Public Sector Human Resource Management Research Articles

Artificial Intelligence and Public Sector Human Resource Management: Opportunities, Challenges

We have developed concerning individuals, technology, industry, and different resources because of developing globalization since evolution is an ever-evolving shift through time. Mechanical technology, language acknowledgment, picture acknowledgment, information investigation, and a couple of additional master frameworks is a portion of the innovations that are essential for the evolution of digitization and regularization of artificial intelligence. Organizations, particularly those in the IT sector, are adopting various innovations including virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and others. Human resource management methods must now undergo the same evolution through computerization of work, which might incorporate undertaking, employing achievement (the enlistment and determination process), upgraded ability quality, information examination, and group plan viability. In the current study, we carefully examined and analyzed a sizable number of published papers based on their contributions to the field of knowledge with the quickly developing trend of using artificial intelligence technology in contemporary economics. Additionally, look into how experience and age affect the suggested associations. In order to examine the link between the study's latent variables, a structural framework was established. The findings showed that behavioral intention of HR professionals is significantly influenced by trust and performance expectations. The performance expectations of HR professionals were significantly influenced by trust and technical readiness. Finally, there was no moderating influence of age or experience on the link between performance expectations and behavioral intention and trust. The results of this study help advance the notion of information technology dissemination in human resource management. All the examination of information relating to human resources has attracted the consideration of all organizations late years, and the accentuation has been put on human capital, which is viewed as the essential variable affecting the improvement of the business and its exercises at all degrees of human resource arrangements. It tries to clearly outline the problems that computer scientists are working to address for HR researchers. By emphasizing those that use artificial intelligence, it simultaneously outlines the many and modern IT approaches, tools, and methodologies now in use.

Workplace Incivility and Its Impact on Public Employees’ Job Search Behavior

While extensive research documents that workplace incivility has negative consequences for both employees and organizations, there has been limited research on how workplace incivility experiences affect public-sector employees. This study examines the associations between workplace incivility experiences and public employee job satisfaction and job search behavior. Relying on the Conservation of Resources theory, this article develops a research model that suggests that workplace incivility experiences prompt job search by lowering employee job satisfaction. The analysis of survey data collected from 751 professional employees working in a state-level law enforcement agency shows that both supervisor and coworker incivility are associated positively with employee job search behavior, but supervisor incivility has a stronger association. Moreover, the analysis shows that the indirect effects of supervisor incivility and coworker incivility on job search behavior through job satisfaction are stronger for employees of color and weaker for older employees. These findings have implications for public-sector human resource management.

Support for Affirmative Action in the Workplace: Gender, Race, and Sector Differences

Understanding attitudes toward affirmative action (AA) is important because it plays a critical role in the successful implementation of AA and hence diversity in organizations. The field of public sector human resource management (HRM) places a good deal of attention on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA). The legal tool of affirmative action remains an important tool for achieving DEIA. This study examines gender, race, and sector differences as predictors of gender- and race-based support for AA in the workplace. Using data from the 2000 to 2018 General Social Survey (GSS), this article finds that Blacks and other persons of color offer more support than White men for race-based and gender-based AA. In addition, women offer more support than men for gender-based affirmative action, but only in the private sector. Overall, public sector employees do not support race- or gender-based AA programs more than their private sector counterparts.

Public Sector Collective Bargaining: A Meta-Review

Public sector labor unions and their commitment to collective bargaining are central to the study of public sector human resource management. This study explores collective bargaining scholarship in the United States as exemplified in the public administration literature. Systematically coding 220 articles from the top fifteen (mainstream) peer-reviewed public administration journals over a period of 50 years (1970–2020), this study examines how public sector collective bargaining is framed and conceptualized in public administration research, identifying, and studying the dimensions of public sector collective bargaining research in the United States. The primary purpose of this article is to map trends and gaps in local, state, and federal public sector collective bargaining scholarship, which is an essential public personnel function in need of further academic attention. It is also hoped that this study could stimulate future research into public sector collective bargaining.

