Examining public service motivation in the voluntary sector: implications for public management

ABSTRACT

Building on research about the nature of public service motivation (PSM) and its application outside the public sector, the authors provide a qualitative-based examination of PSM’s relevance to voluntary sector employees. In doing so, they explore how far their motivations extend beyond those encompassed within current conceptualizations of PSM and whether PSM research can be enriched through the adoption of qualitative methodologies. The findings suggest that PSM accounts for some, but not all, of the motives of voluntary sector employees and indicate that public sector managers involved in outsourcing public services need to be sensitive to their distinctive features.

KEYWORDS:

• Public service motivation (PSM)
• voluntary sector
• charities
• non-profit organizations
• voluntary sector ethos

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The term ‘voluntary’ sector is used throughout this article due to its common use within the UK context. However, this term is considered to be interchangeable with the term ‘non-profit’ sector, more commonly used in US contexts.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Louisa Lapworth

Louisa Lapworth is senior lecturer in Business and Management at Oxford Brookes University. Her research interests include motivation and human resource management in the voluntary sector.

Philip James

Philip James is professor of Employment Relations at Middlesex University. He has published on a wide variety of employment-related issues. His current research interests include the employment effects of public service outsourcing, and labour standards in both domestic and global supply chains.

Nick Wylie

Nick Wylie is principal lecturer in HRM at Coventry University (UK). His interests are in the changing role of management and the HR function and in particular the role of the internal consultant.