A Framework to Assess Employee Perceptions of HRM Practices in the Greek Local Authorities

Abstract

Organizations in the public sector are under increasing pressure to enhance their efficiency in order to deliver better services to citizens. At the same time, the resources available to public organizations have reduced during the past years due to the recent great recession, forcing them to find ways to make the most of their limited resources. Considering that people are recognized as the most significant organizational resource, it is not surprising that organizations in the private and public sector employ Human Resources Management (HRM) practices in order to become more effective. Despite the importance of human resources and the fact that public – sector organizations have particular characteristics that make implementing HR practices difficult, little attention has been devoted to the specific field of HRM in the public sector. Public organizations still lack of effective human resources management practices and effective tools to systematically monitor and improve the implemented practices. This paper provides insight on effective HRM practices in the public sector and proposes a framework for assessing the effectiveness of organizations in implementing such practices. Considering that employees are the ones who are most affected by HR policies, the framework is based on their perspectives in order to analyze organizational performance and prioritize HR practices. The model is tailored to the particular characteristics of Local Authorities in Greece but it can easily be extended to other public organizations and enables the identification of critical dimensions and the prioritization of HR action plans.