Outsourcing Functions of Public Personnel Management in the State of Nevada
Outsourcing Functions of Public Personnel Management in the State of Nevada
INTRODUCTION
In recent decades, public agencies have witnessed a burgeoning trend toward privatization of government services. Governments have come to rely extensively on the private sector to perform traditional public functions. Privatization is a key component of the reforms towards human resource management (HRM) that takes advantage of private sector to lower costs, improve productivity, and expand organizational flexibility.
HR is the “philosophy, policies, procedures, and practices related to the management of people within an organization” (French, 2003). HR services for individual employee include not only the employment life cycle (from recruiting to termination), but also planning for organizational staffing needs and improving organizational effectiveness. Generally, contracting out the HRM both in public sector and private sector are defined as the purchasing of HR services from a third party supplier (CIPD, 2009). HR outsourcing is more predominant amongst private sector than public agencies. In the UK, a report indicates 69% of private organizations pursue this strategy, while 25% of public sector organizations undertake it (CIPD, 2009).
In the United States, privatization of public personnel management rises as a trend for public sector reforms. At the federal level, the Bush administration sought greater reliance on the private sector through privatization programs such as the Competitive Sourcing Initiative. In 2004, the Bush administration outsourced the management of the federal government’s workforce recruitment system, USAjobs, to a private firm (Shafritz et al., 2007). For states, the extent of outsourcing activities for public HRM includes specific functions, agency HRM services, and HR functions for the entire state. For example, the Cincinnati, Ohio based firm Convergys was awarded lucrative contracts for the provision of HR functions in the states of
INTRODUCTION
In recent decades, public agencies have witnessed a burgeoning trend toward privatization of government services. Governments have come to rely extensively on the private sector to perform traditional public functions. Privatization is a key component of the reforms towards human resource management (HRM) that takes advantage of private sector to lower costs, improve productivity, and expand organizational flexibility.
HR is the “philosophy, policies, procedures, and practices related to the management of people within an organization” (French, 2003). HR services for individual employee include not only the employment life cycle (from recruiting to termination), but also planning for organizational staffing needs and improving organizational effectiveness. Generally, contracting out the HRM both in public sector and private sector are defined as the purchasing of HR services from a third party supplier (CIPD, 2009). HR outsourcing is more predominant amongst private sector than public agencies. In the UK, a report indicates 69% of private organizations pursue this strategy, while 25% of public sector organizations undertake it (CIPD, 2009).
In the United States, privatization of public personnel management rises as a trend for public sector reforms. At the federal level, the Bush administration sought greater reliance on the private sector through privatization programs such as the Competitive Sourcing Initiative. In 2004, the Bush administration outsourced the management of the federal government’s workforce recruitment system, USAjobs, to a private firm (Shafritz et al., 2007). For states, the extent of outsourcing activities for public HRM includes specific functions, agency HRM services, and HR functions for the entire state. For example, the Cincinnati, Ohio based firm Convergys was awarded lucrative contracts for the provision of HR functions in the states of
References: Battaglio, R. P., Jr., & Condrey, S. E. (2006). Civil service reform: Examining state and local cases. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 26, 118-138. Battaglio, Jr. (2009). Privatization and Its Challenges for Human Resource Management in the Public Sector: Symposium Introduction. Review of Public Personnel Administration，29:203. Battaglio, Jr and Christine B. Ledvinka. (2009). Privatizing Human Resources in the Public Sector: Legal Challenges to Outsourcing the Human Resource Function. Review of Public Personnel Administration，29:293 Becker, B.E CIPD. (2009). HR outsourcing and the HR function: threat or opportunity? Survey Report. London, UK. Coggburn, J. D. (2007). Outsourcing human resources: The case of Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 27, 315-335. Condrey, S. E., & Battaglio, R. P., Jr. (2007). A return to spoils? Revisiting radical civil service reform in the United States. Public Administration Review, 67, 424-436. Elling, R. C., & Thompson, T. L. (2007). In J. S. Bowman & J. P. West (Eds.), American public service: Radical reform and the merit system (pp. 195-217). Boca Raton, FL: Taylor & Francis. Fernandez, S., & Smith, C. R. (2006). Looking for evidence of public employee opposition to privatization: An empirical study with implications for practice. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 26, 356-381. Greer, C. R., Youngblood, S. A., & Gray, D. A. (1999). Human resource management outsourcing: The make or buy decision. Academy of Management Executive, 13, 85-96. French, W.L. (2003), Human Resources Management, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA. Kettl, D. F., Ingraham, P. W., Sanders, R. P, & Horner, C. (1996). Civil service reform: Building a government that works. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. Kettl, D. F. (2002). The transformation of governance: Public administration for the twenty-first century. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Kosnik, Diana J. Wong-MingJi, Kristine Hoover. (2006). Outsourcing vs insourcing in the human resource supply chain: a comparison of five generic models Personnel Review Vol Lepak, D. P., & Snell, S. A. (1998). Virtual HR: Strategic human resource management in the 21st century. Human Resource Management Review, 8, 215-234. Lawler, E. E., III, Ulrich, D., Fitz-enz, J., & Madden, J. C., V (with Maruca, R.). (2004). Human resources business process outsourcing: How HR gets its work done. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Maranto, R. (2001). Thinking the unthinkable in public administration: A case for spoils in the federal bureaucracy. In S. E. Condrey & R. Maranto (Eds.), Radical reform of the civil service (pp. 69-86). Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. Naomi Lee Bloom. (2004). The What, Why, and Why not of HRM Outsourcing. IHRIM Journal, January/February, 29-36. Rainey, G. W., Jr. (2005). Human resources consultants and outsourcing: Focusing on local government. In S. E. Condrey (Ed.), Handbook of human resource management in government (2nd ed., pp. 701-734). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Rehfuss, J Seigel, Gilbert. (2000). Outsourcing personnel functions. Public Personnel Management, 29(2) 225 Savas, E. S. (2000). Privatization and public-private partnerships. New York: Chatham House. Savas, E. S. (2006). Privatization in the city: Successes, failures, lessons. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press. Shafritz, J. M., Russell, E. W., & Borick, C. P. (2007). Introducing public administration (5th ed.). New York: Pearson Longman. Shleifer, A. (1998). State versus private ownership. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 12, 133-150. Seigel, G. B. (1999). Where are we on local government contracting? Public Productivity & Management Review, 22, 365-388. Switser, J. (1997), “Trends in human resources outsourcing”, Management Accounting, Vol. 79 No. 5, November, pp. 22-6. William m Seigel, Gilbert. (2000). Outsourcing personnel functions. Public Personnel Management, 29(2) 225. | | The paper starts with the advantages and disadvantages to outsourcing HR management services CIPD. (2009). HR outsourcing and the HR functionThreat or opportunity? CIPD， Survey report June 2009. | | This report investigated the nature and extent of HR outsourcing in organizations within the UK