April 22, 2012
Public Personnel Today

Growth in the field of public administration over the last one hundred plus years has resulted in amplified attention on the expectations and overall responsibility of public personnel as the profession has grown over time in society both in increased responsibility and overall increases of the expected impact of a bureaucratic system on its citizens and their quality of life. As a primary employer, the government at its various levels is tasked with the challenge of not only providing safe and effective workplaces but also with the ability to remain somewhat competitive with their private sector counterparts. Attracting and retaining qualified and professional public administration personnel is a key factor and initiative addressed when ensuring public funds are appropriately managed and utilized effectively and efficiently for the greater good. While it is the government’s functional responsibility to provide the necessary services required, they must do so while maintaining a highly regarded and expected standard of living.
In its early years, the majority of public officials were assigned their roles based on their socio-economic status and personal relationships, a system that became known as the spoils system. As the economy grew and industrialization changed the perspectives of many, the spoils system became synonymous with an inefficient and ineffective way of assigning personnel to run public organizations and allocate public funds, this change in philosophy was ultimately caused by the shift in socioeconomic thinking caused by the emerging industrial system and changes to the market system, where citizens began believing that wealth, power and position could be achieved rather than inherited (Nigro, Nigro, & Kellough, 2007). The spoils system and its resulting lack of distrust in the public administration system has been an important trend in the way public officials are viewed and the distrust often associated with them. Improving trust amongst the general population and its public administrators has been a struggle that has been engaging and challenging from the very beginning and was a direct result of the use of the patronage system which encouraged the use of affiliations and socioeconomic statuses to determine and affect legislative support (Nigro, Nigro, & Kellough, 2007).
The reform of the public sector is a direct outcome of the obvious changes in the way of thinking coupled with continuous growth and expanded interest in public administration careers and employment, these changes resulted in an environment which required the need to reevaluate and revamp the methods by which positions were graded and assigned has become one of the most important trends to affect the public administration field. As public administration continues to show exponential growth it clearly identifies the need to not only successfully compete with the private sector in an acceptable manner to attract talented and qualified personnel it has also exposed the need to retain personnel who could effectively produce changes in the way public personnel are viewed, a necessity if the public sector seeks to improve its quality of service to its citizen. In addition to the competition amongst public and private sectors another trend impacting the public administration field is the growth and transformation of government programs caused by increased government spending; this trend was evident as early as the 1940’s where expenditures reached upwards of 40 percent during WWII (Sigler, 1990) this trend has continued as changes in markets, population and the increased use of technology dictates the need to not only increase spending but to identify ways to use resources more strategically. Additionally changes implemented in employee recruitment as a result of the Civil Service Rights Act and the formations of the National Labor Relations Act were attempts to stabilize the opportunities afforded to the workforce and to create equality (Nigro, Nigro, & Kellough, 2007). Another trend is the changes implemented to effectively train employees, recognizing that the quality of the workforce and the services provides and to align with the changes in recruitment it became evident that retaining employees also identified the need to effectively train current as well as implement programs to train future employees, this created a standard by which organizations could effectively train their employees in addition to a level of consistency across agencies.
Diversity in the workplace has been an increased initiative in public and private sectors alike, creating a diverse workplace ensures that employee pools ensures a richer work experience and workplace. Diversity in the work place creates an environment of equality as qualifications and work ethics are emphasized rather than what an employee looks like or who they may be. The recruitment efforts in an organization play an integral part in achieving a diverse workforce. Diversity crosses the border of gender and age and has reached into the depths of sexual orientation and educational accolades. One strategy for acquiring a diverse workforce is through the use of targeted recruiting, where women and minorities are sought after (Knouse, 2009). Recruiting college graduates is another strategy by which recruiters can create a diverse workforce, this ensures that younger candidates are sought after, in the past government agencies were not know for heavy campus recruitment efforts (Nigro, Nigro, & Kellough, 2007). Additionally placing minimum requirements such as education and experience ensures that certain criteria is met when recruiting effort are underway. Also the administration of written tests and oral examinations identify candidates who possess the skill set being sought after
Sustaining union membership and representation amongst employees is imperative to creating an environment where all stakeholders are represented and fair policies are implemented, accomplishing this task is quite an undertaking and requires the strategic human resources framework approach. Using this methodology ensures that there is a full representation of human resources in the policy making process additionally goals and objectives are created and designed through a strategic planning process (Nigro, Nigro, & Kellough, 2007). Once a thorough understanding of the importance of the function of human capital had been reached, this led to the creation of human capital standards, these standards were designed to guide human resources policies and practices (Nigro, Nigro, & Kellough, 2007). In response to the OPM standards that were derived the EPA utilized the following strategies to meet those initiatives. First, strategic workforce planning and deployment categorizes the skill levels and competencies of employees to align work with the skill set of their employees. This strategy provides management with decision rights over which employees can be utilized, and lead to increased efficiencies and organizational improvements. Secondly, managing leadership and knowledge through the use of various systems, including workforce management and performance management system, by utilizing these systems leaders can accumulate information on employee competencies, training and qualifications. Thirdly is the development of a performance culture through the creation of an environment where employees become performance driven as the organizational culture shifts and employee performance and achievement become more evident. The fourth strategy is utilizing recruiting and retaining talent, by placing emphasis on the recruitment and retention of quality and highly qualified candidates ensures the availability of competent resources that are eligible for promotions into positions of greater responsibility (Nigro, Nigro, & Kellough, 2007). Implementing these strategies ensure the organization has a talent pool which is comprised of employees who have been molded into indispensable assets who are valuable to the organization and provide quality work, additionally the use of these strategies creates a work environment which is conducive to improved performance and attracts and retains highly skilled employees.

References
Knouse, S. B. (2009). Targeted recruiting for diversity: Strategy, Impression Management, Realistic Expectations, and Diversity Climate. International Journal of Management , 347-353.
(2007). The New Public Personnel Administration, 6th Edition. In L. G. Nigro, F. A. Nigro, & J. E. Kellough, The New Public Personnel Administration, 6th Edition (pp. 61-73). Boston: Cengage Learning.
Sigler, B. A. (1990). Public administration and the paradox of professionalization. Public Administration Review 50,6 , pp. 637-653.