Public Service Motivation : Algemene en specifieke motivatiepatronen in de publieke

sector

dr. Wouter Vandenabeele

Public Management Institute

Stichting beroepseer : 1 oktober 2008

Introduction

• Focus on ‘public service motivation’

• General introduction to motivation

• Concept ‘public service motivation’

• Applied ‘public service motivation’

• Current issues

Motivation in the public sector (1)

• Important with regard to performance :

– General truth in management

– Especially in government, motivation is a critical success factor (‘Why elephants gallop…’)

– Demands from society towards government have grown; NPM and performance measurement (omnipresent) are natural reactions

Motivation is an important factor and one cannot do without

Motivation in the public sector (2)

• Tight labour market enhances the importance of motivation

– ‘Tightening’ is still growing

– Ageing has two components : more older workers (‘retention’) and less younger (‘branding’)

– War for talent

– Attraction-selection-attrition : based upon ‘fit’ and consequently motivation

• Ethics

– Insufficient accountability systems, motivation is extra guarantee

– Market based governmental organizations run, by definition, a risk to ‘moral hazard’ and ‘ goal displacement’

Overview motivation (1)

• Motivator-hygiene theory (Herzberg) :

– Work motivation

– Extrinsic : ‘not directly related to task performance, rather to the its consequences’ (indirect – KITA : salary, labor conditions, status, …)

– Intrinsic : ‘directly related to task performance’ (direct : achievement, task itself, autonomy, …)

– Motivator vs. hygiene factors

Overview motivation (2)

• Goal-setting theory (Locke and Latham) :

– Work motivation

– Goals are the crucial element :

• Goal content

• Goal commitment

– Goal content :

• Specific and challenging goals motivate

– Goal commitment :

• Important goals (valence) and self-efficacy motivate

Overview motivation (3)

• Self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan) :

– General behavioral motivational theory

– Distinction between autonomous vs. controlled motivation

Overview motivation (4)

– Self-determination is related to basic need satisfaction :

• Autonomy

• Competence

• Relatedness

– Basic needs are universal

– Basic needs stem from ‘security’ or ‘reducing insecurity’

– Socialization mechanism for identities (link to society)

Motivation in the public sector (1)

• Different types of motivation :

– Motivation to join

– Motivation to stay

– Motivation to perform

• ‘Public sector motivation’ and ‘public service motivation’ :

– Public sector motivation : amalgam

– Public service motivation : refers to delivering meaningful public service

Motivation in the public sector (2)

• Distinction public service motivation (PSM) and public sector motivation

– Example : motivation to join Flemish government

VariableParameter

Estimate Pr > |t|

Intercept 2.46 <.0001

Involvement in politics and policies 0.34 <.0001

Personal interest -0.16 <.01

Responsibility -0.11 <.05

Fringe benefits (pecuniary) -0.13 <.05

Fringe benefits (non-pecuniary) 0.20 <.01

Definitions PSM

• Perry : ‘an individual’s predisposition to respond to motives grounded primarily or uniquely in public institutions’

• Brewer : ‘motivational force that induces individuals to perform meaningful public service’

• Rainy & Steinbauer : ‘a general altruistic motivation to serve the interests of a community of people, a state, a nation or humankind’

• Vandenabeele : ‘the belief, values and attitudes that go beyond self-interest and organizational interest, that concern the interest of a larger political entity and that motivate individuals to act accordingly whenever appropriate’

Dimensions of PSM

• Perry : four dimensions

– Politics and policy-making

– Public interest

– Compassion

– Self-sacrifice

• Vandenabeele : extra dimension

– Democratic governance (‘les lois Rolland’)

Cause and consequence (1)

• Demographics :

– Gender

– Age

– Education

• Institutional :

– Various focus in various countries

– Various types of socialization

– Organizations

– Transformational leadership

Institutional explanation

Cause and consequence (2)

• Consequence within the organization (government) :

– Employer attractiveness

– Job retention

– Performance

– Job satisfaction

– Organizational commitment

– Incentive preference

• Consequences outside the public organization :

– ‘Social capital’ and ‘volunteerism’

– ‘Organizational citizenship’ and ‘corporate social responsibility in private organizations

A theory of PSM (1)

• Institutions :

– ‘ a formal or informal, structural, societal or political phenomenon that transcends the individual level, that is based on more or less common values, has a certain degree of stability and influences behavior‘

– Logic of appropriateness vs. logic of consequence

– Identities as building blocks of the self

• Institutional theory has some difficulties

A theory of PSM (2)

• Supplement through self-determination theory :

– Continuum of internalization identities

– Basic psychological needs satisfaction :

• Autonomy

• Competence

• Relatedness

• Supplement through Person-Environment Fit Theory :

– Various types

A theory of PSM (3)

Applied PSM (1)

• Not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution

• No integrated example, only fragments

• On a theoretical basis five levels can be discerned (Paarlberg et al) :

– HR-processes

– Job

– Work environment

– Organizational mission

– Society

Applied PSM (2)

• Integrating PSM in HR processes :

– PSM as a selection criterion

– Formal and informal opportunities to socialize newcomers into ‘public values’

– Develop performance appraisals and monitoring systems that include PSM

Applied PSM (3)

• Creating meaning at the job level :

– Promote the social and societal significance of the job

– Set clear goals and translate the broad organizational mission into meaningful work expectations

Applied PSM (4)

• Create a supportive work environment :

– Develop self-regulating work structures (basic need satisfaction vs. control systems)

– Develop cooperative interpersonal relationships (co-worker and supervisor), based upon public service values

– Create incentive that result in a fit between personal and organizational values

Applied PSM (5)

• Integrate public service into mission and strategy :

– Make vision and mission tangible, basing it upon employees ‘zone of existence’

– Promote values-based/transformational leadership (avoid transactional leadership)

Applied PSM (6)

• Outside the organization – societal level :

– Foster organizational support for PSM as a part of the professional and educational curriculum

– Provide opportunities for pre-service experience

– Discuss the role of public service across society

Important issues (1)

• Motivation crowding-out :

– Process in which motivation replaced one another

– Controlled motivation replaces autonomous motivation

– A reality in a public sector in reform

– Problem :

• Autonomous is better

• Autonomous is necessary, both in a classic bureaucracy and in a market-based public sector

Important issues (2)

• PSM outside the public sector :

– Non-profit :

• Logical complement

• Sometimes more applicable because of NPM reforms

– Private sector :

• Corporate social responsibility

• Organizational citizenship behavior