The Progress of HRM in the Public Sector – 1998 to 2011

There is a common ‘political’ and popular assumption that the public sector lacks modern methods of management that are found in the private (market) sector. Nationally representative surveys of employers’ workplace practices from 1998, 2004 and 2011 do not support this view. Public sector establishments have higher implementation rates of performance-orientated practices in regard to employee participation, team-working, training/development, and recruitment, and lag only in the use of incentive payment practices. The public sector is also in advance of the private sector in the implementation of family-friendly practices and equal opportunities.