The effectiveness of the road accident fund (RAF) performance‐management development system at the RAF office in Durban,South Africa

In today's globalised business world characterised by a high level of competition and unstable markets, businesses are called upon to utilise their resources in the most effective and efficient manner to survive. It has become critical for businesses to monitor their employees' performance and to constantly develop and train employees to eliminate inefficiencies and improve productivity. Performance management has come to play an indispensable role in helping organisations reach their productivity goals. However, research indicates that many organisations have failed to implement and maintain effective performance‐management systems owing to employees' negative attitudes towards performance‐management practices. This paper through a quantitative approach investigates the effectiveness of the Road Accident Fund (RAF) performance‐management development system (PMDS) at the RAF office in Durban, South Africa. The sample of participants were selected from different structures across the organisational hierarchy. The key findings from the study indicated that within RAF performance management review outcomes are very subjective; the performance management system is not fully implemented; there is inconsistent implementation of performance management amongst different departments; and a lack of managers' involvement in implementing the performance management system. Some of the recommendations made include the use of 360° feedback appraisal for employee performance evaluation; keeping up‐to‐date job profiles outlining the roles and responsibilities of staff; and making sure that employees are aware of performance measurements and performance criteria used during performance reviews to reduce subjectivity.     

How Pro‐social Motivation Affects Job Satisfaction: An International Analysis of Countries with Different Welfare State Regimes

Employees' pro‐social motivation has been shown to be positively related to job satisfaction, especially when the perceived usefulness of the job to society and other people is high. There is, however, a lack of analyses which include both public and private employees, and it has not yet been studied whether the relationships are robust across welfare state regimes. This study therefore examines the moderated relationship between pro‐social motivation and job satisfaction. Using data from the cross‐national 2005 ISSP survey (14 countries, N = 10,630), it confirms that the relationship between pro‐social motivation and job satisfaction is moderated by perceived usefulness of the job for society and other people. Usefulness again depends on the individual's employment sector (public versus private), and this public–private difference in perceived usefulness also varies between different welfare state regimes. This indicates that sector differences in how pro‐social motivation affects job satisfaction depends on the broader institutional context, and the article therefore contributes with important knowledge for the recruitment and retention of motivated and satisfied employees in a period of changing public–private responsibilities in the provision of welfare services.     

Does Perceived Societal Impact Moderate the Effect of Transformational Leadership on Value Congruence? Evidence from a Field Experiment

Transformational leadership, it is argued, aligns employees' values with those of their organization. Empirical research has found a positive relationship between transformational leadership and value congruence. Yet studies rely predominantly on cross‐sectional research designs that limit causal conclusions and have not uncovered the potential contextual conditions of this argument. This article argues that transformational leadership positively affects value congruence in public service organizations, but only when employees see that their jobs impact the well‐being of other people and society. To test the relationship between transformational leadership and value congruence and the moderating effect of perceived societal impact, the article combines a field experiment on 79 managers of public service organizations and a balanced survey panel of their 583 employees. Consistent with the expectation, results indicate heterogeneous treatment effects, implying that employees' perceived societal impact is important to consider when transformational leaders strive to align the values of individual employees and the organization.     

Competitiveness improvement in public sector organizations: What they need?

What types of public sector organizations have more capabilities to build competitive advantages? Ability to achieve a unique advantage over the competitors is a way to explain why some of the firms are more successful than others, and it is important to the survival of both public and private businesses in the present day's highly competitive business world. Concentrating on the role of employees, the current study analyzes how internal marketing, employees' positive work attitude, and employees' intention to leave have an impact on public firms' competitiveness improvement. Our survey‐based data from 82 public sector organizations in Bangladesh showed that internal marketing affects positively on employees' positive work attitude and negatively on employees' intention to leave in public sector organizations. Most importantly, our result confirmed that firms' internal marketing and employees' positive work attitude influence positively on firms' competitiveness improvement. We did not find any significant relationship between employees' intention to leave and firms' competitiveness improvement in public sector organization.     

