Appointment of HR Business Partner, Construction Organisation

At a Glance

• Sector – Construction
• Location – Perth, WA
• Workforce – 700 employees
• Service – HR Recruitment
• Engagement – Permanent Recruitment

The Challenge

A construction organisation with 700 employees across several active projects needed an HR Business Partner able to operate with real autonomy from day one — the existing HR Manager had no capacity to closely supervise a junior generalist, and project leaders needed someone who could make calls independently.

Our Approach

Civitas used scenario-based interviewing to test for genuine autonomy rather than relying on stated years of experience, presenting candidates with realistic project-site people issues and assessing how independently they’d actually resolve them.

The Solution

The appointed HRBP had previously operated with full autonomy across multiple project sites in a prior construction role, requiring minimal ramp-up before taking ownership of live project HR matters.

Measured Impact

• HRBP operating independently across project sites within an estimated 4 weeks
• Reduced escalations to the HR Manager by an estimated 50%
• Supported onboarding for two new project mobilisations in the first 6 months
• Improved consistency of people processes across previously inconsistent project sites

Client Reflection

We needed someone we could hand a problem to and trust it would be handled properly – that’s what we got.

Why This Matters

Construction HRBPs face a harder autonomy test than most business-partnering roles, since project leaders are rarely on-site with HR support nearby – this appointment shows why scenario-based screening matters more than a standard competency interview for this specific context.

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