University of the Western Cape
Understanding and measuring public service
motivation among social workers in
contemporary South Africa
Gershwin Ederies
A mini thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Masters in Public
Administration at the School of Government, University of
the Western Cape
Supervisor: Prof. G. Ruiters
October 2014
1
Declaration .............................................................................................................................................. ii
Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................ iii
Key words ............................................................................................................................................... iv
Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... v
Chapter one: Background to the study .................................................................................................. 1
Chapter two: Public Service Motivation, a literature review .............................................................. 15
Chapter three: Social work in the South African context .................................................................... 38
Chapter four: Research findings .......................................................................................................... 53
Chapter five: Discussion and conclusion .............................................................................................. 83
References ............................................................................................................................................. 94
Appendices .......................................................................................................................................... 100
i
Declaration
Submission in partial fulfillment for the degree of Masters in Public Administration
(MPA).
I declare that “Understanding and measuring public service motivation among social
workers in contemporary South Africa” is my own work, that it has not been previously
submitted to any other university, and that all the sources I have used or quoted have
been indicated and acknowledged as complete references.
Gershwin Ederies
October 2014
Signature……………………………………….
ii
Acknowledgements
I wish to thank the following persons:
My supervisor, Prof. G. Ruiters for his guidance, mentorship, and unselfish efforts in
assisting me to complete this research report.
My wife, Carla Ederies, for her input, encouragement, patience, and tireless support
during difficult times while completing my research.
My family, for their support and belief in my studies.
Yvonne Silvie, for her encouragement, support and interest in my studies and
development as a student.
iii
Key words
Public service motivation, Extrinsic reward, Intrinsic reward, Social workers, Public
sector service, Batho Pele.
iv
Abstract
Public service motivation refers to individuals’ with a predisposition to perform public service for
largely altruistic motives in public institutions. The purpose of this study was to investigate what
public service motivation (PSM) meant to state-employed social workers in the South African
context. In gaining insight into PSM amongst social workers in the public sector, my objectives
were to explore the value social workers place on intrinsic rewards, the reasons why participants
entered the profession, and what social workers’ self-perceptions of their role was as public
servants and what public service meant for their own identities.
This qualitative study was conducted in the Western Cape with state-employed social workers.
The social workers were selected using snowball sampling. Participants varied in age, years of
experience as social workers, gender, and race. Data for this study was based on in-depth, semistructured interviews. With public service motivation being an under-researched subject in the
South African context, an open-ended inquiry into the important variables that influence PSM in
the local context was followed. This approach will inform ways in which PSM could be measured
in the future in the South African context.
The results of my study indicate that social workers were attracted to public sector employment
because it offered the greatest extrinsic incentives – higher salaries, medical aid benefits, and a
housing subsidy, compared to NGO’s in the private sector. This finding challenges the widely
accepted notion in PSM literature that social workers place more value on intrinsic reward than
extrinsic rewards. Extrinsic reward refers to financial or other tangible incentives. The data
further revealed that participants were willing to leave the social work profession and exit public
service for employment opportunities that offered them greater support from superiors, and
remuneration that acknowledged their academic qualifications. Poor remuneration adversely
affected participants’ feeling of job satisfaction and motivation to perform their duties. Politics
has played a seminal role in shaping the quality, and the denying of public service to certain
categories of citizens.
v
Chapter one: Background to the study
1994 saw the election of South Africa’s first democratic government. This newly elected
government however inherited a public service that was in crisis; marred by racial
segregation, a lack of representivity, corruption, and poorly paid and demotivated staff
(Bardill, 2000: 104). The transformation of the public service has since become the
central focus of the ruling administration. Improving public service programmes, and
enhancing the professionalism of public servants are also amongst the key of objectives
of the current public service administration and the National Development Plan
(Department of Public Service and Administration, 2013: 2).
Achieving these ends therefor raises issues such as; what motivates a committed public
sector workforce? What motivates individuals to enter certain kinds of public sector
employment? And how do these individuals remain motivated upon entering the public
sector? Various international scholars have offered theories on what exactly public
service motivation (PSM) is; its apparent decline in the public sector, and how it can be
measured. While measurement scales have been offered for the measurement of PSM
internationally, PSM remains under-researched in the South African context. With this
study I intend to gain insight into this area by taking a bottom-up view of PSM amongst
social workers in the public sector.
1
Both globally and nationally, governments have called for a deeper commitment of
workers to a “public service ethos” (Rayner et al., 2011) and professionalism in the face
of declining public service motivation (PSM) in the public sector (Levin, 2012: 8; Perry
& Hondeghem, 2008:3; Perry & Wise, 1990). In the South African context;
There is a distinct inability to recruit and retain suitable and high quality
talent into the public service. As at 30 June 2012, almost 80% of national and
provincial departments had a vacancy rate of above 10% in respect of
professionals and senior managers. [And] SA is blighted by corruption and
the emergence of parasitic accumulation practices in which tenderpreneurs
are dependent on state connections (Levin, 2012: 8).
The PSM construct refers to individuals’ with a predisposition to perform public service
in response to largely altruistic motives rooted in public institutions (Perry & Wise, 1990:
368). With renewed interest in improved public service delivery, scholars continue to
contest appropriate ways to measure public service motivation [PSM] (Perry & Wise,
1990; Rayner et al., 2011). The question is also about whether generic international PSM
measurement tools are appropriate in the South African context. If it is true that generic
measures of PSM do not work in the South African context, what might be the
dimensions and variables that could contribute to the development of a South African
measurement instrument of PSM relevant in the SA context?
The promulgation of the White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery (1997)
containing the Batho Pele principles intended to give impetus to the transformation of a
public service in crisis in the country’s nascent democracy (Bardill, 2000; Hemson &
Roberts, 2008). However, as the former minister of Public Service and Administration,
Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi explained that SA faces unique challenges with regard to
2
public service reform that cannot be understood within the new public management
paradigm;
Our African public service must focus on identifying and leading in the key
actions and strategies required to operationalise the vision of renewal and
African prosperity. We must be advocates and instrumental in efforts to
ensure for instance, that our public institutions have the necessary capabilities
to implement effective mechanisms to assess and monitor our performance. It
is the responsibility of the public service as a whole, and our public
managers, to be proactive and innovative in the management and deployment
of resources to respond [to] the mandate of government and develop
strategies [to] implement priorities (Fraser-Moleketi, 2005a: 3-4).
Other scholars go as far as to suggest that the most prominent threat to public service
reform is an uncritical adoption of Westernised models of governance and government’s
relation to its citizens, an example the New Public Management approach (FraserMoleketi, 2005a; Kettl in Meier and Hill, 2005: 55). In this study I will draw on the
insights of key South African and international thinkers on public service and I will
conduct interviews with a defined group of civil servants in order explore key elements
that could be used in the future development of an ‘indigenous’ PSM measurement tool. I
will be conducting this exploratory study with social workers in the context of provincial
government in the Western Cape.
Statement of the research problem
Recent calls by government and civil society for an “ethical, accountable, competent and
capable public service and administration” Letsoalo, 2013) sharply poses the question of
what motivates public servants. This mini-thesis aims to investigate measures public
service motivation (PSM) specifically in South Africa by taking a bottom-up approach.
Furthermore, PSM literature is scant and under-researched in the South African context
3
and is particularly pertinent as government looks to “professionalise” the public sector
workforce (Gomba, 2013). A further significant reason for my undertaking this research
is to explore the key issues that arise in trying to measure Public Services Motivation in
South Africa.
Public sector employment has long been regarded as “a safe harbour, where the less
skilled and undermotivated can realize a middle-class life” (Davis, 2010: 887). A
caricature is that public sector employment offers individuals lacking the skills to
compete in the private sector, a low-risk safety net through job security along with the
promise of remuneration packages equal or better than individuals in the private sector in
similar positions (Davis, 2010: 888; Posel, 1999: 107). Even though individuals may be
attracted to the public sector for altruistic reasons, the benefits and higher salaries offered
by government attracts individuals to public sector employment, not a sense of civic duty.
Objectives of the study

To examine the value social workers place on intrinsic rewards as opposed to
extrinsic rewards.

To explore why social workers entered the profession and employment in the
public sector as opposed to the private sector.

To explore those internal and external factors that keep public sector social
workers motivated.

To explore social workers’ self-perceptions of their role as public servants and
what public service means for their own identities.
4

To gain insight into a bottom-up view of PSM amongst social workers in the
public sector.
Research methodology
This research is entirely qualitative and draws on the social constructionist approach
(Burr, 2003). A qualitative research methodology allowed the researcher to examine a
selected issue from “the insider’s perspective” (Babbie & Mouton, 2007: 53). Qualitative
investigation allowed for the in-depth and detailed examination of phenomena in a
“holistic” and “naturalistic” manner without disturbing or influencing the social context
in which particular phenomena occurred (Terre Blanche et al., 2006: 47). Qualitative
research moreover relies on the researcher as the primary instrument of observation and
data collection as opposed to measurement scales (used in quantitative research), such as
structured questionnaires that distances the investigator from the phenomenon under
investigation and reduces the units of analysis to mere objects (Terre Blanche et al., 2006:
51).
From the qualitative perspective, social constructionist researchers contend that reality is
context-bound and therefore the meanings attached to phenomena vary from context to
context (Terre Blanche et al., 2006: 51). An aim with this study was to investigate public
service motivation in the South African context to contribute to the development of a
local body of PSM literature. To achieve this, I took a bottom-up approach to identify the
important variables that influence PSM in the local context, and ultimately how to
measure PSM in the local context. A qualitative approach will allow for the open-ended
5
inquiry to achieve this aim. (Terre Blanche et al., 2006: 272). Use of a qualitative
paradigm further permits the study of “human action from the insiders’ perspective”
where research is aimed at “describing and understanding rather than the explanation and
prediction of human behaviour” (Babbie & Mouton, 2007: 53).
To examine the subjective experiences of research respondents I used a constructionist
approach. Social constructionists hold that the “human life-world is fundamentally
constituted in language” (Terre Blanche et al., 2006: 278). Language, from the
constructionist perspective creates a pluralistic system of meanings that construct reality
in very specific ways – constructionist researchers aim to deconstruct these “broader
patterns of social meaning encoded in language” (Terre Blanche et al., 2006: 279).
Language creates, maintains, and defines the limits of reality in the world we live in
(Terre Blanche et al., 2006: 280).
For social constructionists, individuals’ thoughts, experiences, and feelings are the
outcome of ‘systems of meanings’ enduring at a macro (or social) rather than the
individual level (Terre Blanche et al., 2006: 278). These meanings that individuals affix
to certain phenomena emerge in specific contexts in the form of particular “systems of
statements” and “broad patterns of talk” (Terre Blanche et al., 2006: 328). These
discourses operate in specific social contexts and are not singular or static, but instead
plural and multifaceted descriptions and definitions of social phenomena (Terre Blanche
et al., 2006: 328).
