Construction and validation of reputation metrics for human resource management in Brazilian public organizations

Abstract

This study deals with developing a reputation measure for the human resource units of the Brazilian public administration. The measurement model consists of 61 items distributed across three dimensions - trust, credibility, and quality. The measure was submitted to a process of theoretical validation - with the participation of six evaluators - and empirical validation - carried out with a sample of 308 respondents from governmental agencies. Structural analyses suggested an impasse between two models, one with one factor, the other with two, then resolved through a bifactor model, whose results indicated a unifactorial structure composed of 19 items theoretically associated with the quality of services provided by the human resource unit to employees and the credibility and trust attributed by employees toward the human resource unit. The findings supported the reputation measure obtained theoretical and empirical support and can be used as a reliable indicator in initiatives to evaluate the effectiveness of human resource areas in the context of public organizations.

Keywords:
human resource management; human resource management in public organizations; human resources reputation; departmental reputation; organizational reputation