Factors Affecting Job Performance in Public Agencies

Articles empirically examining job performance in the public sector are scant. As a result, in this article a theoretical research model is developed to examine job performance, and it is subsequently tested on state government workers. The findings are clear: Role ambiguity negatively affects employee job performance; mission contribution is fully validated (i.e., employees who directly contributed to the mission of the agency reported higher performance); government employees reported higher performance levels when they believed agencies received enough funding to fulfill their goals; and individual job performance was higher when employees believed that their agency spent appropriated funds efficiently. The implications these findings have for public agencies and officials are thoroughly discussed.