An investigation of work-based education and training needs for effective BIM adoption and implementation : an organisational upskilling model

Semaan, J; Underwood, J; Hyde, J

Abstract

Research reveals that organisations in general are keen to provide their staff with the support needed to boost their competency in BIM and subsequently leverage the effectiveness of its implementation. However, employers need a decision-making tool to make better informed investments in specific work-based education and training that addresses the immediate upskilling needs of their employees. Therefore, the aim of this research project is to investigate the significance of Work-Based Education and Training (WBET) needs through the development of an Organisational Upskilling Model (OUM). A comprehensive literature review retrieved 25 hypotheses that were tested for significance from a questionnaire survey completed by 73 AEC professionals working for a large-scale UK engineering consultancy. Based on the current expert sample, the study revealed a holistic inter-organisational agreement that technology training is in high demand. Whereas, the organisational body of knowledge needs only to be better publicised, as employees were unaware of its immediate availability. OUM proved that the most influential variables to BIM Uptake were Attitude (R2 = 0.569 Q2 = 0.395), User Competency (R2 = 0.523 Q2 = 0.369), and Organisational Support (R2 = 0.400 Q2 = 0.233). Informed by their in-house culture, OUM enabled the sponsoring engineering consultant to predict immediate WBET upskilling needs and plan for the required capital investment. However, ‘OUM’ may be applied by any BIM-adopting organisation seeking WBET informed decision-making assistance for better upskilling, continuous improvement, organisational learning, and ultimately business growth.

Citation

Semaan, J., Underwood, J., & Hyde, J. (2021). An investigation of work-based education and training needs for effective BIM adoption and implementation : an organisational upskilling model. Applied Sciences, 11(18), e8646. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11188646

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 7, 2021
• Publication Date: Sep 17, 2021
• Deposit Date: Sep 20, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 20, 2021
• Journal: Applied Sciences
• Publisher: MDPI
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 18
• Pages: e8646
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/app11188646
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/app11188646
• Related Public URLs: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci
• Additional Information: Additional Information : ** From MDPI via Jisc Publications Router ** Licence for this article: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ **Journal IDs: eissn 2076-3417 **History: published 17-09-2021; accepted 07-09-2021