Public HRM in the United States: Facing the Future

Stephen E. Condrey, Ph.D.President, American Society for Public Administration

Overview

United States Federal Government State and Local Government

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Recent U.S. Civil Service Reform History: 2009 to Present

President Obama

President Obama

Appoints John Berry as Director of OPM

Berry is most visible OPM Director in 30 years – now set to become Ambassador to Australia

Obama initially poised to make major HR reforms

Obama harkens back to President Kennedy and a call to public service

American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) – HRM Policy Committee

Chairman, Federal Salary Council

“I believe this is an historic opportunity for comprehensive reform of our civil service system. The stars are aligned in a way that occurs only once in a generation. We have a President who deeply values service and wants to restore the dignity and respect for our civil service to what it was during Kennedy’s stirring call. We have a Congress that is willing to help and a public that increasingly recognizes that our current approaches to hiring, rewarding, appraising and training our employees are inadequate.”

John Berry, OPM Director

December 2009

“When I first took office in the spring of 2009, I spoke to our members about what appeared to be an inflection point in our recent history, where we seemed to embrace government as the solution and not just the problem. Many of us posted our new president’s inaugural remarks on our walls and refrigerators: “It’s not a question of right or left but what works.” Well, that is the unique calling card of professionals and academics in public administration. ASPA members are the first people that political leaders turn to when they get serious about improving the delivery of public services throughout the nation. By the time I turned the leadership over to the next ASPA president, the environment had changed drastically. In the short space of one year, we went from what was heralded as era of hope to one of seeming despair and public anger.

Paul Posner, Past-President American Society for Public Administration (ASPA)

October 2010

Change in National Mood from 2009-2010

Reasons for the Change in Mood

Deep recession

High unemployment – greatest since the Depression of the 1930s

Resource scarcity results in fractious politics

Politics of 2013

Republican-controlled House of Representatives

Two-year pay freeze for Federal workers extended for a third year

Republicans continue to push for cuts to the Federal workforce and a continuing pay freeze

Sequestration forces automatic cuts and furloughs

2013 State of the Union Speech – “Smart Government” Needed

“The American people have worked too hard, for too long, rebuilding from one crisis to see their elected officials cause another.”

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Memos to National Leaders

Sponsored by ASPA and NAPA

Cover topics vital to the functioning of the Federal Government

Aimed at the 2013 transition – Obama or Romney

Workforce memo co-authored with Rex Facer and Jared Llorens

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Workforce Memo Topics

1. Compensation

2. Recruitment and Selection

3. Training and Development

4. Employee/Labor Relations

5. U.S. Office of Personnel Management

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Compensation

Federal Pay has received significant attention over the last few years

Our focus was to look at ways to improve the current system to make federal pay more competitive

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BLS/Federal Salary Council Wage Comparisons

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Table. 1 Federal GS Wage Gap - March 2010

GradeBLS - Estimated

Comparable Annual Pay

GS Average Annual Pay w/

Locality Adjustment

BLS - Estimated % Pay Gap w/

Locality Adjustment

1 $20,092 $23,608 -14.89%2 $20,916 $25,011 -16.37%3 $24,819 $28,199 -11.99%4 $29,129 $31,849 -8.54%5 $33,096 $35,585 -6.99%6 $39,239 $40,135 -2.23%7 $44,227 $44,594 -0.82%8 $51,733 $51,616 0.23%9 $58,621 $53,683 9.20%

10 $71,859 $60,481 18.81%11 $76,990 $65,205 18.07%12 $102,496 $78,939 29.84%13 $110,770 $94,632 17.05%14 $147,581 $112,266 31.46%15 $167,877 $134,320 24.98%

Weighted Average $70,330 $61,313 14.71%

Recommendations: Compensation

End uniform pay comparability increases for GS employees and allow grade-level adjustments based upon disaggregated pay disparities

Continue ECI-based adjustments for all grade levels

Expand pay ranges within the existing GS pay system to allow for greater pay progression within GS grade levels

For example, current range is 30% Grade 11: minimum $50,287 – maximum $65,371 Expanded range of 50% Grade 11: minimum $50,287 – Maximum $75,430

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Recruitment and Selection

60 percent of the federal workforce will be eligible for retirement between 2012 and 2016

Inefficient and overly complex hiring systems, inadequate employment branding strategies, ineffective assessment systems and, in some cases, a lack of expertise among federal human resources managers in cutting-edge recruitment and retention strategies

Starting in 2008 good movement in many of these issues, but there must be more

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Recommendations: Federal Recruitment and Selection

