PSHRA-SCP study plan

Map the full public-sector HR policy lifecycle from needs identification through adoption, communication, and scheduled review

Distinguish strategic planning models (SWOT, gap analysis, environmental scanning) and match each to a public-sector workforce scenario

Draft a policy impact statement that ties a proposed HR policy to agency mission, budget, and legal constraints

Identify the approval bodies and stakeholder groups typically involved in public-sector policy adoption and note where they diverge from private-sector practice

Convert a strategic plan objective into measurable HR program outcomes with baseline, target, and reporting cadence

Compare leadership styles and explain which are most effective in a politically appointed, unionized, or civil-service environment

Sequence the stages of organizational change and predict where resistance is most likely to surface in a public agency

Assess how organizational culture is diagnosed and reshaped when leadership turns over after an election

Design a succession planning approach for mission-critical public-sector roles, including knowledge transfer and competency mapping

Evaluate diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility interventions against measurable culture outcomes

Distinguish the rights and obligations created by collective bargaining agreements versus civil service rules and statutes

Outline the steps of a grievance procedure and identify when a dispute escalates to arbitration or an administrative body

Apply the principles of good-faith bargaining, including mandatory, permissive, and prohibited subjects of bargaining

Differentiate unfair labor practice scenarios from lawful management-rights exercises

Trace the disciplinary process from investigation through just-cause determination and progressive discipline

Analyze employee relations case scenarios and select the correct procedural response under public-sector rules

Build a competency-based job analysis and translate it into a class specification usable in a civil service system

Design a structured, legally defensible selection process with defined screening, interviewing, and scoring criteria

Assess recruitment sourcing strategies for hard-to-fill public-sector roles such as licensed clinicians, skilled trades, and IT

Explain onboarding, probation, and certification requirements that differ from at-will employment environments

Compare public-sector benefit structures, including pension plans, deferred compensation, and health coverage funding models

Calculate total compensation and explain how pay ranges, step increases, and longevity pay are administered

Evaluate classification and pay equity issues, including compression, inversion, and market adjustment decisions

Interpret the budget and actuarial implications of benefit commitments and how they constrain HR recommendations

Identify the data fields, system owners, and data quality risks in a typical public-sector HRIS environment

Select appropriate HR metrics and build a reporting structure that answers a workforce question for an executive audience

Apply data governance, privacy, and public records considerations to HR reporting requests

Produce a workforce analytics narrative that connects turnover or time-to-fill data to a labor relations or staffing decision

Synthesize all six domains into integrated scenarios where policy, culture, staffing, and rewards decisions interact

Complete timed practice sets across every domain and score performance by domain to expose weak areas

Re-teach the two lowest-scoring domains using condensed summary sheets and verbal explanation

Rehearse justifying HR recommendations to an executive or governing board in concise, evidence-based terms