Post on 23-Jan-2016
description
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