More strategic hiring efforts

Review and adjust internal hiring processes, procedures, and policies

Enhance assessment strategies emphasizing selection quality, not just cost and speed

Manage the applicant pool while making the process manageable for applicants

Train human resources staff and selection officials to think and act strategically

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U.S. Conclusion:

Possible policy window for extensive HR reform is closing

Necessary to find common ground

End goal should be an enhanced federal workforce

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New Public Management – A Global Phenomenon

Private Sector Model Used as a Guide Downsizing Flatter Organizational Structures Reduced Employee Rights – At-Will

Employment Use of Performance Measures Pay-for-Performance Compensation Systems

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State and Local HR Issues

Diminution of Employee Rights and Protections The Great Recession Renewed Importance of the Public HR Manager

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State of Georgia

State merit protections abolished for new hires in 1996. Decentralized state human resources administration.

“I will also bring you legislation to revise the State Merit System, which was established more than 50 years ago to create a professional workforce that was free of political cronyism…But too often in government, we pass laws to fix particular problems of the moment, and then we allow half a century to roll by without ever following up to see what the long-term consequences have been…A solution in 1943 is a problem in 1996. The problem is governmental paralysis, because despite its name, our present Merit System is not about merit…It can take six to eight weeks to fill a critical position in state government. It takes a year to a year-and-a-half to fire a bad worker, because of the mountain of endless paperwork, hearings and appeals.”

- Former State of Georgia Governor Zell Miller (1996)

Georgia – A Perfect Storm?

Factors Influencing the Legislative Success of the Georgia Reform

Right-to-work state with weak public employee unions

Gubernatorial success in passing his legislative agenda

Editorial support of the state’s largest circulation newspapers

Support of the state’s bureaucratic leadership

Today over 90% of state employees are “unclassified”

HR Professionals’ Experience with EAWProper Use of At-Will Employment*

%

Agree/Disagree Mean Factor LoadingEmployees have been terminated at-will because of changing managerial priorities/objectives

40.7/35.0 3.02 .655

Employees have been terminated at-will in order to meet agency budget shortfalls

46.0/37.2 3.09 .902

Employees have been terminated at-will in order to meet agency downsizing goals

47.3/35.9 3.14 .924

*Respondents were asked to indicate their agreement or disagreement with survey statements related to employment at-will using the following scale: 1 = “Strongly Disagree”; 2 = “Disagree”; 3 = “Neither Agree/Disagree”; 4 = “Agree”; and 5 = “Strongly Agree.” Percentages reported in the table do not sum to 100 percent due to rounding and omission of “neither agree or disagree” responses.

Cronbach’s Alpha = .842

HR Professionals’ Experience with EAWMisuse of At-Will Employment*

%

Agree/Disagree Mean Factor LoadingEAW is sometimes used to fire competent employees so other people with friends or connections to government can be hired.

30.2/49.5 2.61 .806

I know of a case where a competent employee was fired at-will so that another person with friends or connections to government could be hired

10.3/74.1 1.91 .886

Employees have been terminated at-will because of personality conflicts with management

32.4/46.7 2.71 .772

Cronbach’s Alpha = .802

*Respondents were asked to indicate their agreement or disagreement with survey statements related to employment at-will using the following scale: 1 = “Strongly Disagree”; 2 = “Disagree”; 3 = “Neither Agree/Disagree”; 4 = “Agree”; and 5 = “Strongly Agree.” Percentages reported in the table do not sum to 100 percent due to rounding and omission of “neither agree or disagree” responses.

Fundamental Flaw?

“EAW systems may have a fundamental flaw in that they may undermine trusting workplace relationships necessary for effective public management.”

- R. Paul Battaglio & Stephen E. Condrey Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory

Has EAW Diffused?

Among the U.S. States, the overall trend is toward lessening of employee rights and decentralized methods of personnel administration.

Great Recession

Public Sector is still feeling the effects Public Employment has contracted – lowest

level in 30 years Some positions will not return Doing more with less is now standard operating

procedure

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28Source: http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/jobs/posts/2012/08/03-jobs-greenstone-looney

Renewed Importance of the Public HR Manager

Role shift from gatekeeper/rule enforcer Organizational consultant and leader Involved in the actual management of organizations Skilled at navigating difficult economic and political

times Rising retirement rates – increased importance of

strategic recruitment and selection Key to a successful and healthy organization All managers are HR Managers

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Conclusion

There is no “one best way” to organized public human resource management systems

HRM is never neutral – can help or hurt an organization

New Public Management continues to have a global influence on HRM – positive and negative

HRM solutions should fit your organization – learn from others but find your own path

Effective HRM now more important than ever