Public Sector Motivation: Is There Something to Learn From the Study of Volunteerism?

Abstract

A principal question in the study of public administration is how to motivate personnel to work in public services and to work towards achieving public purposes. The conceptualisation of the notion of ‘public service motivation’ has provided researchers with openings to explain the disinterested behaviour often displayed by public servants. In a similar way other scholars trying to explain what motivates individuals to take up volunteering activities, struggle to explain disinterested or altruistic behaviour This article examines the contribution that the literature on volunteering can make to a better understanding of public service motivation. The article first, outlines major arguments used to explain why people volunteer and second, explores the extent to which these insights provide a fertile ground for public management scholars to further develop theories of public service motivation. The insight into the multi-dimensional nature of volunteering motivation and the notion of ‘impure’ altruism demonstrate that altruistic activities are both complex and rationally driven. This leads to ways of narrowing the existing gap between rational choice and principal-agent theories of motivation and a purely altruistic view of public service. Finally, the article examines what this implies for the development of human resource policies to obtain and retain committed and motivated staff.