Human Resources Management and Employment Relations

Abstract

Since the late 1970s, the public services have experienced substantial reforms, in terms of their structure, organisation, administration and management — not least in the ways in which people and employment relations are managed within them. In essence, the reforms are rooted in the underlying beliefs, articulated initially by Conservative governments from 1979 to 1997, and largely accepted by the Blair administration since then, that enhanced quality, effectiveness and value for money (VFM) in the public services depend upon the injection of competition, commercialism and private-sector management ideas and personnel practices into them. Over this long period, public services have been exposed to a variety of initiatives, including privatisation, centralisation and decentralisation, deregulation, market testing and contractualisation. These processes have been primarily aimed at: cutting public expenditure; curbing the power of public sector trade unions and professional workers; strengthening management prerogative; improving performance standards within the public services; and making the public services more responsive to the needs of their ‘customers’ and ‘clients’. This chapter outlines the changing nature of human resources management and employment relations practices in the public services and explores the impact of these developments on how people are managed and pay is determined in this sector of the economy.