6
Methods and techniques of data collection
In research, data refers to the “basic material with which researchers work” (Terre
Blanche et al., 2006: 51). Researchers analyse and interpret collected data to grasp the
meaning of what had been researched and observed – in my study this includes exploring
social workers’ self-perceptions of their role as public servants and what public service
means for their own identities, and identifying those variables that may contribute to the
development of a PSM measurement scale suited to the local context (or confirm the
effective use of international PSM measurement tools in the local context). In qualitative
research, data are obtained through written or spoken language, whereas positivist
researchers are inclined to using quantitative data collection techniques and measures
“that predefine the objects to be studied” (Terre Blanche et al., 2006: 51).
A qualitative research paradigm allows the flexibility and openness needed to gain new
insights into social phenomena as it facilitates the naturalistic emergence of data incontext and the links between the data and their meanings in understanding public service
motivation amongst social workers (Terre Blanche et al., 2006: 44-45). I conducted indepth, semi-structured interviews with a purposively selected diverse sample of 11 social
workers. The open-ended flexible nature of semi-structured interviews allowed the
researcher to elicit respondents’ stories, while concurrently gathering information
relevant to the topic being investigated (de Vos et al., 2009: 293). Furthermore, semistructured interviewing is aimed at “understanding the experience of other people and the
meaning they make of that experience. It is focused and discursive and allows the
researcher and participant to explore an issue” (de Vos et al., 2009: 293). In my study the
7
use of in-depth interviewing with relevant persons in a provincial government department
allowed research participants to provide elaborate responses to the open-ended questions
to gain access to their perceptions and experiences of their roles as public servants and
factors – internal and external, influencing their motivation as public servants.
Methods of data analysis
In this study I analysed the raw data collected during my interviews through conceptual
analysis. This is a form of content analysis often used to analyse raw qualitative data in
qualitative studies (Babbie & Mouton, 2007: 491). In this type of data analysis a
researcher would examine for the presence of “recurring ideas or language, and patterns
of belief that link people and settings together” (de Vos et al., 2009: 338). Salient themes
that emerged from the raw data were grouped into specific coherent categories and
analysed. The purpose of analysis was to examine the relationship between categories of
data and to “generate theory from the data [or] validate existing theory” in the literature
(de Vos et al., 2009: 340).
To increase the trustworthiness of the data I remained in the field until a satisfactory level
of understanding of the data was achieved – also referred to as data saturation, to enhance
the credibility of the findings in this study (de Vos et al., 2009: 276-277; Terre Blanche et
al., 2006: 372). To further enhance the credibility of my research I conducted member
checks to assess my interpretation of the data with the data sources – the research
participant (de Vos et al., 2009: 277). To enhance the transferability or “the extent to
which the findings can be applied in other contexts with other respondents”, of my
8
findings I provided the reader with ‘thick descriptions’, that are sufficiently ‘detailed and
precise’ so the reader may confidently judge whether the findings may be transferred to a
different context in a different timeframe, with different research participants (Babbie &
Mouton, 2007: 277).
In this study I used nonprobability sampling techniques to accrue a sufficient research
sample (Terre Blanche et al., 2006: 139). Nonprobability sampling is any form of
sampling that “is not determined by the statistical principle of randomness” (Terre
Blanche et al., 2006: 139). Snowball sampling is a subset of nonprobability sampling
where prospective research participants are purposively selected on their willingness to
participate in a given study and who possess those elements of interest relevant to the
intended study (Terre Blanche et al., 2006: 139).
In snowball sampling research participants may also be asked to recommend colleagues
or other persons of interest that may contribute to the completion of the study, leading to
a gradual accumulation of a large enough research sample (Terre Blanche et al., 2006:
139). I therefore located one participant and asked the participant to refer or suggest other
potential participants relevant to the study. I attempted as far as possible to ensure that
my sample was diverse in terms of age, race, gender, and years of experience in the field
to keep the sample as representative as possible.
9
To gain informed consent, participants were provided with a written description of the
purpose of the study, potential risks and benefits of their participating in the study, and
that any information exchanged during interviews would be treated with confidentiality.
My sample consisted of 11 social workers within the public sector in the Western Cape.
Participants were social work practitioners with at least two years working experience.
All interview questions were based on understanding each subject’s entire experience of
their worksite. Hence there was no base line year. At least two social work managers
formed part of the sample. Getting information from social work managers was important
to gain insight into what a top-down view of employee motivation might entail. I
analysed collected data with the use of conceptual analysis (Babbie & Mouton, 2007).
Significance of the study
PSM is under-researched in the South African context. With this study I explored the key
issues that arise in trying to measure Public Services Motivation in South Africa through
the use of a bottom-up approach. Further significance of this research is that it could
contribute to the development and growth of a more embedded PSM from a local
perspective. The “professionalisation of the public service” is a current subject and the
central focus of The Department of Public Service and Administration (Gomba, 2013;
Department of Public Service and Administration, 2013: 2).
In the White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service, (1995) transforming the
public service calls for a committed, accountable public sector workforce free of fraud
and corruption and which is competent to implement policies developed by government
10
(Gomba, 2013). The 1995 White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service
promoted a shift in service delivery from a discriminatory and exclusionary top-down
process to a more democratic one. The 1995 White Paper on the transformation of the
Public Service stated that service users should be engaged around their needs as opposed
to the state deciding service users’ needs for them.
The system of service provision would no longer occur in a controlled and centralised
manner, but service users would be consulted about their needs. Services and the
provision of services would be developed in concert with service users and what they
perceived to be their needs; creating services that would be more responsive to the needs
of service users (Republic of South Africa, White Paper on the transformation of the
Public Service, 1995; Republic of South Africa, White Paper on Transforming Public
Service Delivery, 1997). The professionalisation of the public service was given impetus
by the Public Service Act (1994), the White Paper on the Transformation of the Public
Service (1995) and more recently the Service Charter (Department of Public Service and
Administration, 2013) for public servants.
To realise the tenets of these legal and policy frameworks, the ANC government put forth
the Batho Pele “People first” principles – consultation, service standards, access,
courtesy, information, openness and transparency, redress, and value for money in policy
documents such as the White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery (Republic
of South Africa, 1997; Department of Public Service and Administration, 2013: 7). With
the White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery, (Republic of South Africa,
11
1997) containing these Batho Pele principles government endeavoured to position the
service user as customer,
an approach which puts pressure on systems, procedures, attitudes and
behaviour within the Public Service and reorients them in the customer's
favour allowing customers to hold public service officials to account for their
actions or inactions.
In meeting the service standards set out in the Service Charter (Department of Public
Service and Administration, 2013) the state has committed to other conditions to create
enabling work environments for state officials to perform their duties, “implement
conditions of service that fairly reward public servants”, and facilitate the development of
a rewards system in-line with the tenets of the charter for public service officials
(Department of Public Service and Administration, 2013: 5).
Meeting the service standards set out in the Service Charter and Batho Pele principles
requires a motivated and committed public service workforce as this is critical to meeting
the expectations set out in the aforementioned documents. But what motivates an
individual to enter social work in the public sector? How do these individuals remain
motivated to deliver services of a consistently excellent standard after entering the public
sector? And in practice, how does government keep social workers in the public sector
motivated to remain in public service? Through the use of a bottom-up approach this
study could make a significant contribution towards understanding public service
motivation in the South African context.
12
Ethical considerations
Respondents were purposively selected and their participation in the study was voluntary.
Only participants who volunteered to participate in the study and who provided informed
consent were considered as study participants. Participants were informed that they could
withdraw their participation from the individual interviews whenever they chose. As a
measure to keep participants’ identities anonymous and protect their identities,
participants’ names were not used at any point in this report. Participants were
furthermore allowed to select a time and venue of their choice to conduct the semistructured in-depth interviews.
Information shared during individual interviews was treated with the utmost
confidentiality. Participants’ will be given copies of audio recordings and transcripts of
their interview upon their request.
Organisation of the study
In chapter one I provided the reader with an introduction to my research topic and
research problem, a background to my study, ethical considerations, goals and objectives
of my study, and the research design I employed to achieve my intended objectives.
The second chapter provides the reader with a critical review of the public service
motivation (PSM) literature relevant to my research topic. In this section I will also
review relevant legislation, policy frameworks, historical perspectives on public service,
and forms of public management and their impact on public service motivation in the
13
South African context. In compiling my literature review I consulted various academic
articles, books, and public administration journals.
Chapter three provides the reader with the role of social workers in the public sector. I
focused on the academic requirements needed to enter social work in government,
strategies to retain social workers in government, the tasks of a social worker in
government, and remuneration packages.
In the fourth chapter I analysed the collected raw data. I grouped raw data according to
themes which were analysed with the use of conceptual analysis. The raw data that I
analysed in this section was obtained from semi-structured interviews conducted with 15
social workers.
Chapter five concludes my research, summarises my findings, and broadly discusses my
findings in relation to public service motivation. In this chapter I submitted
recommendations based on my findings, to possibly contribute to the development of a
PSM measurement tool tailored to the South African context.
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Chapter two: Public Service Motivation, a literature review
In this chapter I will provide the reader with a review of literature and the main concepts
in my study. This chapter has two parts. In the first part I will clarify the concept of PSM,
the use of PSM measurement scales, and theories on the role PSM plays in attracting
individuals to public service, job satisfaction, and the influence of extrinsic reward on
PSM. In the second part I will provide the reader with the effects of management
strategies on the motivation of public servants.
Various theories have been offered to explain the decline in employee motivation in the
public sector. In this section I will consider the concept of public service motivation
(hereafter PSM). I will be discussing what exactly PSM is, competing theories on public
sector motivation in the work place, and methods used to measure PSM.
The concept of public service motivation (PSM) grew out of a call “for a recommitment
[of Americans] to values associated with government service” (Perry & Wise, 1990:
367). PSM gained significance as it “provides a theory of motivation that links the pursuit
of public interest with administrative behaviour” (Moynihan & Pandey, 2007: 40).
Proponents of PSM posit that high levels of PSM would invariably result in the attraction
of individuals to the public sector and increased levels of performance of bureaucratic
entities in the public sector. Perry and Wise in their pioneering study noted that
Public administration scholars believed in a public service ethos that set
public servants apart from counterparts in other institutions (Perry and
Hondeghem, 2008: 4).
15
Similarly Rainey (1982: 298-299) conceived of PSM as a multifaceted construct that may
be interpreted in various ways in various government agencies and services.
The PSM construct refers to individuals’ with a predisposition to perform public service
in response to largely altruistic motives rooted in public institutions (Perry & Wise, 1990:
368; Perry & Hondeghem, 2008: 4; Christensen & Wright, 2011: 723; Kim, 2009: 839;
Georgellis et al., 2011: 487).
In addition to motives that draw individuals to serve in the public sector, research
suggests that individuals’ attitudes towards government employment play a significant
role in PSM (Perry & Wise, 1990: 368). For example, individuals may attach a certain
amount of prestige to employment in the public sector, which bolsters the appeal of
employment in the public sector (Kim, 2009: 841; Perry & Wise, 1990: 368). Despite the
prestige incentive attached to employment in the public sector, PSM theorists propose
that PSM is grounded in specific motives unique to employment in the public sector,
where these pre-existing motives impel individuals to seek employment opportunities in
the public sector.
