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Human Resource Management in Public Service
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Human Resource Management in Public Service
Paradoxes, Processes, and Problems

Seventh Edition
  • Evan M. Berman - Fundação Getulio Vargas, Brazil, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, Fundação Getulio Vargas’s Sao Paulo School of Business Administration, Brazil
  • James S. Bowman - Florida State University, USA
  • Jonathan P. West - University of Miami, USA
  • Montgomery R. Van Wart - California State University, San Bernardino, USA
July 2021 | 664 pages | CQ Press
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Human Resource Management in Public Service: Paradoxes, Processes, and Problems offers provocative and thorough coverage of the complex issues faced by employees and managers in the public sector, including managing under tight budgets with increasing costs, hiring freezes, contracting out, and the politicization of the civil service. Continuing the award-winning tradition of previous editions, authors Evan M. Berman, James S. Bowman, Jonathan P. West, and Montgomery R. Van Wart encourage active learning through various skill-building exercises and a mixture of individual, group, and in-class tasks.  

The Seventh Edition includes new examples on how COVID-19 has disrupted the workplace, equity and racial discord, organizational diversity, employee engagement and motivation, leadership development training, work-life balance, gender-based inequities, behavioral biases in appraisal, and unionization trends.

 
Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
Introduction
 
PART I • CONTEXT AND CHALLENGES
 
CHAPTER 1 • The Public Service Heritage: People, Process, and Purpose
A Day in the Life of Maria Hernandez

 
Some Challenges in Getting and Managing the Right People

 
Some Basic Definitions

 
The Structure and Role of Human Resource Departments

 
Historical and Institutional Context

 
Reforming Government in the Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Trump Years

 
Human Resource Management Principles

 
Ethics and Moral Management

 
 
CHAPTER 2 • Legal Rights and Responsibilities: Laws Governing the Workplace
The Foundations of Employment Law

 
The Employment Relationship

 
Balancing Employer, Employee, and Societal Interests

 
Privacy Issues

 
Pre-employment Investigations: Truth, Personality, Health, Credit, and Criminal Records

 
Discrimination

 
 
PART II • PROCESSES AND SKILLS: FROM START TO FINISH
 
CHAPTER 3 • Recruitment: From Passive Posting to Social Media Networking
Factors in Recruitment: Employer and Applicant Perspectives

 
Recruitment Steps

 
Planning and Approval

 
Position Announcements

 
Recruitment Strategies

 
Enhancing Recruitment Prospects: The Seeker’s Perspective

 
Advancing From Job Seeking to Career Development

 
 
CHAPTER 4 • Selection: From Civil Service Commissions to Decentralized Decision Making
The Bases and Origin of Selection

 
Criteria in Selecting Selection Tests

 
Selection: Four Screening Phases

 
Initial Reviewing and Testing

 
Interviewing and Reference Checks: Narrowing the Pool

 
General Considerations for Those Conducting Interviews

 
Choosing and Negotiation

 
Post-offer and Hiring Issues

 
Appendix: The Professional Commitment Statement for Job Seekers

 
 
CHAPTER 5 • Position Management: Judicious Plan or Jigsaw Puzzle?
Three Types of Personnel Strategies

 
The Origins of Position Classification and Management

 
Job Design and Job Analysis

 
Job and Position Descriptions

 
From Jobs to Job Systems

 
Curbing, Cutting, and Eliminating Workforce

 
 
CHAPTER 6 • Employee Motivation: Possible, Probable, or Impossible?
Pull, Push, or Drive?

 
Human Resource Management and the Climate for Motivation

 
Tools of Motivation

 
 
CHAPTER 7 • Compensation: Vital, Visible, and Vicious
Equity and Expectancy Theory

 
Pay Determination

 
Philosophy: Lead, Match, or Lag

 
The Perennial Pay Debate

 
Labor Market Forces: External Competition

 
Job Content: Internal Consistency

 
Individual Considerations: Fairness and Contributions

 
Implications

 
Appendix: Compensation for Graduate Degrees in Public Affairs and Administration

 
 
CHAPTER 8 • Employee-Friendly Policies: Fashionable, Flexible, and Fickle
Workforce and Workplace Trends

