Table 5 Factors on productivity in... | Emerald Publishing

Table 5

Factors on productivity in construction: core themes

Rank^a	Core theme	Factor count^b	Description
1	Worker motivation and welfare	34	Both tangible rewards (timely payment of salaries, bonuses, and benefits; financial incentives) and intangible factors (recognition programs, job satisfaction, participation in decision-making, work appreciation, and respect). This category also includes working conditions such as accommodation facilities and work environment quality (e.g. Ardila et al., 2024; Rouhanizadeh and Kermanshachi, 2021)
2	Supervision and management quality	17	Supervisor competency and leadership qualities, site management efficiency, quality of supervision, and management planning capabilities. This factor addresses both the presence of skilled supervision and the detrimental effects of inadequate or incompetent management practices (e.g. Han et al., 2024; Hamza Momade et al., 2023)
3	Labour skill, training, and experience	16	Current workforce capabilities (existing skill levels, construction experience, educational background) and workforce development strategies (training programs, learning opportunities, career advancement pathways). The factor highlights both skill shortages and inadequate training as critical productivity constraints (e.g. Adebowale and Agumba, 2023c; Hamza et al., 2019)
4	Design and engineering factors	15	Drawing quality and completeness (incomplete drawings, technical errors), design clarity (unclear project scope, incomplete specifications), constructability issues (buildability problems, design complexity), and coordination challenges among design disciplines. These factors consistently emerge as significant barriers to productivity through their downstream effects on construction execution (e.g. Lindhard et al., 2025; Kirby et al., 2022)
5	Financial and payment issues	13	Payment timeliness (delayed salaries, payment defaults, late remuneration), compensation adequacy (wage levels, remuneration scales, economic conditions of workers), and organisational financial stability (financial capability, financial security) (e.g. Hamza Momade et al., 2023; Jian et al., 2025)

Rank^a	Core theme	Factor count^b	Description
1	Worker motivation and welfare	34	Both tangible rewards (timely payment of salaries, bonuses, and benefits; financial incentives) and intangible factors (recognition programs, job satisfaction, participation in decision-making, work appreciation, and respect). This category also includes working conditions such as accommodation facilities and work environment quality (e.g. Ardila et al., 2024; Rouhanizadeh and Kermanshachi, 2021)
2	Supervision and management quality	17	Supervisor competency and leadership qualities, site management efficiency, quality of supervision, and management planning capabilities. This factor addresses both the presence of skilled supervision and the detrimental effects of inadequate or incompetent management practices (e.g. Han et al., 2024; Hamza Momade et al., 2023)
3	Labour skill, training, and experience	16	Current workforce capabilities (existing skill levels, construction experience, educational background) and workforce development strategies (training programs, learning opportunities, career advancement pathways). The factor highlights both skill shortages and inadequate training as critical productivity constraints (e.g. Adebowale and Agumba, 2023c; Hamza et al., 2019)
4	Design and engineering factors	15	Drawing quality and completeness (incomplete drawings, technical errors), design clarity (unclear project scope, incomplete specifications), constructability issues (buildability problems, design complexity), and coordination challenges among design disciplines. These factors consistently emerge as significant barriers to productivity through their downstream effects on construction execution (e.g. Lindhard et al., 2025; Kirby et al., 2022)
5	Financial and payment issues	13	Payment timeliness (delayed salaries, payment defaults, late remuneration), compensation adequacy (wage levels, remuneration scales, economic conditions of workers), and organisational financial stability (financial capability, financial security) (e.g. Hamza Momade et al., 2023; Jian et al., 2025)

Note(s):

^a

Rank is based on the number of times the factors were cited across the reviews

^b

Factor count is the number of times a factor was cited across the reviews