ABSTRACT
The core personnel management functions of the line manager are to select, develop, and evaluate people. Historically, public sector managers accepted implicit norms which formed the basis for these personnel management decisions. In performing the core personnel management functions of selecting, developing and evaluating people, the line manager today is asked to act on decision premises rooted in three distinct criteria. Public sector trade unions have pressed to participate in management decision-making processes that affect the employee's livelihood. The familiar tendency to restrict discretion of line managers in personnel decision making flows from dubious assumptions about public administration and the role of personnel management in that context. This chapter explores the competing claims the diverse interests place on the manager and considers whether managers should play a passive role or whether the public interest calls managers to play a more self-consciously ethical role in balancing competing claims.
