A Study of Interracial Differences in Turnover Intentions: The Mitigating Role of Pro-Diversity and Justice-Oriented Management

Enhancing racial justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion are the core values of public administration and critical to the functions of public-sector strategic human resources management. However, very limited empirical research has delved into the interracial differences in public sector employees’ turnover intentions and its mitigating factors. Using the 2006–2017 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey data, the present study aims to contribute toward filling this gap in the literature. The theoretical arguments and empirical findings of this study show that when compared with White employees, Federal Black, Indigenous, and Employees of Color (BIEOC) are significantly more likely to intend to leave their current organizations. However, the likelihood of turnover intentions of Federal employees, particularly, BIEOC can be reduced through institutional interventions anchored in pro-diversity management (e.g., commitment to fostering a racially representative workforce), distributive justice in employment outcomes (e.g., in pay and promotions) and procedural justice in organizational processes (e.g., anti-discrimination practices).

Progress Toward Increasing Women’s and Minorities’ Access to Top State Government Jobs?

This study examines the impact of qualifications and hiring advantages on women’s and minorities’ access to state government jobs, both in managerial and high-salary positions and overall. It also looks at how race and gender differences in representation have changed since 1990 and how they compare with the private sector. All groups, except Latino and Asian men, are more likely than White men to work for state governments, and all groups are more likely to do so than comparable White men. White men remain more likely to be managers and to earn top-decile salaries than comparable White women and people of color. Differences in education, experience, veteran status, and citizenship contribute, in different ways, to each group’s underrepresentation at top levels, but sizable unexplained gaps remain. The good news is that access to top jobs is better in state governments than in the private sector and has improved since 1990.

Improving Work–Life Balance for Female Civil Servants in Law Enforcement: An Exploratory Analysis of the Federal Employee Paid Leave Act

In late 2019, Congress passed the Federal Employee Paid Leave Act (FEPLA) establishing parental leave for most federal civilian employees. The new law provides up to 12 weeks of paid leave within 12 months after the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child occurring on or after October 1, 2020. Despite its recent enactment, this study draws on survey data from 224 civil servants across 39 federal law enforcement agencies to examine the implications of FEPLA for improving work–life balance in the federal sector. Findings suggest that FEPLA will likely improve work–life balance for female civil servants. However, women may also be afraid to use FEPLA due to perceived loss of future promotional opportunities or other workplace visibilities.

Managing Street-Level Bureaucrats’ Performance by Promoting Professional Behavior Through HRM

This article connects human resource management (HRM) research to studies of street-level bureaucracies and public professionals. It investigates the intermediary role of professional behavior in the HRM–individual performance link in the context of public human service organizations. The article hypothesizes that human resources (HR) practices, aimed at enhancing street-level workers’ abilities, motivation, and opportunities, strengthen these workers’ professional behavior; that professional behavior and individual performance are positively related; and that professional behavior mediates the relationship between HR practices and individual performance. The analysis of findings from a survey study of street-level workers in local welfare agencies implementing welfare-to-work policies in the Netherlands shows support for the mediating role of professional behavior in the HRM–individual performance chain. Based on this evidence, the article concludes that the professional behavior of street-level workers in public human service organizations deserves scrutiny of both HRM scholars and HR practitioners who are interested in promoting the performance of public professionals.

The Performance Rewards of Human Capital Development in the Federal Government

Human capital is one of the most vital assets an organization possesses. Research has demonstrated that human capital is directly related to performance. Thus, there is a clear incentive for organizations to grow their human capital levels. Not surprisingly, then, organizations have created and employed a wide variety of managerial practices focused on further developing human capital within their employees. Yet even as the U.S. government faces forthcoming human capital shortages due to the ongoing retirements of a large segment of its workforce, empirical research investigating the impact of commonly used human capital development practices on performance in the public sector is scarce. Therefore, to gain a deeper understanding of this dynamic relationship, using U.S. federal personnel data, this study analyzes the impact of human capital development practices on agency performance. The results of longitudinal econometric analyses suggest that human capital development practices have positive effects on agency performance.

