A view into managers’ subjective experiences of public service motivation and work engagement: a qualitative study

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ABSTRACT This study focuses on the underlying factors which may foster or attenuate public managers’ public service motivation (PSM) and on the processes through which it affects their work engagement. A qualitative analysis of interviews with senior staffers in public-service organizations revealed multilayered subjective experiences of PSM and work engagement. The findings which emerged from the interviews suggest five factors behind PSM: The nature of task; Reaching beyond the self; Career development opportunities; The burden of red tape, and; Identification with the beneficiaries. Growing from these, analysis further suggests that PSM fosters emotional engagement and engagement in micro-community and in macro-community.