Each student is responsible for writing a research paper focused on a “leading edge” issue in public personnel management. The research and presentation must focus on government employees. Examples include but are not limited to: Recruitment and retention of a specific group of employees (i.e. police officers, civil engineers), recruiting and training for law enforcement personnel to effectively interact with diverse community members, recruitment strategies for traditionally under-represented populations, succession planning, workplace benefits that address today’s public sector workforce needs). Work should be cited in APA format and include a references page at the end of the paper. The paper is to be a minimum of three (3) double-spaced pages prepared according to the following format:
I. Introduction: Briefly describe the public personnel issue you are exploring and develop a compelling argument about why this issue is significant and deserves attention through data and statistics. You can include issues about the challenges in your organization if relevant.
II. Literature Review: Using a minimum of five (5) peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles in addition to other sources (books, news articles or info from professional websites), present a literature review that in your estimation provide a basis for understanding the public personnel issue you are analyzing. Please note a literature review is not the same as an annotated bibliography. You’re using the peer-reviewed journal articles and your other sources to present current academic research regarding your chosen topic (not summarizing each article). Your research should be from publications that focus on human resources in public agencies in the US.
III. Analysis: In this section, you’re synthesizing the information for the literature review and interpreting the results in addressing the public personnel issue. You can also relate this to your organization if relevant.
IV. Conclusion: Present your recommendations on how public sector managers should address this public personnel issue based on your research findings. If you discussed specific issues in your organization in the intro, you can focus this section on recommendations for your organization.
