HRM Practices, Intrinsic Motivators, and Organizational Performance in the Public Sector

This article aims to determine the impact of human resource management (HRM) practices on public service motivation (PSM) and organizational performance. Based on a survey of Swiss cantonal public employees (N = 3,131), this study shows that several HRM practices may be considered as organizational antecedents of PSM and strong predictors of perceived organizational performance. Fairness, job enrichment, individual appraisal, and professional development are HRM practices that are positively and significantly associated with PSM and perceived organizational performance. Moreover, these results suggest that HRM practices are stronger predictors than either PSM or organizational commitment when explaining the individual perception of organizational performance.