Publication: Does the Public Sector HRM System Strengthen Staff Performance?
Date
2012-12
ISSN
Published
2012-12
Author(s)
Abstract
An important objective of any Human
Resource Management (HRM) system in Government is to
motivate staff to perform well. This GET note looks at
several HRM levers that Governments have at their disposal
to influence staff performance. In particular, some of the
most common levers in the public sector include: effective
recruitment and retention of staff; strong staff engagement
in the organization’s mission; well-designed incentives for
staff to perform as well as ‘opportunities to perform’;
tailored training and capacity building; and high quality
performance dialogues with staff and effective follow up.
In designing a HRM system that utilizes these levers
effectively, this GET Note shows that it is more important
to diagnose the root cause and understand the major issues
of poor performance, before proposing reform actions. This
paper proposes three important design questions for managers
of HRM systems to assess whether they have a well-designed
HRM system. 1) Does the HRM system provide both ‘external
incentives’ and ‘opportunities to perform’? Does the HRM
system provide the right balance between short and long term
incentives? And are the broader, supporting aspects of the
HRM system working effectively? The note concludes by
highlighting that even where the HRM system is well
designed, careful consideration must be given to two further
aspects: a) how to implement reforms to improve the design
of the HRM system, and b) how to ensure that a well-designed
HRM system is operating effectively.
Citation
“Manning, Nick; Watkins, Joanna; Degnarain, Nishan. 2012. Does the Public Sector HRM System Strengthen Staff Performance?. GET Note;. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25490 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”