 
Work–Family Programs

 
Health, Safety, and Wellness Programs

 
Flexible Work Arrangements

 
Traditional Benefits: Not-So-Employee-Friendly Trends

 
Implementation, Assessment, and Evaluation

 
Avoiding and Coping With Hostility at Work

 
Best Places to Work

 
Appendix A: Questions for Employees and Employers Regarding Telecommuting Arrangements

 
Appendix B: Some Questions to Answer When Considering Implementation of Employee-Friendly Policies

 
Appendix C: Family-Friendly Policies

 
 
CHAPTER 9 • Training and Development: Exploring New Frontiers
General Principles of Learning

 
Training Strategies

 
Organizational Training and Development

 
The Strategic Turn

 
Application: Ethics Training

 
Appendix: Needs Assessment and Evaluation for Training

 
 
CHAPTER 10 • Appraisal: A Process in Search of a Technique
Evolution

 
Appraisal Systems

 
Raters

 
Rating Errors: The Underbelly of Appraisals

 
Improving the Process

 
Disciplinary Systems

 
Appendix: Corrective Actions

 
 
CHAPTER 11 • Unions and the Government: Protectors, Partners, and Punishers
Background: The Context and Evolution of Employee Relations

 
Differing Views of Unions

 
Paradoxes and Contradictions

 
Trends and Variations

 
Appendix A: Tips for Managers When Dealing With Unions

 
Appendix B: Tips for Unions When Dealing With Managers

 
 
CHAPTER 12 • Collective Bargaining: Structures, Strategies, and Skills
Structure, Representation, and Collective Bargaining

 
Bargaining-Related Reforms

 
Hostility vs. Harmony

 
Appendix A: Bargaining Checklist and Observation Sheet

 
Appendix B: Mock Disciplinary Appeal Board Hearing

 
 
CONCLUSION • The Future as Opportunity, Not Destiny
New Technologies, Human Competencies, Failures, and Reforms

 
Taking Responsibility for Paradoxes

 
Public Service as a Calling

 
The Years Ahead

 
Envoi: Dream While Awake

 
 
Glossary
 
Index
 
About the Authors

This book comprehensively covers several key topics in HRM

Dr Ju-Ying Yang
Political Science, Kansas State University
July 18, 2023
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Was recommended by department.

Dr Daniela Schroeter
Public Administration Dept, Western Michigan University
September 22, 2023
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This was a great textbook. The resources were wonderful. My students enjoyed the format and the materials. I am now trying to adopt the 7th edition and having challenges accessing the instructor resources through Sage Publishing.

Ms Bethany A Behrhorst
Public Admin/Policy Analy Dept, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville
July 3, 2022
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I have used the earlier edition and found it ideal for my classes in public HRM. I am going to use your publication in my class this winter and need a copy of the newer edition. I found the book's coverage of latest trends in public HRM to be most appropriate for graduate students.

Dr Charles Edward Mitchell
Political Science/Public Administration, Troy University-Troy
October 25, 2021
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Key features

NEW TO THIS EDITION:

  • New examples highlight technological disruptions in civil service jobs like the ongoing automation of industrial practices, data analytics and algorithms to assess problems, and the abrupt shift to remote work due to COVID-19.
  • Almost all chapters note rising concerns with social justice and the growing support for LGBTQ issues in public service.
  • The chapter on “Compensation” has been heavily updated to reflect changes in work-life polices, access to paid sick and family leave, emergency backup staffing plans, and the importance of flexible work hours. These areas are under closer scrutiny as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Updated and consolidated recruiting strategies offer students a window into the most current methods used in the recruitment process and provide insight into the job seeker’s perspective.
  • New examples from a broad range of local, state, federal, and international settings enable students to apply key concepts to common management issues.   
KEY FEATURES:
  • Covers all of the stages of the employment process, including recruitment, selection, training, legal rights and responsibilities, compensation, and appraisal.
  • Extensive skill-building exercises help readers apply the material and develop hands-on, technical skills.
  • Ethics case studies enable students to learn about a variety of ethical situations that come up in management.  
  • A broad range of examples from local, state, federal, and international settings provide readers with applications in a variety of public sector contexts.
  • Questions at the end of each chapter, along with a mix of individual, group, and in-class exercises, encourage active learning and mastery of concepts.

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