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Human Resources and Organizational Performance
in the 21st Century Public Sector
Fredric Mack
PSC 531 Public Personnel
Jacksonville State University
For Dr. Jean Pugliese
Spring Semester
April 24, 2012

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Public administration is often faced with similar, yet more complex challenges than its
private sector counterparts because of the many policies and laws that govern public service
operations. Therefore, the specific bureaucratic protocol and mission of the public sector makes
the first impact on organizational performance. Past and present administrations has offered
many unsuccessful tools and models to do what now remain current and future human resource
manager’s number one priority to maintain and increase organizational performance. The United
Nations suggests, “This obviously involves changes in all the main human resources
management functions (attract and recruit, reward, retain and develop, etc.) It also entails
managing not only internal factors, like change resistance or self-complacency of the public
personnel, but also external ones affecting the incentives and motivation for developing staff’s
competencies. Therefore, a strategic vision of Human Resource Development (HRD) function is
needed” (2005).
Human resource managers should recognize how their daily practices, interactions and
work relationship with employees affect job satisfaction, motivation, absenteeism, turn-over
rate, reliability, etc. While this study will not specifically emphasize how these very relevant
factors affect organizational performance, it will focus on the human resource manager’s ability
maintain them, while building healthy employer-employee relationships that translate into a
healthy organizational culture. These collaborative contributions will help produce healthy
organizational performance.
As discussed in this study, the human resource manager must utilize well planned and
executed strategies in (1) recruitment & employee cultivation (2) employer-employee relations
(3) forecasting and predicting (4) evaluations and implementing revisions.

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Recruitment and employee cultivation
Trends leading up to the 21st century are demanding new skills, knowledge, ability and
technology. In order to meet these demands, basically; HR managers will be challenged to
attract the right people with the necessary skills to do the right work. The chance to bridge the
gap between the current employee skill levels and the levels needed to satisfy on-going
administration advances begin with the career announcements, advertising, and job posting.
In order to obtain the right people, announcements must reach the right people. Human resource
managers are beginning to take more aggressive strategies to their recruitment practices. Some
of these strategies include participating in job fairs, hiring full-time recruiters, more widely
distributed multi-media advertising and postings to college campuses, out-side search agencies
and tracking methods, among others (United Nations 2005).
Once there is a sufficient pipeline of qualified applicants, the interview and selection process
can be more successful. The traditional template methods of question-answer interviews will
continue to place candidates into repetitious positions by focusing on limited knowledge of the
applicant and poorly updated job description, rather than gathering sufficient information
regarding skills, background, and career goals that may determine if an individual’s skills can be
assets to the organization. Instead interview questioning, panels and testing should be
strategically tailored to find out as much as possible about the candidate. The interviewing and
selection process is critical in the HR manager to establish a positive work relationship with new
hires.

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Orientation, training, and development
The orientation should not be taken for granted. Many times, this phase is the new hire’s first
formal introduction to the organizational culture. Employees can begin to get a real feel for the
organization as they are introduced to each department’s role in the mission. Orientation is a
part of the crucial training and career development efforts that not only prepare new hires for
their immediate duties, but it helps reveal future opportunities and long-term goals as employee
cultivation continues.
New hire evaluations and probationary periods
Determining if recent recruiting and selection efforts are “hit or miss” can be observed with new
hire evaluations. It is always great to have various measurement tools to assess any changes or
actions on any levels of operation. Hiring the right fit will prove efficient and effective by
reducing turn-over rates and maintain retention, which are both good news for organizational
performance. During new hire probationary periods, both manager and employee are given an
opportunity to re-evaluate job fit and performance by identifying strengths while seeking to
improve any areas of work performance or correct HR actions. Many institutions already use
various assessments. There are several evaluating tools that can be used, but it is most important
to use fact-finding tools that will identify any positive or negative trends.
Employer-employee relations
In spite of some manager’s preferred traditional authoritative management styles or
bureaucratic leadership, it is wise that human resource manager become more approachable. As

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the wicked problems of public administration increase, the need for decentralized or
collaborative thinking becomes more popular. If the manager can put away the “smartest guy in
the room” act, embrace the talent, diversity and the pool of ideas of their organization, it will
help create a positive work environment. Management commitment or perceived humanistic
approach also help set a good atmosphere when managers possess “the willingness to listen and
respond to the needs of people as individuals (Moir, 2008)”. Good human relations and
interpersonal efforts can have great long-term effects, especially during more challenging times.
L. Nigro, F. Nigro and Kellough agree that managers should “focus on the behavioral as well as
technical skills and conditions people need to develop their potential and to function effectively
in the workplace. This includes enhancing job satisfaction and commitment to organizational
goals through psychologically rewarding work settings, supportive management styles, and
opportunities for career development and training (2007)”.
Cooperative Strategy
During the more challenging times of the 21st century public sector, the cooperative
strategy can be a saving grace. It offers a form of arrangement, relief or cooperation between
participants. Cooperative strategies can be very involved depending on an organizations ability
to generate appropriate resources to negotiate the contracts. However, when eras are not
favorable with appropriate funds or other resources to support benefits, rewards or full
workloads, this strategy really seeks to build or negotiate relationships through flexibility and
other innovative solutions. A few examples of possibly great cooperative strategies are to offer
off days or flexible work schedule in place of bonus and benefit cuts. Something as simple as
complimentary breakfast stations or periodic office luncheons and recognitions may not make
up for lost hours or salaries, but these small acts of appreciation further builds employer-