Changes of Public Sector Human Resource Management (HRM)

Public sector human resource management is a way to manage human in a hierarchical activity which acts as the main rotor of efficiency and effectiveness of public-scale growth and development. As our environment changed in 2020 caused by covid-19 pandemic, so does the human resource management. Substantial changes in society impacted the way we shape management activity. This study aims to map the research trend changes of public sector human resource management in pre and post covid-19 period. We conduct bibliometric study to explore the factors and criteria of a toxic leader from open access scopus indexed journals using biblioshiny application limited to pre (2016 to 2019) and post (2020 to 2023) covid-19 periods. The criteria for filtering journal articles are based on PRISMA and JBI standards. Data suggested that covid-19 event ignite the research production. The research domains for pre covid-19 were focused on human resource growth and development, while post covid-19 domains were focused on survival and resilient. Country rank of most published paper related to the locus field also related to worldwide survey of economic growth in pre to post covid-19 pandemic. However, rapid increase of publication in post covid-19 period did not followed by study continuity and relatedness.

Perspectives of human resource practitioners in two urban local authorities in Zimbabwe

Orientation: This study examines the experiences of human resource (HR) practitioners in two urban local authorities (ULAs) in Zimbabwe.Research purpose: The research aimed to understand the human resource management (HRM)-oriented strategies and the extent to which HR practitioners’ experiences could enable effective implementation.Motivation for the study: There is a need to understand the challenges HR practitioners in ULAs in Zimbabwe face in delivering effective HRM.Research approach/design and method: The study adopted a qualitative research approach using semi-structured interviews with 17 purposively selected HR practitioners. Thematic analysis was used to extract themes from the interviews.Main findings: The findings revealed five themes of HRM challenges in Zimbabwean ULAs, including political interference, resource constraints, bureaucracy and the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Human resource management delivery is hindered by stakeholder involvement, performance management gaps, technology gaps and limited interaction with line management. Additionally, traditional HRM approaches committee-focused procedures, and inadequate investment in employee education limit HRM capabilities and procedures.Practical/managerial implications: The study suggests that policymakers and HR practitioners in ULAs in Zimbabwe should pay attention to the identified HRM challenges and proposed solutions to enhance HRM delivery and HR performance. The proposed conceptual model can serve as a guide to overcoming HRM challenges.Contribution/value-add: This study adds to the limited research on public sector HRM in Africa, and stakeholders and HR practitioners can benefit from the conceptual model and recommendations for streamlining HRM procedures in ULAs in Zimbabwe.

Where theory and practice meet: Good government, merit-based civil service, and HRM courses

ABSTRACT MPA programs are the only place where public sector human resource management (HRM) is taught. When HRM is not among the list of required courses, programs forgo their responsibility to teach the next generation of public servants why merit-based civil service is crucial to a functioning democracy. The danger of ignorance is reflected in an Executive Order issued in 2020 that would have removed job protections from thousands of federal civil servants. While the Order was rescinded in 2021, it has many advocates and remains on the agenda. This is a wake-up call to MPA programs to require students to learn why job protections are the bedrock of good government, a bedrock as foundational as a free press and more foundational than budgeting skills. However, 97% of MPA programs require a budgeting course but only 72% require an HRM course. If theory and practice meet in MPA classrooms, then HRM has to be there.

The Reform of Human Resource System in the Public Sector under the New Public Management System

The work presented in this paper focuses on New Public Management (NPM) and the public human resource management system. New Public Management (NPM), which has been used in the West for a number of years, is currently being implemented in China to manage various government departments. China is aware of the benefits that NPM may bring to the management of the government. In the context of New Public Management, departments of public human resources will also need to undergo transformations in order to improve talent management and recruitment efforts. This paper identifies the problems with public sector human resource management, including but not limited to the following: the focus of Chinese public sector personnel on achieving public sector goals at the expense of personal goals; the unfairness of recruitment principles due to human relations, which is not conducive to the rational allocation of talent and leads to brain drain; and the outdated management style, problematic promotion system, and inadequate incentives in China's public administration. Increasing the effectiveness of the performance evaluation process is one way to solve these shortcomings. These deficiencies can be rectified by enhancing the performance appraisal mechanism, establishing a flexible system for workers, and aiming for maximum efficiency in order to improve the difficulties in the public sector. This paper offers some references for the improvement of talent management in public organizations.

Artificial intelligence and public sector human resource management in South Africa: Opportunities, challenges and prospects

Orientation: The Fourth Industrial Revolution has transformed modern society by ushering in the fusion of advances in robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), genetic engineering, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence (AI) among others. AI brings a range of different technologies and applications to interact with environments that comprise both the relevant objects and the interaction rules and have the capacity to process information in a way that resembles intelligent behaviour. Similarly, artificial intelligence is also being used in the human resources management (HRM) processes and functions in the public sector to map sequences to actions.Research purpose: The study explores the opportunities, challenges, and future prospects of integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Public Sector Human Resource Management (HRM) in South Africa’s public sector.Motivation for the study: The study was motivated by the need to examine the dynamics surrounding the adoption, implementation and operationalisation of the 4IR in the management of human resources in the SA public sector in this unfolding dispensation.Research Approach: Data was collected using the extensive review of written records such as books, journal articles, book chapters among others which were purposively selected for use in this study. Data was analysed using content and thematic analysis techniques.Research Findings: The study established that Artificial Intelligence is beneficial in the sense that it can improve public service delivery in South Africa as the HRM personnel is enabled to focus more on the strategic areas of management by taking over routine tasks, and that it helps minimize bias in public service recruitment and selection. In contrast, research on potential challenges has revealed that combining Artificial Intelligence and Public Sector Human Resource Management may pose a threat to white-collar jobs.Practical/ Managerial Implications: This study may lead to practical applications of AI to support the HR functions of public sector entities in SA. The public managers are better informed about the impediments, gaps and opportunities that may arise from using AI in managing human resources in SA’s public sector.Contributions: This study contributes to the body of knowledge as it unpacks and informs the dynamics associated with the implementation of AI in managing human resources in public sector entities.

From Bureaucrats to Entrepreneurs to Networkers, Advocates, and Empaths: Reappraising Human Resources Management Ideals and Practices in Public Administration

This article assesses how changing paradigms of public administration have been reflected in public sector human resources management over time. It finds that large-scale reform acts, such as the Pendleton Act or the Civil Service Reform Act and the National Performance Review reflected the “ideals” of the rule-following bureaucrat of the Old Public Administration (OPA) and of the result-seeking entrepreneur of New Public Management (NPM). However, the advocate, empath, and networker of New Public Administration (NPA) and New Public Service (NPS) has not been pursued through similarly encompassing reform efforts. While gradual changes such as a more representative bureaucracy and increased collaborative governance have paved the way for a deeper integration of NPA and NPS values into human resource policy and practice, more efforts are needed to promote advocates, empaths, and networkers as the core of the “new” public service. We conclude by making some tentative suggestions in this direction.

Public personnel administration and human resource management paradigm on public service performance: Nigerian pendulum

Public personnel administration draws heavily from private personnel administration and using such knowledge for successful management within the permanent bureaucracy. Professional management of people in government is fundamental towards public service performance and the public good. From the nineteenth century and now public sector human resource management continuous to move away from the traditional personnel management approach and heading towards the new public management paradigm for improving public service performance. With 219 participants and by the exploratory research design, the result of the study indicates strong positive correlation between public personnel administration and public service performance. The study suggests that further study could examine the relationship between law making and its interpretation on public sector human resource management. It recommends that public personnel administration should learn more from the new public management approach to enhance effectiveness.

