Chapter 14 Public Personnel Management

1
Chapter 14Public Personnel Management

• American Public Administration Public Service
  for the 21st Century

2
Human Resource Administration

• Human resource administration - the policies and
  processes that determine the terms and conditions
  of employment of an organizations workforce.
• Tasks include classification, compensation
  policy, labor relations, productivity and
  performance management, human resources training
  and development, and performance appraisal.

3
Evolution of the Public Service

• The evolution of public service passed through 8
  distinct periods
• Era of Elites (1730-1829). Government by
  Gentlemen The landed gentry were appointed to
  positions of responsibility.
• Era of the Common Man (1830-1883). The patronage
  system flourished during this period and
  government positions were awarded to party
  loyalists.

4
Evolution of the Public Service

• Era of Reform (1884-1906). President Garfields
  assassination served as a focusing event for the
  passage of the Pendleton Act.
• Marked the rise of the merit system that
  established neutral competence as the key
  requirement for public service.
• Era of Efficiency (1907-1932). The Pendleton Act
  was extended to cover more of the federal
  workforce.

5
4 Progressive Principles

• Use competitive examinations as a basis for
  selection of public employees - those who score
  highest are to be the first ones appointed
• Depoliticize the public service - performance
  based on professional and technical competence
  rather than partisan affiliation

6
4 Progressive Principles

• Create a Civil Service Commission
• a central personnel agency that could protect the
  public service against incursions by patronage
  oriented politicians
• Protect tenure in office
• Lloyd-Lafollett Act (1912) - extended merit
  principals to dismissal.

7
Evolution of the Public Service

• Era of Administrative Management (1933-1960).
  During this period the federal government got
  bigger and the roles of administrators expanded.
• The Classification Act of 1949 - delegated many
  personnel activities to each federal department.
• Hatch Acts of 1939 and 1940 - prohibited federal
  employees from active involvement in partisan
  political campaigns

8
Evolution of the Public Service

• Era of Professionalism (1961-1977). The
  government workforce at all levels become more
  specialized and professionalized.

9
Evolution of the Public Service

• 7. Era of Civil Service Reform (1978-1991). The
  Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 was an attempt
  to redesign the federal personnel system to
  reconcile effective management with political
  responsiveness.

10
CSRA of 1978

• OPM Office of Personnel Management
• MSPB Merit Systems Protection Board
• FLRA Federal Labor Relations Authority
• SES Senior Executive Service
• - premised on the Oxbridge tradition
•  

11
Evolution of the Public Service

• 8. Era of Reinvention and September 11
  (1992- present).
• The National Performance Review served as an
  attempt to reform the federal bureaucracy, but
  the events of September 11, 2001 moved the public
  agenda to matters of national defense and
  homeland security.

12
The Human Resource Administration Process

• Human resource administration includes the
  following functions
• Position classification - the creation of formal
  job descriptions
• The General Service Schedule consists of eighteen
  grades, and 450 job categories.

13
Position Classification

• Involves the design of jobs, the organization of
  jobs into categories, and the establishment of
  appropriate rates of pay.
• Principles of position classification
• Rank or status is based on the position, not the
  person
• Consistency across agencies for each position
• Positions are differentiated on the basis of
  specific duties and responsibilities

14
Factors to Consider in PC

• the nature and variety of work (complex or
  simple)  
• the nature of supervision required
• the routineness of the work
• the level of originality required
• the purpose and nature of person to person work
  relationships

15
Factors to Consider in PC

• the scope and nature of decision making - impacts
  of the decisions 
• the nature and extent of supervision over other
  employees  
• specific qualifications (e.g., level and type of
  education)
• Examples at the federal level e.g., clerk typist

16
Advantages of PC

• provides a basis for evaluating performance
• makes it possible to design career ladders for
  advancement
• tells managers what the occupant of any position
  is supposed to be doing

17
Disadvantages of PC

• Dehumanizing?
• Can become outdated quickly
• Grade Creep

18
Recruitment, Selection, Promotion

• Challenges of Recruitment
• If it is to recruit and retain the best
  employees, the system of pay and compensation
  should be competitive with other industries.
• Since the 1980s, the federal service pay gap has
  been growing despite legislation designed to
  reduce the gap.

19
Recruitment

• Image problems
• Pay problems
• Volker Commission Report (1989) - the quiet
  crises in government
•  

20
Selection

• The examination process
• Designed to identify the best-qualified
  candidates for public employment.
• Examinations should relate to the ability of the
  candidate to perform a specific job, and should
  avoid cultural bias.

21
Selection

• The Process begins with a notice of position
  vacancy personnel office review of applicants
  recommendation to managers the rule of three
• Problem with using exams as a basis for
  selection validity (also discrimination)

22
Selection

• Today - exams tend to be replaced by other
  factors such as level of education, GPA, type of
  degree, prior work experience, etc.

23
Human Resource Administration

• Once an applicant scores well on the examination,
  he or she is certified and included on a list
  made available to the hiring agency.
• The agency may select from the list or ask for
  more names.

24
Human Resource Administration

• Employee appraisal is the process of assessing
  employees productivity.
• It attempts to provide an objective basis for
  evaluating performance, but there are some
  inherent problems.

25
Human Resource Administration

• Any human resource system must be able to deal
  with poorly performing employees.
• The civil service system, however, was designed
  in large measure to protect public employees from
  arbitrary dismissal.
• Standards of performance and disciplinary policy
  should be clearly articulated and fairly applied.

26
Social Equity in the Public Workforce

• Affirmative action is a controversial attempt to
  bring more minorities into the public workforce.
• Representative bureaucracy refers to the idea
  that the demographic composition of the public
  workforce should reflect that of current American
  society.

27
Social Equity in the Public Workforce

• According to Fredrickson, social equity programs
  fall into two classifications
• Prospect opportunity when individuals regardless
  of race or sex, can compete with roughly the same
  chances of success.
• Means opportunity when candidates of equal
  talent, skills, or qualifications, regardless of
  race or sex, can compete for the same position
  with roughly the same likelihood of success.

28
Current State of Equal Opportunity Employment

• Although public organizations have made great
  strides, minorities are still largely excluded
  from the middle and upper ranks of management.
• In addition, women continue to earn less on
  average than men for comparable work.

29
Current State of Equal Opportunity Employment

• Comparable worth is designed to equalize pay
  across groups for those performing comparable
  duties.
• The pattern of failing to reach the top ranks of
  organizations is referred to as hitting the
  glass ceiling.
• Representation of women in the Senior Executive
  Service has increased steadily while
  representation by minority men has not increased
  nearly as fast.