The distinctiveness of public sector HRM: A four‐wave trend analysis

Abstract

Given the rhetoric that human resource management (HRM) models adopted by public and private organisations are becoming more similar, this study questions whether the traditional distinction between public and private sector HRM is still relevant. Building from institutional theory, we study continuity and change using four-wave data from eight European countries. We find that the traditional public sector investment in employee well-being continues to be distinctive only for HRM practices aimed at equal opportunities. Private sector organisations, on the other hand, make greater use of performance-oriented HRM practices including compensation and benefits, performance appraisal data, and modern development and career management practices. Cross-sector convergence is explained through coercive and mimetic isomorphic change, while persistent differences indicate that time-honoured public sector values are less susceptible to change. This study provides a muchneeded update of the public-private comparison and a trend analysis of developments over time.

Towards understanding the relationships between economics, tribalism and the use of thewastainformal network in the workplace

“…Moreover, the transferability of our results to private sector firms needs to be treated with caution. According to a recent study by Knies et al . (2022), there are persistent differences in HRM in the private and public sector.…”

“…Moreover, the transferability of our results to private sector firms needs to be treated with caution. According to a recent study by Knies et al (2022), there are persistent differences in HRM in the private and public sector. From a different perspective, the analysis was conducted on the basis of variation between the geographical areas where participants live rather than participants' own views on how wasta might work if they lived elsewhere.…”

A Systematic Review of 50 Years of Human Resource Management Research in Bangladesh: Retrospective Reflections and Forward Trajectories

“…HRM practices in these governmental organisations are still very traditional and administrative (Mahmood & Absar, 2015). In developed countries, government organisations have also embraced high-performance HRM practices or new public management practices to improve the efficiency of public services and the job performance of public sector employees (Knies et al, 2022). The government of Bangladesh has also recently modernised public sector management practices, including changes in recruitment, training, annual performance management, and good governance practices (Mahmood & Absar, 2015).…”

Career satisfaction in the public sector: Implications for a more sustainable and socially responsible human resource management

“…Drawing on emerging theoretical insights into sustainable human resource management (SHRM) and its consequences for socially responsible organisations (Aust et al., 2020), in this article we provide original evidence regarding the determinants and outcomes of employees' career satisfaction in the US federal agencies, with implications for the pursuit of sustainable HRM and the internal social responsibility of public sector organisations more generally (Knies et al., 2022). The debate around the social responsibility of organisations and the relationship between organisations and their stakeholders tend to focus much more on corporations than on public sector agencies (Ates & Büttgen, 2011), which creates a significant gap regarding how to fully understand and enhance social responsibility in not‐for profit organisations (Lee & Szkudlarek, 2021; Seifi & Crowther, 2020).…”

“…The existing literature contains few examples on how the ‘best companies to work for’ link HRM and social responsibility (Edmans, 2012; Lee & Szkudlarek, 2021), and insights from public sector organisations tend to be equally rare (Ates & Büttgen, 2011; Knies et al., 2022). However, we would defend the assertion that HRM forms a part of organisations' social responsibility (Knies et al., 2022; Stahl et al., 2020), and that by considering ‘employees as stakeholders’ (Voegtlin & Greenwood, 2016), human resources departments should promote employees' career satisfaction as part of their organisation's efforts towards social responsibility (Voegtlin & Greenwood, 2016).…”