The distinctiveness of public sector HRM: A four‐wave trend analysis

AbstractGiven the rhetoric that human resource management (HRM) models adopted by public and private organisations are becoming more similar, this study questions whether the traditional distinction between public and private sector HRM is still relevant. Building from institutional theory, we study continuity and change using four‐wave data from eight European countries. We find that the traditional public sector investment in employee well‐being continues to be distinctive only for HRM practices aimed at equal opportunities. Private sector organisations, on the other hand, make greater use of performance‐oriented HRM practices including compensation and benefits, performance appraisal data, and modern development and career management practices. Cross‐sector convergence is explained through coercive and mimetic isomorphic change, while persistent differences indicate that time‐honoured public sector values are less susceptible to change. This study provides a much‐needed update of the public‐private comparison and a trend analysis of developments over time.

The Performance of Performance Appraisal Systems: A Theoretical Framework for Public Organizations

Performance appraisal (PA) plays a strategic role in public sector human resource management (HRM), acting as a driver for better performance. Drawing from previous theoretical research on the social context of performance appraisal systems and their effectiveness, the study develops a generalizable theoretical framework for classifying performance appraisal systems according to their structural and process proximal variables: purpose, rating source, and structured face-to-face feedback sessions. Through a multiple case study analysis, the theoretical framework has been applied to a sample of Italian PA systems for senior civil servants, aiming to explore the relationship between the structural and process proximal variables of PA systems and rating discriminability, intended as a measurement of performance effectiveness. The results show that the framework accurately represents the variation of the design of performance appraisal systems in the Italian context, highlighting the central role played by multi-source feedback and face-to-face rater-ratee interactions in promoting rating discriminability.

The Psychological Process View of Bureaucratic Red Tape

Over the last three decades, the psychological process view of bureaucratic red tape has developed significant new insights for human resource management in the public sector. This chapter provides a meta-narrative perspective, drawing upon public management scholarship on the emergence and significance of the psychological process view. The chapter begins with an overview of theoretical development of the bureaucratic red tape concept followed by the articulation of a psychological process theory of bureaucratic red tape. Next, key developments and findings salient to public sector human resource management are reviewed. The chapter concludes by summarizing key points and noting that bureaucratic red tape scholarship can join forces with related theoretical approaches to foster a problem/solution-oriented approach to public sector human resource management.

The Influence of Perceptions of Promotion Opportunities on Job Performance and Its Mechanisms: A Case Study of Chinese Junior Civil Servants

ABSTRACT Although existing literature has stressed the influences of various factors on job performance, the influence of the perceptions of promotion opportunities on job performance is frequently disregarded in the majority of studies on public sector human resource management. Using the survey data from Chinese junior civil servants, the study revealed that perceptions of promotion opportunities can directly influence both task performance and contextual performance, and perceptions of promotion opportunities can strengthen task performance and contextual performance by the mediating role of job engagement. It was also indicated that perceptions of promotion opportunities were influenced by rank, supervisor-subordinate relationships, and promotion justice. Thus, the study developed a conceptual framework that included the variables laid-above to understand the mechanisms of the influence of perceptions of promotion opportunities on job performance.

Human resource devolution, decoupling and incoherence: how line managers manage gender equality reforms

ABSTRACT Public sector human resource management (HRM) has been devolved from central personnel agencies to line agency HRM professionals and further to line managers. While devolution has admirable goals, it has created difficulties as managers have not been sufficiently trained in HRM. We examine these difficulties in Australian public services, through the lens of recent gender equality reforms. We identify that the approach to HRM devolution has contributed to a decoupling of policy and practice and a resulting incoherence, as new policies are introduced by HRM professionals but not effectively communicated to line managers, not effectively implemented, and not monitored.

