Recruiting and Retaining Qualified Personnel
INTRODUCTION
One of the most critical challenges facing public administration is the recruitment and retention of qualified personnel. While the problem of attracting talent into public service is not new, the introduction and rapid expansion of the high technology and Internet industry, the problem has reached crisis proportions. Both the public and private sector have embraced the Information Age with increasing dependence on a skilled and versatile workforce. Private industry responded by developing greater versatility in expanding and contracting their workforce to compliment the strategic requirements and goals of the organization. Public administration did not adequately
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The need to incorporate similar flexibility in public administration has been recognized and addressed by congressional committees, public agencies, human resources professionals, and public administration academicians. This research paper focuses on the issues, recommendations and recent initiatives to address competitive recruitment and retention in contemporary public administration.
Understanding the Shortfalls
The crisis in recruiting and retaining talented personnel has multiple fronts. Public service has become increasingly less attractive to college graduates, more and more long term employees are seeking early retirement, and retaining mid level employees from enticing positions in the private sector are major reasons the government has severe shortages in qualified and talented management. In his testimony before the House Committee on Government Reform, Steven Kellman, a professor of Public Management at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, points out disturbing trends in the hiring rate of college graduates from institutions specializing in public management and administration. “Twenty years ago, about three quarters of the graduates from our two year master’s program took their first job with government. Now that figure is down to about one-third. These figures are similar to those of other major graduate programs in public policy around the
The management of an organization plays an integral part in determining the direction and performance of the organization. The manner in which the management of an organization is handled has a profound effect on the organization. The success of an organization is dependent upon a flexible and skilled management and workforce. The management of an organization is responsible for shaping up the organizational behavior and ultimately the culture within the organization. Public management faces a multiple of challenges and opportunities, how the management deals with these issues translates to efficiency in management. The personal judgments and skills of public managers can make a significant impact in public management. If
It was September 30th 2015 and I was coming off Active Duty Orders working for the Indiana Army National Guard Military Funeral Honors Team. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do next. When I went to Joint Forces Headquarters to pick up my DD Form 214, I ran into the Sergeant Major that was in charge of Recruiting and Retention for Indiana. I talked to him a little bit and he asked me if I had ever thought about becoming a recruiter. I told him that I have thought about it, but everyone I knew, told me that I couldn’t handle the stress of being a recruiter. Sergeant Major told me that the excuse I gave him should motivate me even more to be a recruiter. I told him that I would sleep on it and call him in the morning. The next morning, I called Sergeant Major and told him that I was ready to accept the challenge and be a RRNCO (Recruiting and Retention Non-Commissioned Officer).
In today’s organizations, the approach to the labor market is very important and detrimental to the success of the organization because of this every step should be strategically plan. The Department of Veterans Affairs is very successful in this area because their hiring and training processes are part of their best practice policy, which also give the organization a competitive edge. Being that the Department of Veterans Affairs are such a large organizations and their current tactics focus of the quality of candidates skills, level of education per position, and maintaining long- term sustainability . This paper will examine the process that the
During my tenure, I have witness the selection and sequential hiring for government positions that were made from individuals that had acquaintance with past/present senior officials, which may influence or favor selection of candidates. This process have created an illusion that selections are based on the organization hierarchy for preselection individuals that simulates a process of nation building of like individuals
I'm not too familiar with this field of public administration. However, I'm curious to read any research that you might currently have and perhaps even your class project if it relates to this subject.
Since Wilson, the nature of public administration has undergone three distinct areas of thought: the politically based Old Public Administration, economically based New Public Administration, and democratically based New Public Service (Denhardt &
Chermak, S., Carter, J., Carter, D., McGarrell, E. F., & Drew, J. (2013). In the last decade, the number of qualified applicants for police officer positions has substantially declined across the United States (Wilson & Heinonen, 2012). Per the National Institute of Justice, law enforcement departments, in particular smaller agencies, are finding it increasingly difficult to attract qualified applicants (Wilson, 2012). As the diversity and breadth of the communities that agencies serve expand, agencies might face difficulties in recruiting officers for positions that are increasingly complex, require new competencies, or require interaction with communities whose needs they do not always know or understand (White & Escobar, 2008). A contributing reason for this recruitment phenomenon is that law enforcement organizations are competing against each other and with similar industries for the same candidates (Wilson & Grammich,
Public Administration is a fairly new concept in comparison to other disciplines. It is a combination of at least 10 different humanities, and has become an important staple within federal, state and local governments/organizations. The Columbia and Challenger tragedies that befell the NASA space program allow for a great opportunity to apply Public Administration concepts to the real world. There were many issues that surrounded each accident and it’s not possible to place a definitive blame on anyone. It’s important to recognize the various theories within Public Administration that help explain the way an organization is run. The theory that organizations should ignore their constituency as well as abstain from voicing their concerns with those in politics undermines the idea of democracy and allows for these agencies to neglect their purpose as a societal vanguard.
