Human Resource Management in Public Service: Paradoxes, Processes, and Problems

Effective human resource management is a critical function in today's public workplace, and the authors have written a book that helps readers develop key skills for success while also reminding them of the complex puzzles and paradoxes of management in the public sector.

The coverage of Human Resource Management in Public Service is exceptionally comprehensive and up-to-date. After reviewing the historical and legal traditions of HRM, readers learn the essential skills of recruitment, selection, training, compensation, and performance appraisal. The authors include two very timely chapters on family-friendly work practices and quality improvement.

This book has been carefully crafted to be an effective learning tool, with learning objectives, chapter reviews, and three sets of end-chapter study questions (class discussion, tam activities, and individual assignments). The book concludes with a comprehensive glossary, and interesting and illuminating examples are liberally scattered throughout the book (more than 10 per chapter).

The authors have almost one hundred years of combined teaching and professional experience in public administration. According to their Preface, "Our intent is to make this material user-friendly and accessible by highlighting dilemmas, challenging readers to resolve them, and enticing them to go beyond the text to discover and confront other. Our goal is not merely to stuff minds but rather to stretch them."

Evan M. Berman is Professor of Public Management at Fundação Getúlio Vargas, EAESP (São Paulo, Brazil), specializing in human resource management, public performance, and comparative public administration. Previously, he was Huey McElveen Distinguished Professor at Louisiana State University. Dr. Berman is ranked among the very top scholars in public administration world-wide. He has received the Outstanding Scholarship Award from the American Society for Public Administration (Section on Personnel and Labor Relations) for contributions to  research, teaching and service in public sector HRM, and many other awards, including from the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA), the accrediting body for public administration programs. He has authored 15 books and over 175 publications, in all of the leading journals of the discipline. Dr Berman has chaired ASPA’s Section on Personnel and Labor Relations, he is founding editor of ASPA’s Book Series in Public Administration and Public Policy, senior editor of Public Performance and Management Review, and a Distinguished Fulbright Scholar. His 2023 book, Performance and Innovation in the Public Sector (with I. Hijal-Moghrabi), won the 2024 ASPA/SPALR Outstanding Book Award. Evan is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and Visiting Professor at Fudan University (Shanghai) and University of Indonesia (Jakarta).

James S. Bowman is a professor of public administration at the Askew School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University. Noted for this work in ethics and human resource management, Dr. Bowman is author of over 100 journal articles and book chapters, as well as editor of six anthologies. He is co-author of The Professional Edge: Competencies in Public Service (2nd ed., Sharpe, 2010) and Public Service Ethics: Individual and Institutional Responsibilities (CQ Press, 2015). For nearly two decades, he served as editor-in-chief of Public Integrity, a journal owned by the American Society for Public Administration. A past National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration Fellow, as well as a Kellogg Foundation Fellow, he has experience in the military, civil service, and business.

Montgomery R. Van Wart is a professor of public administration at California State University, San Bernardino and former dean of the College of Business and Public Administration. He is also visiting research professor at the National University of -Ireland Galway and honorary professor at the University of Hong Kong. His research areas are administrative leadership, human resource management, training and development, administrative values and ethics, organization behavior, and general management. He has over 100 publications, including 11 books and nine articles in Public Administration Review. His Dynamics of Leadership in Public Service: Theory and Practice (M. E. Sharpe, 2005) was awarded Outstanding Academic Title by Choice. His Leadership in Public Organizations: An Introduction (Routledge, 2017) is in its third edition. He serves on numerous editorial boards and as associate editor of Public Productivity & Management Review. He has received numerous research and teaching awards, including the ASPA Van Riper Award and the CSUSB Outstanding Researcher Award.