Assignment 1: Public Personnel Today
Kenan W. Carioti
July 22, 2012
Public Personnel Management – PAD530
Dr. Angelique Goliday

Abstract
This paper analyzes and explains four critical trends affecting the growth of public personnel today, analyzes and evaluates four strategies needed to create a diversified workforce, and describes four strategies the government must address to sustain union membership and representation among public employees.
Public personnel are the employees of federal, state, local, and nonprofit organizations. A diversified public workforce brings individual talents and experiences together where services can be understood on a global basis. Diversity in the workplace can also inspire employees to perform to their highest ability resulting in higher execution and productivity. Union membership encompasses those members of a trade union, an association of employees formed to improve their incomes and working conditions through collective bargaining.

Assignment 1: Public Personnel Today
Critical Trends Affecting Growth There are numerous occurrences affecting the growth of public personnel today, four critical trends are: technology, demographics, economics, and globalization.
Technological advancements in information technology (IT) and other technologies are transforming both the way that organizations work, and the way that people interact with government, business, and each other. Norms of slow, paper-based communications with government departments are increasingly being replaced with interactions that are rapid and electronic. Government plays a central role in technology issues. Technology has now become a part of almost every political discussion as politicians have realized the impact of technology on real world events (Muroyama & Stever, 1988). “Today information technology provides the ability to coordinate the activities of globally dispersed communities, citizens, clients, employees, consumers and suppliers. Information technology contributes tremendously for managing the government-controlled institutions that are responsible for its internal administration and its relationships with other institutions or countries, and at the same time enhances operation and management of non-profit making, voluntary, service-oriented, development oriented grass roots organizations for the benefit of the citizens (Rahman, 2009).”
Demographics of the public sector are becoming more representative of the increasingly diverse society being served. Both the public and private sectors show a growing diversity of ethnic and cultural groups, more working mothers, and an erosion of traditional family backgrounds and lifestyles (Nigro, Nigro & Kellough, 2007). Demographics also encompasses such things as an aging workforce and education. An aging workforce affects growth because while the baby boomer era of employees have begun to retire, they are leaving vacancies that are not readily being filled by the younger generations. Education is also playing a factor in growth because more of the younger generations are achieving a higher education therefore seeking high-level positions, leaving a gap of qualified individuals to fill the mid-level jobs.
Economics affects public employment for example by shifting blue collar jobs off of public payrolls, which means a shift towards contracting out the kind of work done by the blue collar occupations. Contracting out is intended to improve efficiency and provide management flexibility, but also offers political advantages; most notably by having fewer employees on the payroll. This work is still being done and paid for by the government, just in most cases not by government employees (Nigro, Nigro & Kellough, 2007). Economics also plays a factor in our current state of economy, for example, the public sector has seen massive job loss – largely due to budget cuts at the state and local level. Public sector job cuts cause job loss in the private sector; public sector workers are provided necessary inputs by the private sector workers (teachers need supplies, books, desks, etc.) This goes to show that when public sector jobs are lost then the need for private sector inputs fall as well (Bevins & Shierholz, 2012).
Globalization is driven by international trade and investment and provides interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments of different nations. Globalization has opened economies both domestically and internationally. In the past two decades many governments have adopted free-market economic systems, vastly increasing their productivity and creating new opportunities for international trade and investment (“What is globalization”, 2012). Global competition has affected employment by creating new jobs that require individuals with higher levels of skill and education, spurred by rapid growth of technological advancements; while the demand for lesser skilled individuals has seen a major decline, due to the shift of lesser valued jobs from the U.S. to other countries, where the same work is achieved at a lesser expense.
Strategies Needed to Diversify Workforce
Diversity refers to human qualities that are different from our own and includes but is not limited to such factors as: age, ethnicity, gender, physical abilities/qualities, race, sexual orientation, educational background, geographic location, income, marital status, military experience, parental status, religious beliefs, work experience, and job classification.
Diversity is a focus on a broader set of qualities other than just race and gender. In the context of the workplace, valuing diversity means creating a workplace that respects and includes differences, recognizing the unique contributions that individuals with many types of differences can make, and creating a work environment that maximizes the potential of all employees ("Why diversity matters," ). Strategies to create a diversified workforce are those that lead to a work environment that maximizes the potential of all employees while acknowledging their unique contributions and differences, strategies such as: recruiting diversity, diversity training, strong leadership commitment and support, and maintenance.
