School of Business in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Business Administration. 56

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ABSTRACT: The construction and real estate industry / sector make up around 20% of the Philippine economy and have been thriving in a climate of political stability and upbeat business sentiment, spurred by growth in overseas workers' remittances, investments into business process outsourcing and government spending on infrastructure. The passing into Law of Republic Act 9646 known as The Real Estate Services Act, regulating and professionalizing the practice of real estate service in the Philippines gave a milestone to real estate industry to be one of the drivers of the Philippine economy. However, it also possessed a challenge to the industry particularly in the management of human resources to upgrade the skills and competency of their employees, provide intensive training and welcome new breed of professional real estate practitioners in the real estate industry. This paper aimed to study the human resource management practices of the small and medium-sized local real estate companies in the Philippines as a basis for the development of strategic human resource management framework for the industry. These HR practices include Top Management Involvement and Support, HR and Line Managers Partnership, Vision-Mission-Goals Alignment, Global Mindset of Change, Creativity, Innovation and Dynamism, HR Value Proposition and Engagement for People and Strategic HR Competencies of HR and Line Managers. HR systems were also included in the study such as Recruitment, Selection and Placement, Talent Management and Employee Retention, Performance Management, Learning and Development, Succession Management, Workforce Planning, Employment and Labor Relations, Total Rewards and Recognition, Compensation, Benefits and Incentives, Health Safety and Wellness and Organization Development. This paper also tackled the assessment of the respondent real estate companies toward their company's HR systems and the extent of implementation of the human resource management practices in their respective companies. A SWOT Analysis on the real estate industry was also conducted to identify the industry's current state of small and medium-sized real-estate firms which included Globalization, Technological Complexity and HR Management Initiatives / Tactical Plans. The hypothesis stated that there were no significant differences in the assessment of the respondents in the extent of implementation of human resource management practices in their respective companies. The same results revealed in the assessment of the respondents in the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the human resource management practices and in the assessment of the respondents among the issues and challenges facing human resource management practices in the real estate industry when grouped according to the variables. The researcher limited the study to 198 out of 356 real estate companies that were selected from small and medium-sized real estate companies in the Philippines based on data provided by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Slovin formula was used to determine the sample size. The study used a descriptive type of research methodology backed up by statistical analysis and interpretation. The study examined the profile of the participating small and medium-sized real estate firms through their respective representatives using questionnaires that were validated by selected HR experts from various industries such as government, private sector and from the real estate industry itself. The survey questionnaire was subjected to content and face validity by the HR experts and subjected to a pilot test. The literature search was also used to identify the relevance of this study with other available studies and to connect with relevant issues pertaining to the research question posed. This study also employed the use of Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with selected experts from real estate industry as recommended by qualified HR practitioners. There was a generally low extent level of implementation on the implementation of HR systems among small and medium-sized real estate firms. The HR practices and systems were generally traditional and transactional. Though three (3) HR systems out of eleven (11) were moderately implemented in the said firms, the rest of the HR systems were generally inadequate or were not being implemented at all among the small and medium-sized real estate firms in the Philippines. The SWOT Analysis of the small and medium-sized real estate firms revealed that the industry was labor intensive with flexible recruitment practices that provided attractive commissions, incentives and unlimited income for everybody who were interested to have a bright career in real estate. The small and medium-sized real estate firms showed an overall weakness for both HR practices and HR systems. However, the industry showed lots of opportunities on human resources given their population of many talented sales agents which they used in building opportunities to build a competitive workforce. The threat for the industry is the potential loss of talented sales workforce and the tendency of the industry to enter into a bubble. Overall results revealed a generally poor level of implementation of HR practices among these real estate firms. This results disclosed that HR practices among small and medium-sized real estate firms were generally limited to the line management functions rather than strategic and global functions. The overall t-test results summarized the significant differences on the assessment of small and medium-sized real estate firms of their HR practices and HR systems, which yields almost the same results. The human resources among the small and medium-sized real estate firms have lots of talents and potentials were not honed and harnessed because of the current status of practice and systems.

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