Public Service Motivation and Individual Job Performance

Abstract

When pressure on human resource departments to make government more efficient is increasing, it is of great relevance to understand employees’ motivation and the fit of an employee with their job, as both contribute strongly to service performance. Therefore, this chapter discusses the role of public employees’ motivation and its relationship to individual performance. More specifically, this relationship is examined by focusing on public service motivation (PSM), a stream of research developed during the last three decades stressing the service orientation of public employees’ identity. Theoretically, how the relationship between PSM and individual performance is dependent on institutions is discussed, and an overview of the existing empirical evidence concerning this relationship is provided. The literature review discusses a variety of aspects such as direct vs. indirect effects, type of performance used, how performance is measured, and effect sizes. Finally, several avenues for future research are proposed, including methodological strategies.

Motivated to Serve: A Regulatory Perspective on Public Service Motivation and Organizational Citizenship Behavior

“…PSM assumes that public employees are characterized by a desire to serve the public, live in service to others, and affect society (Houston and Cartwright 2007;Ritz, Vandenabeele, and Vogel 2021). Although the meaning of PSM varies slightly among authors (Ritz, Brewer, and Neumann 2016), its definitions have a common focus on motives that are intended to do good for others and shape the well-being of society (Perry, Hondeghem, and Wise 2010).…”

“…Although the meaning of PSM varies slightly among authors (Ritz, Brewer, and Neumann 2016), its definitions have a common focus on motives that are intended to do good for others and shape the well-being of society (Perry, Hondeghem, and Wise 2010). PSM is considered a global, autonomous form of motivation that is different from prosocial motivation (Homberg and Costello 2019;Ritz, Vandenabeele, and Vogel 2021). PSM has a long-term focus, while prosocial motivation is more shortterm-oriented (Schott, Steen, and Van Kleef 2019).…”

“…There is ongoing debate regarding whether PSM is a dynamic state or stable trait. Recent studies conclude that PSM is a relatively stable construct that is nevertheless subject to slow change (see Bakker 2015;Ritz, Vandenabeele, and Vogel 2021;Vogel and Kroll 2016). Additionally, Christensen, Paarlberg, and Perry (2017) suggest that PSM is changeable by intended and unintended organizational and management practices and can thus be used as a lever in motivational strategies.…”

“…PSM has been identified as a critical outcome for public organizations (Bozeman and Su 2015;Christensen, Paarlberg, and Perry 2017;Horton 2008;Perry and Vandenabeele 2015;Ritz, Brewer, and Neumann 2016;Ritz, Vandenabeele, and Vogel 2021). Unsurprisingly, a large body of literature has investigated the factors that create, foster, or strengthen PSM.…”

“…Thus, we provide a deeper understanding of the psychological sources of PSM (van Witteloostuijn, Esteve, and Boyne 2017) and offer a complementary perspective on the existing theoretical PSM framework. Second, by focusing on two specific forms of OCB, we provide a firmer understanding of the relationship between PSM and citizenship behaviors (Bozeman and Su 2015;Ritz, Vandenabeele, and Vogel 2021;Schott, Steen, and Van Kleef 2019) and complement the literature on OCB in the context of public administration (Bentein et al 2021;de Geus et al 2020). Third, by examining the links between regulatory orientations, PSM, and OCB with a three-wave design, we not only shed light on how self-regulation processes may be related to individuals' propensity to serve the public interest but also provide important insights into whether and how individual-level predictors shape public service motivation to promote OCB.…”