Employee Satisfaction With Work‐life Balance Policies And Organizational Commitment: A Philippine Study

This study investigates the relationship between public employees' satisfaction with work‐life balance policies (WLBPs) and organizational commitment in the relatively unexplored Philippine context. Our findings show that (i) employees' overall satisfaction with WLBPs is positively related to organizational commitment, (ii) when specific WLBPs are examined, only satisfaction with health and wellness programs are positively associated with organizational commitment, and (iii) when accounting for employees' preferences for WLBPs, compensatory time‐off, childcare policy, health insurance benefits, and paid sick leave are positively related to organizational commitment. The findings indicate that understanding which WLBPs employees prefer is important before implementing WLBPs. The article discusses the theoretical and practical implications of this study in the developing country context. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Role of Psychological Climate on Public Sector Employees' Organizational Commitment: An Empirical Assessment for Three Occupational Groups

ABSTRACT

In an effort to understand how proximal work environment shapes public sector employees' work attitudes, this study examined how perceptions of psychological climate were related to the extent of affective commitment in three occupational groups: clerical, professional, and managerial/executive. Data were gathered from 267 employees in 11 New York State agencies. Results indicated that the strength of association between measures of psychological climate and affective commitment varied across occupational groups. Implications of these results with respect to developing effective strategies for enhancing public sector employees' organizational commitment are discussed in detail.     

Anomie at public organizations: How can the quality of work life help?

Will enhancing the quality of work life impact the reduction of anomic behaviors at work in public sector organizations? To answer this question, we examined the impact of three structural, managerial, and social dimensions of the quality of work life, including the employees' anomie behaviors at the workplace. A cross‐sectional survey data were collected from 250 employees working in the public sector organizations located in the Kerman Province, (southeast) Iran. Our findings support the negative effects that the three dimensions of quality of work life have on employees' anomic behaviors. The results of this study highlighted the importance that the quality of work life has on reducing unethical and immoral behavior among employees in public organizations.     

The impact of human resource practices on employee engagement in the airline industry

The impact of recruitment and training on employees increases psychological state, commitment, and employee attachment to the organization. Several researchers have continuously, for several decades, investigated the effect of recruitment and selection and the robust impact on employees; nevertheless, the effect of human resources practices on both the employees' satisfaction and retention as parameters of the organization performance cannot be overemphasized. Drawing from Social Exchange Theory (SET), the study identifies the significance of human resource practices (selecting and recruitment, training, and development) on employees. 277 questionnaires were collected from six private airline employees in Jordan. The hypotheses, validity, and reliability were tested through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The findings indicate that proper selecting and recruitment and training have a significant impact on organization. Also, Employee Engagement (EE) plays a mediating role on model variables. The study further indicates that employee engagement partially mediates the relationship between variables. Cross‐sectional data collection was employed; therefore, generalizing the findings should be done with caution. This study is of importance to human resources managers and policymakers to understand the significant impact of HR practices, attracting effective and efficient employees.     

The Effect of Requiring Private Employers to Extend Health Benefit Eligibility to Same‐Sex Partners of Employees: Evidence from California

Health disparities related to sexual orientation are well documented and may be due to unequal access to a partner's employer‐sponsored insurance (ESI). We provide the literature's first evaluation of legislation enacted by California in 2005 that required private employers within the state to treat employees in committed same‐sex relationships in the same way as employees in different‐sex marriages with respect to ESI. Our analysis uses data on sexual orientation, partnership, and health insurance from the 2001 to 2007 California Health Interview Surveys (CHIS). Prior to the reform, partnered gay men and lesbians were significantly less likely to have ESI in someone else's name than partnered heterosexuals. Pooling data from 2001 to 2007, we find that the reform had no effects on differences in insurance outcomes between gay and straight men. We find some evidence that the reform increased partnership, reduced full‐time employment, and increased health insurance coverage among lesbians relative to heterosexual women. The increases in insurance coverage for lesbians are consistent with a role for expanded dependent ESI, suggesting that such policies may reduce sexual orientation‐based insurance disparities among women.     

