A Case for Public Service Work

1981 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 49-57
Author(s):  
Randall R. Beger ◽  
Paul R. White
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Service Work

scholarly journals Can Training Enhance Public Employees’ Public Service Motivation? A Pretest–Posttest Design

2019 ◽  
pp. 0734371X1987224
Author(s):  
Chung-An Chen ◽  
Chih-Wei Hsieh ◽  
Don-Yun Chen
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Public Service Motivation ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Service Work ◽  
Public Employees ◽  
Service Training ◽  
Public Sector Managers ◽  
Civil Service Examinations ◽  
New Recruits

Recent evidence shows public service motivation (PSM) may be unrelated to one’s consideration of a public service career. In places where civil service examinations prevail, even adverse selection (selecting low-PSM individuals) can occur. This leaves public sector managers with tough questions: “Can we improve new recruits’ PSM? Does training matter?” The present study attempts to answer these questions by using a case of onboard training in Taiwan. We hypothesize that PSM, along with public service–related knowledge and a positive attitude toward public service work, improves after training, and that the improvement hinges on trainees’ satisfaction with training and perceived usefulness of training. Analytical results indicate that knowledge and attitudes are more “trainable” than PSM. Meanwhile, training satisfaction is associated with the growth of public service–related knowledge, while perceived training usefulness relates to a positive attitude toward public service work and PSM. Overall, these findings advance our understanding of the effectiveness of public service training, its determinants, and the implications for public employees’ public service orientations.

scholarly journals Deploying culture as a defence against incompetence: The unconscious dynamics of public service work

2012 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peliwe P. Mnguni
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Resource Constraints ◽  
Service Work ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
The Public ◽  
Social Defense ◽  
Defensive Role ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Value Add

Orientation: The intractability of public service delivery and a polarised societal landscape heighten anxiety and reinforce a propensity for public service organisations to be used for defensive purposes.Research purpose: This article employs social defense theory to explore manifestations of anxiety and defense within South African public service organisations.Motivation for the study: Dominant discourse on public service institutions over-relies on political, sociological and public administration theories and tends to ignore psychosocial explanations. Further, whilst the psychodynamics of social service work are generally understood, the unconscious dynamics of generic public service work remain under-theorised. Research design, approach and method: This conceptual article draws on my personal observations as a reflective citizen and experiences as a consultant to government departments.Main findings: Herein, an argument is advanced that the deployment of ill-qualified party loyalists to key positions in the public service is perverse: it serves as a collective defense against the impossible aspects of the task at hand. The appointees, in turn, deploy organisational processes to defend against feelings of incompetence and the inevitability of failure. This practice, coupled with acute resource constraints, sets up front line staff for scapegoating.Practical/managerial implications: An appreciation of the multiple meanings of public service work and the defensive role played by public institutions stands to inform purposeful change towards sustainable public service organisational practice.Contribution/value-add: The discussion seeks to contribute to attempts that employ systems psychodynamics to make sense of anxiety and defense within organisations in general and public service institutions in particular.

Much Obliged: Volunteering, Normative Activities, and Willingness to Serve on Juries

2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (02) ◽  
pp. 433-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc A. Musick ◽  
Mary R. Rose ◽  
Sarah Dury ◽  
Roger P. Rose
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Service Work ◽  
Personal Resources ◽  
Voluntary Activity ◽  
The Public ◽  
Willingness To Serve ◽  
Jury Service ◽  
Jury Duty ◽  
Prosocial Attitudes

Although compulsory, many people treat jury duty as voluntary. This article examines the conceptual and empirical links between participating in voluntary activity and stated willingness to serve on a jury. We also consider the role of engaging in other normative behaviors. Analysis of 1,304 US citizens in the Survey of Texas Adults showed an initial relationship between volunteering and willingness to serve, net of personal resources, prior jury service, and prosocial attitudes. However, indicators of normative activities (voting, contacting elected officials, keeping up with medical appointments, and avoiding bars) largely eliminated this relationship. People who volunteered some, but not too much, were more willing; an analysis of domains of volunteering showed that engaging in public service work predicted willingness. Results suggest that the public service and duty‐based nature of jury participation should be emphasized to understand willingness to serve and to consider novel ways to increase summons responses.

Creating Meaningfulness in Public Service Work: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Public and Nonprofit Managers’ Experience of Work

2021 ◽  
pp. 027507402110503
Author(s):  
Robbie W. Robichau ◽  
Billie Sandberg
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽  
Meaningful Work ◽  
Work Environments ◽  
Service Work ◽  
Substantial Part ◽  
Organizational Leaders ◽  
Work Experiences ◽  
Service Workers ◽  
Making Sense

Public service work and public-serving institutions are evolving by incorporating neoliberal modes of working more and more. Contemporary research oftentimes neglects to account for these changes in how we understand public service work, however. This article draws on the meaningfulness in work and public service motivation literature to explore how public service workers are making sense of their work and work environments to create meaningful work experiences under evolving conditions. The findings from 45 interviews with public and nonprofit managers are presented and compared. The changing world of work has implications for how public and nonprofit workers narrate and find meaningfulness in work but not what they find meaningful about their work. The findings suggest that both public and nonprofit workers create positive meaningfulness in work but in dissimilar ways. The findings also suggest that organizational leaders play a substantial part in workers’ meaningfulness-making process. The findings hold theoretical and practical implications for understanding the role workplaces and organizational leaders play in workers’ experience of meaningful public service work.

scholarly journals Redesign a part of the city. From polluting road to sustainable linear square in three “P”: profile, permeability, photocatalysis.

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
Alessandro Luigini
Keyword(s):  
Urban Renewal ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Public Works ◽  
Service Work ◽  
Financial Investment ◽  
The Many ◽  
The City

<p>The project presented here is a best practice applied to the routine of public service work. The financial investment necessary to ground makeover asphalt was diverted for a functional and environmental regeneration of an area of almost one hectare. The project, basically, wonders about the many possibilities of urban renewal that can arise from the ordinary activities of public works management, and how targeted action can bring parts of cities to a more appropriate relationship with the environment.</p>

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document