PUBLIC PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF PUBLIC SECTOR IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE UNITED KINGDOM: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS AND LESSONS FOR NIGERIA.

Abstract

This paper is a comparative approach to the key functions of public personnel administration and the development of the public sector in the United States and the United Kingdom with specific emphasis on the analysis of personnel functions of recruitment, promotion, training, position classification, pay scales and conditions of service and commissions in their federal services to establish their differences, similarities and the lessons Nigeria could learn from them. Relying on the ex-post-facto design, the paper employed qualitative data collection techniques for the collection of secondary data and content analysis. The paper was anchored on the formal structural-functional approach by Malinowski and Radcliff Brown which centers on formal structures of government and their functions in diverse countries. The paper found out among other things that the personnel administrative systems of these countries have developed from mediocre practices to more meritorious systems. The paper recommends among other things, that if the public sector must continue to develop, personnel administrators should maintain a good relationship with public sector employees who are the most vital resources to drive government policies and programmes, efforts should be geared towards genuine reforms on the part of Nigeria aimed at having more independent personnel agencies that are insulated from political interferences to enable them manage public sector workers without fear or favour and protect civil servants from abuse.