The term “motives” in the PSM construct refers to perceived “psychological deficiencies
or needs” that an individual feels some compulsion to assuage (Perry, 1996: 6; Perry &
Wise, 1990: 368). According to proponents of the “motives” paradigm, the rational
motive is grounded in the maximization of an individual’s usefulness. Individuals
possessing this motive exhibit a strong desire to “realise” personal potentialities by
16
participating in the development of public policies or committing themselves to public
programmes that they personally identify with; in the process responding to a personal
need through addressing a public need (Perry & Wise, 1990: 368).
A strong “desire to serve the public interest” is considered to be the “normative
foundation for public employment” (Perry & Wise, 1990: 368). The norm-based motive
is grounded in values of altruism and the dedication to serving the public interest through
a strong sense of “loyalty to duty and to the government as a whole” (Perry & Wise,
1990: 369-370).
“Altruism” generally means an act motivated mainly out of
consideration of another’s needs rather than one’s own.
Moreover, the pursuit of social equity is strongly associated with this motive where an
individual’s efforts are aimed at activities that improve the well-being of vulnerable or
socially excluded groups (Perry & Wise, 1990: 369).
The affective motive in civil servants may be seen in what Fredrickson and Hurt (cited in
Perry & Wise, 1990: 369) term the “patriotism of benevolence” which they state stems
from
an extensive love of all people within our political boundaries and the
imperative that they must be protected in all of the basic rights granted them
by enabling documents.
Later PSM authors have expanded on earlier definitions of PSM and included personal
values and a sense of altruism as equally crucial to drawing individuals to seek
employment in the public sector (Perry & Hondeghem, 2008). Altruism is defined as
17
behaviour costly to the actor involving other-regarding sentiments; if an act is
or appears to be motivated mainly out of a consideration of another’s needs
rather than one’s own, we call it altruism (Perry & Hondeghem, 2008: 5).
Although theorists on altruism do not associate altruism with PSM, economists have
linked the two concepts (Perry & Hondegham, 2008: 5). For economists, altruism means
“the willingness of individuals to engage in sacrificial behaviour for the good of others
without reciprocal benefits for themselves” (Perry & Hondeghem, 2008: 5).
Pro-social behaviour scholars however conceive of behaviour in the workplace akin to
altruism as pro-social, rather than altruistic. Proponents of the pro-social paradigm assert
that
behaviour which is (a) performed by a member of an organisation (b) directed
toward an individual, group, or organisation with whom he or she interacts
while carrying out his or her organisational role, and (c) performed with the
intention or promoting the welfare of the individual, group, or organisation
toward which it is directed (Perry & Hondeghem, 2008: 5).
Authors on altruism have however noted that pro-social interaction does involve the
actors’ motives and that pro-social acts are at their core altruistic as they are performed
“voluntarily and without expectation of return” (Perry & Hondeghem, 2008: 5). Concepts
such as altruism, pro-social behaviour, motives, and values and beliefs associated with
PSM should not be considered as mutually exclusive, but rather as complimentary (Perry
& Hondeghem, 2008: 6; Georgellis et al., 2011: 474).
PSM may therefore be viewed as a “specific expression of pro-social motives, goals, and
values” and therefore a subset “of the overarching idea of altruism…[albeit] on behalf of
18
a larger political entity” (Perry & Hondeghem, 2008: 6). In spite of the various ‘otherregarding’ constructs there appears to be agreement that rational self-interest plays a role
in understanding PSM, and that actors’ motives change or vary from context to context
(Perry & Hondeghem, 2008: 6).
PSM literature further suggests that public-service behaviour is not unique to the public
sector, but that PSM is higher amongst individuals in public sector employment as a
direct result of the “institutional basis of PSM” (Perry & Hondeghem, 2008: 7). An
individual’s age, gender, education, socialization, and religion are considered important
anteceding factors positively affecting individuals’ levels of PSM (DeHart-Davis et al.,
2006: 875; Perry & Hondeghem, 2008: 7).
Measuring PSM
Following Perry and Wise’s (1990) pioneering work on the existence of public service
motivation and the accompanying psychological motives, Perry set out to develop a PSM
scale to measure individual PSM levels, and more importantly bridge the divide between
PSM theory and empirical research (Perry, 1996: 5-6; Brewer & Selden, 1998: 415).
Perry devised a PSM scale containing six dimensions of the motives first proposed by
Perry and Wise (Perry, 1996: 8).
These dimensions were an individual’s: “attraction to public policy making, commitment
to the public interest, civic duty, social justice, self-sacrifice, and compassion” (Perry,
19
1996: 5). After sourcing terms as described by various PSM authors that pertained to
motives, Perry developed statements – both positive and negative, about each of the six
dimensions he had identified (Perry, 1996: 9). These statements were arranged beneath
the appropriate PSM dimension in a questionnaire in a Likert-style fashion, where
respondents could rate their responses to each of the statements (Perry, 1996).
This PSM scale was piloted and refined with the use of focus groups comprising US
MPA and MBA students (Perry, 1996: 8). Perry’s 24-item measurement scale has laid the
basis for the development of most PSM-related measurement scales that followed. The
normative statements (items) have permeated contemporary PSM measurement scales
and have been adapted in various PSM-related studies, where “the structure of the
original measurement instrument remains intact” (Perry & Hondeghem, 2008: 10).
For example, Brewer et al. (2000) used all of the items contained in Perry’s (1996) scale
to evaluate the individual views of the motives associated with PSM. Camilleri and Van
Der Heijden (2007) used Perry’s 24-item scale to measure the effect of PSM on
organisational commitment and employee performance. So too Moynihan and Pandey
(2007) used specific items on Perry’s 1996 measurement scale to measure the extent to
which organisations foster PSM.
Bright in his 2008 study explored the relationship between PSM, person-organisation fit,
and work turnover using all 24 items on Perry’s measurement scale. To test if the PSM
structure could be generalized to the public sector in the Korean context, Kim (2009)
20
used Perry’s scale to explore the appropriateness of the use of this scale with Korean
public sector employees. Kim found that Perry’s scale was not entirely a good fit in
Korean context due to disparate cultural values (Kim, 2009: 849).
According to Kim, for Koreans to work in government service is regarded as an honour
as public servants are viewed as “possessing superior benevolence, wisdom, and
administrative ability” (Kim, 2009: 841). Thus, the negatively worded items relating to
government employment in Perry’s scale were found to be inadequate to measure
Koreans’ attitude towards government employment, and in-turn their levels of PSM
(Kim, 2009: 849).
Moreover, in their respective studies Liu and Tang (2011) and
Kjeldsen and Jacobsen (2012) used certain items in Perry’s scale to measure the impact
of the love of money on PSM and impact of the attraction of public sector organisations
on PSM respectively.
Criticisms have however been leveled against Perry and his PSM measurement scale.
Significant criticisms are that survey-type research methods has made the measuring of
attitudes regarding organisational culture difficult, especially considering organisational
culture is inextricably linked to social meanings individuals attach to public sector
employment (Moynihan & Pandey, 2007: 45; Kim, 2009: 848-849). Meanings attached to
organisational culture vary from country to country. Rayner et al. (2011: 32) have noted
that the normative statements in Perry’s instrument have made the use of this measure
difficult in varying contexts.
21
The statements or items Perry included in his scale were informed by American public
service culture, political values, and views of the role of the American government.
Further challenges that the exclusive use of Perry’s survey-based measurement scale
presents is that it limits respondents’ opinions on the items contained in scale (Perry,
1996: 9), the scale also does not “distinguish between individuals as citizens or public”
officials (Rayner et al., 2011: 32).
PSM: Attraction or socialization
Research suggests that some individuals possess “strong norms and emotions about
performing public service” (Brewer et al., 2000: 254). In public administration literature
this innate desire to perform public service is referred to as a “public service ethic”
(Brewer et al., 2000: 254). A public service ethic according to Brewer serves to attract
individuals to government service, challenging the “prevailing assumptions that public
servants are self-interested” (Brewer et al., 2000: 254).
The public service ethic fosters elevated trust by citizens in government and increased
employee motivation and productivity (Brewer et al., 2000: 254). Contestation however
exists over the influence a public service ethic has on PSM, job involvement and job
satisfaction amongst public servants. PSM proponents have positively associated a strong
sense of public duty or public service ethic, with high levels of PSM and in-turn greater
job involvement and productivity (Brewer et al., 2000: 255).
22
Public service motivation shares a positive association with employment in the public
sector (Kjeldsen & Jacobsen, 2012: 899; Perry & Hondeghem, 2008: 6). In 1991,
Chatman conducted a study where she tracked the careers of 171 auditors in eight US
public accounting firms and noted that their values after entering the public accounting
firms gradually grew more similar to their respective organisations’ systems (Kjeldsen &
Jacobsen, 2012). Despite this, PSM exists in both the public and private sectors. PSM
dynamics in the two sectors however vary significantly and the relationship between
PSM and sector-specific employment is a complex one (Kjeldsen & Jacobsen, 2012:
899).
In a longitudinal study with pre- and post-entry Danish physiotherapy students entering
their first jobs in both the public and private sectors, Kjeldsen and Jacobsen (2012)
researched the relationship between PSM and the employment sector in relation to
endogenous values, employment attraction-selection theory, and person-environment fit
theory. Person-environment fit and attraction-selection theorists assert that a fit between
new entrants into either of the two employment sectors can be achieved through either
attraction (organisations embody the same values as prospective applicants) or
‘manufactured’, where “applicants are influenced [socialized] once employed” (Kjeldsen
& Jacobsen, 2008: 900).
With their research Kjeldsen and Jacobsen (2012: 899-900) hypothesized that the higher
an individual’s level of PSM prior to their entering the labour market, the greater their
attraction to the public sector would be; and in-turn the likelihood they would remain in
23
the public sector (Kjeldsen & Jacobson, 2012: 903). Despite this however, these authors
state that all new entrants into the formal labour market – whether it is private or public,
experience a “reality shock” (Kjeldsen & Jacobsen, 2012: 905-906). This reality shock
adversely affects PSM, but is experienced less intensely by individuals entering public
service compared to individuals entering jobs in the private sector (Kjeldsen & Jacobsen,
2012: 905-906).
A “reality shock” according to Blau (1960) is a form of disillusionment experienced by
newcomers to an organisation. Blau tracked the experiences of newly hired social
workers in a US welfare agency (Kjeldsen & Jacobsen, 2012: 905). Respondents in this
study indicated that they applied and accepted the job to help those less fortunate, but
their views and attitudes “were put to a severe test, often resulting in disillusionment and
[a] lack of interest in actually helping clients” (Kjeldsen & Jacobsen, 2012: 905). Blau
(1960: 347) asserted that the reality “that people [service users] are not always honest”
clashed with newcomers’ sense of idealism, which resulted in the “reality shock”.
A key finding in Kjeldsen & Jacobsen’s study was that heightened PSM did not lead to
greater attraction and employment in the public sector (Kjeldsen & Jacobsen, 2012: 913).
Instead their analysis showed that PSM amongst the physiotherapists in their study was
not a strong predictor of attraction to neither the public nor private sectors (Kjeldsen &
Jacobsen, 2012: 917). Their findings further indicate that PSM may play a more
significant role in the choice to “work with public service”, rather than the specific sector
the service is delivered in (Kjeldsen & Jacobsen, 2012: 917).
