Loss of Prestige in Government Employment

there is an increased emphasis on the role of human resources management (HRM) in the public sector. In Pynes’s view, HRM is a dynamic and evolving process that must acknowledge environmental changes and challenges (e.g., economic, social, cultural, and educational) and adapt its tactics to strategically address the environmental factors (Pynes 2009, p. 4). The major tasks faced by HRM are “planning, acquisition, development, and discipline” (Klingner 2009, p. 3). Farazmand (2005a, b) advocated capacity building to cope with the global challenges of cooperation, competition, and pressures. Capacity building requires well—trained public personnel who are able to cope with a globalized world that faces complex and divergent problems. According to Farazmand (2005a, b), the crucial challenges regarding capacity building are the allocation of natural resources, infrastructure building and the development of a culture of accountability. The government is both a principal and an agent. Similarly, the consumers of services are the principals and the organizations providing the services are the agents (Alchian and Demsetz 1973; Fama 1980). By emphasizing the changes occurring in public personnel management, Burke (1999) suggests the activities include human resource planning, tracking legal and ethical issues, incorporating global innovations, assessing the trends in the workforce and assisting in restructuring and rightsizing of public personnel functions. Globalization has brought new challenges for HRM in the public sector. Marquardt and Berger (2003) assert that human resource development can maximize the beneficial elements of globalization in the areas of political and economic development, organizational and workplace learning, education and vocational training, global leadership development, technology and knowledge, and environmental sustainability. In what follows, the chapter analyzes how globalization poses challenges for public personnel management.

tHe cHallenges of RecRuitment Of all the factors that contribute to organizational performance, the human element is the most fundamental. Managers across the public, private, and non-profit sectors are increasingly “recognizing that employees are their organization’s most important assets and that the most significant source of competitive advantage comes from having the best systems in place for attracting, motivating, and managing their organization’s human resources” (Mesch 2010, p. 173). Governments are the largest employer in many countries. According to Light (2002), government at all levels faces a growing challenge in efforts at recruitment and retention.

HRM promotes the following measures: optimizing the conditions for staff development; preserving the dignity of employees, particularly their right to participate in decisions that affect them; and ensuring that the talents of all the groups from which the public workforce is drawn, both women and men, members of various ethnic groups and so on, are effectively harnessed (Light 2002). Based on the World Development Report, some countries need to establish the legal framework ensuring the compliance before undertaking devolution and delegation.

In a globalized world, public personnel managers face problems of recruiting employees who have the ability to deal with the challenges of organizations in a constantly changing environment. Globalization has made it necessary to recruit people who are knowledgeable about technology and the situation around the world. In developed countries, the retirement of the “baby boomer” generations has led to the opening up of many vacancies. On the other hand, the developing countries, although they have large population, there is a scarcity of people qualified to deal with present-day technology. Moreover, a high degree of politicization in developing countries diminishes the proportion of recruitment carried out on the grounds of merit. Extreme politicization causes favoritism, cronyism, and a patronage system that deprives the qualified people of government jobs. As a result, public policies suffer from inefficiency and ineffectiveness: “The success of a public policy is dependent on the quality and capacity of those who are entrusted with the implementation” (Khan 2016, p. 31).

Under conditions of globalization, government needs to pay an attractive salary in order to recruit skilled people. It is therefore competing directly with the private sector to recruit the best people. There are several reasons for the problem of recruitment in the public services.

loss of PRestige in goveRnment emPloyment It is particularly difficult to recruit qualified people when public employees no longer enjoy the respect and the status they enjoyed previously. In many developing countries, the opportunities for bribes and generous benefits for government services may be attractive factors to go into public service. In many developing countries, bureaucrats enjoy many extensive perks. For example, governments provide cars with the drivers, and housing facilities, to name just a few. Recently, some of the governments have decided to increase the salaries of civil servants. So, developing countries