Charles W. Gossett

Career Choice in Canadian Public Service: An Exploration of Fit with the Millennial Generation

A recent survey of 19,261 university students in Canada revealed the Government of Canada as the employer of choice, among the millennial generation. Drawing on the employer knowledge framework, we explore how the Millennials make career choices, what they find attractive, and how public service may help them achieve their career goals, work values, and work/life choices. Specifically, the Millennials prioritized balancing personal life and career, pursuing further education, and contributing to society as their top career goals. Those who indicated a career choice in public service also rated high ethical standards, social responsibility, and a progressive working environment as ideal employer characteristics. Moreover, the Millennials also consider an inclusive work environment and having diverse colleagues to be important factors when accepting employment. Overall, there appears to be a good fit between the factors the Millennials find important and a career choice in public service. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Civil Service Reform The Case of Georgia

In 1996, the State of Georgia passed the Merit System Reform Act, which made dramatic changes to the traditional civil service system in the state. These reforms included placing all newly hired civil servants in positions that were “at will” and greatly decentralized responsibility for recruitment and classification to individual operating agencies. The role of the central personnel office changed from that of a regulating agency ensuring that merit principles were followed to a consulting service organization designed to encourage best practices. This article examines these changes as manifestations of a “managerialist” ideology more concerned with empowering managers for the sake of greater efficiency than with protecting individual employee rights.

Domestic Partnership Benefits

In recent years, a number of cities and counties have been modifying their employee benefit programs to extend coverage that was traditionally limited to the spouse and minor children of an employee to include other persons important in the employees life. Such persons are usually referred to as domestic partners. This study examines the ways in which 23 local governments have chosen to define domestic partners and the types of employee benefit coverage that have been extended to them.

The Changing Face of Georgia's Merit System: Results from an Employee Attitude Survey in the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice

In 1996, the state of Georgia passed a radical civil service reform law that, in effect, removed all new employees from the traditional civil service system and made them “at-will” employees. Additionally, many functions, such as recruitment and classification, were decentralized to the operating agencies. This study attempts to review the impact of these changes on employees in one of the agencies, the Department of Juvenile Justice. A comparison is made of the attitudes of employees who are covered by civil service regulations and those who are not, principally with respect to organizational commitment and loyalty. The results of the survey suggest that, to date, the impact of these reforms on commitment and loyalty is not significant.

The Expansion of 'Charitable Choice' and 'Faith-Based Initiatives': Human Resource Management Implications for Nonprofit Organizations

The purpose of this article is to analyze the implications of the expansion of “charitable choice” legislation and the introduction of “faith-based initiatives” on human resource management issues in nonprofit organizations, particularly those organizations that are affiliated with religious congregations. Experience with state-level equivalent programs and some limited experience with federal programs have generated a number of court cases that demonstrate both the nature of the concerns opponents of such programs have and the limits still faced by those taking advantage of public contracting opportunities under various faith-based initiatives.

Why Did Californians Pass Proposition 8? Stability and Change in Public Support for Same-Sex Marriage

Despite numerous public opinion polls indicating that California voters would defeat Proposition 8, a proposed constitutional amendment to limit marriage to one man and one woman, Election Day 2008 brought an end to six months of marriage equality for same-sex couples. This paper explores four possible explanations for why Californians passed Proposition 8 despite the polls: (1) poll respondents did not respond honestly to pollsters; (2) some respondents who opposed same-sex marriage were initially reluctant to amend the constitution for this purpose; (3) the campaign over the amendment changed people’s opinions about same-sex marriage; and (4) poll respondents did not initially understand how to accurately connect their position on same-sex marriage with the “right” position on Proposition 8, but that they gained such knowledge over time. This study finds minimal support for the first three explanations and weak support for the final explanation.

Public vs private sector employment: An exploratory study of career choice among graduate management students in Botswana

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that may be related to a career choice in the public vs the private sector in a developing African country. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample of graduate management students, the authors tested reward preferences and altruism, elements of public service motivation, on their generalizability to a developing country in Africa. The authors also examine the role of career attitudes, individual personality factors, and cultural values on a career choice in public service. Findings The authors find that not all the factors associated with the choice of sector (public or private) found in previous studies apply in the Botswana context. Research limitations/implications Perry and Wise (1990) developed the concept of public service motivation to explain why individuals may be motivated to serve the public. However, two of the factors associated with public service, intrinsic motivation, and altruism, were not predictive of a career choice in the public sector in Botswana, and thus may limit its generalizability outside of western developed countries. Practical implications In Botswana and other developing economies, government jobs are considered to provide lucrative and stable employment, and attract educated citizens regardless of motivations. However, as the private-for-profit sector is emerging, these countries could soon be facing serious competition for top university students, and will need to develop a strategy for attracting the best talents to choose employment in the public sector over career options in the private sector. Originality/value The present study seeks to further the understanding on how individuals make a career choice between public vs private sector management in a developing country.

Trumped up data

The purpose of this paper is to review recent practices by members of the Trump administration that may impact the ability of diversity researchers to have access to data in the coming years.,This is a viewpoint essay based largely on current news reports and does not rely on original research.,While there are strong reasons for concern that the collection, dissemination, and analysis of government data may negatively affect the ability to conduct research, the findings are still primarily speculative and not conclusive.,To the extent that researcher rely on the creation of and access to data generated by federal government agencies, there could be challenges to answering new research questions and/or doing research that compares the present to the past.,Researchers may want to take steps to protect their access to government data by downloading those databases that are most crucial for their work.,This viewpoint article represents only the author’s reflection on what might happen in the future based on what has happened so far.

The Impact of Aids on the Botswana Civil Service: A Case Study of The Police and Prison Services

That HIV/AIDS has had an enormous impact on southern Africa in general, and in Botswana in particular, is not in doubt. Numerous studies have documented certain aspects of the problem—high HIV prevalence rates, increasing numbers of orphans and vulnerable children, declining average life expectancy, and a high number of deaths among adults during their most productive years. Scholars have engaged in speculation about the possible impacts that this disease might have on social relationships, economic growth and development, and governance in both the near and the long terms. But these studies are only forecasts of possible futures, not data driven analyses. This study closely examines data available from two agencies in the Botswana civil service, the police and prisons services in an effort to assess, albeit indirectly, any impact that the HIV/AIDS crisis may have had on the workforce. Although the AIDS epidemic in the country as a whole was reflected in the experience of these services, neither agency suffered the devastating effects some feared.

Book Review: Politics and Practices of Intergovernmental Evaluation

be reviewed singly or in groups to illuminate similarities and differences in intent, philosophy, and usefulness. Persons with suggestions of books to be reviewed, or those who wish to submit a review, should contact Perry Sailor (Planning, Budget, & Analysis, University of Colorado at Boulder, Campus Box 15, Boulder, CO 80309: 303-492-2514 or e-mail: perry.sailor@colorado.edu). In general, a review of an individual book should not exceed four double-spaced typewritten pages; groups of books may require additional lengths. In the past, AJE policy has been to commission a single review for each book. That will continue to be the practice for most books, but in the fiture, two reviews will be commissioned for books judged by the Editor aruUor Book Review Editor to be major works in evaluation. Such major evaluation books would include evaluation texts, edited books of evaluation readings, or other books dedicated solely to extending evaluation theory or practice. Conversely, books that focus on methods or techniques shared by evaluation and other disciplines or professions (e.g., statistics; measurement; observation methods) will receive a single review.