Faking Versus Feeling Emotions: Does Personality–Job Fit Make a Difference

Emotional labor (EL) involves regulating, managing, and sensing others’ emotions to achieve organizational goals. However, it is often considered a unitary variable, without examining the specific types of emotional labor (i.e., deep acting and surface acting). Thus, the purpose of this research is to extend the under-researched work on surface-acting and deep-acting strategies of EL on job involvement in the public sector by examining the mediating effects of personality–job fit. This research employs the 2016 Merit System Principles survey data to explore the relationship between the variables. Results show that personality–job fit has a positive mediating effect on deep-acting EL and job involvement and a negative mediating effect on surface acting and job involvement. Findings may help administrators understand and prevent the potential results of employees’ EL behavior and the importance of personality–job fit in organizational outcomes.

Does Grit Matter to Employees’ Quality of Work Life and Quality of Life? The Case of the Korean Public Sector

To ensure the quality of the work done in the Korean career civil service system (which is characterized by stability, such as lifelong job security), the public sector must use methods to motivate their employees and improve their performance in the long run. In this study, we propose that grit, as a type of work motivation, can boost employee well-being (i.e., job satisfaction, job stress) and organizational outcomes (i.e., organizational commitment, performance). Therefore, the main objective of this study is to assess the validity of grit among public employees from a collectivist culture; to this end, we use the 2016 survey of Korean public officials ( N = 2,070). The results are as follows: (a) grit has a direct positive effect on quality of work life (QWL), (b) QWL can increase employee’s quality of life (QOL), and (c) professionalism and goal-oriented culture negatively and positively regulate grit and QWL. We also examined how employee motivation (e.g., grit) can enrich their QWL and QOL. Altogether, this study supports the argument that human resource (HR) managers should pay attention to grit. To achieve success, one needs not only some level of ability but also the zeal and capacity for hard labor, the latter two of which are considered to constitute grit. Given that, this research targeted grit in the Korean context—not the Western one—and examined its effects in the Korean public sector, where conscientiousness is emphasized.

The Impact of Human Resources Environment and Organizational Identification on Employees’ Psychological Well-Being

This study explores how Human Resources (HR) environment (i.e., job autonomy, opportunities for advancement, involved communication, and decisive action) promotes psychological well-being of public employees. We advance the literature by identifying organizational identification (OID) as the underpinning mechanism through which HR environment can foster employees’ well-being. OID is termed as a “social cure,” owing to its strong link with employee health and well-being. The results of structural equation modeling show a positive association among HR practices and OID, which subsequently enhances well-being of public sector employees. Managerial implications for public sector leaders are discussed in detail.

Gratitude Expression to Supervisors and Subjective Career Success of Civil Servants: Evidence from China

Subjective career success of civil servants is a major focus of both scholars and public managers, but few studies have explored its antecedents from the perspective of the expression of a special positive emotion. To narrow the gap regarding the antecedents of civil servants’ subjective career success, we use the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions to examine whether, how, and when civil servants’ gratitude expression to their supervisors is related to their subjective career success, as well as the mediating role of supervisors’ mentoring and the moderating role of traditionality. By using the survey data of 216 supervisor-subordinate dyads from the Chinese public sector, we found that gratitude expression by subordinates is positively related to their subjective career success, and this relationship is mediated by their supervisors’ mentoring. The relationship between gratitude expression to supervisors and supervisors’ mentoring is positively moderated by supervisor traditionality. Moreover, supervisor traditionality plays a positive moderating role in the association between gratitude expression to supervisors and subjective career success via supervisors’ mentoring. The above relationships are stronger when supervisors have a high level of traditionality. These findings contribute to the literature and generate managerial implications for civil servants’ career success management.

Will They Stay or Leave? Interplay of Organizational Learning Culture and Workplace Mindfulness on Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intentions

Due to the ever-increasing standards required of administrative workloads, service efficiency, and quality, the turnover intentions of public servants in Taiwan have gradually increased over time. This study investigated the critical factors that reduce the turnover intentions of civil servants. The article is intended to offer a theoretical understanding of an organizational learning culture (OLC) and workplace mindfulness. We analyzed data from 331 public servants. Structural equation modeling and the bootstrapping method were used to verify the hypotheses. The results demonstrated that an OLC and workplace mindfulness are positively associated with job satisfaction and negatively associated with turnover intentions. Job satisfaction plays a mediating role between an OLC and turnover intentions and between workplace mindfulness and turnover intentions. This article offers a theoretical inquiry and a practical understanding of strengthening the workplace atmosphere by offering employees a sense of well-being and sustainable career development.