Is human resources management in the leading states being reinvented?

Reinventing government is an approach to public sector management theory that may be the most influential and significant in the past half century. It claims that the traditional government employment principles of fitness and merit can coexist with increased managerial discretion and greater employee independence. Reinvention also contends that flexibility and decentralization can be combined with a system that demands high levels of accountability and equity. Many of its recommendations for improving government are directed toward human resources management.The purpose of this study is to learn about the degree to which reinvention has penetrated selected state civil service systems. Its point of departure was to select several of reinvention's major endorsements, then investigate their implementation in states known for supporting progressive personnel practices. Related inquiries were made regarding the evolving role of the states' central personnel departments and the status of merit principles and oversight.Several recent nationwide surveys were used to identify states whose personnel systems are among the country's most progressive. Interviews were conducted with veteran personnel professionals who were selected based on their reputations for objectivity and professionalism. The findings from the research reveal that almost half of the selected reinvention recommendations have made very little progress in the past decade. However, the few that have been strongly embraced are among the most important

Ghosts in the Bureaucratic Machine: Resurrecting the Principles of Administration in the Oklahoma Health Department

An Oklahoma health department scandal erupted when the acting director was arrested for taking a bribe. More revelations quickly followed, including the existence of multiple “ghost employees” on payroll but having no identifiable job functions. More than 30 employees were terminated. Many faced criminal prosecution. TheTulsa World reported that malfeasance at the agency might have contributed to as many as 1,000 deaths in state nursing homes. The state’s governor assigned a cabinet secretary to rectify the situation. In telling the story of an agency’s denigration and eventual rebirth, the authors argue that no substitute exists for institutional regard for basic administrative principles. They revisit the work of Fayol and Gulick, two pioneers within the principles of administration school. Despite long-standing criticisms, their approach seems strongly validated in light of an agency that lost its way by ignoring fundamentals and was set back on course by an administrator who valued them.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline