Managing Organizations to Sustain Passion for Public Service

Almost three decades ago, James Perry created the first survey instrument to measure public service motivation. Since then, social and behavioural scientists have intensively studied the motivating power of public service. This research relating to public service motivation, altruism and prosocial motivation and behaviour has overturned widespread assumptions grounded in market-orientated perspectives and produced a critical mass of new knowledge for transforming the motivation of public employees, civil service policies and management practices. This is the first study to look systematically across the different streams of research. Furthermore, it is the first study to synthesize the research across the applied questions that public organizations and their leaders confront, including: how to recruit ethical and committed staff; how to design meaningful public work; how to create work environments that support prosocial behaviour; how to compensate employees to sustain their public service; how to socialise employees for public service missions; and how to lead employees to engage in causes greater than themselves.

1. New Foundations for Civil Service Systems; 2. Theoretical and Empirical Foundations for Public Service Motivation; 3. Selecting for High Public Service Motivation is a Priority; 4. Leveraging the Meaningfulness of Public Work; 5. Creating a Supportive Work Environment; 6. Aligning Compensation Systems and Public Service Motivation; 7. Providing Opportunities for Newcomers to Learn Public Service Values; 8. Leading the Mission, Inspiration and Communication; 9. Designing Civil Service to Unleash Public Passion.

James Perry is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the Paul H. O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University. He pioneered research on public service motivation, now studied in more than fifty countries, and is recipient of the Dwight Waldo Award (ASPA), the H. George Frederickson Award (PMRA), the John Gaus Award (APSA), and the Routledge Prize (IRSPM).