From traditional personnel practices toward human resources management: An examination of the changes in the cities of Los Angeles County

A study was conducted on Public Works Directors and City Managers of eighty-six cities in Los Angeles County to determine if there has been a definite change in trends from traditional personnel procedures to human resources management.;Methodology. The study utilized a questionnaire to measure any degree of definite change in trends from traditional personnel procedures toward human resources management in cities of varying populations. The questionnaire was mailed directly to Public Works Directors and City Managers and was accompanied by a self-addressed return envelope.;The items correlated were based on James Harvey's "Nine Major Trends Toward Human Resources Management." First, tabulation was made of results from each population division of Public Works Directors, then, City Managers, and finally a total of the two results. Finally, a tabulation was made of Public Works Directors, City Managers, and a total of the two segments for all cities surveyed in Los Angeles County.;Results were calculated and a histogram form of evidence was presented to show a pattern of scores.;Findings. The results of the study show a definite change in trends from traditional personnel procedures toward human resources management in all population categories. City Managers were more positive about the definite change in trends than were the Public Works Directors, but the differences were negligible.;Conclusions and recommendations. The conclusions of the study showed that there is a definite change in trends from traditional personnel procedures toward human resources management in the Los Angeles County cities surveyed. The recommendations from this study are as follows: (1) There could be a replication of this research project using a different population of public administrators for further assessing the trends or definite changes. (2) The research could be duplicated using the same population with a different survey instrument. (3) This research could be duplicated using difference populations and instruments for assessment to confirm any definite change in trends from traditional personnel procedures toward human resources management.