Public Personnel Management of the Future

Past and Present Public Personnel Management

The role of a public personnel manager has shifted quite dramatically since the turn of the century and I am happy to say that I’ve witnessed this evolution first hand. The paper pushers of the past have bloomed into an integral part of the daily operations in today’s ultra-competitive world. Aided by research and technology, the HR managers of today have streamlined their duties to emphasize those tasks that are essential to enhancing employee satisfaction and in turn, increasing productivity. This paper will focus on the transformation of three major issues that have changed the face of HR management forever. I will note some flaws of past procedures while identifying how and why the changes that were implemented have benefited our society as a whole. I will use the last quarter century as a timeline to compare and contrast the improvements made in the areas of employee recruitment, diversity in the work place, and employee reward systems. The overhaul of these three critical areas have condensed and redefined the roles of HR managers.

Employee recruitment, selection, and hiring were once major challenges for public personnel managers. Effective recruitment involved anticipating what type of people would best suit the organization in the future. It was proven that planning and analysis was necessary to attract quality human capital and fulfill hiring needs, yet, HR departments of the past struggled to grasp this concept. In fact, “a 2004 study found that over a quarter of the organizations [studied] reported they do not base recruitment decisions on any workforce analysis” (Riccucci, 152, 153). Instead of going out and finding the best possible candidates, many agencies would simply post available positions on the internet, sit back, and wait for the applicants to come to them. This not only left the quality of applicants to chance, it was a lengthy process that sometimes confused and frustrated the potential...