24
An important aspect of their research sample is that Danish physiotherapists are affiliated
to a profession’s council that possesses the authority to negotiate labour conditions, job
tasks, and salary scales. This means that remuneration in the public and private sectors
are not disparate (Kjeldsen & Jacobsen, 2012: 907). Physiotherapy in Denmark thus
allows for “PSM to be satisfied in [the public and] the private sectors” (Kjeldsen &
Jacobsen, 2012: 917). The choice to enter the public or private sectors appears to be the
result of a combination between an individual’s levels of PSM, job tasks, and the desire
to do good for others (Kjeldsen & Jacobsen, 2012: 917).
The effects of the “reality shock” experienced by newcomers to the public sector are
however less severe than the shock experienced by their private sector counterparts.
Brewer states that,
organizational socialization is an important mechanism for transmitting a
public institutional logic and seeding public service motivation in the
individual. Organizational socialization may quicken an individual’s sense of
public service and inculcate public service-related virtues and norms (Brewer,
2008: 149).
Kjeldsen & Jacobsen’s (2012) findings confirmed that there was a general decline in
PSM in new entrants in both the public and private sectors, which is consistent with
Blau’s conception of the “reality shock”. However, Kjeldsen and Jacobsen (2012: 919920) found the decline in PSM to be higher amongst first-time private sector entrants –
affirming that “public sector employment does not…foster high levels of PSM”, but
instead public sector membership appears to positively contribute to a lesser decline in
the PSM levels of new public sector entrants. But what effect, if any does PSM have on
25
job satisfaction and work turnover in the public sector in the face of strict bureaucratic
processes and policies governing the delivery of public service?
The street-level bureaucrat, job satisfaction, and work turnover
Perfect policy implementation is contingent upon compliance from policy implementers
such as ‘frontline’ public servants or “street-level bureaucrats” in implementing a policy
to achieve a given policy’s intended goals (Hudson & Lowe, 2004: 243). Two schools of
thought dominate the implementation and delivery of policies namely; the top-down
approach and the bottom-up approach (Hudson & Lowe, 2004: 243). Ultimately however
– whether implemented from the top-down or bottom-up, social policies are implemented
by street-level bureaucrats. In this section of the report the impact of the bottom-up and
top-down schools will be discussed and importantly, the effect these different types of
policy implementation has on the motivation of street-level bureaucrats.
Top-down theorists posit that the implementation of policies operates in a rational linear
manner from the top echelons of political power – where policies are conceptualised and
developed to those at the interface of the implementation of a policy, that is, an
acquiescing personnel (Hudson & Lowe, 2004: 244). A system conforming to the topdown management system “assumes a chain of command, a compliant workforce and
objectives that the whole organisation accepts” (Hudson & Lowe, 2004: 248).
During the 60’s and 70’s social scientists started to question the accepted Weberian
notion of politicians being policy makers – at the top of the hierarchy, and civil servants
26
being the policy implementers (Hudson & Lowe, 2004: 246). Social scientists observed
that policies and programmes failed to deliver policy developers’ envisaged outcomes as
a result of civil servants’ direct influence over the implementation of policies and
programmes (Hudson & Lowe, 2004: 246).
Top-down theorists assert that the implementation of policies and programmes is
mediated by “human fallibility and emotion” on the part of managers and their
subordinate personnel which leads to an inevitable failure in Weber’s idea of bureaucracy
being inherently rational (Dunsire, 1990 in Hudson & Lowe, 2004: 247). Taylor (1911 in
Hudson & Lowe, 2004: 248) proposed proper motivation or discipline as an ameliorative
strategy.
However, Elmore (1978 in Hudson & Lowe, 2004: 248) states that even in the most
disciplined chain of command significant room exists for both managers and personnel to
make subjective deductions and use their own discretion. In stark opposition to the topdown school of thought is the bottom-up school of thought where theorists postulate that
human beings possess agency which invariably influences the manner in which a policy
is implemented (Hudson & Lowe, 2004: 249).
Bottom-up theorists thus refute the belief that personnel are mere “cogs in an
organisational machine” that uncritically follow commands (Hudson & Lowe, 2004:
249). Bottom-up theorists moreover argue that the success or failure of a policy occurs at
27
the exact moment of its delivery at the ‘synapse’ of interaction between service users and
so-called ‘street-level bureaucrats’ (Hudson & Lowe, 2004: 249).
Lipsky (1977 in Hudson & Lowe, 2004: 249) argued that the end product of a given
policy is not determined by policy makers but instead the personnel entrusted with the
implementation of a policy where street-level workers’ levels of tolerance and
willingness to adapt determined the outcome of an implemented policy (Hudson & Lowe,
2004: 249-250). Hill (1997 in Hudson & Lowe, 2004: 250) however argues that scant
resources in addition to workers’ discretion and perceptions influence the manner in
which a policy is executed.
Hill states that workers on the frontlines’ efforts are negotiated by resources at their
disposal and the simplification of their tasks to make their jobs more manageable, which
drastically affects the manner in which a policy is implemented (Hudson & Lowe, 2004:
250). The end result is that street-level workers develop informal rules and procedures to
help them cope with the demands of service users, which in-turn influences the manner in
which a policy is implemented (Hudson & Lowe, 2004: 250). Elmore (1978, in Hudson
& Lowe, 2004: 251) put forth the need for “flexibility and sensitivity to the interests of
policy makers, managers and the street-level operatives” to address inherent
incongruences in the top-down and bottom-up approaches.
According to Elmore (1978, in Hudson & Lowe, 2004: 251-252) a single model of
implementation was not a panacea; instead Elmore proposed four models of
28
implementation which each possessed their own advantages and permitted flexibility,
namely; Systems management (power is centralised), Bureaucratic process (power is
dispersed and fragmented), Organisational development (all possess equal responsibility),
and Conflict and bargaining (the distribution of power is unstable and dispersed).
Still other authors put forth the “existence of complex policy networks” or “the need for
interorganisational coordination” to bolster and “perfect” top-down implementation
(Sabatier, 1986 in Hudson & Lowe, 2004: 253). Sabatier (1986 in Hudson & Lowe, 2004:
253-254) asserted that the policy processes should be viewed as comprising a series of
policy networks or “sub-systems” involved at the point of delivery of a policy.
A criticism of this approach however is that different approaches to policy
implementation are based on disparate value basis, where a failure to reconcile these
values would not lead to a singular approach to effective policy implementation (Hudson
& Lowe, 2004: 254). Networks in practice however is considered a difficult practice as it
requires the coordinating of complex networks and finding balance between competing
networks’ needs, goals, and objectives (Hudson & Lowe, 2004, 256).
In recent times, public organisations have embarked on devising strategies to attract “the
next generation of employees” (Bright, 2008: 149). To address this need for new recruits,
recruiters have converged on PSM and its tenets in a bid to find individuals best suited to
public sector employment (Bright, 2008: 149). Bright examined the relationship between
PSM, job satisfaction and turnover intentions and the mediating role of person-
29
organisation fit (Bright, 2008: 150). According to Bright (2008: 150); “job satisfaction
and turnover intentions are reflections of the outlook that employees have about their
employment”. In a study conducted by Brewer et al (2000: 260) they established that a
tenuous link exists between monetary reward, job satisfaction and work turnover.
They found that non-monetary reward such as sound relationships with co-workers and
supervisors, promotion opportunities, and opportunities for professional development
contributed most to employee job satisfaction and in-turn higher levels of PSM (Bright,
2008: 150-151). Individuals with higher levels of PSM exhibited greater tolerance of
bureaucratic processes and were generally more satisfied in their jobs (Bright, 2008:
151).
Studies have however refuted the positive relationship between high levels of PSM and
longevity in public sector employment. These studies suggest that the longer an
individual’s tenure in the public sector, the more likely that individual would be to
experience a lowered sense of job satisfaction either as a result of worker burnout or the
constant interference of formal government rules leading ultimately to the exit from
government employment (Blau, 1960; Bright, 2008: 150; Kjeldsen &.Jacobsen, 2012:
906).
Bright postulates that the “person-organisation” fit will enhance the relationship between
“public service motivation, tenure, and job satisfaction” (Bright, 2008: 152). Bright
(2008: 152) further contends that congruence has to exist between the personal goals of
30
individuals entering the public sector and organizational goals. That is, congruence
operates on a supplementary (individuals are attracted by organizations whose goals are
akin to their own) and a complimentary level (congruence is achieved when the
organisation meets important needs of the individual through tasks and resources)
(Bright, 2008: 152).
This, in Bright’s view translates into greater person-organisation fit and higher levels of
PSM. In contrast to Blau’s (1960) conception of the “reality shock”, Bright (2008: 152)
further asserted that poor person-organisation fit contributes to lower job satisfaction and
turnover, and shorter tenures in the public sector
Extrinsic reward vs. public good
It is widely accepted in the public administration community that public sector employees
place lesser value on extrinsic rewards as opposed to intrinsic rewards when compared to
their private sector counterparts (Houston, 2000; Perry & Wise, 1990). Wright (2007: 54)
states that increased employee work motivation is directly related to the importance a
public sector employee attaches to an organisations mission; with extrinsic rewards
(financial incentive) having little influence over employee work motivation. In a study
conducted by Wright with public sector employees; he found that employees that placed
higher value on public service as opposed to financial reward exhibited higher levels of
commitment to the organisation (Wright, 2007: 54).
31
These individuals also tended to remain in their public sector jobs for longer. Highly
motivated employees were those that clearly understood their tasks and perceived their
tasks to be important and achievable; as the more achievable a task was perceived to be,
the greater the perceived sense of job satisfaction they experienced (Wright, 2007: 55). In
the same study however, respondents indicated that performance-contingent incentives
increased the “degree of importance [they] placed on their jobs” (Wright, 2007: 60). This
suggests that extrinsic reward as a means of motivation was not something unique to the
private sector, but acted as a motivation catalyst in the public sector as well.
The decline in the motivation and job performance of public sector employees has seen
the public sector looking to the private sector for ‘tools’ to motivate its employees
(Houston, 2000: 713). These ‘tools’ took the form of financial reward intended to
enhance public employees’ job performance and work turnover (Houston, 2000: 713). As
Brewer et al (2000: 260) however point out the nominal influence of extrinsic reward did
not contribute to employee job satisfaction or higher levels of worker turnover. What then
keeps individuals in public sector employment?
Job security
Public sector employment has long been regarded as “a safe harbour, where the less
skilled and undermotivated can realize a middle-class life” (Davis, 2010: 887). Davis
(2010: 888) asserts that public sector employment offers individuals lacking the skills to
compete in the private sector, a safety net through job security along with the promise of
32
remuneration packages equal or better than individuals in the private sector in similar
positions.
Davis (2010: 890) further contends that higher remuneration drives the ambitions of
individuals in the private sector, where public sector employees see less of a need to
perform as a result of comfortable salaries and stable benefits. Liu and Tang (2011)
furthered this premise by examining the relationship between the effects of money on
PSM, job satisfaction, and work turnover amongst Chinese government officials. As
found by Houston (2000), Liu and Tang (2011) too found that extrinsic rewards could
raise the intrinsic motivation of public sector employees, but this did not offer an
explanation why Chinese government officials remained in public service; often their
entire lives.
