Even before the global economic recession there were multiple pressures and challenges facing human resource management in the public sector; now, for many countries which face austerity, the problem and pressures have exploded. With shrinking resources and increased demands for efficiency gains by “doing more with less”, HR is being scrutinized and squeezed with increasing intensity. This edited book by Ronald Burke from Canada, Andrew Noblet from Australia and Cary Cooper provides very helpful guidance to all those directly or indirectly involved with HR in the public sector.
Four main reasons are described for the focus on HRM in the public sector. Firstly, there is insufficient attention given to this area in the literature (although a quick search revealed that there are a number of texts with this or similar titles, e.g. Human Resource Management in the Public Sector – Beattie and Osborne; Human Resource Management in Public Service – Berman, Bowman, West and Van Wart; Human Resource Management in the Public Sector – Daly; and Human Resource Management for Public and Nonprofit Organizations – Pynes). All would appear to provide helpful insights into the subject.
The second reason is that public sector services affect us all and human resources are important in supporting their delivery. Thirdly, there is a large investment in the public sector representing a quarter of the total workforce and almost half of GDP for most OECD countries. With this level of investment there is an increasing pressure to maximise the returns on investment.
Finally, there are many and varied challenges which include harsh cost-cutting and employee lay-offs; continuing reforms to enhance efficiency, effectiveness and accountability to government and other stakeholders; growing demands in the requirements and complexity of the services provided by the public sector; demographic trends including aging populations and declining workforces; and finally, if this wasn't enough, there are high levels of stress and job dissatisfaction.
The book is divided into four sections and 16 chapters addressing a broad range of subjects from a wide range of international contributors. Most of these have broad application but the chapter on “Work engagement among dentists” had little wider relevance and the emphasis on statistical analysis made it far more suited to a specialised academic journal article.
The book focusses on HRM issues reflecting its title; in addition, it also contains two chapters on HRD areas: management and leadership development in public sector organizations; and public sector HRM education in the USA. These chapters provide a number of insights and combined with the other chapters make valuable reading for learning/training/HRD specialists.
The final point to make is that the book is rather expensive, making it unlikely that people would choose to purchase it directly from their own pockets. This book is probably targeted at libraries and other institutions; however, with a reduced price, the benefits of reading would be more widely distributed. There is undoubted value in the book and just one insight, from the many provided, could help organisations make substantial savings.