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employee relations while maintaining organizational performance by maintaining job
satisfaction, even as once allocated funds deteriorate.
Forecasting
Human resource managers should be very knowledgeable about prior trends and current
conditions regarding the economy, policy and law in order to predict the necessary resources
needed to respond. For example, as more support for privatization and contracting out arise, the
HR manager should be thinking ahead to determine if and how these changes will affect the
organization. Will jobs be cut? What additional steps must human resources take to be
proactive? How can the organization keep up with performance demands considering these
difficult administrative changes? Such noted affects may need a cooperative approach in which
the human resource manager should have already planned ahead.
Strategic planning
There are many proposed human resource management strategies. L. Nigro, F. Nigro, and
Kellough share a good example by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. The Human
Capital Standards include: the strategic alignment standard, the workforce planning and
development standard, the leadership and knowledge management standard, the results-oriented
performance standard, and the accountability standard. These standards address mission, goal,
objectives; e-government; competitive sourcing, developmental environment, diversity,
workforce skills, knowledge, competencies and other anticipated needs (2007).
Most important to remember when incorporating any standards or plans is that they be
put in context to the specific institution. If there is anything the modern public administration

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should recognize with step by step protocol is that there are outliers between the steps that can
have huge effects on organization performance. Just as operation manuals cannot possibly list
every possible scenario, strategic plans give a great outline to work by. It is up to the HR
manager to fill the gap through continuous learning.
With each learning opportunity, the manager develops more knowledge; with each
solution or success in strategic planning, the manager gain a more innovative nature. Strategic
plans should include conclusions from the HR forecasting and predicting in order to stay on top
of organizational performance. This will allow a direct response to the increasing pace of
change. Human resource managers should not be too cautious to implement large idea
incrementally, as it may be easier to make moderate changes than risking operational
performance failures. “A successful innovation in the Public Sector is largely invisible, but a
visible failure can put an end to a brilliant career (United Nations, 2005)”.
Although there is little mentioned in this study about pay-for-performance and appraisal
systems, it does not reflect the huge role they play in organizational performance. As job
satisfaction is of noted importance, the HR manager should review their appraisal systems as a
part of their strategic review to make sure that rewards are directly linked to operational
performance. Yerre adds that in some companies, employees are incentivized without
knowledge of the impact in it has on the company. He goes on to say that, “balancing your
organization’s use of pay and other rewards with meaningful measures of individual
performance helps create a talented, engaged workforce and an organization capable of creating
long-term value. This applies to the entire organization, including top management (Yerre,
2012)”.

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Evaluations/Feedback
Evaluations are a major part of strategic planning and HR managers must remember that
this is an on-going process. While managers may not want to participate in questionnaire/ survey
overload, there should be multiple evaluating tools at play. “Organizational development usually
involves multiple steps, including assessments through interviews, focus groups, or surveys;
identifying core problems; providing feedback; planning and carrying out interventions or
training; evaluating results; and transferring knowledge and competencies to the organization
(OPM, 2012).
Implementing Revisions
There should be evaluations in each phase of strategic planning discussed in this study: (1)
recruitment & employee cultivation (2) employer-employee relations (3) forecasting and
predicting (4) evaluations and implementing revisions. As evaluations of each individual
process are recorded, there should also be evaluations of the evaluation process to assess the
effectiveness of the evaluations. HR should be focus on evaluating the performance of the
employee as well as their own management performance, achievements and failures in order to
obtain an optimal level of organization performance. It is important to remember how positive
management and good human relations produce favorable work environments that promote
cooperation.
Through the cooperation induced by effective management style and strategy, feedback
will be more constructive, concise, and honest. In addition to the obvious policy knowledge that
is required for the HR manager, attention to past trends, changes, predictions, conclusions and

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feedback will aid in implementing revisions. As stated earlier, some revisions may need to be
more slowly integrated than others, but there has to be a conscious effort to introduce needed
change. The HR manager should note that doing nothing is always an option. So in order to
maintain organizational performance the administration has only two real options, even as
options are limited. First, the HR manager can continue with traditional approach, and the
organizational performance is likely to remain the same or decrease as administrative changes
are ignored; or, the HR manager can use a combination of various approaches and ideas to
sculpt the perfect innovative strategy for their organization to meet the challenges of the 21st
century public administration.
“Introducing Strategic Human Resource Development is not a simple task. It demands
flexibility and support systems (besides analytical efforts for strategic planning and
management) in contrast with traditional bureaucracy rigidity and isolation (United Nations,
2005)”. Difficult decisions and challenges are inevitable for every public sector organization
when faced with the uncertainties of an unstable economy. Human resources’ ability to develop,
support and maintain effective organization performance during these periods will determine the
adaptability and success of the establishment. The human resource manager must consciously
incorporate strategic planning in all levels of operation in order to provide the innovative
solutions necessary to sustain an organization’s resilience.

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REFERENCES
Moir, Stephen (2008). Challenges for public sector HR professionals: One step forward, two
steps back. www.PersonnelToday.com.
Nigro, L., Nigro, F., Kellough, J.E. (2007). The New Personnel Administration. sixth edition.
55-57; 328-329.
OPM (2012). Optimizing Organization Performance, Performance Management, and
Organization Development Solutions for the Public Sector. www.opm.gov
United Nations (2005). Dept. of Economic and Social Affairs. Division for Public
Administration and development management. 10-81.
Yerre, Brandon (2012). Human Resource Executive Online
www.hreonline.com