People Management in Victorian Community Health Services: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Recent studies have identified the importance of a suitable workforce in achieving health care goals. This paper reports on a study investigating human resource management (HRM) in the public health sector in Victoria. Using survey methodology we found limited use of strategic human resource management, although the community health service respondents reported greater sophistication in HRM than the hospital respondents, particularly in relation to performance management. We explore possible reasons for these differences, such as the values of the community health sector, governance and experience with system reform.