Recruiting and engaging the federal workforce: a recent seminar examines employee motivation from three perspectives

Public Manager, The, Spring, 2008 by Bill Trahant

The U.S. Marine Corps, for example, uses a system of performance ratings (fitness reports) that includes not only technical profficiency but also measures of personal conduct. A study of government employees meanwhile shows that managers in high-performing work units often develop performance appraisals that measure not only personal goals, but also "goals of principle" centered on attributes such as "honesty, teamwork, commitment to the customer, and being a good steward of resources." Still another study--this one of teachers--found that they "are largely motivated by their ability to see and know they are responsible for improvements in student performance and working collaboratively with peers."

Perry told attendees that an agency can promote the social significance of public-sector work in many ways, such as embedding discussion of public-sector values into formal job training, new employee orientation, mentoring, and in-processing programs and activities. Top agency leaders--through their actions and words--can create a clear line of sight from the top of the organization down to the work unit level by emphasizing how the work of individual employees impacts overall agency and mission accomplishment.

First-Line Supervisors

First-line supervisors can also help communicate the significance of public-sector work to employees and help rank-and-.le employees feel their work contributes to the overarching mission and goals of their organization, said Perry. "The frontline supervisor plays a critical translation role in interpreting individual employee motivations and helping align individual employees with larger-gauge team, departmental, and mission goals," he said. Supervisors also play important roles in administering informal rewards to employees that reinforce specific job behaviors.

Notwithstanding that, Perry conceded, in many cases, federal managers lack the necessary communication, managerial, and people skills to help employees relate to and align themselves with larger agency goals and objectives. Moreover, "Public-service jobs often are not structured in ways that allow employees to see the prosocial impact of their work." For both reasons, Perry said public-sector jobs should be structured such that employees can see the downstream benefits of their work.

To this end, agency leaders should give employees the opportunity to provide input into public policy development and implementation. Identifying the "beneficiaries" of employees' jobs (their stakeholders, customers, and service recipients), creating opportunities for direct contact between employees and beneficiaries, and providing clear channels for service beneficiary feedback all demonstrate these benefits.

Early Engagement

Perry argued that, if done right, socializing new employees to an agency's culture and mission--through the actions of supervisors, training, and other activities--can benefit the agency by fostering tight employee alignment with agency goals and mission. The best way is to leverage a new employee's natural desires to fit into an organization when they first come on board, he said. Recent studies of organizational socialization suggest that "socialization begins within a short period of time of joining an organization, as new members are frequently very eager to learn appropriate behaviors and to 'fit in.'"