Public Personnel Management

Voluminous information is available regarding the makeup of the U.S. workforce, primarily through the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov) and the U.S. Census Bureau (www.census.gov). Additionally, many research studies have examined the factors influencing career and job choice. Despite this, surprisingly little published research exists describing the numerical makeup of job applicants. With the 2006 implementation of regulations by the DOL Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and similar rules proposed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), it is important for U.S. employers to be able to quickly produce detailed information regarding job applicants. This article describes in detail demographic patterns for individuals who used the state of Washington's electronic application system. Hopefully, this data will encourage organizations to ensure their systems are capable of easily producing similar information.

In 2005, in the small twin-island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies, the government in a radical departure from the old method of promotion based primarily on seniority introduced competency testing in order to fill the newly established positions of deputy permanent secretaries. This new method of promotion, however, has been fraught with a number of problems such as charges of cultural bias, and allegations that there was inadequate time to prepare for these tests. One of the more pressing complaints leveled against the new method of promotion, however, was that while it was supposed to allow for transparency and impartiality, this did not occur. It was also suggested that the lack of transparency was an indication that the method of competency testing was merely a façade by which the government ensured that its supporters maintained top positions in the public service. This paper has a number of objectives. Firstly, it looks at some of the factors that were responsible for the change from promotion based on seniority to that of competency. Secondly, it examines the problems that were experienced in introducing such a system. It also investigates the extent to which the charges of patronage were valid.

This paper looks at the introduction of competency testing for the first time in the public services of Trinidad and Tobago. This new mechanism was introduced in order to fill the newly established positions of deputy permanent secretaries. However, a number of officers have filed claims for judicial review claiming that the process of selection intended to promote supporters of the ruling party to top-level positions. This paper, using an old model proposed by Fred Riggs in the 1966, suggests that while a new model may be applied as a result of either ideological or global pressures, what actually emerges is that it may prove to be unsuccessful because the old attitudes, beliefs, values and mistrust are still prevalent in that society. In addition, while the trappings of the “new” fads are imposed, it is not accompanied by the basic culture to support its introduction. Inevitably a brief background to the country will first set the stage for the discussion which follows.

Family-friendly policies have emerged as a new issue in human resource management. Previous studies mainly focused on the effect of family-friendly policies on organizational productivity or job satisfaction at the organizational level. Little attention has been paid to examining the effect of family-friendly policies at the individual level. Our research fills this gap by examining the effect of family-friendly policies at the individual level with a sample of 127 teachers in four elementary schools in South Korea. We empirically examine the influence of family-friendly policies on job motivation, work performance, and employee morale using a survey method. As a result, we find that a balance between work and family is the strongest predictor influencing job motivation, work performance, and employee morale. Unlike our expectation, however, knowledge and use of family-friendly policies do not have an impact on these three dependent variables. Considering that such a balance between work and family has a positive influence on the three dependent variables, public organizations need to consider the implementation of available family-friendly policy programs to help balance work and family.

This research reports findings on the relationship between Internet use in the public workplace and organizational commitment. Perceived organizational involvement and participation are treated as possible mediating variables. Several hypotheses are tested using data from a survey of local public administrators and managers in southern California. Our findings do not lend support to any hypothesis linking workplace Internet use to organizational commitment, either directly or indirectly. A surprising finding is a strong negative relationship between perceived organizational participation and organizational commitment. Another unexpected finding is a significant positive relationship between an administrator's level of position and organizational commitment. We conclude that more context-sensitive and multi-dimension measurements as well as more dynamic models are needed to study the effect of Internet use in the public workplace on organizational commitment.

Do clients and providers embrace similar views on the value and outcome of services? Usually, evaluations by clients of training services in the public sector do not receive serious attention as one group of officials succeeds another. Such a practice severely restricts the prospect of improvement, since the providers' opinions are not formally sought. This article seeks to achieve a balanced view by soliciting opinions of both clients and providers of training programs offered at the Civil Service Training and Development Institute (CSTDI) in Hong Kong. Surveys and interviews were carried out to explore the views of both clients and providers on the training programs, their contents, and impact. The response from trainees and trainers reveal differences as well as similarities. Trainees feel that training generally keeps them informed about the latest developments but doesn't help them to adjust to the changing environment. Further they felt that adequate training was not provided for performing on the job. Trainers have different views, but there is consensus to the fact that the institute is unable to cope with the task and responsibility of training the entire public service and there is a realization that it is difficult to anticipate the future training needs since changes are very rapid.

We identified international relocation as a source of stress for the expatriate family as it generates uncertainty, reduces control and increases ambiguity. We then described the initiatives taken by the State Department of the United States of America to reduce the stress that the family feels when relocating to a foreign assignment. Each initiative is discussed in terms of its potential to reduce uncertainty, increase control and reduce ambiguity. We concluded that the State Department provides a comprehensive set of initiatives which can help to reduce stress in the foreign-service family.