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Chapter 1: Introduction: Public Human Resource Management in the 21st Century

By:

In: Public Human Resource Management: Strategies and Practices in the 21st Century

Chapter DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781483395784.n1

Subject: Human Resource Management (general), Human Resources, Public Management

Introduction: Public Human Resource Management in

the 21st Century Human resource management is an essential part of any organization, encompassing a wide

range of activities and functions, including sta�ng and recruiting, administration of bene�ts

and payroll, workforce planning, training and development, performance appraisal,

discipline, labor-management relations, and overall employee well-being. In fact, most

employer-employee relations in any organization involve some aspect of human resources.

This is true regardless of whether the organization is in the public sector (government), the

private sector (for-pro�t companies), or the nonpro�t sector. However, public human

resource management (PHRM)—human resource activities at the federal, state, and local

R. Paul Battaglio Jr.

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Summary

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levels of government—can be particularly challenging, as it often entails complex legal

guidelines that apply exclusively to public sector employees and public organizations;

guidelines that human resource managers must understand, abide by, and enforce. It is the

policies, regulations, and practices of PHRM that are the focus of this book.

Furthermore, this text takes a contemporary approach in its coverage of PHRM, recognizing

that over the last few decades, traditional PHRM has given way to quite a di�erent

landscape, one that looks increasingly like the private sector. Beginning in the late 1970s, a

series of reforms has aimed at improving the e�ciency of public services. The impetus for

these reforms has been a critical view of traditional public management practices, especially

of human resource practices. These have often been depicted as archaic and rule bound and

as epitomizing the convoluted practices typical of bureaucracy. Traditional PHRM espoused

democratic ideals and values, emphasized fair and equitable treatment of all public

employees, and protected public employees’ rights. However, traditional PHRM also

conformed rigidly to rules and regulations and was based on a hierarchical structure,

wherein a central personnel o�ce set policy and made decisions that then �ltered down to

divisions or subordinate o�ces. Thus, making hiring and termination decisions in the public

sector was widely viewed as unnecessarily time-consuming. A classic example of the

byzantine human resource process was the rules and procedures governing federal

government hiring outlined in the ten-thousand-plus page Federal Personnel Manual

(Mesch, Perry, and Wise 1995).

The reforms that have been implemented over the last few decades have been referred to

as “managerialist” in their focus or as “new public management.” The in�uence of private

sector practices aimed at improving productivity is a persistent theme throughout these

public sector reform e�orts. These reforms were meant to increase e�ciency and

productivity, and—in contrast to to traditional PHRM, which was more concerned with rules

and proper bureaucratic process—they were results driven. Reformers advocated adopting

greater �exibility in approaching tasks so as to be more e�cient, using more managerial

discretion, and embracing a “whatever gets the job done” philosophy. Such reformers have

become increasingly commonplace in the public sector.

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Given the extent of reform e�orts over the last few decades, managing human resources in

the public sector has become increasingly di�cult to navigate. Changes to civil service laws

at the local, state, and federal levels of government have also created confusion among

those trying to implement human resource changes in their jurisdictions. Practitioners and

scholars are in need of some clari�cation regarding the current state of PHRM to identify just

what are best practices in public human resource management today.

The aim of this text is to provide readers with a foundational knowledge of how PHRM

operates and functions, while also highlighting the changes that have been proposed and

implemented in PHRM, the scholarly debate surrounding those changes, and the impact

they've had on practice. The hope is that by considering the di�culties of navigating the new

landscape of PHRM at federal, state, and local levels, scholars and practitioners will have a

better road map to guide their work and a toolkit for implementing it.

The chapters that follow will develop a concise analysis of the impact reforms have had on

routine practices, addressing changes to pay, bene�ts, employee rights and labor relations,

diversity planning and a�rmative action, and performance appraisal. To achieve this goal,

the text has distilled these changes down to �ve speci�c types of reform that have been

implemented in some form or another throughout the public sector: (1) decentralization, (2)

deregulation, (3) performance-based pay, (4) declassi�cation, and (5) privatization. We will

use these �ve common reform types, which will each be explained and discussed in turn in

the following section of this chapter, as a framework for appreciating the day-to-day impact

these changes have had on PHRM operations. Each following chapter will then utilize the

framework in light of the topic being reviewed; the �nal section of each chapter will o�er

insight into how these reforms have modi�ed practices in the speci�c human resource area

under discussion.

