State Human Resources Practices and Benchmarking

Background

The National Academy of Public Administration (the Academy) has launched a new research partnership with the Niskanen Center to collect data and best practices about the public personnel system in each of the 50 states across the country. This research project aims to better understand how each state approaches similar questions of public personnel management. The output of this benchmarking study will be a centralized resource for state-level HR information for members of the public, state governments, the federal government, and other researchers to use in better understanding the operations in the states and any practices that might be generalizable across jurisdictions.

Project Description

Throughout the four-month project timeline, the Academy collected and organized data on HR systems across all 50 states. The Study Team reviewed public documents, academic literature, and agency procedures, as well as interviewed state HR officials and subject matter experts (See Final Report).

The research focused on topics such as hiring and recruitment, compensation and classification, performance management, merit protection, grievance procedures, and disciplinary procedures.

A final spreadsheet and report were completed in February 2026 (See Final Report, State HR Practices Benchmarking and Summary Tables).

Questions

If you have any questions or comments regarding the study, please contact, Brenna Isman, Director of Academy Studies (BIsman@napawash.org).