Factors Influencing Human Resource Professionals’ Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Civil Service Reform in Six U.S. State Governments

Civil service reform has been carried out to achieve ideological, political, and technical changes in various countries. Most research about civil service reform has attempted to find factors that influence the extent and intensity of reform elements such as at-will employment, pay for performance, and broadbanding. No prior study has systematically examined factors that affect human resource professionals’ perceptions of the effectiveness of civil service reforms. This study focused on that issue, using 2010 Civil Service Reform Assessment survey data from six U.S. state governments to examine the relationships between factors associated with human resources professionals’ managerial competencies and demographic characteristics and their perceptions of the effectiveness of civil service reforms with regard to both goal achievement and process. Among its findings was that human resources professionals’ competency in consultation on civil service reform with officials in other states was likely to be positively associated with their perceptions of the effectiveness of civil service reforms.