Each chapter will also provide information applicable to nonpro�t human resource practices

through a “Nonpro�ts in Focus” box. While not a speci�c focus of the text, nonpro�t

organizations are often considered in the broader PHRM discussion, and many readers will

appreciate the challenges that managers in these organizations face—challenges that have

intensi�ed since the economic collapse of 2008. Finally, the book will address the future of

PHRM education in graduate and undergraduate programs in light of recent reforms.

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Llorens and Battaglio's (2010) assessment of PHRM education in master's of public

a�airs/administration programs highlighted the shortcomings of graduate programs, which

do not always teach the skills necessary to manage in a reform environment. A continued

focus on more traditional human resource practices portends a future workforce ill-

equipped for taking on future public service challenges. This text takes on these challenges

head on.

Public HRM Reform: An Overview The civil service system—the regulations, processes, and institutions that govern public

employment—is the foundation of public service. Chapter 2 provides a more detailed

account of the evolution of the American civil service system, but here we brie�y discuss two

landmark pieces of legislation that have been fundamental in shaping our civil service

system—the Pendleton Act of 1883 and the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. Both of the acts

marked key points in history when civil service was rede�ned.

Historically, civil service systems based on professional merit were considered an essential

element for government performance (Kellough and Nigro 2006b; Selden 2006). This

practice was formally put into law with the Pendleton Act of 1883, which established a civil

service system that separated routine work from policy and administrative process and that

was based on merit, with open recruitment and competitive examinations (as opposed to

the patronage and nepotism that was pervasive at the time) and political neutrality. These

principles, which emulated the British tradition that had emerged in the mid-19th century,

were deemed essential for e�ective governance.

These principles held for roughly the next century. In recent decades, however, the

traditional association of civil service systems with e�ective governance has been challenged

as being too focused on rules and not focused enough on �nding the right person for the

job. The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 marked the beginning of the current reform era of

PHRM, e�ecting a reorganization of the civil service system and increased managerial

�exibility. Civil service reformers insist that reforming PHRM is crucial for enhancing

government e�ciency (Elling and Thompson 2007; Kettl et al. 1996). Functions such as

planning, hiring, development, and discipline—typically centralized processes common to

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most levels of government— have been challenged by the current wave of reforms; they are

now seen as civil service practices emblematic of bureaucratic in�exibility, ine�ciency, and

ine�ectiveness. Greater managerial latitude has been a�orded politicians and managers

alike over personnel decisions and functions. As mentioned above, �ve distinct reform

themes have emerged over the last three decades: decentralization, performance-based pay,

declassi�cation, deregulation, and privatization, and all have all challenged the traditional

core of PHRM. Table 1.1 provides a summary of the �ve reform themes. In the following

sections, we review the contemporary reform environment and its potential impact on the

traditional core functions of PHRM.

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Table 1.1 Public Human Resource Management Reform Types

Decentralization

Sta�ng and compensation decisions are increasingly being made by agency an

managers.

Termination, transfer, and demotion decisions have also devolved to lower leve

Employment-at-will environments are removing hierarchy-based rules and regu

sta�ng and compensation decisions.

Performance- Based

Compensation is increasingly tied to performance.

Pay There is greater appreciation for e�ective performance appraisal and job analys annual merit increases is being used as a recruitment, retention, and motivation

Salary and bene�ts are increasingly o�ered in nontraditional manners, such as

paybanding.

Classic step-in-grade classi�cation and compensation is eschewed in favor of les

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Decentralization

Traditionally, all sta�ng decisions for a jurisdiction were typically made by a central

personnel o�ce. This process could be time-consuming, as all decisions needed to be sent

up and down the organizational hierarchy for approval. Decentralization entails HR

functions being demoted to the lower agency (i.e., division or department). Turning over

personnel decisions to agency-level HR directors and political appointees is seen as making

government more responsive and e�ective. Decentralization strategies provide managers at

the agency level greater latitude over management issues; they can make decisions more

quickly and independently and do not need to wait for approval. This downward transfer of

responsibility increases managerial �exibility where it is needed most—at the front line.