Recruit individuals who have a variety of backgrounds and who will embrace diversity, seek applicants that are culturally aware and able to work with all types of people. The purpose of effective recruiting is to attract strong candidates who are prepared both to meet the organizations strategic goals and priorities and to work collaboratively within the organizations environment. Include diversity training as part of new-hire training programs and provide continued training programs for established employees. Diversity education programs can help employees to recognize prejudices and cultural assumptions in their own minds, while teaching them skills to respectfully seek to understand other cultures they come in contact with (Holt, 2012). A supportive work environment is one that provides employees with the direction and tools they need to perform the work of the organization to the very best of their ability. Ensure that leadership roles are provided diversity training. Their understanding of the benefits and rewards of a diverse workforce helps create a supportive work environment that enhances the potential of all employees. Additionally, strong leadership emphasis on work-life initiatives, reasonable accommodations, and providing a safe and productive work environment for employees will help to advance the interests of a diverse workforce. The key to maintaining a diverse, high-quality workforce are through systems that reward and engage employees. Use awards to recognize significant contributions and celebrate success, such as establishing a diversity award ("Building and maintaining," 2000).
Sustaining Union Membership and Representation
Despite the unions’ ongoing difficulties, the survival of collective bargaining in the public sector does not appear to be seriously threatened. In fact, for many governments, it has become a routine and accepted way of handling many functions (Nigro, Nigro & Kellough, 2007). There has been a steady growth among union members in the public sector. At the same time that the country is facing the economic downturn, public sector unions are a rising political force. Strategies government must address to insure sustained union membership and representation among public employees are: employee rights, management rights and scope of bargaining, contract negotiations, and approval of agreements.
The most basic employee right is to form, join, and participate in employee organizations for the purpose of conferring and bargaining collectively with management. This includes the worker’s right to be represented by the majority union in grievances over the terms and conditions of employment. To maintain a relative balance of power between management and the unions there are stipulations on personnel policies and practices that are negotiable. Overriding laws and court rulings may effectively remove certain issues from the bargaining table. In addition to limits set by other laws, a “management rights” clause is often included in collective bargaining statues, designed to specify managerial powers that may not be bargained away or shared with labor organizations. Contract negotiations need to be efficient and in keeping with the available budget and lastly approval of agreements, public management rarely has the luxury of finalizing a contractual agreement with a union. Agreements are most often times approved by the local governing body. Management officials presenting an agreement need to be fully informed and prepared to explain the agreement terms and likely consequences on matters such as budgets and tax rates (Nigro, Nigro & Kellough, 2007).
The rising cost of funding public sector pension plans and health benefits, along with the exorbitant salaries enjoyed by some public sector workers, has occurred during a period of slow economic growth, high unemployment, weak tax revenues, and rapidly increasing levels of federal debt. Looking for ways to control spending on the state, local, and federal levels has sparked a debate about the role public sector unions have played in the growth of spending over the past several decades (Norcross, 2011).

References
Bevins, J., & Shierholz, H. (2012, July 06). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.epi.org/blog/years-recovery-state-local-austerity-hurt/
Building and maintaing a diverse workforce. (2000, June 25). Retrieved from http://www.opm.gov/diversity/diversity-3.htm
Holt, M. (2012). Workplace diversity strategies. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/workplace-diversity-strategies-3031.html
Muroyama, J. H., & Stever, H. G. (1988). Globalization of technology international perspective. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. Retrieved from http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=1101&page=R1
Nigro, L, Nigro F., & Kellough, J. E. (2007). The new public personnel administration (6th ed.).Belmont, CA: Thomson–W adsworth–Cengage Learning.
Norcross, E. (2011, May). Public-sector unionism: A review. Retrieved from http://mercatus.org/sites/default/files/publication/WP1126-Public-Sector-Unionism.pdf Rahman, H. (2009). Selected readings on global information technology contemporary applications. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference (an imprint of IGI Global).
What is globalization?. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.globalization101.org/what-is-globalization/
Why diversity matters. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/diversity/why-diversity