ABSTRACT

In the broadest sense, human resources management encompasses everything connected with the management of people in organizations. More specifically, it is that area of activity associated with the recruitment, selection, training, compensation, and discipline of employees. These functions are central to effective management; in the public sector, which is heavily labor intensive, that significance is magnified. Furthermore, in local governments, jurisdictional size and the nature of certain public services provided will shape the context of human resources management in important ways. Small local governments, e.g., may lack the capacity necessary for in-house delivery of critical human resource management functions, and in some locations where the legal environment is permissive, public employee unions play an important role in shaping the nature of human resource management policies. Some local government services, including police and fire protection, have long histories of union activity.