Decentralization strategies, with their focus on improving innovation and accountability for

personnel decisions at lower agency levels, have been a hallmark of public management

reform in recent decades (Brudney, Hebert, and Wright 1999; Coggburn 2001; Kettl 2000;

Thompson 2001).

At the federal level, decentralization has involved the transition of many programs to lower

levels of government, replacing centralized, rule-bound systems with more agency-speci�c,

manager-centered systems. Decentralization of PHRM functions has been advocated by

reform proponents since the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. This act abolished the Central

Personnel O�ce, which had previously overseen the civil service, in favor of a streamlined,

management-centered agency—the O�ce of Personnel Management (OPM)—under the

president's purview. Since the creation of OPM, the federal decentralization trend has

continued, with greater authority over sta�ng decisions moving to individual federal

agencies while broader, higher-level planning issues remain with OPM.

In the 1990s, reform was spearheaded by the Clinton administration's e�orts under the

National Performance Review (NPR). Spearheaded by then vice president Al Gore, the NPR

was a task force of intellectuals and practitioners of public management whose purpose was

to o�er recommendations for improving government performance. Initially, the agenda was

ambitious, recommending the delegation of recruitment, examinations, position

classi�cation, salary adjustments, performance management, due process procedure

modi�cations, and changes to the dismissal process to federal agencies (Gore 1993;

Thompson 2001). However, political opposition—led by members of Congress sympathetic

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to civil service and labor—prevented any widespread change and resulted in more modest

changes, coming primarily from reductions in the OPM and the elimination of the Federal

Personnel Manual (Na� and Newman 2004).

During the George W. Bush presidency, initiatives at the federal level continued the push for

decentralization. Legislative exemption from Title V of the US Code— the federal legislation

governing civil service protections for federal employees— provided many agencies with the

ability to develop more �exible systems, which in some instances resemble private sector

practices (Woodard 2005, 113). For instance, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 signi�cantly

increased personnel �exibility within the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and

Defense (DOD), giving the secretaries of both agencies greater latitude in managing labor

relations and sta�ng (Brook and King 2008).

A number of state governments have also decentralized HRM decision making, with

variations in which functions (e.g., classi�cation, recruitment, selection, training, labor-

management relations) have been targeted and to what extent (Selden, Ingraham, and

Jacobson 2001). Voter sentiment for improved accountability in government has been a key

component in the demand for greater decentralization, although this force has been

tempered by the political environment and the degree of unionization in the respective

states (Hou et al. 2000).

Decentralization is not without its drawbacks. Hou et al. (2000) asserted that decentralization

at the state level has increased the support, planning, and supervision responsibilities of

state personnel o�ces, overburdening them. Recently, Hays and Sowa (2006) surveyed all

�fty states to determine to what extent the HR function was decentralizing. The authors

found that a majority of states reported some degree of decentralization, often coupled with

additional reform e�orts. Given the extent of decentralization reform, it seems prudent to

take stock of its rami�cations for practice. Each chapter of this book will review the merits of

decentralization in light of the topic under discussion.

Performance-Based Pay

Traditionally, PHRM pay structures were based on longevity or time-in-service, focusing on

career management and advancement instead of employee performance. High-performing

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civil servants were not rewarded, and underperforming employees were not given incentives

to improve. Since the 1980s, the push for greater accountability has resulted in a greater

focus on performance management by rewarding superior performers with pay increases.

Performance-based pay structures have proven to be an attractive alternative to

traditional PHRM practices. Appealing to the logic of market-like mechanisms, proponents of

compensation reform suggest that performance-based pay systems have the potential to

increase employee performance and therefore organizational productivity. A number of

performance-based pay schemes have been implemented by linking individual, team, and/or

organizational performance measurement to �nancial incentives. Financial incentives can be

distributed as increases to base pay (i.e., merit pay), one-time bonuses, or a combination of

the two (Kellough and Nigro 2002, 146). According to Kellough (2006),

Presumably, such a policy would prevent resentment or alienation of the best

employees that could result when their superior contributions are not recognized,

and they receive the same pay as their less-productive colleagues. At the same time,

poorer performers are o�ered an incentive to improve their levels of productivity.

