P05 SIG Public Sector Human Resources

Panel chairs

Chair:

• Professor Karen Johnston, University of Portsmouth: karen.johnston@port.ac.uk

Review Group Chair:

• Professor Deneen M. Hatmaker, University of Connecticut: deneen.hatmaker@uconn.edu

Co-Chairs:

• Professor Norma Riccucci, Rutgers University Newark
• Dr. Mauricio Astudillo Rodas, Florida State University
• Professor Pablo Sanabria, Universidad Icesi
• Professor Jessica Sowa, University of Delaware

The Special Interest Group Public Sector Human Resources welcomes papers from across the globe that will address the following themes:

• The intersection between politics, public administration, and human resource management in the public sector. This includes work that examines how democratic backsliding, political interference, and challenges to democratic governance affect public servants, civil service systems, and human capital management practices. We are particularly interested in manuscripts that interrogate how political pressures shape recruitment, retention, and performance management in public agencies; the role of public officials in preserving or undermining institutional integrity; and the ways in which HR policies and civil service protections either buffer or amplify political threats to democratic governance. Submissions may draw on comparative, theoretical, or empirical approaches, and we also encourage work that bridges public administration scholarship with broader conversations in democratic theory and political science.
• The effects of digital transformation, AI and digitally induced changes on HRM processes (e.g., automation or AI use, changes in recruitment, selection, training). Submissions should demonstrate the distinct implications, impact and/or effects of technologies from an HRM perspective and draw upon HR theory.    
• As governments face increasing challenges and crises, declining public trust and a lack of preparedness, we seek submissions that explore how governments can prepare and develop their human resource capacity, and what capacities are needed to address future challenges and crises. We are particularly interested in research that explores what works (e.g. better practices) and did not work (e.g. lessons learned) and innovative practices that facilitate or enables future readiness and preparedness for crisis and polycrisis.