Public service motivation and organizational performance in Swiss federal government

During the last 20 years public sector reforms focused on the increase of organizational performance mainly by implementing managerial tools and methods. The one-sided, output-oriented reforms meet with criticism. In our study we focus on the links between employee attitudes, managerial measures, institutional factors and organizational performance. Therefore, three attitudinal constructs, public service motivation, organizational commitment and job satisfaction, are analysed. The study empirically tests the effects of these dimensions on perceived performance in the federal administration of Switzerland. The analysed data of 13,532 federal employees give insight into the importance of employee commitment to the public interest and the need for goal-oriented management techniques. The results are discussed in light of previous studies.