In China the prevailing perception of public servants is that they are lazy individuals that
enter the public sector to gain “life-long employment” and job security with the lowest
levels of work turnover (Liu & Tang, 2011: 721). Liu and Tang (2011) established a
positive relationship between PSM, job satisfaction, and “the love of money” amongst
public sector employees in China. According to Liu and Tang (2011: 721-723), public
sector employees’ level of work turnover is directly related to how low or high their
salaries are - government jobs offer the best salaries for the lowest levels of efforts.
33
For the public servants in Liu and Tang’s study, their low rate of work turnover was
justified by the low salaries they are paid, and this is what increases the appeal of public
sector employment in China (Liu & Tang, 2011: 723).
PSM and New Public Management
During the late 1970’s and throughout the 1980’s in countries such as the United
Kingdom, United States, Australia, and New Zealand the pursuit to improve the
efficiency of public service grew out of premise that “private bureaucracies are more
efficient than government bureaucracies” at delivering public services (Meier & Hill,
2005: 55). In Britain for example under the Thatcher administration during the early
1980’s the government deemed the operation of a telephone system not to be a function
of government which resulted in the contracting of its telephone system to the newly
privatized British Telecom corporation (Meier & Hill, 2005: 55). By the late 1980’s most
countries started to adopt policies which assumed that human beings were fundamentally
economically motivated. As Le Grand (1997: 149) put it;
these changes are in part the result of a fundamental shift in policy-makers’
beliefs concerning human motivation and behaviour. People who finance,
operate and use the welfare state are no longer assumed to be either public
spirited altruists (knights) or possible recipients of state largesse (pawns);
instead they are all considered to be in one way or another self-interested
(knaves).
Confidence in governments was ebbing, with a significant decline in citizens wanting to
pursue a job in public service and a rising belief that the private sector could do a better
job of delivering public services (Osborne & Gaebler, 1992: 1). Since the neoliberal turn,
34
globally, governments are searching for innovative ways to “modernize” public sector
service delivery, and heighten public servants’ sense of accountability and recommitment to public service (Perry & Hondeghem, 2008: 3; Ruiters & Van Niekerk,
2012) through elaborate performance management systems (Newman et al., 2008).
With this modernisation or “new public management model” governments shifted
governmental functions and responsibilities to the private sector – the rationale being that
private bureaucracies through outsourcing and contracting function more efficiently than
government bureaucracies, are more transparent, provided public service users with
greater freedom of choice, decentralized authority, and encouraged competition between
public service providers (Clarke & Newman, 1997: 21; Hood, 1991: 8; Meier and Hill,
2005: 55; Osborne & Gaebler, 1992: 19-20). This new form of managerialism was
introduced and aggressively implemented in the United States and the United Kingdom
under the Reagan and Thatcher administrations respectively to
slow down or reverse government growth in terms of overt public spending
and staffing [and] shift toward privatization and quasi-privatization and away
from core government institutions (Hood, 1991: 3).
Generally regarded as inefficient (Hood, 1991: 3, Osborne & Gaebler, 1992: 86),
governments have rushed to accept the new public management paradigm but many have
not been able to fully implement its nostrums (Pollitt & Bouckaert, 2011).
New public management was regarded as more damaging to public service ethos. The
cutting of government staff numbers led to growing feelings of discontent amongst public
service users and public servants alike (Pollitt, 1990: 179-180). Managers negotiated
35
contracts with service providers and purchased “the best value for money” services,
which they perceived ‘consumers’ needed from competing service providers, which
“gave managers in the providing agencies influence over the rank-and-file professional
service providers” (Pollitt, 1990: 180). This divesting of public function to the private
sector led to a lack of control over budgets, corruption, and the general failure to deliver –
as promised, a constantly high level of service to service users (Hood, 1991: 9).
This meant that the quality and choice of public services was mediated by ‘performancebased accountability’ (Polidano, 1999: 2) and how well or poorly a public service
provider rendered a public service, which in the process ignored public need and the
equal delivery of public service (Pollitt, 1990: 180). The outsourcing of government
services created opportunities for corruption, poor to no accountability, and “promoted
the career interests of top officials [managers] rather than the mass of low-level public
sector staff” (Hood, 1991: 9).
New public management was also less universal and transferable than initially assumed,
particularly in developing countries such as Uganda and South Africa already
experimenting with the model (Hood, 1991, 9; Polidano, 1999: 7). To ‘market’ their
public service agencies the new public management model requires that public service
managers assume roles and possess particular skill sets they have not had any formal
training for (Pollitt, 1990: 181). This general lack of capacity, along with corruption, and
poorly paid lower level public servants not only highlighted the inappropriateness of new
public management in developing countries, but also saw the exit of talented public
36
servants from government to non-government organisations or corporations (Polidano,
1999: 16).
Conclusion
In this chapter I introduced the reader to the central concepts in my study, that is, I
discussed what PSM is and the role it plays in attracting individuals to public sector
employment, and the mediating effect of financial incentive on PSM. I considered
various theories explaining the decline of public service motivation generally.
37
Chapter three: Social work in the South African context
The Government of National Unity is committed to continually improve the
lives of the people of South Africa through a transformed public service
which is representative, coherent, transparent, efficient, effective, accountable
and responsive to the needs of all. (RSA, The White Paper on the
Transformation of the Public Service 1995)
This chapter provides the reader with a historical perspective of public service in South
Africa before and after apartheid. It will be followed by a brief history of social work and
how it evolved post-1994 in South Africa.
Public service in South Africa pre-1994
After 1948, the South African public service expanded rapidly under apartheid as the
number of government departments and parastatals grew; creating the need for more
personnel (Posel, 1999: 103). The “widening powers and responsibilities being allocated”
to the public sector saw positions being filled by a white public sector workforce that was
increasingly less competent (Posel, 1999: 103). The National Party endeavored to
‘Afrikanerize’ the public sector and by the late 1960’s and the 1970’s introduced a
policy of affirmative action to secure employment opportunities for white Afrikaners in
the public sector (Posel, 1999: 104). Afrikaners were recruited to occupy positions of
power, where English-speaking public servants discouraged “or forcibly prevented, from
holding office – particularly those in powerful prominent positions” (Posel, 1999: 104).
However, with the rapid expanse of the state government positions could not be filled fast
enough. English-speaking government employees; who formed a large proportion of the
38
public sector workforce, were exiting public service (Posel, 1999: 105). By 1960 the
government reported 5000 vacancies. A further growing concern was that government
was losing more and more qualified personnel, whose positions often went unfilled
(Posel, 1999: 105-106). By 1966 of the 6305 individuals that joined the public service,
5557 government employees resigned from public service (Posel, 1999: 106).
Another reason for the staff shortages in government was the low matriculation rate
amongst Afrikaners. Afrikaners that did possess any qualifications opted to seek more
lucrative employment opportunities in the private sector (Posel, 1999: 107), which placed
further strain on the still expanding state. By 1975 government reported that more people
were leaving the public service than joining it (Posel, 1999: 107). “Deteriorating staff
shortages had devastating effects on labour productivity and efficiency within the public
service.”(Posel, 1999: 107). The significant white staff shortages during the 1960’s
opened the way for an influx of Black public servants, albeit in low ranking positions.
During the 1970’s the public service was marked by low worker morale, overloaded staff,
underpaid public servants – particularly Black and female public servants. The Public
service commission pressured the National party to recruit individuals from the private
sector to fill higher level senior positions in government (Posel, 1999: 109-112). This
went against government’s conventional system of employee promotion; where public
servants were promoted based on years of service.
39
Proper grievance procedures were also not followed and individuals were often dismissed
without any formal reason (Posel, 1999: 115). By the 1980’s, the dominant workers
union, the Public Service Association only forwarded the interests of its white
constituents, further contributing to the frustrations of Black and female public servants
(Posel, 1999: 116-117).
[The only] chance that ill-trained, unproductive civil servants had of personal
success was to work the system from within, currying favour with their
superiors, rather than relying on a toothless staff association to take up their
case within the rules of an anachronistic system of consultations (Posel, 1999:
118).
Public service delivery under the former apartheid government was adversely affected
by:
rigid racial and ethnic segregation, a serious lack of representivity,
fragmentation and duplication, corruption and mismanagement of resources,
poor and outdated management practices, a regulatory bureaucratic culture,
lack of accountability and transparency, poorly paid and demotivated staff
and conflictual labour relations (Bardill, 2000: 104).
Social work
Social work as a profession emerged during the nineteenth century predominantly as an
expression
of
religion
(Earle,
2007:
14-15;
Patel,
2005).
The
increasing
professionalization of social activism as “work” during the twentieth century, however,
has resulted in social work services being rendered either directly by the state or the NGO
sector (Earle, 2007: 15). State services were racialised with each population group
accorded different proportions of expenditure: in the 1980s’ whites received pensions of
almost twice the amount for Africans (Patel, 2005: 72).
40
Prior to 1994, social work services in the non-government sector consisted of the formal
voluntary or private welfare sector and the informal or alternative welfare sector
(Lombard & Gray, 2008). Although both sectors offered social services to South
Africans, there were distinct differences in the formation, function and ideologies of these
sectors. These differences are important to note in the period leading up to the
dismantling of the apartheid system and how social work evolved and influenced welfare
policy post-1994.
Social work salaries in the formal voluntary sector were funded by the apartheid
government. (Lombard & Gray, 2008). Social workers employed in this sector mainly
focused on casework and statutory work. The informal welfare sector consisted mainly of
community-based organizations that received foreign funding (Lombard & Gray, 2008;
Hesjidal, 2011). The informal welfare sector established itself independently from the
formal welfare sector and focused on the needs of black communities who were
neglected by the apartheid system. The sector grew as the struggle against the apartheid
regime deepened in the 1980’s (Lombard & Gray 2008).
The restructuring of Social Work post-1994
The African National Congress (ANC) was elected in the first democratic elections in
1994, and took on the mammoth task of redressing inequalities created by the former
apartheid regime. The country’s first democratic government inherited a public service in
crisis, due mainly to racial inequalities engineered by the erstwhile apartheid regime
41
(Bardill, 2000: 103-104; Cameron & Tapscott, 2000). The newly elected government
immediately identified the need “for embarking upon a radical and comprehensive
process of administrative transformation and reform” (Bardill, 2000: 104) in public
service to offset inequalities of the past (The White Paper on the Transformation of the
Public Service, 1995).
The ANC election manifesto focused on social transformation as outlined in the
Reconstruction and Development Program (RDP), which was replaced within three years
by the Growth Employment and Redistribution strategy (GEAR) (Patel, 2005). The
underlying principles of the RDP remained important in the development of welfare
policies. The White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service (1995) grew out of
the identification of this need for redress and public service transformation and provided
the policy framework for the improvement in the standard of public services and public
service delivery (Bardill, 2000: 104). With government’s macro-economic strategy
GEAR (Growth, Empowerment and Redistribution), the transformation of the public
service had become:
much more budget-driven, with goals such as cost-cutting, right-sizing and
privatization assuming a much more pre-eminent position (Bardill, 2000:
106).
Moreover, a lack of competent managers, poorly skilled lower level staff, an absence of
responsibility and accountability, and obsolete human resource processes further
threatened the transformation of the public service (Bardill, 2000: 107).
