Title: Improving Human Resources in the Public Sector
1Improving Human Resources in the Public Sector
A Key to Successful Reform?
- David Guest
- Professor of Organizational Psychology Human
Resource Management - Kings College, London
2What is Human Resource Management?
- All those activities associated with the
management of work and people in organisations - (Boxall and Purcell, 2011)
3Why Do Human Resource Matter in the Public Sector?
- Usually the major cost factor. Therefore
effective management of human resources should - Reduce costs
- Result in more effective utilisation of human
capital to provide better, more cost-effective
services
4Problems/Challenges in Managing Public Sector
Human Resources
- Sheltered and distorted labour markets
- Excessive job security/jobs for life
- Political influences
- Bureaucratic ineffective HR practices
- Administrative systems which do not reward
productivity or service quality - Strong trade union influence
- Powerful professional groups/interests
- Tradition of model employer
- Poor capacity for change
5Pressures for Change in Public Sector HR
- Need to become more strategic
- Need to change from dominance of bureaucracy
focus to performance focus - Need to move from standard employment to flexible
employment - Need to make full use of, and ensure the service
commitment of staff - Need to control staff costs doing more and
better with less.
6A New Approach
- A new approach requires
- a better model for managing human resources
- and
- a better way of allocating responsibility
- Human resource management is too important to be
left to human resource departments
7Some Basic Assumptions About Human Resource
Management
- Someone has to take personnel decisions
- Who takes decisions is related to issues of
power, influence and size of organization - There is an identifiable set of core decision
areas - We now have considerable evidence about what
constitutes good human resource management -
8Some Core Areas of HR Decisions
- Recruitment and Selection (and Branding)
- Training and Development
- Careers and Internal Labour Markets
- Job (and organization) design
- Appraising performance
- Reward systems
- Ensuring appropriate treatment of staff
- Managing employment relations
- Dealing with problem issues and cases
- Managing downsizing and exit
9The Evidence Base for New Public Sector Model of
HRM
- Lots of evidence showing an association between
more high quality human resource practices and
performance in private and public sectors
HRM
Organizational Performance
10HR and profit per employee in the private sector
(FoW study)
11Labour turnover and performance
12A Refined Model
Employee competence
Employee motivation
Opportunity to participate
Employee commitment
13What Do We Mean by Good HR Practices?(examples)
- Selection based on quality and attitudes/approach
to work - Use of psychological tests in selecting all staff
- Extensive provision of training
- Deliberate development of a learning organization
- Formal appraisal of all staff at least annually
- High basic pay and organization-based contingent
pay - Harmonised terms and conditions for all staff
- Design of jobs to make full use of skills and
abilities - Staff/teams responsible for their own quality
- Extensive two-way communication on work and
organization issues - Regular use of attitude surveys
14Adoption of HR Practices in the UK
Number of HR practices in the public (N546) and
private sectors (N1277) WERS data
15HRM and Performance in the Public Sector
- Growing number of studies in healthcare
- Some studies in local government
- A few elsewhere
- Major problem of performance indicators
- Standard challenge of level of analysis
(division, workplace, organization e.g. school
or local authority)
16HRM and Mortality in Acute Hospitals West et al
(JOB, 2006)
- 52 Acute Trusts in the UK
- More high quality HR practices associated with
lower death rates - Persists after controlling for other possible
influences including past performance - Good appraisals have the strongest influence
17HRM and Performance in Local Government
(Messersmith et al 2011)
- Study of HRM and performance in Welsh local
authorities. Each has 8 departments. - Data from 119 departments and 1755 staff.
