The Effects of Organizational Scandals on the Desirability of Public Organizations as Places to Work: Evidence From the VA Waitlist Scandal

Abstract

Public administration scholars have extensively explored organizational scandals through two lenses: (1) inside stories of organizational scandals examining the main causes of scandals and (2) the effects of scandals on trust in government, trust in governmental officials, and public financing. Yet, we know little about how organizational scandals affect government employees’ work attitudes. Understanding how public employees react to organizational scandals deserves scholarly attention because public employees not only execute their agencies’ key functions and programs but are involved in actively addressing the organization's failures. To address this gap, we apply a quasi-experimental approach using the 2014 Department of Veterans Affairs waitlist scandal, with a specific focus on the effects of the scandal on employee job satisfaction and perceived organizational attractiveness. Empirical results using the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey from 2011 to 2017 show that the organizational scandal had a negative effect on both outcomes.