Title: Investigating the role of human resource management in assisting the employee replacement process within the construction industry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Authors: Malik M.A. Khalfan; Nawaf Alshanbri; Tayyab Maqsood

Addresses: Department of Civil Infrastructure & Environmental Engineering, Khalifa University, P.O. Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, UAE ' School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia ' School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia

Abstract: The effectiveness of human resource management (HRM) in sustaining knowledge management (KM) and the role of both KM and HRM in supporting employee replacement processes are the main objectives of the study presented in this paper. This research through literature review and qualitative case studies examined the impact of KM and HRM strategies on organisational effectiveness during employee replacement program, called Nitaqat in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The lost knowledge as a result of this turnover on a large scale as a 'country scale' is the topic that will be discussed and presented in this paper. Nitaqat as a localisation program that has been forced by the Saudi Ministry of Labour has caused mass employees' turnover, affecting knowledge retention in many private companies. For the purpose of avoiding knowledge loss while maintaining the competitive advantage of intellectual capital, the research investigated KM-HRM links responsible for any adequate employee replacement process. This paper presents specifically the discussion and analysis of interviews done with the HR managers from construction companies to understand the impact of Nitaqat progam within the construction industry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Keywords: employee turnover; human resource management; HRM; knowledge transfer; localisation; Nitaqat; employee replacement; construction industry; Saudi Arabia; knowledge management; knowledge retention; intellectual capital.

DOI: 10.1504/IJKMS.2016.080247

International Journal of Knowledge Management Studies, 2016 Vol.7 No.1/2, pp.117 - 135

Received: 16 Jun 2016
Accepted: 21 Aug 2016
Published online: 08 Nov 2016 *

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