Restoring the public service ideal: Creating a climate for public service

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore whether public service motivation can be considered a work-unit or organizational-level construct. I posit that a climate of public service motivation can be created by: 1) leaders who model the ideals of public service, 2) agency employees seeing the meaningfulness of their work; and 3) when employees perceive that the agency has a good external reputation. Further, this study examines whether public service motivation, at either the group or individual level, will mediate meaningfulness and perceived external image to important outcomes that impact employee retention, namely organizational commitment and organizational identification. I will test this theory by sampling employees from a large state agency and nonprofit behavioral health organization.