The Future of Public Human Resource Management

• DOI: 10.1177/0091026020948188
• Author: Paul Battaglio
• Date: 01 December 2020
• Published date: 01 December 2020
• Subject Matter: Guest Editorials

https://doi.org/10.1177/0091026020948188

Public Personnel Management

2020, Vol. 49(4) 499 –502

© The Author(s) 2020

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DOI: 10.1177/0091026020948188

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Guest Editorial

The Future of Public Human

Resource Management

The evolution of public human resource management (PHRM) has been at the fore-

front of public administration research for the past two decades. Human resources in

the public sector has changed from a focus on developing employee hard skills (e.g.,

education, training) to advancing a more soft skill approach in the workplace. The

emphasis on soft skills takes a closer look at the development of interpersonal relation-

ships (e.g., employees and managers, employees and peers) as well as self-improve-

ment. A soft skills approach pursues managing employee behavior through motivation,

commitment, and professional development. As such, the focus is on individual devel-

opment as an important element to overall organizational well-being.

The Volcker Alliance highlighted the importance of soft skills for the future of pub-

lic service in their recent report, “Preparing Tomorrow’s Public Service.” Results from

a survey conducted by the Alliance highlight the significance of soft skills such as

commitment (75% of survey respondents expect to stay in government for the long

term) and motivation (71% believe they are making good progress in fulfilling their

professional aspirations) in the development of future public service leaders. These

respondents—a diverse group of regional, governmental, and educational profession-

als across the United States—also underscored how important these same soft skills

are in promoting high-performance government.

Mindful of the challenges facing the public workforce, a better understanding of

these soft skills and the role of research in advancing evidence-based practice should

be a cornerstone of future PHRM research and practice. Advancing dialogue on human

resource development for a future generation of public servants will entail: (a) empow-

ering public servants to achieve a meaningful contribution; (b) appreciating the role

behavioral science can play in eliciting meaning; and (c) understanding the role diver-

sity plays in a demographically changing world.

Meaningful Public Service

Building the workforce of tomorrow will necessitate the development of soft skills—

interpersonal effectiveness and personal resilience—as a means for overall organiza-

tional effectiveness. Yet, empowering employees and emphasizing collaboration is not

enough. We must also emphasize the extent to which meaning can be attributed to

one’s contribution to the greater good. Public managers will need to develop support-

ive managerial practices promoting employees engagement with their work—for

example, listening to employees, treating them with respect, communicating

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