ABSTRACT
The work of any government is accomplished primarily through the efforts of its employees. Enhancing productivity in the labor intensive public sector, therefore, is primarily a matter of managing the human resources of public agencies wisely. Unfortunately, the inability of public personnel administration to come to grips with three closely related dilemmas has prevented governments from putting to use much of what has been learned in the social and behavioral sciences. If these dilemmas are not well addressed in theory and practice, there appears little likelihood that public personnel administration will ever fulfill its potential.
