Sector Human Resource Research Articles

Managing Mental Health Sector in Gujarat: An Overview of Strategic Priorities

Mental health disorders are actually much more prevalent than is apparent on the surface. Health sector, in general, and mental health sector, in particular, faces a number of challenges which include: shortage of trained mental health professionals inadequate training capacity absence of multidisciplinary approach nearly non-existent linkages between the community and hospital-based care weak institutional framework. Many of these problems flow from meagre financial resources, both governmental and non-governmental. This paper is based on several studies relating to socio-economic determinants of mental disorders; mental health delivery systems in the public, private, and the voluntary sector; the cost of mental health services; framework for financing mental health sector; issues relating to human resource development; management issues in the mental health sector; gender and mental health; role of ethics in mental health; issues relating to destigmatization of mental health; and interface of law and mental health in the context of Gujarat. It provides a broad canvas of strategies which need to be pursued to address issues facing this sector. The strategies discussed here should form part of the mental health programme of the government. Of late, there is a growing recognition of the fact that something needs to be done in this sector. The inclusion of mental aspects of health was reflected, for the first time, in the Ninth Five-Year Plan when a separate scheme for ‘Strengthening of Mental Health Services’ was included. The Tenth Five-Year Plan envisages continuation of this emphasis; in particular, it aims to ‘integrate mental health with rural health care and provide special care for mental disorders of all types by scientific surveillance and identification.’ Enhancement of mental health requires improved provision of preventive, curative, and rehabilitative services. Given the resource availability and social dimensions of the problem, appropriate community-based and cost-effective interventions need to be developed. Besides, there are also many ethical and legal concerns that need to be taken into account. A large number of cases of mental disorder currently go untreated as competent professional help is not available easily. This would need augmentation of capacities and competencies of large number of professionals and health workers working in the government, NGOs, and the private organizations. This paper suggests a series of priorities in laying out 12 strategic directions and a comprehensive set of short-term implementation modalities for the immediate two to three years. The strategic directions are: resource mobilization and allocation strengthening of ethics of care addressing of stigma strengthening of public mental health system strengthening of role of caregivers promotion of private sector human resources and capacity strengthening at various levels strengthening of the role of NGOs integration of mental health with other fields strengthening of the interface with law strengthening of the institutional mechanisms stimulation of mental health research.

Job and Work Evaluation: A Literature Review

Classification and job evaluation systems have come under attack in the public sector. A literature review was conducted to help public sector human resource professionals make informed decisions about whether or not to change or even abandon traditional classification and job evaluation systems for compensation purposes. It is concluded that traditional classification and job evaluation procedures continue to have relevance in public sector settings. However, current classification and job evaluation systems need to be broadened to adapt to the changing nature of work in public sector organizations. Recommendations to shift the focus from “job” to “work” evaluation are offered.

Valeurs et défis des systèmes de santé français et québécois : introduction au dossier consacré aux rapports Clair et Polton

The first issue of this journal contains a variety of viewpoints on two recent reports that invite us to engage in a serious political rethinking of the future of the French and Quebec health systems. The editorial begins by describing what the two systems have in common, that is, their underlying values (mutualist funding and state responsibility for health care); the high level of overall economic development and the sector's resulting level of economic and technical development; the generally satisfactory health situation of the population; and finally, the type of challenges to be faced by the two systems in the coming years (changes in demand and supply, need to control growth in public health spending while ensuring equity and quality of services). The editorial then goes on to highlight some of the differences between the two systems related to the organization of socialized funding, the sector's human resources and profiles of the use of services, the concept of care and the specific crises in health care and approaches to reform. Finally, attention is given to the context in which the two reports were requested, the mandates given to the committees, and the methods used to produce the reports.

Has the Public Sector Retained its ‘Model Employer’ Status?

The authors investigate whether public sector organizations can still be considered ‘model employers’ as they were before the late 1970s. Comparisons are made with private sector human resource management (HRM) practices to determine how closely the ‘model employer’ rhetoric approximates the public sector reality. The article focuses on recent changes in the core and traditional non-traded areas of public sector employment funded directly through either central or local taxation—the National Health Service, central and local government and higher education. Objective quantitative data on public sector HRM practices and flexible work patterns are examined from both primary and secondary sources. Central to the discussion is the question of which sector offers the greater job security to employees.

A New Approach to Assessing Performance of State Human Resource Management Systems

A growing body of research has focused on evaluating the effectiveness of human resource management systems, yet few efforts have been made to develop a set of criteria and a method for evaluating human resource management systems in the public sector As part of the Government Performance Project, the present study offers a framework and methodology to fill this gap The Government Performance Project worked with a panel of experts to identify relevant criteria to evaluate pubhc sector human resource systems and to construct a survey instrument aligned with the identified criteria After discussing the criteria and survey construction, the article introduces a method of evaluating human resource management systems, fuzzy logic, that models expert judgments and takes into account measurement imprecision

Health sector reform and human resource management: Britain in comparative perspective

This article examines the impact of health service restructuring for employment practices in Europe, using Britain as the basis of comparison. It first considers trends in West European health care reform and examines the extent to which reform measures have been accompanied by changes in employment practices. It focuses on reforms of pay determination arrangements and work organization, examining in particular the experience of nurses, who form the largest occupational group. Finally, some of the implications for a future research agenda are considered. It concludes that research on health sector employment practices is under-developed and outlines a research agenda that recognizes the importance of workplace restructuring within a comparative framework.

