Federal employees are not covered by many of the same regulations to which employees in private industry are subject, and many among the general public associate "bureaucrats" with federal employees. The federal government is often perceived as being unwieldy, inefficient, and a bastion of employees who would not be able to perform effectively in private industry. In 1978, Congress tried to address these concerns with the Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA), the last major overhaul of the federal employment system. In the intervening 20 years, the Act has been both lauded and criticized for its effects with even its supporters calling for additional reform. This research examines the Act and its effects over the past two decades from a human resource management perspective.
Traditionally, the federal government used centralized management of the staffing process to achieve social objectives. In addition to seeking to find workers who could perform the tasks at hand, the federal government also sought to provide a progressive employment environment with upward mobility for its employees and with affirmative action at the core of its hiring practices (a philosophy which was put into place during the 1960s). Prospective employees were subject to standardized examinations developed to eliminate personal bias in the hiring and recruiting process (the Federal Service Entrance Examination, for example). These exams, and indeed the Civil Service itself, were administered by the Civil Service Commission (CSC). The CSC was also responsible for college recruitment, public relations, and job information (Cipolla 17).
Individual agencies developed staffing levels for the various types of individuals they wanted to recruit, but the actual recruiting was handled by the Commission. Work was done with veterans' groups to accommodate returning Vietnam military personnel and with women's organizations to improve recruiting among women entering...