Sub standard HRM for political staffers
There has historically typically been a lack of effective HR, or at best provision is ad hoc.
Senior staffers in the Prime Minister’s Office noted the striking the lack of HR provision was when their party was elected to power:
| The lack of HRM for staffers in Prime Minister’s Offices |
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“There's a massive lack of HR because political advisers are treated as a second class citizens, which is inherently unfair.” Simone Finn, Deputy Chief of Staff in the UK Prime Minister’s Office |
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“I remember walking into the office on the first day after the Prime Minister was sworn in, and it was empty.” Mike Jaspers, Chief Advisor for Strategic Communications in the New Zealand Prime Minister’s Office |
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“The day he became Prime Minister it wasn’t like ‘and here is your HR resourcing’ - that just didn't exist.” John Kunkel, Chief of Staff in the Australian Prime Minister’s Office |
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“The public service was ready to brief us on all kinds of fronts when we got in and dumped binders and things on us. Yet there was almost nothing on a human resources front and if you don't have the human resources done right early on, the rest of it becomes that much harder.” Katie Telford, Chief of Staff to the Canadian Prime Minister |
There is rarely an HR handbook, dedicated staff, HR structure or resource. Those who manage staff are rarely trained or equipped with tools to do it well. This is conveyed by the words used by interviewees:
| The state of HRM through political staffers eyes |
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| Outdated; Unregulated; The Wild West |
| An ad hoc system; Make it up as you go along system |
| Slips down the list of priorities; at the bottom of the To Do List; An afterthought |
| Luck of the draw – Cross your fingers - A bit of a wing and a prayer |
In interviews with staffers and civil/public servants, one after the other described the lack of HR:
- “It has never, in my experience, being a priority to train people well, to give them support, and to get them what they need. It's never been a priority to train managers how to manage.” (Special Assistant, Public Appointments in the Canadian Prime Minister’s Office)
- “If you paid me nineteen dollars an hour to deep fry nuggets, I would get more training than working in the heart of government setting a strategy that influences the lives of twenty six million people.” (Senior Advisor, Strategy and Communications in the Australian Prime Minister’s Office)
- “I had to hit the ground running and it seems appalling that there isn't some sort of assistance from someone who knows and understands the roles, and can give you some guidance about structure.” (Chief Advisor for Strategic Communications in the New Zealand Prime Minister’s Office)
- “We didn't really ever have any contact with HR.” (Advance in the Canadian Prime Minister’s Office)
- “When I started at PMO we didn't even have an HR person at the Prime Minister's office….most minister’s offices don't have a formal HR person in Canada” (Senior Manager of Research and Advertising in the Canadian Prime Minister’s Office)
- “A lot of what I would consider bread and butter HR practices don’t necessarily exist in this environment, or not in the way you’d expect.” (Director of the Office of Staff Support, Australian Labor Government)
- “There was no HR in our office.” (Deputy Director of Communications in the Canadian Prime Minister’s Office)
- “Political staffing roles are famous for not having a lot of structure or HR specifically.” (Advisor, Public Appointments in the Canadian Prime Minister’s Office)
- In this political world there's no HR handbook most of the time….HR is one of those things that is so quickly forgotten about except for “okay, well can I sign a contract, how much money, okay, cool” and just go go go. (Press Secretary in the Canadian Prime Minister’s Office)
- It’s still a bit of a “make it up as you go along system.” I think most governments think it would be good to make it better, but it’s always stays at the bottom of the To Do list as there’s so much going on. (Deputy Press Secretary to the UK Prime Minister)
- Human resources is a weak spot probably for most political offices…a lot of what was offered to staff frankly felt reactive as opposed to folks being more on top of it from the get-go. (Lead Speechwriter in the Canadian Prime Minister’s Office)
- Our systems are quite outdated in the way that we operate. We are not leaders in employment practices in our workplace (MP for the New Zealand Labour Party and member of the Parliamentary Services Parliamentary Culture Committee)
- Strategic HR has never been a focus and no one until now has had that mandate. (Independent Chair of the 46/47th Parliamentary Leadership Taskforce in Australia)
- “We currently don't get involved in any of those activities - we provide minimal if any support to our Lords on HR issues.” (HR Director at the UK House of Lords)
- “The thing that is tricky is that once a party falls out of power there are very few structures here to keep some semblance of a political infrastructure going underneath…you have a fairly amateurish political party set up, and that doesn't lead to professional hiring approaches and professional HR.” (Special Adviser on Education in the UK Prime Minister’s Office at Number 10 Downing Street)
- “Historically there's been a reluctance for HR functions because those who set the rules benefit from a power imbalance. And to have someone to mediate that imbalance takes away some power.” (Senior Advisor, Speechwriting and correspondence in the Australian Prime Minister’s Office)
- “There isn't a lot in terms of human resources and professional support for political staffers…When this government loses an election, whatever that might be, there will be a new government in place, and new staffers. And there isn't a lot of thought about how we protect those people.” (Human Resources Advisor in the Canadian Prime Minister’s Office)
Obstacles to reforming HRM for political staffers
Staffers and civil/public servants who do try to improve it face a running battle.
Staffers who want to improve things, perhaps because they have former experience in the role, face the dilemma of justifying focusing time on this when there are so many competing policy and political priorities. Only where there has been both a public-media crisis focused on staffing and/or determined Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff have major advancements been seen, such as in Canada under the Liberals elected in 2015 and Australia under the Labor Party elected in 2022. But this is tied to a specific party and may disappear when that party loses power in an election.
Civil servants who want to improve support for staffers can face obstacles from those who do not think they should be concerning themselves with political matters, interfering with politician’s staff, or do not understand the need because they are not aware of the stark contrast in working conditions for staffers . Parliamentary staff working on members HR have developed guides and other forms of support, but much more remains to be done.
The lack of overall HRM infrastructure for all staffers in all political offices means it is often left to individuals to develop good practices themselves. Naturally, this takes time and effectiveness is variable.
Developing more positive practices
Nevertheless, more positive practices have been developed by staffers and civil/public servants in their role and are currently under development.
Individuals new in post or those seeking to advance reform can use this site to get ideas for better practices.