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The Impact of Public Service Motivation on Employee Participation, Organizational Loyalty, and Occupational Pleasure among Public Workers
Name
Institution Affiliation
Date
The Impact of Public Service Motivation on Employee Participation, Organizational Loyalty, and Occupational Pleasure among Public Workers
Introduction
Public service motivation gives public sector employees the feeling that they serve the community for a cause (Vandenabeele et al., 2018). Although many public sector employees feel like they are doing something when they get paid, the joy of seeing that their service is crucial to the community makes them feel part of something bigger than themselves. Thus, public service motivation makes public sector employees feel satisfied with their job as long as they are enthusiastic, dedicated to their work, and loyal to their organizations.
Research Question
The main research question is: “What is the relationship between public service motivation on employee participation, organizational loyalty, and occupational pleasure of public workers?” I am currently undertaking a public administration course and aspire to be a public manager in the future. Since public service is crucial for social welfare in all sectors, for instance, health and education, I want to find out how employees feel when they serve the community and the fulfilment they get from their work once I get into a public management position. Also, since I will be a public sector employee before qualifying for a management position, I want to find out the effect of being dedicated to my work and committed to my company on the motivation I get in public service and feeling satisfied with my job.
Description of data sources
This study will use a mixed research methodology, that is, a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches to data collection. Essentially, first-hand data will be feasible for this study. Questionnaires and in-depth interviews will be convenient to collect first-hand data from public sector employees sufficiently. The questionnaires and in-depth interviews will collect the respective quantitative and qualitative aspects of the first-hand data (Kumar, 2018). This data will be collected in 2023 for at least a month. The main unit of analysis is the public sector employees, specifically from health and education, since these sectors are crucial for the functionality of any society and social welfare. The sample size should be one hundred and fifty public employees – seventy-five each from the health and education sectors.
Table 1 – Descriptive Statistics
Variables
Type
Frequency
Percentage (%)
Public service motivation
Independent
63
42
Employee Participation
Mediator
50
33.33
Organizational Loyalty
Mediator
55
36.67
Occupational Pleasure
Dependent
60
40
This study’s independent variable is public service motivation. This is the drive that public employees have when serving the community (Vandenabeele et al., 2018). Public service motivation is this study’s independent variable as it is the centre of the employee participation and organizational loyalty of public service employees. This study also has mediator variables – employee participation and organizational loyalty. A mediator shows how an independent variable impacts a dependent one. In this case, employee participation is a mediator, as public service employees who are motivated to work will be enthusiastic, highly energetic, and dedicated to their jobs (Noesgaard & Hansen, 2018). In turn, once they are dedicated to serving the public, they feel satisfied working for a cause.
In addition, organizational loyalty is a mediator, as public service employees who are motivated to serve their communities will be committed to their organizations (Grego-Planer, 2019). In turn, once they are committed to wholeheartedly working in their organizations, they will feel satisfied serving the public through their institutions. Finally, this study’s dependent variable is occupational pleasure. This is because public service employees who are not motivated to serve their communities will not be dedicated to their job or committed to their organizations. Consequently, there will be no occupational pleasure if there is no public service motivation, employee participation, and organizational loyalty. Thus, occupational pleasure depends on public service motivation through employee participation and organizational loyalty.
References
Grego-Planer, D. (2019). The relationship between organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behaviors in the public and private sectors. Sustainability, 11(22), 6395. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11226395
Kumar, R. (2018). Research methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners. Research methodology, 1-528.
Noesgaard, M. S., & Hansen, J. R. (2018). Work engagement in the public service context: The dual perceptions of job characteristics. International Journal of Public Administration, 41(13), 1047-1060. https://doi.org/10.1080/01900692.2017.1318401
Vandenabeele, W., Ritz, A., & Neumann, O. (2018). Public service motivation: State of the art and conceptual cleanup. The Palgrave handbook of public administration and management in Europe, 261-278. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55269-3_13
