The mistreatment of public service workers: identifying key risk and protective factors

Abstract

This paper investigates the dynamics of worker mistreatment in a new public management (NPM) environment. It explores the combination of organizational and individual risk and protective factors. It reveals that the cumulative effects of organizational and individual factors radically increase the likelihood of mistreatment. Implications of these findings are outlined.

Keywords:

• Bullying
• discrimination
• mistreatment
• NPM
• public sector

Notes

* For A and B, we used the highest values for the variables listed in table 1 as ‘Organizational protective factors’ and the lowest values of the variables listed under ‘Organizational risk factors’. Similarly, for C and D, we took the lowest values for the ‘Organizational protective factors’ and the highest values for the ‘organizational risky factors’. For A and C, the highest values for Individual protective factors was used, and the lowest values for individual risk factors, and the opposite was true for B and D.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Geoff Plimmer

Geoff Plimmer is a Senior Lecturer in Management at Victoria Business School, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

Sarah Proctor-Thomson

Sarah Proctor-Thomson is a Senior Lecturer in Management at Victoria Business School, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

Noelle Donnelly

Noelle Donnelly is a Senior Lecturer in Management at Victoria Business School, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

Dalice Sim

Dalice Sim is a Senior Research Fellow & Biostatistician at Otago University, Wellington, New Zealand.