- Performance data from Welsh government
- Explored link between HRM, staff attitudes and
behaviour and department outcomes. - Found strong link between HRM and performance and
HRM and attitudes - Found strong support for path through employee
attitudes and behaviour
18HRM and Performance in Universities (Guest
Clinton, 2007)
- Survey of HR managers in all UK universities on
HR practices - Independent published performance data
- Found no association between HRM and performance
- Poor quality HR practices, poor HR departments
and poor implementation
19Initial Conclusion
- There is good evidence of an association between
HRM and performance across different parts of the
UK public sector - Highlights potential if you can implement high
quality HR practices - Raises question of who is responsible for
implementation and the role of HR departments
20The Implementation Challenge
- Khilji and Wang (2006) and others highlighted a
gap between intended and implemented HR practices - Implies that it is not enough to have good HR
policy and practice - Draws attention to the roles of implementers -
HR specialists, top management and line managers
21Towards a Theory of HR Implementation(Guest
Bos-Nehles, 2012)
- Stage 1 Decide to introduce a practice
- Stage 2 Determine the quality of the practice
- Stage 3 Line managers agree to implement the
practice - Stage 4 Line managers implement in a quality way
- Stage 5 Staff accept rationale for practice and
respond accordingly - Implementation at Stages 3-5 cannot occur without
Stages 1 2
22Who is Responsible for Implementation?
- Stage 1 HR and top management
- Stage 2 Primarily HR
- Stage 3 Line managers
- Stage 4 Line managers
- So line managers views on HR practices and their
competences become central issues
23 The Challenge of Implementation ofHRM in Local
Government
- In 32 London boroughs very similar HR practices
are in place - External audit reveals differences in borough
ratings - Research reveals key differences in
effectiveness of HR implementation explain much
of the variation in ratings
24Implementation of Bullying and Harassment Policy
in the NHS
- UK healthcare has one of the highest levels of
reported bullying and harassment of any sector
e.g. much higher than the military - Annual NHS survey question In the last 12
months have you experienced harassment, bullying
or abuse from any of the following
(manager/team leader/colleagues/
patients/relatives of patients?
25Bullying and Harassment in the UK NHS. Regional
Comparisons
26Bullying and Harassment at a London Acute
Hospital 2004-2008
27Bullying and Harassment by Care Group 2007
28Evidence on Bullying and Harassment from Staff
Surveys and Interviews
- Bullying associated with increased stress
/reduced job satisfaction/higher intention to
quit - Bullying affects patient safety and service
quality through reduced motivation and concern to
do a good job - Bullying by staff associated with unsupportive
work environment and lack of faith in
effectiveness of relevant HR systems - How does this relate to HR policy and practice in
the hospital?
29Best Practice in Management of Bullying and
Harassment
- Implementation of a Formal Bullying Policy
- Zero Tolerance Approach
- Selection of Staff
- Implementation of Awareness Campaigns
- Address Environmental Problems
- Training and Development for Managers and for
Staff - Providing Informal Advisory Services
- Data monitoring
- Support for Victims of Bullying
- All are in place at this hospital
30Implications for HRM
- The hospital has all the right HR policies and
practices in place but bullying still very high.
Why? - Reflects the gap between intended and
implemented practice - Reinforces need to focus on implementation
- Is this likely to be particularly challenging in
public sector professional bureaucracies?
31The Role of the Line Managers
- Line managers have responsibility for much HR
implementation. - However key issue concerns motivation and
competence to implement. - UK line managers are neither capable nor
motivated to take on these issues (Hope Hailey
et al, 2005) - Dutch line managers more motivated and capable
but hindered by time pressures
32Line Managers/Clinicians in Healthcare
- Health managers prioritise patient care over care
of workforce - Limited reinforcement of relevant policy e.g.
no evidence of zero tolerance - Our evidence suggests some avoid HR issues
- But evidence on bullying shows wide variations
between clinical divisions. So how can we
understand and explain these variations?
33The Nature of a Strong HR System
- Bowen and Ostroff (2004) argue that the link
between HR strategy and HR practices and outcomes
will be stronger if there is a strong HR system
perceived as high in - Distinctiveness visible, relevant, understood
- Consistency consistently applied
- Consensus agreed by key stakeholders
- Role of top management in embedding and
reinforcing strong HR is likely to be crucial - HR cannot do HR on its own
34Conclusions and Policy Implications
- Some indication in the public sector that more
high quality HRM is associated with better
performance - Need to strengthen focus on factors affecting
implementation of policy and practice - HR still mainly an administrative rather than a
strategic function - Major challenge of HR implementation in public
sector professional bureaucracies - A strong HR system is likely to help
35Thank you for listening