246 Human Resources Management for Public and Nonprofi t Organizations
The goal - performance relationship is strongest when employees
are committed to their goals and receive incentives, input, and
feedback related to the achievement of goals.
Goal setting may face unique challenges in the public sector.Public service motivation is an individual ’ s predisposition to respond
to motives grounded primarily or uniquely in public institutions and
organizations (Perry & Wise, 1990, p. 368).
Perry and Wise (1990) organized public service motives into three
broad categories: affective , norm - based , and rational motives. Norm - based
motives are based on social values and norms of what is proper and appro-
priate and include a desire to serve the public interest, fulfi ll a sense of
duty to the community, and express a unique sense of loyalty to the gov-
ernment. Affective motives are rooted in an individual ’ s emotions. Affective
motives include a deep belief in the importance of a particular program
to society. Rational motives are when an individual chooses among a set
of possible alternatives and is motivated after an assessment of the potential
benefi t of each option. Rational motives might include a desire to represent
some special interest, or having a personal identifi cation with a program or
policy goal, as well as a desire for personal gain and personal need fulfi llment
(Wise, 2005).
Perry (1996, 1997) developed a multidimensional scale to measure
public service motivation. A number of other scholars have conducted
research to assess the utility of public service motivation, fi nding it to be
a useful construct in understanding the behavior and attitudes of employ-
ees working in public and nonprofi t organizations (Alonso & Lewis, 2001;
Coursey, Perry, & Brudney, 2008; Brewer, Selden, & Facer, 2000; Bright,
2005, 2007; Crewson, 1997; Houston, 2005; Moynihan & Pandey, 2007;
Mann, 2006; Naff & Crum, 1999; Perry, Brudney, Coursey, & Littlepage,
2008; Scott & Pandey, 2005).Conclusion
Motivation and performance management are closely aligned. Performance
management is the process that reviews and measures employee per-
formance. Those who develop performance management systems must
understand the factors that contribute to or hinder employee motivation.
Performance evaluations should be objective, job-related, and consistent
with the organization ’ s mission. When correctly developed and executed,