Drifting towards convergence? Motivation and performance management in state and private companies in the provision of telecom services in Ghana

The concept of expectancy on which many of the theories of workplace incentive programmes are based, claims that when employees are given a particular level of motivation, it will result in some level of performance. The general perception in Ghana is that public sector employees do not perform as efficiently as private sector workers because they lack incentives to do so. However, few studies have compared the incentive structures of the two sectors. Using empirical evidence from four telecom companies in Ghana, this article shows that the gaps between ‘state’ and ‘private’ have narrowed. Also, while incentive structures such as salary, fringe benefits and job (in)security are converging, critical performance management processes like employees' participation in decision‐making, performance appraisal, monitoring and credibility of sanctions are drifting apart. This article concludes that differences in performance between state and private companies may be explained by performance management processes and not incentive structures. It cautions that improved salaries and other office perquisites may not by themselves achieve organisational performance. Rather, incentives should be embedded in a broader approach through effective performance management processes. The information in the article is relevant to the ‘borderline’ part of the public sector under a deregulated environment. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Collaborative Innovation,New Technologies,and Work Redesign

Stakeholders agree on the need to promote innovation in work organization in public services. This article deploys the concept of collaborative innovation to discuss employees' and managers' experiences of a major technology‐driven work redesign project within National Health Service pharmacy services in Scotland. The authors draw on extant literature on New Public Management (NPM) and collaborative approaches to innovation to frame more than 40 in‐depth interviews with managers and employees. They find that key components of collaborative innovation—related to joint problem‐solving, interdisciplinary working, and mutual learning—were important to the success of the redesign project and had positive impacts on job quality for some employees. The authors argue that researchers and policy makers should look beyond NPM‐driven models that have dominated some areas of the public innovation literature to consider the potential added value of collaborative innovation to improving both work and service delivery in the public sector.     

Explaining non‐participation in deliberative mini‐publics

This article investigates citizens’ refusal to take part in participatory and deliberative mechanisms. An increasing number of scholars and political actors support the development of mini‐publics – that is, deliberative forums with randomly selected lay citizens. It is often argued that such innovations are a key ingredient to curing the democratic malaise of contemporary political regimes because they provide an appropriate means to achieve inclusiveness and well considered judgment. Nevertheless, real‐life experience shows that the majority of citizens refuse the invitation when they are recruited. This raises a challenging question for the development of a more inclusive democracy: Why do citizens decline to participate in mini‐publics? This article addresses this issue through a qualitative analysis of the perspectives of those who have declined to participate in three mini‐publics: the G1000, the G100 and the Climate Citizens Parliament. Drawing on in‐depth interviews, six explanatory logics of non‐participation are distinguished: concentration on the private sphere; internal political inefficacy; public meeting avoidance; conflict of schedule; political alienation; and mini‐public's lack of impact on the political system. This shows that the reluctance to take part in mini‐publics is rooted in the way individuals conceive their own roles, abilities and capacities in the public sphere, as well as in the perceived output of such democratic innovations.     

Shaping Psychological Contracts in the Public and Private Sectors: A Human Resources Management Perspective

ABSTRACT

Organizational choices shape the way in which individuals experience their employment relationship. Given the multiple differences between the public and the private sectors, this study seeks to identify variations in employee perceptions of their psychological contract depending upon the sector in which they work. The psychological contract is seen as lying at the heart of the employer-employee exchange relationship. The study took place in Greece, and involved 398 employees from the public sector and 747 from the private sector. Participants were asked to evaluate 41 organizational obligations, on the basis of how important they believed them to be in terms of a desirable employment relationship. Factor analyses revealed 10 contract dimensions, while multiple analyses of variance suggested that the sector of employment and organizational tenure had a significant impact—both separately and in combination—on employees' view of their contract. The practical implications for effective human resources management and the limitations of the research are discussed at the end of the article.     

International Comparison of Public and Private Employees’ Work Motives,Attitudes, and Perceived Rewards

This article presents a conceptual perspective on the distinctive characteristics of public organizations and their personnel. This perspective leads to hypotheses that public organizations deliver distinctive goods and services that influence the motives and rewards for their employees. These hypotheses are tested with evidence from the International Social Survey Programme in order to compare public and private employees in 30 nations. Public employees in 28 of the 30 nations expressed higher levels of public‐service‐oriented motives. In all of the countries, public employees were more likely to say they receive rewards in the form of perceived social impact. In most of the countries, public employees placed less importance on high income as a reward and expressed higher levels of organizational commitment.