42
In 2005 approximately 11 years into our democracy South Africa still faced deep
challenges with regard to public service reform and improved public service delivery
(Fraser-Moleketi, 2005; Ruiters, 2006). Lindiwe Sisulu, the Minister of Public Service
and Administration in 2013 along with research by the Department of Public Service and
Administration (DPSA) suggests that the prevailing perception of public service has
undergone little change (Letsoalo, 2013).
Public service is regarded as being rendered by an under-skilled, underproductive public
workforce; where public service is marred by patronage, cadre deployment, corruption
and a culture of non-accountability (The Department of Public Service and
Administration, 2010). This pervasive feeling of discontent over the quality of public
service raises particular concerns around the level of competence, and commitment of
public servants to realizing government’s mission as contained in The White Paper on the
Transformation of the Public Service (1995).
The Department of Welfare endorsed the transformation of welfare services, to be more
inclusive of previously marginalized groups. Under the apartheid government, the social
work profession had support and was professionally organized and regulated by the
Council for Social Work (Lombard & Gray, 2008). Social workers were encouraged to
go beyond a broker/mediator role but also to become advocates for change, and be
educators and mobilisers of community groups (Patel, 2005: 148-9).
With the
transformation agenda of the ANC, it became necessary to broaden the occupational base
43
of social services and ultimately led to the creation of the South African Council for
Social Service Professions (Lombard & Gray, 2008).
The National Coalition of Social Services (NACOSS) was formed and took over the
advocacy role from the Welfare Liaison Committee (WLC 1993-1995) in 1995 to
advance the interests of the formal voluntary sector (Lombard & Gray, 2008). These
attempts however were not successful, as government support for the sector declined and
subsidies for social work posts were not on par with social work posts in government
(Lombard & Gray, 2008). As a consequence, a large proportion of social workers sought
employment in the government sector where remuneration was more attractive, while
other moved overseas (Lombard & Gray, 2008).
The process of transformation in social work brought with it several challenges. Social
work was formerly viewed as an elitist profession regulated and controlled by the
nationalist government; also, social workers were criticized for lacking community work
skills (Lombard & Gray, 2008). Transforming social work required the retraining of
social workers in a developmental paradigm; and the process of setting educational
standards was priority rather than having social workers perform administrative work
such as assisting clients with applying for grants (Patel, 2005).
Occupational categories such as child and youth care workers, community development
workers shared in the task of delivering social services to previously disadvantaged
communities as part of government’s new developmental approach.
44
The status of these occupational categories were elevated by the White Paper for Social
Welfare and played an important role in the transformation agenda. Where social work
initially focused on therapeutic work in urban areas, these occupational groups worked at
the grassroots level where the need for social services was most acute. The informal
welfare sector, which involved ngos, was well supported by the ANC government, and
their role in the service provision during apartheid were acknowledged and commended.
The South African National Non-Governmental Organizations Coalition (SANGOCO)
was formed in 1995, representing the informal welfare sector and influencing welfare
policies and the new developmental approach. With the dismantling of apartheid, came a
need to restructure social work services to become more inclusive and shift towards an
approach that was more developmental.
While social work as a profession may have been marginalized; the advent of a
democratic form of governance brought with it the need for a shift towards development.
During the policy formulation stages, it became evident that the social service professions
would solidify its role in the transformation agenda of the new democratic era. Former
president Thabo Mbeki noted in his State of the Nation Address in February 2007, the
critical role of social workers in the developmental approach and the programmes
outlined in his address (Earle, 2008: 5). This public endorsement of social work
highlighted the need for more social workers.
45
In 2005, 11 111 social workers were registered with the Council for Social Service
Professions with a social worker-to-population ratio of 23.6: 100 000 (Earle, 2008: 60).
Based on estimated population growth; death and retirement social workers would have
to increase by 3282 by 2015 to maintain the social worker-to-population ratio (ibid). The
number of social workers against population highlights the importance of attracting and
recruiting students to consider social work as a career but also the nature and workload
those potential students would have to consider. Earle (2008: 60) found that in 2005 the
highest vacancy rates were in Kwazulu-Natal (52.1 percent) and the Eastern Cape (51.0
percent) and;
[w]orryingly disaggregation of vacancies by salary level shows that the
largest proportion of vacancies (46.9 percent) is also for the level of greatest
demand – entry level 7.
The high vacancy rate further exacerbated the challenges associated with the demand and
supply of social work services and placed additional pressure on an already strained
profession and the existing labour market. Social work increasingly became NGO-ised.
In the Eastern Cape for example, over 1000 non-profit organisations and nongovernmental organisations provided social services (Hesjedal, 2011: 104).
Social work a scarce skill
Following the re-structuring of social work post-1994, the profession adopted the policy
directive of a developmental state. Services were re-directed towards previously
disadvantaged communities. Development included redressing past injustices and the
need for trained social workers to implement the developmental policies became
apparent. The media was replete with articles alluding to the shortage of social workers
46
and focused on a range of issues impacting the profession, that is, poor salaries and work
conditions (Earle, 2008: 6).
The erstwhile Minister of Social Development Zola Skweyiya was instrumental in having
social work declared a scarce skill in 2003, and emphasised the role of social workers in
communities affected by HIV/AIDS (City Press 2007, in Earle, 2008: 6). The minister
recognised that the increasing demand for social services required the training of more
social workers.
In 2007, erstwhile President Thabo Mbeki highlighted the need for more trained social
workers to support the economic and social reform programmes initiated by government
(Earle, 2008: 5). This state of the nation address was the highest public acknowledgement
that there is a shortage of social workers required to meet the social and economic reform
programmes amongst the previously disadvantaged.
A number of academic journal articles suggested that high case loads of social workers
placed immense stress and frustration on professionals (Naidoo & Kasiram, 2006;
Lombard, 2005a; Brown & Neku, 2005, in Earle, 2008). High case loads are amongst the
many challenges experienced by social workers, but has contributed significantly on the
efficient delivery of social services. Inevitably, work conditions impacted negatively on
productivity and the limited human resources contributed to low job satisfaction.
47
Having declared social work a scarce skill, government recognised the need to attract
more people to the profession and this led to the development of a Recruitment and
Retention Strategy. Four important aspects were considered in the development of the
strategy, i.e. salaries, work conditions, professional identity and migration (Earle, 2008).
The Department of Social Development prioritized the re-grading of social workers as
part of its Recruitment and Retention Strategy – entry level social worker salary
increased from level 6 to level 7 (Earle, 2008:70). Entry level salaries for social workers
attracted newly qualified professionals to the public service, as salaries remained
unchanged in NGO’s. Social workers salaries were significantly better than that of their
counterparts in the NGO sector, resulting in social workers seeking public services
employment which was considered more prestigious and rewarding.
The work conditions of social workers employed in the public and private sectors were
generally poor. Social workers became frustrated with the increasing needs of
communities and lack of resources available to meet these needs (Earle, 2008: 72). Social
workers generally had to contend with poor operational support and having to deal with
crises on a daily basis, which often lead to stress, anxiety, burnout and in some cases
malpractice (Earle, 2008: 73). The strategy developed by the Department of Social
Development sought to attract more social workers to meet the increasing demand, and
effectively reduce the levels of stress on those already employed.
48
With the establishment of the social service professions, social worker’s roles became
unclear and ambiguous (Earle, 2008: 74). Roles needed to be clearly defined for child and
youth care workers, community development workers, social auxiliary workers as well as
social workers. The areas of work overlapped and social workers viewed their
professional identity as an important aspect of performing work in the public services.
The challenges mentioned in term of salaries and poor work conditions contributed
significantly to the amount of social workers immigrating to other countries. In addition
to poor work conditions and salaries, social workers’ decision to leave South Africa was
also impacted by personal reasons such as the crime rate and level of education for their
offspring’s (Earle, 2008). South Africa was losing skills to first world countries, in a
situation where these skills were vital to advance to social and economic programmes to
improve the lives of previously disadvantaged. The government realised that the skills
required to implement these policies were being lost and the Recruitment and Retention
Strategy aimed to address these problems.
The Retention Strategy
The Minister of Social Development, Bathabile Dlamini, noted in her speech at an oath
taking ceremony of social work students that the call for accelerated training of social
workers by erstwhile Minister Dr. Skweyiya resulted in the Draft Scarce Skills Policy
Framework which identified social work as a scarce and critical skill (Department of
Social Development, 2013). The Minister further noted the budget for the Social Work
Bursary Scheme, has increased from R50 million since its inception in 2007 to R250
49
million in 2013. This is indicative of the government’s commitment to the training of
social workers to meet the demands of this scarce profession.
Minister Dlamini highlighted the important role social workers play and emphasized the
contribution in implementing the National Development Plan. The Minister described
social work as a “calling” and for social workers to “elevate service to others above selfinterest” (Department of Social Development, 2013). The minister noted that although
social work as a profession “does not carry the same profile as law or medicine, it is a
profession where humility, quality and indeed, excellence are pre-requisites”
(Department of Social Development, 2013).
Occupation Specific Dispensation
The Occupations Specific Dispensation (OSD) was developed to improve the
remuneration and basic conditions of service for occupation groups to attract and retain
professionals in the public service (Resolution 1 of 2007 Public Service Co-ordinating
Bargaining Council). Social work as a profession was considered to be a scarce skill and
was included in the OSD process. OSD was implemented for social workers employed in
the public service who are registered with the South African Council for Social Service
Profession (SACSSP). OSD intended to improve career pathing and fast track grade
progressions without having to apply for senior posts. OSD for social workers was
implemented on 1 April 2008.
50
Resolution 1 of 2009 of the Public Health and Social Development Sectoral Bargaining
Council (PHSDSBC) outlines the agreement on the implementation of OSD for social
workers (Resolution 1 of 2007 Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council). The
agreement highlights the importance of satisfactory job performance as an incentive to
progress to higher salary notches and grades. Social workers qualify for a three percent
increase every second year provided that the employee performed satisfactory. A
production social worker could also progress to a higher salary grade, if they performed
above expectation for four consecutive performance cycles within a five year period.
Social workers who perform their work satisfactorily may still progress to a higher salary
grade after 10 years. A further rationale for the OSD strategy was the improvement of
public service through the aforementioned incentives.
Table 1: Remuneration scales
REMUNERATION
EXPERIENCE:
GRADE 1: R 183 495 per annum
None.
GRADE 2: R 225 669 per annum A minimum of 10 years appropriate experience in
social work after registration as a Social Worker with the SACSSP.
GRADE 3: R 276 294 per annum A minimum of 20 years appropriate experience in
social work after registration as a Social Worker with the SACSSP.
GRADE 4: R 339 804 per annum A minimum of 30 years appropriate experience in
social work after registration as a Social Worker with the SACSSP.
(source: adapted from social work job advertisement www.capegateway.gov.za , 2014)
51
Conclusion
This chapter contextualised the profession of social work. It furthermore provided the
reader with a historical overview of the social work profession as well as the structure of
social work post-1994. The social work retention strategy was discussed and the
occupation specific dispensation in term of the remuneration of social workers. In this
chapter I discussed extrinsic factors contributing to PSM.