(184)

The federal government tested performance-based pay systems from 1981 to 1993

(Kellough and Nigro 2002). However, government-wide attempts during this period, which

relegated performance-based pay to individual agency-level decisions, proved unsuccessful.

An inability to distinguish poor performance from other levels of performance, inadequate

�nancial support, and insu�cient evidence to con�rm improved performance led to the

demise of federal performance-based pay systems (Perry, Eingbers, and Jun 2009; Perry,

Patrakis, and Miller 1989). More recently, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 granted

authority to DHS and DOD to implement performance-based pay systems. According to

Brook and King (2008), approximately 90,000 of the total 2.7 million federal civilian

employees were covered by performance-based pay systems by 2005 (10).

Despite its problematic history at the federal level, numerous jurisdictions at the state level

have continued to pursue performance-based pay systems (Hays 2004). Hays and Sowa

(2006) noted that more than half of the states they surveyed indicated either implementing

or planning some form of pay reform. GeorgiaGain, the performance-based pay reform in

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the state of Georgia, has garnered signi�cant attention from both practitioners and

academics as a result of implementation problems (Kellough and Nigro 2002, 2006b). Like

pay reform initiatives elsewhere, the Georgia reforms were politically popular, but they failed

to achieve demonstrable evidence of success among state employees. Even though

implementing GeorgiaGain has proven problematic, the state has continued to rely on

performance-based pay for improving employee and agency productivity. In Georgia, as with

in many states, this is often the result of the government's desire to demonstrate legitimacy

to the public—that is, while the evidence for success is sparse, the continued pursuit of

accountability policies in itself is attractive to a public that feels cynical about traditional

government e�ciency (Perry, Engbers, and Jun 2009). Thus, politicians are encouraged to

continue advocating performance-based policies as long as citizens are convinced that

government is broken.

Declassification

Civil service systems have typically employed hierarchical step-in-grade classi�cation

structures as a means for career management. Upon hire, public employees are typically

ranked at a particular grade (and pay) level based on their quali�cations, education, and

experience. Through time-in-service, employees are promoted to higher steps within each

grade, and eventually higher grade levels, receiving better pay as long as they perform

satisfactorily. Grades are classi�ed according to strict job descriptions in a career class

category, and each step, grade, and corresponding pay level is listed in a matrix often called

a “general schedule.”

However, the view of many reformers is that traditional classi�cation structures restrict

hiring authorities’ ability to attract applicants from outside the agency or the broader public

sector. Declassi�cation refers to the easing of the rules that de�ne pay grades in terms of

very speci�c job descriptions. Advocates argue that more open-ended job searches can

exploit a larger, more talented pool of quali�ed applicants whose résumés do not

necessarily match up exactly with the job description.

Broadbanding (or paybanding) classi�cation structures—the collapsing or combining of a

number of traditional grades into a single band—is often employed as a means for

declassi�cation. Managers then hire for jobs with broader descriptions and pay structures

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and have greater �exibility over pay rates both at hire and during the employee's tenure

(Hays 2004; Whalen and Guy 2008). Broadbanding emerged as a result of Title VI of the Civil

Service Reform Act of 1978, which authorized agencies to waive civil service rules in order to

develop innovative new approaches to traditional PHRM functions (Shafritz et al. 2001). It

has its roots in the demonstration projects—that is, limited rollouts of new initiatives on a

small scale before implementing them on a wider basis—commissioned under Title VI, and it

has since been used more widely in government. By compensating employees according to

their unique skills, broadbanding was intended to promote egalitarianism by removing the

distinctions accompanying traditional pay grades and by deemphasizing the centralized

personnel system's insistence on titles and hierarchy.

Classi�cation reform during the Clinton administration was part of NPR's mission to reinvent

OPM and the human resources function (Shafritz et al. 2001). While the Clinton

administration included language in civil service reform legislation that authorized agencies

to pursue broadbanding, labor unions resisted these proposals, viewing declassi�cation

e�orts as encroaching on union authority. As a result, the federal government continued to

rely on authorization for such measures through Title VI (201). However, civil service reform

legislation by the Bush administration post–September 11 included provisions for replacing

the general schedule with pay-banding systems for DHS and DOD (Thompson 2007). As

suggested earlier, these e�orts focus on enhancing manager discretion over compensation

and employee performance, thereby moving away from central personnel authorization.

