ReSHo – Strategies to recruit highly qualified staff to the public service: The relevance of public service motivation for staff recruitment
As a result of the demographic change and the ongoing reorganization of the public sector, there is an emerging shortage of professional and executive staff. At the same time, it is difficult to estimate how changing values of young professionals influence attitudes towards the public service, which is currently experiencing difficulties in recruiting highly qualified young staff. One reason for that could be the self-selection of potential candidates in the public sector. Within the reorganization of the public sector, highly qualified graduates of business, economics and social sciences have become a sought-after target group for staff recruitment. If recruiters are successful in winning them for a career in the public service, an employment field that is traditionally represented by law graduates is going to be extended and enriched by important qualifications.
Public management research has long focused on public service motivation (PSM), which implies an interest in actions that serve the common welfare. PSM relates to values and attitudes that exist beyond self-interest and an organization’s interest. The increasing knowledge about PSM has hitherto not been systematically used for the development of effective recruitment strategies. It is particularly unclear how the PSM of potential candidates can be addressed so that the public service is not only perceived as an employment alternative that is attractive and fits the candidate, but also effectuates an actual intention to apply for a position in the public service. Our focus is hence on the following research questions:
- Which recruitment strategies favor stimulation of PSM in university graduates, and what effects does this have on the perceived person-organization fit between the applicant and the organization?
- How do PSM and person-organization fit influence the perception of organizational attractiveness and the intention to apply for a position in the public service?
- Which further determining factors moderate and mediate these interactions?
The answers to these questions will provide a more thorough research understanding at the interface of human resource and public management and lead to practical implications for staff recruitment in the public service. This empirical research project uses experimental research designs.
- Duration: 06/2015-04/2018
- Project lead: Prof. Dr. Rick Vogel, Project member: Dr. Julia Asseburg
- Sponsor: University funds