Public Career. Replacing the Formal and Political Leaders

The social and ethical human resources management of the 50s was replaced by the safe institution, a place later on occupied by less predictable and stable institutions lacking the previous mass characteristic. The individuals expect more than a salary from their workplace. The modern institution cannot avoid suggesting rules of behaviour in the workplace although it is aware that instability and unpredictability begin to represent key elements of the human resources area. These elements are treated formally just like any other resources of which a certain institutional behaviour is expected. Will it work? An essential condition is the equidistant adherence to this behaviour. The public domain, conceived as a desirable segment potentially able to normalize growth and maturation, allows for remarkable individual and collective evolutions by accepting lateral promotions as opposed to the exclusively vertical ones seen as inefficient and ineffectual in certain circumstances. The hierarchical positions are limited especially at base and middle levels, whereas lateral promotions represent a feasible alternative meant to encourage employee retention and loyalty as well as performance motivation by promoting them horizontally instead of vertically