At the state level, there is a general trend toward fewer job classi�cations (Hays and Sowa

2006; Whalen and Guy 2008). In 2008, Whalen and Guy surveyed all �fty states in an e�ort to

assess the extent of broadbanding. The authors found that civil service systems

implemented broadbanding to reduce job classi�cations as well as promote pay for

performance. While demonstrable evidence of the e�ectiveness of broadbanding is lacking,

Whalen and Guy's work suggests that it is still part of the broader PHRM reform movement

in the states. Among those states utilizing broad-banding, twelve implemented government-

wide broadbanding, and four employed such measures on a limited scale (Whalen and Guy

2008, 1). Additionally, the authors found that eighteen states considered broadbanding but

opted against it.

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Deregulation

Over the last few decades, there has been a general trend in eliminating personnel rules and

regulations—deregulation—in an e�ort to expedite PHRM decisions. Rules akin to the ten-

thousand-page personnel manual regulating federal government sta�ng exist in

jurisdictions throughout the country. Traditionally, civil service systems have a�orded public

employees the right to a hearing (the right to due process of law) as part of the grievance

process. In the spirit of managerial �exibility, reformers have supported severe limitations

to, or outright elimination of, employee procedural due process rights to promote greater

e�ciency and e�ectiveness in public management (Facer 1998). The elimination of the

grievance process is seen as a critical component of streamlining and expediting the

termination of poor-performing employees. The trend toward eliminating such rights

altogether has led to what some have called “radical” civil service reform (Condrey and

Battaglio 2007). These “radical” personnel systems operate under an employment-at-will

(EAW) environment in which employees may be dismissed summarily, for any reason that

does not violate employment law (Muhl 2001). Employees within EAW systems have no

expectation of continued employment, as has traditionally been the case under the

protections provided through civil service systems (Gertz 2007; Kellough and Nigro 2006b;

Lindquist and Condrey 2006). Thus, many public employees now have no guarantee of

procedural due process before discipline or removal (Kuykendall and Facer 2002).

EAW is seen as a means for increasing managerial e�ciency because it removes what some

view as the cumbersome grievance and appeals processes under traditional civil service

systems. Instead of following guidelines that might lead to a lengthy dismissal process—a

process that reform proponents suggest is a waste of taxpayer dollars—managers under

EAW need provide little or no notice before terminating an employee they perceive as

performing poorly.

During the last decade, e�orts at the federal level have sought to curb traditional civil service

system practices, especially through legislation promoted by the George W. Bush

administration in the wake of September 11 (Kellough and Nigro 2005). Federal e�orts have

generally emanated from legislation permitting exemption from Title V, OPM demonstration

projects, and legislative approval of performance-based polices (Woodard 2005, 110). At the

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state level, e�orts to curb employee rights have occurred in Georgia, Florida, and, more

recently, Colorado and Arizona (Hays and Sowa 2006; see also Bowman and West 2007;

Condrey and Maranto 2001; Kellough and Nigro 2006a). EAW reforms in Georgia and Florida

have been the most visible (Battaglio and Condrey 2006; Bowman and West 2006; Condrey

and Battaglio 2007). Georgia has led the “radical” reform trend toward EAW by phasing out

its merit system for all “unclassi�ed” positions (i.e., those not granted protection by the State

Civil Service Board) beginning in 1996. Approximately 80 percent of Georgia's state

employees are now employed at will (Condrey 2002; Condrey and Battaglio 2007; Facer

1998). Florida followed in 2001 with Governor Jeb Bush's Service First initiative, which placed

senior state government managers in at-will status (approximately 13 percent of total

employees; Condrey and Battaglio 2007, 427). As will be detailed in later chapters, some

research suggests that the increased use of EAW policies has had a negative e�ect on

employee motivation and performance.

