CHALLENGES OF

PUBLIC PERSONNEL
ADMINISTRATION

CHALLENGES OF PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION

Workplace Violence

Workplace violence is a problem that public personnel can ill afford to ignore. On an
almost daily basis, the media report dramatic and often bloody episodes of violence in
government sites as well as in corporate buildings and offices. Violence in workplace has
received a lot of attention from human resources specialist in the public sector as they
confront disturbing information about the risks it poses to public personnel on all levels
of their organizations. Many public employers have yet to make serious efforts to identify
risk factors, to develop strategies for preventing violence, or to implement response plans.
Workplace violence has many causes. Contemporary thinking requires that human
resources specialist be able to help managers understand the potential for violence
resulting from adverse actions, interpersonal conflict between workers and their
supervisors, authoritarian and abusive management styles, and citizen unhappiness with
public policies and organizational performance. Violence by substance abusers is also a
real concern. Sexual violence and violence rooted in racism or cultural clashes may be
newer concerns, but they now are generally familiar issues for human resources
management offices.
Discipline of Public Servants
Ethical problems among public servant is no longer an uncommon things in public
administration. Employee's disciplines is a challenging factor for a human resource
managers. As examples of ethical problems among employees are smoking, uses of
drugs and alcohols in workplace. In current environment, testing for illegal drugs and
alcohol has become a first line of defense for many public organizations as well as private
employer. Employees that have discipline problems may be dismiss. There is abundant
anecdotal evidence about instances where the burdens or dis missing an employee are so
great that agencies or an organization have resorted to other ways of dealing with the
situation. Some agencies have hired additional staff to get needed work done and simply
carried the nonproductive employees without giving them any work. Other agencies have
reorganized, either to define a position out of existence - thereby allowing a
"nondisciplinary layoff" - or to wrest authority from the unsatisfactory employee and give

it to someone else. The problems managers face in dismissing employees, in other words,
can present multiple burdens and costs to the organization. To help motivate personnel
that have ethical problems, the human resource managers need to plan an education,
intervention and rehabilitation programs. Employers are recognizing the value of
education and training programs designed to help the employees to gain motivation thus
resulting a better performance at workplace.
Embracing New Technology
It's a fast-moving world, and to stay competitive it is key that organizations adapt to
changes in technology. As technology evolves the needs of your work force are evolving.
Many public organizations today face a more diverse work force than they have ever had
before. They have a lot of virtual public servants, field employees, globally deployed
employees, not necessarily the traditional office or the single location based staff.
However, the embracing of technology has been a challenge for public personnel
administration. Some organizations, after they had embracing new technologies, they will
use less manpower since they have technologies to do more works. So, they will have to
eliminate some workers since there are no more works for them to do.
Demographic and Employee Concerns
The demography of the public service is changing at an accelerating pace. In certain
respects, it is becoming more representative of the increasingly diverse and pluralistic
society it serves. There have been corresponding increases in the proportion of women
and minorities working for state and local governments over roughly the same period.
Public-sector recruitment, hiring, training, and career development programs are by
necessity adjusting to a labor market that has experienced profound demographic changes
since 1950s. Managing diverse workforces has become a staple of many management
training programs, and alternative and "family-friendly" work arrangements have become
important factors in recruitment and retention strategies, as well as being significant
considerations in efforts to increase productivity. The labor force participation of married
women with children under the age of six rose from 18.6 percent in 1960 to 62.7 percent

in 1996. The labor force also is getting older, and this trend, of course, poses issues
related to health and retirement benefits, as well as presenting public management with
new challenges in areas such as motivation and employee development.
Health and Safety
It was reported for 1978 that one out of ten personnel or workers became ill or was
injured in the workplace. New cases of disability, illness, and injuries cost over $10
billion. In addition to the cost of wages, this figure includes indirect costs-that of
replacing injured employees, payments to the injured in excess of workman's
compensation, administrative cost such as that of reporting, replacement costs of
materials and machinery, and overhead costs such as those for emergency facilities and
equipment. This problems are becoming one of the challenges to public personnel
administration. There are so many causes and factors of illness and injuries in the
workplace. The main sources of trouble are the environment and the job. Danger arises
from physical inadequacies and hazards such as unsafe equipments, the absence of
protective devices, insufficient lightning, noises, and gases, particulates, and other
airborne substances. Employee's attitudes and conditions such as fatigue, flagging
morale, and inattention are also can be considered as the factors of illness and injuries at
workplace as well.

CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION
We can conclude that it is the public personnel which more than anything else
determines the quantity and quality of the performance and output of an organization.
Even the contribution of money and materials to the performance of an organization
depends substaintiallyon the personnel themselves.