Job design and public employee work motivation: towards an institutional reading

Abstract

Job or work design is a theoretical point of view that has great importance in the field of management. This chapter traces the historical development of job and work design as a model of analysis, but with a focus on the institutional and organizational specificities of the public sector. In other words, the aim is to better understand the motivation of public employees through an institutional reading of the job design model. Therefore, in this chapter, we propose to discuss this job design model. We start by defining job and work design. Based on a review by Parker et al. (2017), we will then present five streams of research on this subject. We briefly review the relationships between work characteristics and work outcomes. After having stressed the importance of motivation in the public sector, the heart of the chapter will be devoted to an institutional and cultural reading in which we will highlight the specificities of public administrations in terms of job design. We will focus on six elements: 1) the cultural and institutional context; 2) the organizational climate; 3) changes and reforms; 4) role ambiguity, political interference, and administrative constraints; 5) relational work; and 6) human resource management (HRM) in the public sector. The chapter will conclude with proposals for possible research topics in future works.