Privatization

A key component of public management reform, privatization is intended to improve

accountability and quality of service (Kettl 2000; Savas 2000). According to Savas

(2000)privatization entails increased reliance on private sector and nongovernmental (i.e.,

nonpro�t) institutions—rather than government—for the delivery and production of public

sector needs. Indeed, governments at all levels have increasingly looked to the private sector

for the delivery of many HRM functions, such as payroll and bene�ts administration

(Battaglio and Condrey 2006; Fernandez, Rainey, and Lowman 2006; Shafritz, Russell, and

Borick 2007). Proponents of privatization insist that the ine�ciency of rule-bound PHRM

systems presents no alternative but to encourage the increased use of contractors who can

hire new personnel quickly and dismiss poor performers (Maranto 2001, 75).

The rationale for opting out of in-house provision of HRM services mirrors more general

reasons pro�ered for privatization within public management. HR privatization may allow

public agencies to take advantage of larger �rms’ economies of scale or the quality

advantage inherent in specializing in HRM (Fernandez, Rainey, and Lowman 2006, 220).

Moreover, by unburdening current HR employees from more mundane tasks, privatization

has the potential to provide greater �exibility to pursue core functions such as strategic

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planning (Fernandez, Rainey, and Lowman 2006, 220; Rainey 2005). The rationales for

privatization may depend on the degree of di�culty associated with the tasks outsourced

(Coggburn 2007, 317; Rainey 2005). PHRM services associated with more mundane tasks,

such as payroll, are often outsourced as a way of saving money and freeing up personnel to

focus on more strategic functions (Coggburn 2007, 317; Kellough and Nigro 2006a, 320;

Rainey 2005, 706). Looking to the private sector to provide functions such as workforce

planning and performance management, on the other hand, may be oriented not so much

toward saving money as toward tapping expertise not readily available in the public sector

(Coggburn 2007, 317; Rainey 2005, 706). This is especially true when functions are

outsourced to consulting companies (e.g., Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, The Segal

Company), which have entire divisions dedicated to workforce planning.

While the push for private sector involvement in the delivery of public services has received

considerable attention in recent decades, the demonstrable evidence regarding public HRM

privatization (or outsourcing) is scant. Although the public sector has experimented with

outsourcing HRM functions such as payroll and bene�ts administration, consulting, wage

and salary surveys, job analysis, and job evaluation, little is known about the perceived

e�ciency gains from such activities (Coggburn 2007, 316). More recently, the George W.

Bush administration sought to rely more heavily on the private sector through privatization

programs such as the Competitive Sourcing Initiative (CSI), which encouraged government

agencies to consider outsourcing to private contractors. In fact, in 2004 the Bush

administration outsourced the management of the federal government's workforce

recruitment system, USAJOBS, to a private �rm (Llorens and Kellough 2007; Shafritz, Russell,

and Borick 2007, 423).

Governments have sought to outsource some, if not all, of the HR function as a means to tap

private sector know-how and quality. For states, outsourced activities range from speci�c

functions to agency HRM services to HR functions for the entire state. Indeed, state HR

privatization activities have been much more pervasive than those at the federal level. For

example, the �rm Convergys, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, was awarded lucrative contracts to

provide HR functions to the states of Florida and Texas (see Battaglio and Condrey 2006;

Coggburn 2007; Condrey and Battaglio 2007). In the case of Florida, Convergys was awarded

a $350 million, nine-year contract to perform transaction and process functions related to

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bene�ts, payroll, and sta�ng (Battaglio and Condrey 2006, 122–25). In Texas, Convergys was

awarded an $85 million, �ve-year contract with the state's Health and Human Service

Commission to provide many HR-related functions, such as performance management,

recruitment and selection, bene�ts, payroll, and compensation and classi�cation

administration (Coggburn 2007, 319). Coggburn (2007) suggested that these e�orts in Texas

and Florida have motivated private sector interest in soliciting government business and

public sector interest in outsourcing state functions. In both instances, however, the

expenses associated with misuse of public funds, cost overruns, and monitoring proved

detrimental to overall e�ciency. Given the trend toward outsourcing to the private sector,

there is a critical need for managers in the public sector who can e�ectively coordinate

contractual relationships.

