A Guide to Employee Motivation for Public Human Resource Managers

Abstract: In the current economic and fiscal climate, the public sector is facing increasing demands from the citizenry to produce more with less. One way human resource managers can accomplish this objective is to ensure employees are motivated. This paper acts as a guide to employee motivation for public human resource managers. It briefly discusses the impact of motivation on performance before explaining how managers can effectively increase employee motivation. The public sector is in the midst of one of its most difficult times in decades. In the aftermath of the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression, thousands upon thousands of people have lost their jobs. The public sector has been hit particularly hard by this recession, as it is continuing to shed jobs while the private sector makes slow gains. In addition, many still fear another recession is on the horizon, which would cut the government’s revenue substantially. Lastly, the public is putting increasing pressure on the government to bring down the national debt. All of these factors combine to compel human resource managers to do more with less. In order to do this, public sector employees will need to become more efficient; one of the best ways leadership and management can make employees more efficient is by ensuring employees are properly motivated. A good starting point for a discussion on motivation is defining motivation and its importance. Then, ways to motivate employees can be considered. 1 Austin is currently enrolled in SPEA’s Accelerated Masters of Public Affairs Program at IUPUI with a concentration in Public Management. He received his undergraduate degree in Public Management with a minor in Economics in December 2012. Austin recently began his career in public service, starting his job as a data analyst at the Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning in February of 2013. He hopes to continue to utilize his strong analytical, communication, and problem solving skills throughout his career