The reading “Civil Service Reform in the United States” written by Kellough and Nigro analyses the notion adjustments and movement that that reforms have created throughout history. As we have learned form chapter three, reforms are adjusted in accordance with the internal beliefs, political ideologies or economic practices. Kellough & Nigro (2010) argued, “…they were and are driven by interests and purposes ranging from the outright partisan to the mostly technical” (p. 74). The effects of each reform goes along with the internal beliefs of participants that may not be able to assess or evaluate the effects of such reforms until the modification or creation of new reforms. The human resources department plays an important role on the management
To become a public administrator, you must have the ability to work with different people from different background, different age groups, and various economy classes. A Public administrator cannot be biased towards one group of people and turn around and be favorable towards the other. As an administrator, you have to be transparent to everybody that you encounter, even people that you will be working with, and people that you are working for. According to the publication, “Ethical Dilemmas in the Public Service,” by the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management, describes that the ethical issue that government officials face in any organization is nepotism and bias. The reason why this event occurs is that some of the individuals in the public administrative positions are not transparent in the workplace and are also influenced by personal gain.
Public service is a high calling. A calling that certain individuals who are compassionate and enthusiastic about serving their communities at large are willing to dedicate their profession and skills to. Although there are many challenges in managing a public organization, great leaders are those who have taken this opportunity and have inspired their work to be bigger than themselves in hopes to motivate those around them to do good work. The development of our societies depends on the efforts of the public sector such as education, environmental services, health and social care, that are fundamental to peoples lives. Therefore, it is important that an effective leader in the public sector who is much more than knowing the job and how to manage workloads and staff. There are many behaviors and traits that have been linked to successful leaders, and more specifically, those who have dedicated their careers to the public.
S. Renée Narloch & Associates is known throughout the industry as the leading public sector recruitment firm by both clients and candidates. Our recruiters have conducted hundreds of public sector searches and have a reputation for conducting quality searches that result in the placement of candidates ideally suited to meet our clients’ needs. We pride ourselves on our responsiveness to clients and candidates, and we assure the City of Austin that the highest caliber of service will be provided throughout the recruitment process.
Professional journals and peer-reviewed publications are an important component in legitimizing any academic discipline, and the field of public administration is no exception. Similar to other disciplines, the field of public administration utilizes academic and professional journal publications as a means to disseminate and share research by scholars and practitioners that presents original contributions and unique perspectives. However, unlike other disciplines, since the field of public administration lacks a core theoretical framework for scholars to design and conduct research, scholars in the field of public administration draw on a myriad of theoretical frameworks in order to make their scholarly contributions. In this regard, it is not surprising that academic journals in the field of public administration exhibit a degree of bias in the research they publish and, therefore, the theoretical frameworks of knowledge they promote. A comparative analysis of four of the major academic journals in the field of public administration (Public Administration Review, Administrative Theory & Praxis, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, and The American Review of Public Administration) will yield important insights about the knowledge frameworks used in these journals and the implications this has for scholars and practitioners in public administration.
In the following paragraphs, I will explain the dominant theory in public administration practice and elaborate on the major theoretical assumptions of the Old Public Administration. As stated in the question, the world has transformed through globalization, information technology, and devolution of authority since the latter part of the last century. The dominant theory in public administration has been replaced from the traditional rule-based, authority-driven processes of the Old Public Administration with market-based, competition-driven tactics in the New Public Management, beginning in the 1980s (Kettl, 2000, p. 3). This was an effort to privatize government and streamline public administration to maximize efficiency and productivity. Heavily relying on market mechanisms to guide public programs, public administrators in the New Public Management are encouraged to “steer, not row,” meaning they should not bear the burden of delivering services, but instead define programs that others will carry out, through contracting or other means (Denhardt & Denhardt, 2011, p. 13). Core values of the New Public Management include using private sector and business approaches to the public sector, squeezing as many services as possible from smaller revenues, market style incentives, providing customers more choices, and focusing on outputs and outcomes instead of mainly processes.
The recruitment and selection process refers to where organisations use various methods in order to generate a pool of candidates that are suited to the job at hand and align with the organisations goals. With technology being used and relied on by many in the business world, it is important that organisations stay relevant by implementing both web-based applications methods and scientific tests to attract the best possible people for the job. These both have their benefits and negatives when used in the recruitment and selection process, but with some modifications, they would further aid organisations to attract the best possible employees to fit into the job.