Doug Goodman

Does Turnover Intention Matter? Evaluating the Usefulness of Turnover Intention Rate as a Predictor of Actual Turnover Rate

Turnover research has traditionally examined intention to turnover rather than actual turnover. Such studies assume that leave intent serves equally well as both a proxy for and predictor of employees’ actual turnover behavior. The purpose of this study is to provide an agency-level evaluation of the usefulness of turnover intention as a reliable proxy and predictor of actual turnover across 180 U.S. federal agencies, using hierarchical (stepwise) multiple regression. Our findings suggest that, at the organizational level, turnover intention and actual turnover are distinct concepts, predicted by different sets of variables. Based on these findings, we conclude that public managers tasked with retention might have better foresight concentrating on their agencies’ unique demographic characteristics and specific management practices, rather than on their employees’ self-reported aggregated turnover intention rate.

State Government Human Resource Professionals’ Commitment to Employment at Will

This article examines the attitudes of a key set of state government officials—state human resource (HR) professionals—toward employment at will (EAW) in state government. It presents original survey data obtained from HR professionals in four southern states: Georgia, Florida, Texas, and Mississippi. Drawing on these data, the article creates an index measuring respondents’ commitment to EAW, as measured by their attitudes toward arguments used to advocate for EAW. The index is used as the dependent variable in an exploratory regression analysis indicating the importance of respondents’ experiences with the exercise of EAW discretion, years of public sector service, educational background, and state context to explaining variation in commitment to EAW. The article concludes with a discussion of the findings’ implications for the future of civil service reform in the United States.

An Assessment of the Current and Future State of Human Resource Management at the Local Government Level

As academics and practitioners continue to challenge traditional models regarding the nature of the public employee relationship with government, increased emphasis on the contributions of strategic planning, formal workforce planning, and performance measurement to the mission and goals of public organizations have occurred. This study evaluates the opinions of human resource management professionals at the local government level to determine the importance of numerous functions and activities to the practice of human resource management today. Survey respondents are also requested to project the importance of these same concepts in 2019. We find that many of the traditional HR management practices are still considered very essential by human resource professionals at the local level; and the four major principles of reinvented HRM anticipated to emanate over a decade ago have been adopted at a much slower pace than expected.

Evaluating Citizen Adoption and Satisfaction of E-Government

Governments at all levels are faced with the challenge of transformation and the need to reinvent government systems in order to deliver efficient and cost effective services. E-government presents a tremendous impetus to move forward in the 21st century with higher quality, cost-effective, government services, and a better relationship between citizens and government. This research considers theoretical foundations from the Technology Acceptance Model TAM, the Web Trust Model WTM, and SERVQUAL to form a parsimonious model of citizen adoption and satisfaction for e-government services. The authors find that usefulness, or end-user convenience, to be the principal determinant of e-government adoption and satisfaction, unaffected even when controlling demographic variables such as race, income, and education are introduced.

Assessing the Temporary Use of At-will Employment for Reorganization and Workforce Reduction in Mississippi State Government:

Over the past two decades, at-will employment initiatives and a wave of other reforms have taken place, aimed at enhancing the efficiency of the public sector and the control that government has over it. Administrators in the State of Mississippi have continued to propose at-will employment for state workers, at least on a temporary basis, to facilitate reorganization. This study assesses state human resource directors’ attitudes toward the incremental use of at-will employment and the terminations that have resulted from its use. The authors find that while an incremental move toward the at-will environment may produce more optimism in the perception of human resource directors regarding motivation, performance, efficiency, and value, uncertainty still remains as to whether or not the declassification of civil service employees to at-will status truly enhances public sector employee responsiveness, productivity, and management.

Determinants of Perceived Gubernatorial Budgetary Influence among State Executive Budget Analysts and Legislative Fiscal Analysts

Recent scholarship points to governors losing budgetary influence to legislatures. A survey of executive and legislative budget analysts from thirteen western states is used to test hypotheses derived from Abney and Lauths theoretical propositions regarding the end of executive dominance over the budgetary process. This article finds that the legislatures ability to independently access budgetary information, a separate legislative budget agenda from the governor, the addition of detailed language in appropriation bills, and consensus revenue forecasting all decrease the likelihood of gubernatorial budgetary influence. Pork barrel additions and the ability to item veto appropriation language increase the likelihood of gubernatorial influence.

Determinants of Local Government Workforce Planning

This article evaluates the utilization of workforce planning by municipalities across the United States with data derived from a survey of local government human resource professionals. The research demonstrates that certain aspects of workforce planning such as assessments of employee retirement, long-term recruitment and retention, and training and development have been integrated into the human resource functions of several municipalities. The authors also find that local governments that recognize the importance of training and development, information management, managing diversity, unions, and council–manager forms of government are more progressive in their implementation of workforce planning initiatives. However, many local governments still fail to recognize the opportunities that comprehensive workforce planning presents in developing and achieving the strategic goals of their organizations and managing human capital, especially given the political and economic climates.

The Influence of Family-Friendly Policies on Turnover and Performance in South Korea:

This study investigates the relationship between family-friendly policies and organizational performance, voluntary turnover rate, and labor productivity, using the Korea Workplace Panel Survey data from 2005 to 2009. The sample of this study consists of 158 public organizations in South Korea. This study uses panel data analysis to estimate the family-friendly policy effect. The result of the analysis suggests that the number of family-friendly policies is positively associated with labor productivity in public organizations. However, the number of family-friendly policies does not reduce the turnover rate. In addition, unionization has shown to decrease turnover rate and is positively associated with labor productivity in public organizations. The proportion of female workers has a positive relationship with turnover rate in organizations.

Problem-based Learning in the MPA Curriculum

Abstract Problem-based learning (PBL) is a pedagogy available to MPA professors who seek to provide students with a learning environment and skills that allow students to solve complex, real-world problems, think critically, learn to collaborate with others, and assume responsibility for their learning. Although problembased learning is best associated with medical schools, its methods and learning style are beneficial to MPA programs. This article discusses PBL and its methods and evaluates the implementation of PBL in an MPA setting. The findings indicate that PBL helps students enhance collaboration and decision-making skills.

Two Years Later: Hurricane Katrina Still Poses Significant Human Resource Problems for Local Governments

This study explores the impact of Hurricane Katrina on local government HR management for several cities along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The authors interviewed mayors, city managers, chief administrative officers, and HR directors regarding a range of topics, including the recruitment and retention of employees in the post-Katrina environment. Analysis of the interviews shows that the smaller cities and towns on the Gulf Coast continue to struggle with hiring and retaining qualified employees. While some local governments have faired better than others during the recovery period, discussions with city officials have shown that retaining employees has proven difficult and daunting following the catastrophe.