Human Resource Management in the Public Sector

Calum Macleod (Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK)

Journal of European Industrial Training

ISSN: 0309-0590

Article publication date: 3 April 2009

662

Citation

Macleod, C. (2009), "Human Resource Management in the Public Sector", Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 298-300. https://doi.org/10.1108/03090590910950631

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited


Book synopsis

This book is an edited collection on human resource management (HRM) in the public sector which was first published as a special edition of Public Management Review. The editors note that scholarly activity investigating HRM in the public sector is relatively underdeveloped in comparison to work undertaken in the corporate (private) sector. Human Resource Management in the Public Sector is therefore an attempt to address that deficit in the academic literature. Its target audience includes researchers in the fields of HRM and public sector management, together with management practitioners.

The book contains seven chapters. Chapter one, by Kerry Brown, is introductory and contextual in nature, explaining that HRM is a major influence in public sector change. The transition from a “rule‐bound” bureaucratic model of public administration to a “performance‐based” culture framed around the principles of new public management (NPM) is cited by Brown as a key development in this respect. In chapter two, John J. Rodwell and Stephen T.T. Teo present research relating to the Australian health services sector. They conclude that adoption of human capital‐enhancing HR practices alongside the presence of an external and internal orientation contributes significantly to firm performance in that sector. Chapter three, by Phillipe Mehaut and Coralie Perez, charts the somewhat fraught relationship between HRM and further education and training in the French public sector through case‐study analysis. In chapter four, Jennifer Waterhouse and Dianne Lewis focus on the HRM implications of communicating culture change for public sector organisations, focusing specifically on the case of the Department of Main Roads in Australia. Thereafter, Gillian Maxwell and Marilyn McDougall explore connections between levels of influence in the UK public sector in relation to work‐life balance. The penultimate chapter by Reginald Butterfield, Christine Edwards and Jean Woodall examines the impact of NPM and the UK police service with particular reference to the role of police sergeants in the implementation of performance management. Finally, Peter Mann, Sue Pritchard and Kirstein Rummery close the volume with a discussion of the role of joined up action and research in supporting inter‐organizational partnerships in the public sector.

Evaluation

This book is a timely and welcome contribution to the field of HRM and public sector management, particularly in light of the editors' contention that academic coverage of the subject area is relatively underdeveloped. The volume spans a range of public services including healthcare, transport infrastructure and police, offering international perspectives on HRM issues from France, the United Kingdom and Australia. The chapters are written in an accessible style and are commendably jargon free.

The somewhat eclectic mix of chapter contributions, in terms of their focus, is both a weakness and strength of the book. It would be helpful to have a clearer sense of whether the challenges for HRM in the public sector are distinctive from those encountered in the corporate (private) sector and to have used that as a unifying thread linking chapters throughout. That said, the book does offer compelling snapshots of the complex and evolving relationship between HRM and the public sector. As such it will be useful both to researchers developing new lines of academic inquiry and to public sector practitioners seeking insights and solutions to the real‐life HRM challenges that they face. In both these respects Human Resource Management in the Public Sector is recommended reading.

In the authors' own words

That there should be a seamless link between wider organization objectives and those set in the individual appraisal process is a key assumption that underlies a systems approach to performance management. Yet this was not upheld by the research findings. During the individual performance appraisal interviews for setting objectives, items were often selected because of their ease of measurement as opposed to their strategic usefulness […] However, the evidence indicated that sergeants and their constables perceived the objective setting process as a meaningless ritual that was superseded by a focus upon the performance indicators which had a much greater impact upon the work they did (p. 107).

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