Resumo

Changes in organizational environment highlight the importance of strategic agility in facing crises that produce economic and social changes. To face such dynamics, organizations need to strengthen their capabilities, being the people management crucial for improving organizational performance. Further, the adoption of human resource management practices (HRMP) in the public sector differs from that in the private sector. Thus, this review aims to advance the mapping of Boselie et al. (2021) work, identifying pathways and research agenda in HRMP in the public sector.

The central question of this research is: "What are the pathways and research perspectives in human resource management practices in the public sector?" From this question, it was possible to identify the itineraries of international production, for the period from 2017 to 2023, as the literature review by Boselie et al. (2021) focusing on the public sector was identified, covering the period from 2000 to 2016, and identify gaps, challenges, and new opportunities that underpinned the proposal of an agenda for future studies.

Demo et al. (2024) define human resource management practices (HRMP) as articulated proposals by the organization, inspired by its strategies, that translate human resource management policies into actions to achieve desired outcomes. With the increasing performance orientation of public organizations, HRMP has gained prominence in the public sector, requiring a focused approach as public face more legal constraints and are subject to political influences (Boselie et al., 2021). Also, governments have more complex and multidimensional goals compared to the private sector.

In order to explore the themes presented by the studies, a co-occurrence analysis of the keywords constituting the corpus of this SLR was conducted. A general analysis indicates that human resource management (HRM), impact, and performance, are the most relevant concepts in the field of study on human resource management practices (HRMP) in the public sector. Further, the clusters reflect discussions regarding the behaviors and attitudes of public servants and leaders, unprofessional practices, employees' perceptions of HRMP and innovation environment.

This study was able to map the scientific articles published in high-impact journals, from 2017 to 2023, that investigate human resource management practices in the public sector. Additionally, it was possible to unveil the state of the art of the variable, identifying research gaps and pathways for the theoretical deepening of the variable, as well as establish a research agenda for future studies.

Boselie, P., Van Harten, J., &Veld, M. (2021) A human resource management review on public management and public administration research: stop right there…before we go any further…, Public Management Review, 23:4, 483-500, https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2019.1695880 Demo, G., Costa, A.C.R. and Coura, K.V. (2024), "HRM practices in the public service: a measurement model", RAUSP Management Journal, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/RAUSP-01-2023-0005