Implications for Public HRM Each of these reforms has to some extent dramatically altered the traditional core functions

of PHRM related to merit and equity (Thompson 2001), and they suggest the need for a

signi�cant reassessment of PHRM education. For example, as governments decentralize HR,

moving it out of central personnel o�ces, HR professionals at the agency level are now

burdened with more responsibilities. Without the expertise of central personnel sta�, HR

professionals need extensive training to cope with these new responsibilities. Moreover,

these tasks may be particularly cumbersome for HR professionals in smaller agencies who

lack the greater resources of larger organizations (Coggburn 2001; Hou et al. 2000). With

performance-based pay systems, HR policy makers face di�culties in creating a government-

wide standard given agency di�erences (Hays and Sowa 2006; Kellough and Nigro 2002). HR

professionals need better training in designing and implementing an e�cient performance

appraisal system that accurately rewards the behaviors that contribute to success in the

absence of clear standards. Criticism related to broadbanding often cites the potential for

decentralized pay decisions to lead to increased costs, legal liability, problems with pay

comparability, and a disconnection with the labor market (Hays and Sowa 2006; Shafritz et

al. 2001; see also Whalen and Guy 2008). Thus, HR professionals need adequate training in

competitive compensation practices, salary negotiations, performance appraisal, budgeting,

and labor market analysis.

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The push to further diminish public sector job security through EAW has the potential to

exacerbate recruitment and retention problems. With job security no longer a viable

incentive for public sector employment, HR professionals need to be skilled in novel

methods for marketing to prospective employees, as well as motivating and retaining

employees. For example, federal agencies have begun to use student loan repayment

incentives to recruit younger employees who carry ever-increasing levels of educational debt

(US O�ce of Personnel Management 2008). Guidelines for the student loan repayment

program state that agencies may o�er up to $10,000 in loan repayments per calendar year

but are not to exceed $60,000 in total payments per employee. However, deciding the extent

of payments to be o�ered and whether or not to pair payments with service requirements

necessitates the use of skill sets not commonly covered in the traditional PHRM curriculum.

Also, given the limited or outright removal of due process rights, HR professionals will also

need to be aware of the legal environment of EAW systems (Kuykendall and Facer 2002;

Lindquist and Condrey 2006). Last, privatization of HR functions requires more extensive

knowledge of cost-bene�t analysis and contract management, and HR professionals charged

with contract management need tools to ensure accountability through monitoring, legal

restrictions, competition, cost accounting, and overall evaluation (Siegel 1999, 2000).

Organization of the Book The book is divided into three parts: Foundations, Functions, and The Future. In Part I of the

text—Foundations—the material reviews the underpinnings of modern PHRM, beginning

with this chapter's review of the trends in public service reform: decentralization,

performance-based pay, declassi�cation, deregulation, and privatization. In Chapter 2,

“Evolution of the Public Service in the United States,” the focus is the development on the

modern civil service system. The chapter argues that public service as we know it in America

would not exist without the foundation of civil service law and employee protections,

buttressed by merit-based employment, neutral competence, an open and competitive

examination process, equal pay, and protection against redress for disclosing malfeasance in

government. Chapter 3, “Employment Law in the Public Sector,” reviews current and

previous precedents in statutory law and case law regulating public employment, as well as

the legal implications of recent reforms at the federal and state levels. Public HR managers

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will need to be knowledgeable in this area if they hope to avoid signi�cant costs associated

with settling disputes in court. The �nal chapter in Foundations, “Equal Employment

Opportunity, A�rmative Action, and Diversity Planning,” details how PHRM functions have

incorporated policies to promote and enforce equal employment opportunity (EEO),

a�rmative action, and diversity management. For many public employers, legal uncertainty

and �scal constraints require practical solutions for implementing diversity policies. The

chapter reviews the research in this area and legal precedents for public employers, o�ering

pragmatic advice for coping with the legal environment of diversity.

Part II—Functions—addresses routine activities of PHRM in light of the current era of reform.