52
Chapter four: Research findings
Introduction
In this chapter I will be discussing the various themes that emerged during interviews
with social workers. The analysis is structured as follows. In the first section of this
chapter I consider the reasons why social workers entered social work. The importance of
this theme is that it provided me with initial insight into reasons why participants chose to
enter a helping profession such as social work and not another helping profession such as
psychology or even medicine, which are considered to be more prestigious and lucrative
professions than social work.
This was particularly important as all of the participants alluded to being underpaid as
professionals who, like their better remunerated counterparts, also had university degrees.
Secondly I consider the reasons why participants entered employment in the public
sector. PSM literature states that individuals with high levels of PSM are naturally
inclined to seeking employment in the public sector, as public service performed in the
public sector was the highest expression of performing civic duty.
The link between public sector employment and high levels of PSM was a central theme
in the PSM literature. Exploring this concept in the South African context was important
as the majority of PSM theory is based on studies that have been conducted abroad. It
was therefore essential that I explore this concept in the South African context to better
53
understand why individuals entered social work in public sector in the South African
context.
In the third section of this chapter I consider reasons for a decline in PSM amongst
participants. Each participant’s entire work history at the site was taken into
consideration. In the PSM construct, public sector employment reinforces the
identification between the individual and public sector institutions. This is due to
individuals sharing the same values as those espoused by the organization, which in turn
heightens an individual’s level of PSM. This heightening of PSM is further achieved by
limiting the reality shock effect new public sector entrants experience when starting out
in the public sector.
According to PSM literature, this is unique to the public sector where the mentoring of
new public sector entrants acts as a buffer between the reality of working with clients and
the individual. In this study I explored participants’ perceptions of the public sector and
public sector employment before entering public sector employment. During the
interviews there was an element of reverence in participants’ descriptions of their
perceptions of the public sector and public sector employment prior to entering public
service. This is consistent with PSM theorists, who highlight the importance of the
combination of altruistic motives, the esteem with which public sector employment is
perceived, and the role of mentoring and retaining public sector servants.
54
In the fourth section of my analysis I consider the impact of extrinsic reward on
participants’ motivation. Throughout my analysis I will be citing excerpts from my
interviews with participants, as well as PSM literature so as to draw comparisons between
the PSM theory and the experiences of the participants.
Research results
1. Why social work?
Social work, as an academic discipline is offered at all of the major universities in the
Western Cape. The social work course is offered as a degree course, where successful
university applicants would have to complete four years of full-time study in order to
obtain a social work degree and practice as registered social worker practitioners. In
response to the question; “how did you choose to do social work as your course of
study?” responses varied from participant to participant.
For many of the participants social work was not a first career option, which instead was
law or psychology. Though seemingly disparate career options, like social work, the
academic disciplines of law and psychology share many value commonalities with social
work and may be subsumed in the category of helping professions. Common values
shared by these helping professions include equality, empathy, social justice, and
advocacy. Although social work was not research participants’ first career choice, nine
out of the 11 participants were inclined to entering a career in a helping profession.
55
Social work was considered a calling by participants in my study. Some participants felt
that social work was a calling prior to entering the profession where others – those who
had chosen social work as a second career option, appeared to arrive at this realization
after entering the profession. Proponents of PSM posit that an individual’s age, gender,
education, socialization, and religion are important anteceding factors positively affecting
individuals’ levels of PSM and attraction to public service and the public sector (DeHartDavis et al., 2006: 875; Perry & Hondeghem, 2008: 7).
This innate desire to serve civil society gives rise to what Brewer et al. (2000: 254) terms
a public service ethic that in turn heightens the attraction between the individual and
government employment – the highest platform at which to render public service. Public
servants are viewed as “possessing superior benevolence, wisdom, and administrative
ability” (Kim, 2009: 841).
The following excerpts are from participants six and 10. Both participants six – age 42
and participant 10 – aged 29, were Coloured female social workers with 21- and 5-years
of experience respectively.
I: “How did you choose social work as your course of study?”
P6: “I think at the time when I applied at UWC I had two options. My first
choice was law and then social work was the second option. I was
56
accepted into the social work faculty and that’s how I ended up being a
social worker, but I still have an interest in the law field [laughing]. I
visited family in the Eastern Cape; I think I was Standard nine [grade 11]
at the time. I met up with a social worker and she was looking for a
volunteer to come and help in the office doing admin work, so I went in
and I done some admin work, and I saw that she [social worker] was
interviewing people, and the whole idea was ‘you helping people’ so I
thought that that would be a good [career] option. I was always inclined
to helping people”
P10: “I prayed, and then I actually had a dream where I performed the
duties of a social worker. And after that dream I actually got a scripture.
No, no before the dream I got a scripture – Psalm 32, verse 8; there you’ll
see what I mean. And that really steered me into this direction. You can
say that this was a calling for me.”
In the PSM construct individuals that enter public service have a predisposition to
perform public service in response to altruistic motives rooted in public institutions
(Perry & Wise, 1990: 368; Perry & Hondeghem, 2008: 4; Christensen & Wright, 2011:
723; Kim, 2009: 839; Georgellis et al., 2011: 487). These individuals moreover have a
dedication to serving the public interest through a strong sense of “loyalty to duty and to
the government as a whole” (Perry & Wise, 1990: 369-370).
57
All participants in my study however stated that they would be willing to leave the social
work profession as well as government employment. The participants in my study
appeared to have grown progressively disenchanted with social work as a profession and
embittered towards public service generally the more time they spent in public service.
2. Government as a safe harbor and the public sector as the only option.
One objective with this study was to explore the reasons why individuals entered the
public sector as opposed working in the private sector. PSM literature suggests that
altruistic and pro-social behaviour; behaviour associated with PSM can find expression in
the private and public sectors, the difference being that individuals with high levels of
PSM have a greater inclination to entering public service (Perry & Hondeghem, 2008: 7).
Other authors however have found high levels of PSM a poor predictor of the
employment sector an individual opts to enter, particularly if work conditions and
remuneration packages are similar in both sectors (Kjeldsen & Jacobsen, 2012: 917).
In Kjeldsen and Jacobsen’s (2012) study with Danish physiotherapists they examined the
effect of socialization on attraction to public sector employment. They found that even
though the physiotherapists in their study had high levels of PSM, they were not
necessarily attracted to public sector employment. In Denmark, the salaries and
conditions of employment for physiotherapists are very similar for private and public
sector employees.
58
Still other authors posit that high levels of PSM alone will not determine whether an
individual is drawn to public sector employment, but instead cite the salaries
governments offer potential civil servants as a key incentive affecting the allure of public
sector employment (Davis, 2010: 888; Liu & Tang, 2011: 721-723).
In the South African context this however was not the case. Governments offer less- or
unskilled, under-motivated individuals the opportunity to earn a wage and standard of
living that is comparatively better than their private sector counterparts (Davis, 2010:
887; Liu & Tang, 2011: 721-723; Posel, 1999: 107). The social workers in my study were
not unskilled public servants and all possessed at least a four-year university degree. The
public sector, with its salary scales for social workers however appears to disregard the
four-year degree social workers had to obtain in order to practice as social workers
(Earle, 2008).
Salaries for social workers in the NGO sector are significantly lower than those offered in
the public sector (Earle, 2008). Although government employment by no means offered
any promise of affluence or even a comfortable standard of living, the possibility of
earning more money and a generally better remuneration package is what attracted social
workers in my study to public sector employment as opposed to employment in the NGO
sector. Participants four, seven, and nine were male social workers aged 25-, 27-, and 31years respectively. Participants four and nine were Coloured males, and participant
number seven was a Black African male.
59
P9: “Money didn’t really play a role in terms of making that decision [to
study social work], although it [money] impacts now. I just sometimes
think that we could be remunerated more. I don’t know if this is on the
topic or off the topic [laughing]; in terms of remuneration, when you see
someone else doing a [different] four-year degree earning more than you,
you know… [long pause] I think it’s just that it sometimes makes you feel
like your degree is not as important as someone else’s [who studied a
different degree].”
P7: “You know what, when you ask many people [social workers] they
will tell you the NGO sector doesn’t pay more than the government. Now
that was the first option to work for government.”
In addition to the higher salaries offered by government employment, the security offered
by government employment also attracted participants in this study.
P6: “I have aunts who are teachers and it was always said that if you’re a
public servant you have job security [laughing]. So that was in the back of
my mind, but I didn’t think I would get in [into government] straight from
university.”
P10: “I actually said I wanted to work in government. To be honest they
[government employees] earn more money than an NGO. We normally did
60
our practical at the NGO’s; you hear things when you speak to the social
workers who are qualified and working while you a student. I mean you’re
being supervised by them so that’s how you heard about these things.”
Although the higher salaries and job security offered by government employment
attracted participants to government employment, these benefits did not translate into a
sense of job satisfaction:
P4: “the job security, benefits, the salary – the salary sucks but compared
to somebody from [NGO name] or [NGO name] it looks fantastic…. You
just skate by, you have no worries, and no-one is gonna touch you because
the expectations on you are so low. It’s also bad because it eats at your
personal drive and motivation and you get sucked into the negative
organizational culture.”
It was important for the social workers to earn more money, or at least a salary which
they felt acknowledged their professional qualifications. The decision to enter
government employment then would seem an obvious one. Government employment
offered salaries far more superior to the NGO sector. Earning a better salary definitely
determined the sector the social workers would choose to work in.
However, prior to entering the labour market, earning a good salary was not a top priority
for the social workers interviewed. Instead putting theory learnt into practice, developing
61
concrete interventions to alleviate the plight of the disenfranchised and socially excluded,
and realising professional values and principles through interaction with clients seemed
to be of greater importance to the social workers as this participant, a 31-year-old male
social worker with six years social work experience explained:
I wanted to help people, and social work for me was that element. There was
a theoretical base we needed to work from, but you were in the community,
you needed to do house visits, you know that type of thing. Going to a place
where there’s nothing and leaving there seeing that you’ve done something. I
didn’t plan; I think I didn’t plan on entering…[pause] I didn’t go into social
work planning to enter government as a social worker. (Interview 9)
A keen innate desire to help and to make a difference was a sentiment shared by all
participants. This inclination is consistent with the PSM theory that explains why
individuals with high levels of PSM feel a need to promote and protect the welfare of
others. Attraction to public sector employment is automatic for these individuals
according to PSM literature. Fulfilling innate altruistic values through achieving the
organizational mission of a given public institution is intrinsically rewarding for these
persons; extrinsic incentive such as financial reward is irrelevant (Houston, 2000; Perry
& Wise, 1990).
The promise of greater extrinsic reward motivated social workers in my study to enter the
public sector. The PSM literature does not discern between public sector employees with
tertiary level educational qualifications and public sector servants without any
qualifications. Historically, the public sector in the South African context has been
62
known to be a safe-harbour for unskilled staff (Bardill, 2000: 107; Posel, 1999: 118) as
participant 11, a 60-year-old Coloured male social work manager explained;
You could walk into the public service. You could walk in, declare you were
looking for a job and you were accepted immediately. There was no such a
thing as interviews, there was no such a thing as looking at an appointment
[or] vacancy list, nothing.
In the South African context in government one could have no formal qualifications
(besides a grade 12 certificate), gain permanent employment along with fringe benefits
such as a housing subsidy and medical insurance and earn an entry-level salary
equivalent to a social worker with a four-year university degree (Earle, 2008).
