HRM in different countries

Despite so-called ‘best-practices’ in human resource management (HRM) and the new public management paradigm, countries still differ in their public sector HRM. Governmental policy capacity as governments’ ability to formulate and implement policies that create a favorable environment for organisations is a major factor contributing to these differences. Our results for 32 countries worldwide indicate that countries vary in their public sector HRM practices depending on the level of governmental policy capacity (GPC). Countries with higher GPC tend to have HR practices in place that are associated with a strategic focus and the promotion of societally desirable outcomes like, e.g., inclusion. However, the GPC level seems to have no influence on performance-related HR practices. A number of theoretical, empirical, and practical consequences follow from these results. Examples include further exploration of formal and informal institutions affecting HRM and the importance of context for understanding HRM in public sector organisations.