Chapter 5, “Recruitment and Selection,” highlights the di�culties of recruiting and

maintaining quali�ed personnel an in increasingly reform-oriented environment. Recruiting

the future public service will be a challenge for HR directors in a declassi�ed and deregulated

climate. In Chapter 6, “Pay and Bene�ts,” e�orts at reforming public sector compensation

have sought to institutionalize performance-based pay and broadbanding, despite evidence

that these approaches may not be the most e�ective (Perry, Engbers, and Jun 2009). The

chapter reviews these e�orts along with the foundation of modern compensation in the

public sector—job analysis. Chapter 7, “Performance Appraisal,” examines PHRM reforms

that have retooled the performance appraisal process. The chapter o�ers insight into how

HR managers might use such approaches in their workplace. “Managing Motivation in the

Public Service,” Chapter 8, looks at e�orts to get public employees to be more performance

oriented. Performance-based pay and employment-at-will are frequently employed to

improve motivation in the public service. However, recent research suggests that these tools

are not as motivationally oriented as previously proposed. Chapter 9, “Labor Relations in the

Public Sector,” reviews the challenges public sector unions and collective bargaining face at

the state and local levels in the contemporary environment of PHRM reform.

In the third and �nal section of the text—The Future—the chapters focus on those issues

that will in�uence future PHRM practices. Chapter 10, “Privatizing Human Resource

Functions in the Public Sector,” considers the increased reliance on both private and

nonpro�t �rms to provide HR functions in a bid for greater e�ciency. To be sure,

outsourcing has proven to be productive in many instances. However, in a number of

instances, public/private sector arrangements have not proven fruitful, resulting in both

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waste and legal complications. The chapter means to improve upon the best of what

government and business have to o�er the public service. In Chapter 11, “Human Resource

Information Systems,” the impact of information technology on PHRM is considered,

especially in light of the trend toward knowledge management as a key component of

successfully navigating the information age. HRIS has proven to be an important tool for

public HR managers who are tasked with human capital management and workforce

planning. Thus, HRIS has the potential to serve as a vital tool in public sector e�orts to think

strategically—the topic of Chapter 12, “Strategic Public Human Resource Management.”

While the literature on strategic human resource management (SHRM) is broad and

expansive, this chapter seeks to provide an introductory overview of the potential

contribution of a human capital management approach to the public sector. The chapter

considers the merits of strategic planning, improving internal processes and employee

capacity, workforce planning, and accountability—features now considered essential to the

future of PHRM. Chapter 13, “Public Human Resource Management Education,” considers

the reevaluation of those subject areas and competencies that have long been considered

the core of PHRM education. The chapter explores new HRM competencies and the extent to

which contemporary academic and practitioner-based educational programs re�ect the

current landscape of public sector HR management. Finally, Chapter 14, “Conclusion:

Challenges and Opportunities,” assesses the potential challenges and opportunities public

HR managers will face in the 21st century, tying together the analysis of PHRM reforms in

each chapter into an overall assessment.

Often included in the broader discussion of public sector HRM are personnel activities in

nonpro�t organizations. The recurring “Nonpro�ts in Focus” boxes will provide insights into

how the issues raised in each chapter a�ect nonpro�ts. While nonpro�ts are frequently

included in the public a�airs curriculum, they are also governed by a distinct set of legal

guidelines. This is indeed the case for human resources in the nonpro�t sector, where

personnel rules and guidelines do not always mirror those of federal, state, and local PHRM.

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Siegel Gilbert B. 1999. “Where Are We on Local Government Contracting?” Public Productivity & Management Review 22: 365–88.

Siegel Gilbert B. 2000. “Outsourcing Personnel Functions.” Public Personnel Management 29: 225–36.

Thompson James R. 2001. “The Civil Service under Clinton: The Institutional Consequences of Disaggregation.” Review of Public Personnel Administration 21: 87–113.

Thompson James R. 2007. “Federal Labor-Management Relations Reforms under Bush: Enlightened Management or Quest for Control?” Review of Public Personnel Administration 27: 105–24.

US O�ce of Personnel Management (USOPM). 2008. “Pay & Leave: Student Loan Repayment.” Accessed March 23, 2014. http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave /student-loan-repayment/.

Whalen Cortney, and Guy Mary E.. 2008. “Broadbanding Trends in the States.” Review of Public Personnel Administration 28: 349–66.

Woodard Colleen A. (2005). “Merit by Any Other Name—Reframing the Civil Service First Principle.” Public Administration Review 65: 109–16.

Chapter 2

Evolution of the Public Service in the United

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