An evaluation of employee motivation in the extended public sector in Greece
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01425450810835428 |
| Pages | 63-85 |
| Published date | 16 November 2007 |
| Date | 16 November 2007 |
| Author | Dimitris Manolopoulos |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
An evaluation of employee
motivation in the extended public
sector in Greece
Dimitris Manolopoulos
Department of Management Science and Technology,
Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB), Athens, Greece and
Management Department, Deree College, American College of Greece (ACG),
Aghia Paraskevi, Greece
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to advance the understanding of the relationship between
work motivation and organisational performance in the extended public sector, by testing empirically
common elements of existing theoretical frameworks.
Design/methodology/approach – A unique questionnaire-based survey was carried out in three
organisations/corporations where the state is the major stakeholder. Of the 1,000 questionnaires
distributed, 454 were returned and included in the analysis. By using descriptive statistics the
provision of extrinsic rewards and intrinsic motives in the extended public sector of Greece was
identified.
Findings – Findings show that the public sector in Greece is more likely to provide extrinsic than
intrinsic rewards, however the latter seems to be related to better organisational outcomes. Both
individuals’ ability and demographic characteristics are core determinants of employees’ motivational
preferences.
Research limitations/implications – The core of this paper tests empirically the relationship
between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation with performance in a country of EU “periphery”. Caution
should be exercised in generalizing the results for more advanced economies.
Practical implications – Organisationalleaders and public management in Greece need to conceive
work motivation as a complex system and recognize the importance of intrinsic incentives.
Originality/value – There is currently limited evidence on the impact of motivation in the
performance of the extended public sector. This research is one of the very few that has been made
from the perspective of employees. To the extent of the author’s knowledge, this is the first time that a
detailed public sector level analysis on work motivation has been presented for Greece.
Keywords Public sector organizations, Motivation(psychology), Organizational performance, Greece
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Since the eighties there has been a concerted effort to reform the European public
sector. This has resulted in the deregulation of major markets related to public utilities,
such as energy and telecommunications; private financing has been encouraged for
public investment projects and substantial market elements have been introduced to
the institutional context that regulate public organisations’ operations (Burgess and
Ratto, 2003). Under the above developments, the management of the public sector has
come to the fore as organisations traditionally involved in the administration of state
matters are asked to change their approach, be more business oriented, show economic
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
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An evaluation
of employee
motivation
63
Received 14 November 2006
Revised 26 March 2007
Accepted 18 April 2007
Employee Relations
Vol. 30 No. 1, 2008
pp. 63-85
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/01425450810835428
results and be assessed against performance criteria (Bourantas and Papalexandris,
1999). In order to respond to the above and similar demands, the public sector is
wrestling with how best to transform itself; seeking constantly to optimise its
potentials in the face of the new challenges it confronts. In this era of transformation,
the concern over employees’ motivation is on the top of public management research
agenda (Behn, 1995). Indeed, management literature (e.g. Judge and Ilies, 2002; Rainey,
1997; Pfeffer, 1994) asserts that people are the most important organisational resource
and the key to achieving higher performance, while Perry and Wise (1990) argue that
public administration needs to reframe the motivation question. Thus, it seems that in
the dawn of a new century, the central challenge for public managers is to meet
corporations’/organisations’ obje ctives for effectiveness and productivit y while
fulfilling the needs of employees for motivation, reward and satisfaction.
Despite the importance of the topic, the vast majority of research on work
motivation tended and continues to concentrate too heavily on the private sector (Dixit,
2002; Perry and Porter, 1982). Moreover, much of the literature that relates to public
sector motivation is theoretical (see Lewin, 2003; Wright, 2001; Rainey, 1994 for
excellent literature reviews). The limited evidence provided on related issues consists
largely of empirical public-private sector contrasts (e.g. Frank and Lewis, 2004;
Jurkiewicz et al., 1998; Maidani, 1991; Rainey, 1982). With few notable exceptions (e.g.
Alonso and Lewis, 2001; Brewer and Selden, 2000; Selden and Brewer, 2000), empirical
research on how public employees are motivated and the impact of different types of
motivation on public organisations’ performance has received relatively little attention.
In addition, as best as we can tell, with the exception of Brewer and Selden (2000) all the
studies that have related public sector performance with motivation have been made
from the perspective of managers and not employees. The purpose of this paper is to
provide insights upon the above-identified gaps of the literature with the overall
objective to assist public administration in the development of an effective motivation
scheme aligned with organisations’ structure and objectives.
The focal country of our analysis is Greece. We selected Greece as the country to
investigate because reforms in the public sector are a priority for governments and
during the last years we have witnessed a successfully transition of state-owned
organisations operated by central-planning fixtures towards market-economy
principles. The Hellenic public sector can be divided into two major parts: firstly,
the core public sector (ministries, army, police etc.) and secondly, the extended public
sector, which consist of legal entities (organisations and corporations) where the state
is the major or absolute shareholder. The paper is focused on the latter sub segment
and survey the relationship between the motivations offered to employees and
performance in three state-owned organisations under the current privatisatio n era.
We approach this topic with three central questions: First, to what extent public
organisations provide their employees with extrinsic and intrinsic incentives to work
in their interests? Second, which type of motivation has a positive impact on
organisations’ performance? Third, which are employees’ perceptions concerning the
motivators that public managers should use in order to advance performance? To the
extent of our knowledge, this is the first time that such a detailed analysis is presented
in the literature for Greece per se.
The paper proceeds as follows: the next section briefly relates strands of the
literature relevant for the current survey and identifies the motivators we used in our
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