The Facilitative State and Human Resources Management

Public sector human resources management (HRM) today functions more-or-less globally in a Facilitative State era in which state regime theories and practices differ significantly from those of the nine decades of the Administrative State during which the field developed. This comparative analysis of contemporary HRM in seven nation states and in the state of California probes one fundamental question: Facilitation of what? In particular, what are the standards of facilitative-state HRM? How do shared and varied regime values impact the field, and vice versa? In answers, politics and its definitions and absent or present qualities of merit, including ethics, are inescapable factors.

Employment Law and Workers with Disabilities: Implications for Public Sector Managers and Human Resource Practices

The Americans With Disabilities Act extends protection against discrimination in employment to virtually all workers with disabilities in the United States. Previous federal laws protecting these individuals were limited in scope, not covering the vast majority of public sector employers. The ADA has consequently aroused a great deal of concern among employers. This paper examines the specific effects that the Act will have on organizations and explores some of the implications the Act has for these organizations and human resource management practices.

Substance Abuse Policy Adaptation in Florida Municipal Government

Drug abuse is one of America's major public policy concerns. Problems associated with drug and alcohol abuse have not escaped America's workforce. Public sector human resource managers, like their counterpart in private industry, are faced with the challenge of developing policies that protect the interests of their organization while preserving the rights of those they employ or seek to consider for employment. This article examines emerging substance abuse policy in Florida municipal governments. A model of substance abuse policy development is presented and then assessed based on data collected in 1988 and 1990. The research indicates that Florida cities are progressing beyond the application of drug testing towards rehabilitative intervention and educational awareness initiatives.

Evaluating the Response of Swazi Traditional Leaders to Development Workshops

As an experimental part of the Swaziland Manpower Development Project (1985-90), traditional chiefs were exposed to basic development education through week-long workshops to see if there would be an impact on local-level development. A broader policy-related goal was to see if traditional leaders could be cultivated as a private sector human resource for economic and related development. An evaluation survey found evidence of workshop impact, judging by indicators such as a significant increase in the number of local development organizations, and changes in the role and development-related activities of the chief and his council members. In a discussion section, problems associated with manipulation of African chiefs' roles are critically examined. Evaluation results also point to the value of expanding conventional definitions of the private sector to include traditional leaders, especially in view of a current donor interest in looking beyond governments to stimulate development.

Trends in the Higher Civil Services of Anglo‐American Systems

The managerial reforms that have been implemented in the public sectors of many countries over the past decade are part of an international trend (Aucoin 1990, 134). Managerial reform in public administration can be seen as a Zeitgeist, a pervasive idea whose time has come. As Caiden (1988, 354) points out, effective administrative reform can be sustained only by a “crusading spirit” or the burning flame of idealism, and such a flame has blazed up in the past ten years. History may well show that the managerial reforms of the late 20th century had as dramatic an impact on public administration as the merit reforms of the late 19th century.These managerial reforms have invariably involved an emphasis on giving the public better value for money, and have usually included the introduction of efficiency measures and corporate planning techniques, the improvement of financial management procedures, the assessment of performance in terms of results against goals, the adoption of private sector human resource management practices, and the use of management information systems and other management tools. The implementation of such managerial reforms has typically been heralded by the establishment of a unified elite group of senior executives in the higher civil service. This paper reviews the recent trends in the higher civil services of America, Canada, Britain and Australia, and considers how they exemplify the managerial approach to administrative reform.1

Beyond 2000: Public sector human resources and human resources management; report on a Delphi exercise

Canadian Public AdministrationVolume 33, Issue 3 p. 366-382 Beyond 2000: Public sector human resources and human resources management; report on a Delphi exercise C. Lloyd Brown-John, C. Lloyd Brown-JohnSearch for more papers by this author C. Lloyd Brown-John, C. Lloyd Brown-JohnSearch for more papers by this author First published: October 1990 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1754-7121.1990.tb01406.xCitations: 2Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume33, Issue3October 1990Pages 366-382 RelatedInformation

The Strategic Implications Of Automation In Public Sector Human Resource Management

The proliferation of microcomputer based software now permits the partial automation of personnel operations. Future applications of information systems technology to public sector human resource management depend on a knowledge of public management information requirements and of the organizational effects of automating personnel operations. There is some possibility, however, that careful planning regarding the application of a rich store of personnel management software to work force information system development will pay divi dends in terms of effective human resource management.

The Public Sector Human Resource Puzzle: Strategic Management of a Strategic Resource

Something has happened to public sector human resource management (HRM). The role of human resources in modem production systems has changed the significance of the HRM field and the criteria by which successful practice is to be judged. A few prescient analysts (Drucker, 1968; Schultz, 1971; Boulding, 1966; Chorafas, 1968; Machlup, 1962; Simon, 1964; Denison, 1967) grasped early the significance of human resources in information-based societies and economies. Awareness of the strategic role of human resources in post-industrial societies and organizations has penetrated management literature and practice (Meyer, 1978; Business Week, 1979; Messner, 1986; U. S. Department of Labor; Douglas et al., 1985; Fombrun et al., 1984; Odiorne, 1984). In essence, both the resource itself and the practices which manage that resource have become pivotal to the success of many public sector enterprises.

Administrative Values and Cutback Politics in American Local Government

Fiscal constraints facing local governments and citizen resistance to tax increases have given impetus to cutback management. Some analysts have focused attention on the causes or consequences of reduced expenditures for programs and personnel while others have focused on strategies designed to buffer the impact of fiscal stress on public employees and the delivery of governmental services. A recent study by Klingner and Nalbandian indicates that cutback management can be viewed as an institutional response to conflict among the four basic values underlying public sector human resource management—political responsiveness, social equity, individual rights, and administrative efficiency. The authors test this model using data from a national survey of urban personnel managers. They conclude that the administrative values framework has limited applicability to the analysis of local cutback management and suggest that theory testing is inhibited by structural aspects of urban fiscal problems.