Talent management: a critical literature review and research agenda for public sector human resource management

ABSTRACTDrawing upon Talent Management (TM) literature from around the globe, we critically appraise the transferability of this human resource management strategy to the public sector. While TM has received scholarly attention in the private sector, it remains under-researched in the public sector. We address this deficit by employing a systematic review of TM research. The original contribution of this article is: (1) a definition of public sector talent and TM; (2) a discussion on TM applicability to public organizations by reviewing internal and external parameters influencing its implementation; and (3) a critical appraisal of TM’s transferability to the public sector.

Coping With Conflict: Examining the Influence of PSM on Perceptions of Workplace Stressors

While the presence and degree of workplace stress poses a significant problem for organizations in all sectors, scholarship frequently acknowledges that responses to workplace stress vary significantly across individuals. However, public sector human resource management (HRM) research, relative to generic HRM research, invests comparatively less attention toward understanding individual differences in response to perceived stressors. We employ the relational model of stress developed by Matteson and Ivancevich and Lazarus to examine how one dispositional characteristic commonly examined in public sector HRM research, public service motivation (PSM), influences the stress process. Results obtained using data from the 2010 U.S. Merit Principles Survey reveal that individuals with higher than average PSM experience more pronounced negative emotions when they perceive heightened workplace conflict, which subsequently increases their intent to separate from the organization.

Praktek Manajemen Sumber Daya Manusia Berbasis Kompetensi pada Organisasi Sektor Publik

This study aims to explore human resource management practice based on competency in public sector organizations by taking case studies at the Government of Tulungagung Regency. The human resource management practice based on competency in public sector organizations have been conducted through the application of Law no. 5/2014 about the State Civil Apparatus. This study uses a qualitative approach where data obtained through semi-structured in-depth interviews of 7 (seven) research informants which authorized in public sector human resource management. The results of data analysis shows that the implementation of human resources management practice based on competency is found in the recruitment and selection process, career management and competency development. But human resources management practice on competency is not found in the performance appraisal. https://doi.org/10.26905/jmdk.v6i2.2208

Communicative sensitivity in palliative care: a case on the “Happiness Angels” of Rajbala Foundation

Subject area The subject areas are business communication, human resource management and health care. Study level/applicability The case was designed for use in a first-year MBA-level course in business communication but would serve well in a course for executives or for advanced undergraduates. It might also be assigned in general management courses to evoke discussion on communication skills required in sensitive and critical situations; human resource courses; and course on health care. Case overview Palliative care is a specialized medical care focussing on improving the quality of life of patients suffering from life-threatening illnesses. It addresses symptom management and psychosocial and spiritual concerns of the patient and its caregivers. With the intent to alleviate the sufferings of terminally ill patients, Rajbala Foundation, a non-government organization (NGO), works at the psychosocial and spiritual levels. While training their volunteers in effective palliative care communication, it often encounters challenges such as socio-cultural variations, organizational challenges, appropriate verbal and nonverbal communication, etc. This teaching case focuses on the communication challenges faced by the volunteers of Rajbala Foundation. It would lead to a broader discussion on communicating empathically during critical situations. The case has a focus on NGOs, and non-profit organizations, public sector management, health-care management and human resources management. There is significant literature on communication skills for medical practitioners in palliative care. As an increasing number of NGOs step in to provide the second level of care to critically ill patients in non-physical domains, there is a need to understand the role of effective communication for such care providers. This case deals with non-medical care providers in palliative care; the issues of communication they face as they interact with patients; and the skills they require to address the emotional and spiritual needs of patients and their families. Expected learning outcomes The aim of this case is to raise awareness of the complexities involved in the communication process during an emotional and sensitive interaction. It aims to encourage volunteers involved in palliative care to reflect on good communication practices when communicating with patients and family members. After reading this case, the students should be able to discuss the complexities involved in the communication process when communicating in situations with high emotional involvement; understand the core elements of emotional interactions for effective practice; and emphasize the need for the development of communication skills within palliative care. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes. Subject code CSS 6: Human Resource Management