Public Personnel Management: Contexts and Strategies

Effective public personnel management (also known as human resource management, HRM, or human capital management) is essential for successful government. Now in a thoroughly revised 8th edition, Public Personnel Management: Contexts and Strategies focuses on the critical issues and common processes in the management of public sector personnel. In keeping with prior editions, the text centers on the essential elements of public human resource management: strategic workforce planning, effective recruitment and retention, workforce development, and employee relations. Designed to further address the ways in which expectations for human resource managers have changed and developed over the last few years, this 8th edition includes several new features and improvements:

• All-new, substantially restructured, and updated case studies and applied work assignments.
• Examination and discussions of the impact and promise of artificial intelligence adoption on all aspects of the human resource management process.
• Careful exploration of the evolving characterizations of diversity, equity, and inclusion in public workforces, and the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on employee working conditions and expectations.
• A fully updated online Instructor’s Manual, PowerPoint slides, discussion questions, and suggestions for further reading to make it easier to assign and use this classic text in the classroom.

Providing the most up-to-date and thorough overview of the history and practice of public human resource management, Public Personnel Management, 8th Edition reflects the need to navigate change - while preserving enduring values - to effectively manage the public service workforce. It serves as an ideal textbook for undergraduate and graduate introductory courses in public personnel management, public human resource management, and nonprofit personnel management.

Jared J. Llorens is a Professor in the Department of Public Administration in the E.J. Ourso College of Business at Louisiana State University, USA. His research focuses primarily on public sector human resource management, with particular interests in compensation, recruitment and human resource information systems. He previously served as Editor-in-Chief of Public Personnel Management and has also served on the editorial boards of the Public Administration Review and the Review of Public Personnel Administration. His research has been published in a wide variety of academic journals, including the Review of Public Personnel Administration and the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. Dr. Llorens is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and previously held a presidential appointment to the U.S. Federal Salary Council. He has served on numerous boards and councils, including a term on the National Council for the American Society for Public Administration.

Heather Getha-Taylor is Professor in the School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA) at the University of Kansas, USA. She served as Editor-in-Chief of Public Personnel Management and is the author or co-author of over 60 articles, book chapters, and other scholarly reports on topics in public human resource management, collaboration, and leadership. Her contributions to the field were recognized with the 2023 Jonathan West Outstanding Scholar Award from the American Society for Public Administration’s Section on Personnel Administration and Labor Relations. Dr. Getha-Taylor teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in public management and is the recipient of several teaching awards, including SPAA Faculty Teacher of the Year. In addition to her research and teaching, she serves the discipline and community, including as an editorial board member for public administration journals and served as an appointed member of the Johnson County (KS) and Miami County (KS) COVID Relief Fund Workforce Development Teams.