Public service motivation refers to a concept in the public institutions and organizations that explain the predisposition of a person to respond to desires, serve the public and link their behaviors with the interest of the people. The theory of public service motivation is significant in determining motives of people who prefer to work with government and non-governmental organizations regardless of the better incentives in the private sector (Moynihan & Pandey, 2007).

Leadership is positively related with PSM. Research on the US federal government showed that leadership drives employee satisfaction (Park & Rainey, 2008). In a situation when there are scarce resources and continuous demand, the ability of the organization to foster motivation might be a significant way to attain goals while satisfying employees. Regarding transformational leadership, leaders and followers engage in raising one another to higher ideals and moral values. Transformational leaders in a public service impact workers by lifting their motivations past their expectations and self-interest (Park & Rainey, 2008). For example, in an organization, transformational leadership motivates employees enabling them to increase their performance. Similarly, leaders tend to communicate goals and values that are in line with the values of the public service.

With person-organization fit theory, the performance in an organization increases when the values of employees are in line with culture, values and goals of the company. Recruiting candidates that hold values that match that of the organization correlates with increased organizational commitment, performance and jobs satisfaction (Park & Rainey, 2008). During the socialization process, communicating public service values helps to introduce employees to the objectives, goals, and history of the organization.

Emotional intelligence encompasses the ability to understand and solve issues that include identifying emotions, managing emotions, understanding and using emotions for reasoning. Emotional intelligence influences public service motivation positively (Vigoda‐Gadot & Meisler, 2010). Emotional intelligence increases the level of commitment by the public service workers. For instance, the higher the level of emotional intelligence of a public employee, the better they serve the public since they are extremely motivated. Similarly, public sector employees with high emotional intelligence have the necessary tools to attain the assumptions of their roles. A relationship exists between PSM and emotional intelligence (Vigoda‐Gadot & Meisler, 2010). PSM is positively associated with the service quality of a public service employee who has a high emotional intelligence. Conversely, regarding employees with a low level of emotional intelligence, motivation does not have a positive influence on the quality of their services (Vigoda‐Gadot & Meisler, 2010). Therefore, professionals in the public administration may consider including emotional intelligence measures such as self-awareness and regulation during recruitment so that they can select candidates that are effective.

The most interesting thing I have learned in this class concerns the significance of public service motivation. Regarding this theory, individuals are motivated to work in the public service because they get the opportunity to serve society and do well for others. Another interesting thing concerns managing public service values. I find it interesting because sometimes organizations may introduce initiatives with the aim of improving performance but end up affecting public service motivation in a negative way. Therefore, managing public service values by creating awareness on downsides may help to ensure that the organization takes appropriate actions.

The least enjoyable thing has been measuring public service motivation. Although early research focused on explaining how public sector employees preferred intrinsic rewards to extrinsic rewards, the prevalence, and type of a person’s PSM remains unanswered. Moreover, it is hard to understand how to measure the complex variables used in the analysis.

References

Moynihan, D. P., & Pandey, S. K. (2007). The role of organizations in fostering public service motivation. Public administration review, 67(1), 40-53.

Park, S. M., & Rainey, H. G. (2008). Leadership and public service motivation in US federal agencies. International public management journal, 11(1), 109-142.

Vigoda‐Gadot, E., & Meisler, G. (2010). Emotions in management and the management of emotions: the impact of emotional intelligence and organizational politics on public sector employees. Public Administration Review, 70(1), 72-86.

 
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