How do employment-at-will (EAW) policies affect public service motivation? This study examines the motivation of public employees in the US state of Georgia, using a survey of human resource (HR) professionals. It suggests that EAW policies have a significant negative impact on motivation in the workplace, particularly for minorities. The potential for EAW to erode progress in the promotion of public sector diversity should not be ignored.
Traditional civil service systems, based on merit and neutral competence, have been criticised for their intractability, inefficiency and ineffectiveness. Public sector problems, such as monopoly, hierarchy, permanence of structure, and management inflexibility have been challenged by market reforms that champion private sector innovation as a way of improving government efficiency. The recent trend of eliminating tenure for public employees through EAW policies has received considerable attention.
Proponents of EAW systems suggest that a dismantling of traditional employee dismissal and due process procedures promotes greater flexibility and effectiveness in public management. In their efforts to improve productivity, reformers promise better pay, leave or other benefits in exchange for less job security. However, HR professionals have a number of reservations regarding EAW’s ability to motivate employee productivity and commitment to the organisation:
- Seventy-eight per cent of those surveyed believe that EAW has not provided job security. This group was less optimistic about EAW as a tool for motivating employees.
- Thirty-eight per cent are discouraged from participating fully in policy innovation.
- African American respondents are more likely to believe that EAW has not successfully motivated employee performance.
- African Americans may no longer feel that an EAW environment provides representativeness in the make-up of the public service.
- Party politics may play a factor in influencing African American respondents’ attitudes toward EAW.
For those employed in EAW systems, and researchers exploring the impact of EAW in the workplace, it is clear that reforms have affected motivation in the public service. Reformers should take heed of the potential impact that EAW may have on race and diversity in the public service. They should consider that:
- By giving managers the upper hand in HR decisions, at-will employment may be viewed by African Americans as a tool for ‘discrimination-induced job dismissals’.
- The removal of job security and an indifferent approach to procedural fairness in HR decisions under EAW have not served as motivating forces.
- EAW may prove problematic for long-term recruitment efforts and overall organisational performance.
- Instead of using EAW as a tool for motivating employees to be innovative in policy discussions, EAW has potentially eroded such practices by eliminating traditional merit protections.
