Personnel and Human Resources

Personnel and Human Resources

• Two simple truths:

– An agency, organization or department is made up of people. The agency does not do the work. The people do the work. The quality of the agency is determined by the quality of the employees.

– Human Resources is a term that was developed because no one could remember how to spell personnel!

FTE –

• Full Time Equivalent - All actual full time employees plus the number of employees it would take to equal the number of hours worked by part time employees.

• Two people working twenty hours a week

• Four people working ten hours a week

• Twelve people working one month a year

How Many People Work in That Building…

• 1998 17 million total FTE

– 2.5 million Federal

– 14.5 million State and Local

• 2000 17.5 million total FTE

– 2.4 million Federal

– 15.08 million State and Local

• 2001 17.8 million total FTE

– 2.4 million Federal

– 15.4 million State and Local

• Note the ratio of Federal to State Employees:

– For every 1 federal FTE there are almost 6 state and local FTE ( 1 :6 )

• 2004 18.2 million total FTE

– 2.4 million Federal

– 15.8 million State and Local

• 2005 18.6 million total FTE

– 2.7 million Federal

– 15.9 million State and Local

What Do Most Federal Employees Do?2001 (2002) <2004> 2005

• Total FTE: 2,411,630 (2,425,898) <2,445,287> 2,720,462

– 681,787 (675,225) <663,708> 695,647 Defense & International Relations

– 666,093 (671,580) <611,238> 607,039 Postal Service The Postal Service has778,360 employees

– 175,111 (173,922) <182,108> 187,543 Natural Resources

– 131,949 (128,304) <143,131> 157,366 Hospitals

– 8,809 ( 8,707) <8,622> 8, 770 Public Welfare (why so low?)

What Do Most State and Local Government Employees Do? 2001, <2004> 2005

• 15,378,924 <15,788,784> 15,923,650 State &Local Total 8,016,695 <8,411,979> 8,494,782 Education

• 922,320 <912,496> 918,952 Hospitals/Inst.

• 884,671 <892,426> 902,372 Police protection

• 551,706 <542,642> 546,220 Streets/Highways

• 700,734 <701,905> 707,366 Corrections

• 519,118 <498,092> 506,182 Public Welfare

• 402,342 <409,944> 410,980 Judicial and Legal

Who Keeps Track of All These People?

• Personnel or Human Resources functions exist in all organizations that have employees.

• Much more than just hiring and firing!

Formal Tasks of Personnel Administration:

• Position Classification

• Recruitment, examination and selection

• Compensation

• Training

• Retention

• Position Classification –

Written description of responsibilities, often coupled with an attempt to measure the value or difficulty of a job. Can be very specific (too specific).

• Broadbanding - consolidating existing classes into broader, more flexible groupings. Increases opportunities for employee advancement without having to change jobs.

• This was Shafritz’s first job

• Recruitment, Examination and Selection –

Attracting, testing and choosing employees. This is very much tied in to "merit" systems. Testing validity is extremely important.

• Rule of 3 - After examination, education and experience has been quantified, the top three candidates are sent by personnel to the administrator who is actually hiring the person.

• His second position was to write exam questions

• Compensation –

How much to pay and actual process of distributing payroll checks. The amount paid is often tied into the position's classification.

• Compensation - Salaries plus benefits and "perks"

• Benefits - insurances, retirement, parking, etc. Part of the contract for the position. Personnel collects fees, calculates matching, sends along premiums.

• Payroll - calculation of correct payment, cutting and distribution of checks. Also keeps up with time cards, overtime pay, sick and annual leave, etc.

• Training –

Coordinate or provide training for new and existing employees. Can be job specific or for employee advancement. Some states offer tuition waivers or discounts for employees.

• Retention –

Keeping employees, and keeping them productive. Includes everything from employee recognition day to pic-nics, salary negotiations, employee pins and parking spaces.

Three Pre-dominate (Sometimes Conflicting) Personnel Values:

• 1) Strong executive leadership (patronage)

• 2) Politically neutral, competent public service (merit)

• 3) Diversity, which mirrors the demographic composition of society (such as affirmative action)

1) Strong Executive Leadership

• Jacksonian democracy

• Andrew Jackson, president 1829-1837

• Populist

• To the victor goes the "spoils". Top to bottom appointment of the "little people".

• Government by the common man. (tied to value 3 - diversity - also)

2) Politically Neutral Competence

• Pendleton Act of 1883

• Open, competitive examinations for civil service positions.

• Civil Service Commission to enforce rules and combat corruption.

• Progressives - values of merit, neutrality and science

3) Diversity

• 1955's Federal Services Entrance Examination - provided a single point of entry to US civil service, thus opening up chance for participation to more citizens.

• Affirmative action - efforts to bring discriminated groups into governmental services. Has been effective. Has also been controversial, especially the use of quotas or minority set aside programs.

Patronage Vs. Merit

• Is it “What You Know” or “Who You Know?”

Patronage –

• When political loyalty and connections are the major criteria for personnel decisions. Still the way many high level positions are filled.

Merit System –

• When job related competence is the most important qualification for employment. Includes:

– testing for employment and advancement

– open advertisement and competition for positions

– the concept of career civil servants - not tied to the rise and fall of a particular official or party

Patronage Vs. Merit

• This is not an “either – or” question.

• Both systems can and do exist together.

• 93% of national executive branch employees are in some form of merit system.

Advantages:

• Patronage - permits a chief executive to select loyal subordinates

• enhances executive implementation

• may provide a more diverse set of employees

• Merit - competence specifically related to job requirements

• continuity (career civil servants are not turned over with each election cycle)

• institutional memory

Merit Protection

• Continued employment based on job performance , not political performance.

• By 1978 it had mutated into a "protected employment system", according to a Carter official.

• There was excessive job security, automatic raises, near impossible dismissals.

1978 Civil Service Reform Act responded to these concerns with:

• - Performance appraisals, performance pay for managers

• - Streamlined discharge, coupled with whistle blower protection

• - Senior Executive Service

• - Replacement of Civil Service Commission with Office of Personnel Management

• - Delegation of authority back to agencies for many personnel decisions

Pay Equity

• Equal pay for equal work

• 72 cents on the dollar

• Pink collar ghetto

• Pay Equity Act of 1963 - called for an end to any gender (or other) discrimination for individuals engaged in similar work.

Comparable Worth –

• Equal pay for work that is different but comparable in value or worth to the employer

• Policy question: is the pay differential reflective of social stereotypes of the worth of women's work or is it simply an indicator of market forces?

Veteran's preference

• Bonus points or preferential hiring status for veterans

Test Topics:

• Policy Analysis and Info Flow

– Challenger and Columbia

• Budgeting

– Rubin and Wisconsin

• Planning

– Broken Windows and Performance Measures

• Human Resources

– Border Case, Peter Principle, Adventures of a Young Man

Can you tell me what this means?

• - Budget

• - General Revenue

• - Special Funds/Trust Funds/Dedicated Funds

• - Balanced Budget

• - Deficit

• - Debt

• - Fiscal

• - Entitlement

• - Supplanting

• - FTE - full time equivalent -

• - Patronage

• - Merit system

• - The Peter Principle