Positive in Public Service: Government Personnel, Constrained Incentives, and Positive Work Attitudes

:Surveys of government personnel have shown that they are much more likely than their counterparts in business firms to say that it is hard to fire a poor performer, to raise the pay of a good performer, and to base promotion on performance. Yet the same surveys find that most government respondents indicate high levels of motivation, meaningful work, and other positive responses. This study analyzes “positives” who perceive sharp constraints on pay raises, promotions, and discipline, yet they still express positive perceptions of organizational performance and of their work. Using data from NASP-Citizen, the results show that “positives” are more prevalent in the public sector. We also analyze the 2010 Merit Principles Survey to develop a measure of positives and positiveness. The results show that they relate very strongly to public service motivation, to jobs with motivating factors (variety, identity, significance, autonomy, and feedback), and to positive perceptions of career executives in the organization. We discuss implications for civil service reform initiatives and for theory and research about people in government service.