Public Service Motivation : Algemene en specifieke motivatiepatronen in de publieke sector

1. Public Service Motivation : Algemene en specifieke motivatiepatronen in de publieke sector Stichting beroepseer : 1 oktober 2008 dr. Wouter Vandenabeele Public Management Institute

2. Introduction • Focus on ‘public service motivation’ • General introduction to motivation • Concept ‘public service motivation’ • Applied ‘public service motivation’ • Current issues

3. 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

4. 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’

5. 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

6. 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

7. Overview motivation (3) • Self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan) : • General behavioral motivational theory • Distinction between autonomous vs. controlled motivation

8. 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)

9. 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

10. Motivation in the public sector (2) • Distinction public service motivation (PSM) and public sector motivation • Example : motivation to join Flemish government

11. 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’

12. Dimensions of PSM • Perry : four dimensions • Politics and policy-making • Public interest • Compassion • Self-sacrifice • Vandenabeele : extra dimension • Democratic governance (‘les lois Rolland’)

13. Cause and consequence (1) • Demographics : • Gender • Age • Education • Institutional : • Various focus in various countries • Various types of socialization • Organizations • Transformational leadership Institutional explanation

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. A theory of PSM (3)

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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)

23. 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

25. 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

26. 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