Practitioner Points

• The findings presented here add to previous evidence that public employees seek and attain more altruistic and public‐service‐oriented rewards than private sector employees. In particular, we add evidence that these differences hold in many different nations and cultural contexts.
• Compensation and incentive system reforms in many governments have often concentrated on financial incentives and streamlining procedures for discipline and removal. Such matters are important but should not drive out concerns with showing public employees the impact of their work on the well‐being of others and on the community and society. Leaders and managers should invest in incentive systems that emphasize such motives and rewards.
• Leaders and managers should invest in the use of altruistic and socially beneficial motives and rewards in recruiting systems.

     

Red Tape: Developing and Validating a New Job‐Centered Measure

Red tape studies typically focus on burdensome rules that have negative effects on organizations, as perceived by managers. The one‐item general red tape scale is representative of this approach. However, scholars have called for improved measures that address the scale's shortcomings. This article introduces a new measurement scale that features (1) red tape as a two‐dimensional construct that includes compliance burden and lack of functionality and (2) a job‐centered approach that measures red tape as experienced by employees in their jobs rather than more generally in the organization. A set of survey questions derived from interviews with government employees was validated using data from 1,203 government employees. The findings indicate that the two‐dimensional job‐centered red tape scale is reliable and valid. The authors conclude that this measure can improve research and be used by managers for a “quick scan” to detect the location and severity of red tape.     

An Integrative Model of Empowerment and Individuals' In-Role and Extra-Role Performance in the Korean Public Sector: Moderating Effects of Organizational Individualism and Collectivism

ABSTRACT

While empowerment has emerged as a new management paradigm, virtually no research has combined structural and psychological approaches to develop an integrative approach. Moreover, prior research has not examined the effect of the cultural context on the relationship between empowerment and performance. Drawing on a sample of public employees working in the city of Seoul, the largest local government in Korea, this study examined the effects of structural and psychological empowerment on both in-role and extra-role performance, and the moderating effects of organizational individualism and collectivism. Of the 400 questionnaires, 191 usable respondents, combining employees' and managers' questionnaires, were returned. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results of the analyses indicated that psychological empowerment mediates the relationship between structural empowerment and extra-role performance, and that organizational collectivism moderates the relationship between psychological empowerment and extra-role performance. Based on these results, the implications of the findings are discussed.     

Impact of labour productivity on structural transformation and economic growth: A state‐level analysis

During the 90th and 20th century, India underwent a remarkable phase of growth and employment generation. Unlike the usual pattern of structural shift, India experienced a shift away from agriculture to services, which become the backbone of India's growth trajectory. Using shift‐share analysis, this paper tries to find out the pattern of structural change in India's five Southern States and contribution of labour productivity towards this structural shift. I find that all the South Indian states witnessed a service lead growth with a high‐labour productivity growth. I also find that the main driver of productivity surge in all the Southern States of India was within‐sector productivity growth whereas sectorial reallocation effects being the important part of productivity growth.     

Engage Them through Emotions: Exploring the Role of Emotional Intelligence in Public Sector Engagement

The public administration literature has demonstrated the valuable impact of employees' engagement on public service. However, studies conventionally deal with engagement as a unidimensional construct, with few explanations for its evolution. To promote knowledge in this arena, the authors propose public sector engagement (PSE) as a multidimensional construct, comprising social responsibility, work engagement, and organizational citizenship behaviors at the individual level. The authors develop and examine a set of hypotheses proposing that PSE may be augmented by enhancing civil servants' emotional intelligence (EI) as well as their supervisors' EI. Using a two‐study multimethod approach (i.e., an experiment and a survey), the authors identify employees' and managers' high EI as a critical resource in enhancing PSE. The article concludes by theoretically framing the findings using the job demands‐resources model and illuminating the practical value to public service of better selection and training of high‐EI employees and managers.     

Public–private partnerships and developing‐country agriculture: Evidence from the international agricultural research system

This study examines the role of public–private partnerships (PPPs) in promoting pro‐poor productivity‐enhancing technological innovation in the international agricultural research system. The study examines the extent to which PPPs are being used to overcome market and institutional failures that otherwise inhibit the development and dissemination of technologies targeted specifically to small‐scale, resource‐poor farmers in developing countries. Drawing on a survey of 75 PPP projects in the international system, findings suggest that while PPPs are changing the way the system manages its research agenda, few partnerships lead to joint innovation processes with the private sector. This indicates the need for closer examination of organizational practices, cultures, and incentives in the international agricultural research system. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.