In this report, the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) assesses some of the significant actions recently taken by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Specifically, the report reviews OPM's stewardship of the Federal Government's position classification and qualifications rating systems, with a special focus on the development and use of generic classification and qualification standards. Position classification is a basic building block upon which much of the Federal personnel management system is built. It provides a means to identify, describe, and evaluate the work which Government employees perform. Decisions about who is qualified to do a job and how much they should be paid for their efforts inexorably flow from the classification. Once the classification of a job has been determined, action can be taken to fill it, either through the recruitment of a new employee, or through the placement or promotion of a current employee. The qualifications rating system is central to this latter process, as it governs who may be considered eligible to fill the job.

With over 20 million people on its payroll, the government continues to be the largest employer in the country. Managing people who do the nation’s work is of critical importance to politicians and government leaders as well as citizens. The great recession of 2008 put enormous strains on governments, highlighting the key role personnel play in managing under times of austerity as well as prosperity. A thorough examination of political and historical aspects, Personnel Management in Government: Politics and Process, Seventh Edition provides students with a comprehensive understanding of human resource management within its historical and political context in the public sector. It discusses the development of public sector human resource management, the present status of best practices, and important insights from current scholarship on all three levels of government: federal, state, and local. See What’s New in the Seventh Edition: Personnel reforms under the Obama administration Pension developments at state and local levels of government Labor relations reforms at state and local levels, e.g. recent experiences in Michigan, Ohio, and other states making big changes to labor laws and policies Changes to diversity and affirmative action initiatives across the nation Developments in performance outcome initiatives at all levels of government During the 36 years since the publication of the first edition, the authors have addressed issues that were not yet considered mainstream, yet have become so over time. The seventh edition is no different. It examines progress that public personnel professionals are making to address changes in the political, legal, and managerial environment of the current decade. Exploring developments and innovations in the management of people who carry out the government's work, the book introduces students to public sector personnel management.