Human Resource Management in the Public Administration

Assuming that HRM can be viewed as a core and strategic management function also in Public Sector organizations, the chapter focuses attention on the problems/challenges that in the last decade has involved public sector organizations, discussing how the several subsystems of HRM and some change/innovation characterizing Public Administrations may help Public Sector organizations to accomplish their goals by ensuring professional and effective management of human resources. The shift from the traditional “personnel” perspective to a strategic role of HRM can be realized through a change both in the “role” of public employees (and their motivation) and in its subsystems: the recruitment and selection, training, and evaluation systems. Finally, in order to complete the shift toward an HRM development function, greater attention needs to be directed to preparing Public Sector human resources for greater flexibility and responsiveness to change, overcoming the most important challenges in HRM area. To ensure that the process of HRM transformation has the desired outcome, it is necessary to achieve the following objectives: HRM should be fully integrated into the work and development plan of each administration and — at the same time — HRM should base its credibility on the expertise and professionalism of those working in this field.