Description
This book is about the management of a public organization's most important resource its people. Managers must recognize the profound influence that the environment can have on an organization and the key role of managers in responding to environmental forces. One factor affecting the manager's capacity to respond will be the adequacy of the systems and procedures that govern the use and deployment of the organization's human resources. This personnel administration apparatus must allow managers to be alert to the challenges and opportunities that are present in their environments and to respond to the environment in ways that improve organizational performance.
Personnel systems are not just the "givens" in the management game. Rather they are, or could be, one of the key variables that determine the scope of the manager's response to environmental forces and the limits of the organization's performance capabilities. Thus, many successful public managers actively seek to improve the performance of their personnel systems, recognizing the important role of personnel administrators and other experts. For what distinguishes most public sector organizations from nonpublic ones is the labor intensity of their activities. People are the life blood of public sector organizations, and good managers are concerned with the effective use of their workers. The personnel system will help or hinder this process