Social work is a specialized profession, where qualified social workers possessed the
skills to work in both the private and public sectors. A surprising finding was that many
of the social workers interviewed leaned towards employment in the NGO sector rather
than the public sector, which is contrary to PSM literature. Even though the remuneration
NGO’s offered social workers was significantly lower relative to public sector social
workers, the social workers in my study who had started out in the NGO sector were far
more partial to working in the NGO sector as opposed to the public sector.
Social workers who had not worked in the NGO sector also expressed a willingness to
leave the public sector for employment in the NGO sector. The prospect of earning less
money however prevented social workers from leaving the public sector and utilizing
their skills in a different sector of employment. The following excerpts are from two
63
female social workers that were both formerly employed in the NGO sector prior to
entering the public sector:
P6: “Look, you want to be appreciated and valued as a [social] worker. I
think that is important otherwise you’ll not get the best out of your
workers. I worked at [NGO name] before going to Metro North
[government, regional office] as a contract worker and we were given a
13th cheque as a sign of appreciation that the board at [NGO name] was
giving to the staff. The only reason that I left the [NGO] was better salary
by government. If they should give equal pay across the board [NGO and
government sectors] I think a lot of government workers will go to NGO’s
[laughing]. I had my experience with [NGO name] and it was very
positive. You just felt appreciated.”
P10: “I started out at [NGO name] Somerset West. I actually enjoyed
working there it was a close-knit supportive environment you know. In
terms of clients it’s more-or-less the same [as government], but that level
of support was different man – from colleagues, management…you know
you have your supervision, but things were more set man. Like if you have
your dates for supervision for example, it was going to happen; whereas
in my experience in government it’s not the same…it’s almost like you
[pause] left on your own. To be honest with you Gershwin, if I earned the
same money [at an NGO] I would go back to the NGO.”
64
Ten of the social workers interviewed expressed the view that they would leave both
social work and the public service. Leaving the public service was a ubiquitous theme
from the start till the end of all but one of the interviews. The only participant that did not
express this view was a social work manager who had worked in the public sector for
close to 40 years. The main reasons social workers wanted out of public service was the
poor salaries, a lack of support from management, and no opportunities for upward
mobility.
3. Negative organizational culture, disillusionment with public service, and declining
PSM.
The need to leave public service was a goal expressed by all but one of the social workers
interviewed. A negative organizational culture was a summary term used by one of the
participants to sum up the reasons why he wanted to exit the public service. Before
entering public service the social workers had very different perceptions of what
government employment was and also what it meant to be a public servant.
Government, and public sector employment were synonymous with respect and
participants attached a certain level of prestige to government and civil service. For the
participants in my study, government and public service were just and fair and
represented a concrete means of linking the disenfranchised to public services and
ensuring that citizens’ rights were protected and needs were met. When describing
government and public service, participants used words such as efficient and the ultimate
65
calling. The integrity of government was not questioned. Entering public service however
revealed a different side to public service and the public sector. Asked what their
perceptions were of government and public service before entering the public sector,
social workers stated the following:
P6: “I thought it was a well-oiled machine. I’ve also worked at NGO’s.
You know government tells the NGO’s; ‘this is how you do things’ and
‘you have to have everything in order’, ‘systems must be in place’, but
then coming into government there’s no such thing. It seems that decisions
[in government] are made on a day-to-day basis, and it’s inconsistent
also. So yes, I was a little surprised and taken aback. And having left
government and coming back I thought things are better now, but it’s still
not. And I’m not sure, is it the officials? There are a lot of things on paper
that’s supposed to function well, but the actual following of the
protocol…that’s not happening. It’s demoralizing!”
P4: “Part of my bursary [agreement] was that I come and work for the
department for a bit [during university vacations] and I was shocked by
the lack of work ethic and the negative organizational culture that was
prevalent not just here but at another office of the department and it was
appalling especially considering the fact that my father is a state servant. I
thought that it [public service] was actually the ultimate calling for you,
you representing the government and everything you do is for the people –
66
that kind of thing. So he gets to work early and he leaves late, and he’s
always brining his work home. When I got to [Name of government
department] it wasn’t like a government department. You get to work
whenever you want and you leave whenever you want. [We] don’t really
have the interest of the clients at heart. So it was really shocking.”
Discussions with participants revealed that they attached prestige to government
employment before entering the public sector. This perception appeared to be formed in
response to participants’ previous experience with government departments or
government officials, a family member being employed by the state, and the association
that mainly experienced social workers may have made between public service, power,
and the then White-run state under the former apartheid government (Posel, 1999: 103).
As one male social work manager put it:
“The department was controlled by white people and in all the departments white people
held top positions – even in social work. There was no real advancement for Coloured
social workers. I started out in public service in 1973 as a clerk. The department in 1976
declared salary bursaries for staffers who wish to do social work. The possibility that
you’d be promoted, the possibility that you’d be a professional, the possibility that you
would advance yourself academically became the motivators”.
At the time, being a Coloured person employed by the state presented possibly the only
opportunity for personal development, that is; gaining an education, occupying a position
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of importance in the public sector, and a chance to establish a career further elevating the
prestige of the state; and in turn the importance of the person fortunate enough to be
employed by the state.
The experience of working in the public sector appeared to have killed the romance of
being a public servant. Social workers stated that as new entrants into the public sector
they were not given the guidance and support they thought they would have received as
newly graduated social workers. This lack of support, combined with high caseloads, and
poor remuneration not only adversely affected social workers motivation to do their
work, but made them more desperate to exit the public sector. In my study, this finding
presented a dichotomy between public service motivation literature and social workers’
lived experience in the South African context.
According to PSM theorists such as Brewer (2008:149), public sector employment
offered employees a greater sense of support from co-workers and better mentorship
opportunities compared to the private sector, which limits the reality shock effect many
social workers experience when entering the work environment for the first time. This
process of “organizational socialization” within the public sector not only limits the effect
of the reality shock new public sector entrants experience when engaging with clients for
the first time, but drastically limits the decline in PSM through increasing an individual’s
identification with the state and heightening the new entrant’s “sense of public service
[to] inculcate public service-related virtues and norms” (Brewer, 2008: 149). Social
workers had the following to say about their experiences in public service. Participant
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four is a Coloured male social worker with four years of experience as a social worker in
the public sector. Participant two is a Coloured female social worker with slightly more
than eight years of experience as social worker. Participant seven is a 27-year-old Black
male social worker with five years of experience as a social worker in the public sector.
P4: “I expected more guidance. I understand that if the workloads are so
high, and the numbers are so short in terms of [social work] staff there
isn’t maybe enough time to [acclimatize] you slowly, but I feel that some
of the decisions made by my then supervisor were not logical, especially
considering the fact I was a fresh male social worker. I shouldn’t be
sitting with four rape cases of girls and those are the kinds of things that
make me want to leave.”
P2: “There are times when I think this is a thankless profession.
Management should also congratulate or thank the staff, acknowledge
them for the work they do. They’ll concentrate on stupid things such as
phone bills and your desk on looking neat and whatever. Whereas you
would work really hard. I just think that management should thank the
staff for the work that they do; that’s why I say it’s a thankless profession
not just in terms of the clients but in terms of management as well. People,
don’t see the work that you do behind the scenes they just want to see the
results.”
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P7: “They [management] do not take any interest in our daily challenges.
Management, remember they don’t meet clients like us you see. They do
the management of the organisation. Now, they don’t show any interest to
find out from us: “Are you coping? How are you doing? How many clients
are you seeing?”
P6: “Supervision was non-existent. I thought, if I can say this, when I
started in the department I felt hat I was on my own those years, fresh out
of university. For most of my [21-year] career as a social worker in
government [laughing] in South Africa I’ve been left on my own. My
feeling and view has always been that government workers are being
promoted to be supervisors and manager without having the
[management] training; without having the skills to do the job. So they
[supervisors and managers], I think are also left to their own devices.”
The general lack of support and ‘negative organizational culture’ appears to have
contributed to a gradual decline in participants PSM and also a growing sense of
disillusionment in terms of their belief that congruence that existed between their own
values and that of the organisation. A negative organizational culture was a transversal
theme colouring the experience of all participants. The organisation for them initially
embodied their personal values.
In South Africa the Batho Pele principles guides the setting of service standards for all
government departments. Batho Pele or “People first” was an initiative to get public
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servants committed to the improvement and delivery of public services of a consistently
high standard and allows service users to hold public servants accountable for the type of
services they deliver. All public servants are expected to observe these principles in all of
their exchanges with service users. Interviews with participants suggested however that
few of the participants were familiar with the Batho Pele principles and those who were
familiar with them acknowledged their importance, but lost their belief in these principles
as important to their performing their tasks and rendering public services (see Tapscott,
2006 for a more critical view of Batho Pele). A loss in the belief of the importance of
these principles reduced public service from being a calling to a tedious job to the point
where social workers would actively frustrate service users’ access to services, and
nobody would be held to account:
P4: “Eventually the toxicity of the organisation will start to creep into
you. Whatever is on the wall outside is not being practiced inside. There is
a difference between the values they [government] are trying to push and
what’s happening inside the organisation. For example, take putting the
client first. I say to you; ‘Gershwin here’s somebody here who’s crying or
something, would you mind to see him?’ You’re gonna say: ‘I’m on tea.’
That’s not putting your clients first. If it happens that a client comes to my
manager and says the social worker wouldn’t see me, your manager will
say; ‘it was tea-time’”.
P2: “I don’t think it’s important to share the same values, but if it
[organization mission and values] was part of my job description I would
obviously [have to observe them]. It’s not important to identify with an
organization’s values or mission as this has no effect on your work”.
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P6: “As a person and a worker I want to work according to those
principles, but in terms of management the principles are there but they
are not followed. The practical implementation of it you can question.
Transparency for instance – even confidentiality. I felt that you can share
some personal information with your supervisor then your colleagues
come and tell you [your supervisor had discussed it with them]. That’s
what I’ve picked up. I think it’s important to share the same values as the
organisation. When you apply for a position and when you accept it…I’m
thinking back to the UK and also [NGO name], you look at what the
organisation made of; what is the value-base within the organisation?
Can I work towards that or not? I had to ask myself, ‘can I fit into this
organisation? Can I function within this organisation?”
External political decisions appeared to adversely influence the delivery of services to
service users and added to the already unmanageable workloads of social workers.
Interviews with participants hinted at management and staff being generally acquiescing
when it came to the questioning of decisions and instruction of superiors where requests
and instructions from politicians in particular went unquestioned, even if the social
workers and managers knew that some of the requests were unethical. Participants hinted
at politicians using state resources – social workers included, as a means of advancing
both political and personal agendas.
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This misuse of power by politicians combined with other factors such as low
remuneration, feeling overworked, and a general lack of support from management
further eroded social workers motivation to continue in the profession and made social
workers question the importance of their work as professionals. As one social worker – a
27-year-old male social worker put it: “It’s simple, the majority of us, especially the
youngsters intend to quit. We love the job, but not that much. Before we become more
selfish with clients some of us are thinking about quitting the profession.” Following are
the responses of a female social work supervisor (P3) with 30 years of experience and
two social workers to the question;
Interviewer: “What effect if any does external political influence have on service
delivery?”
P3: “Yes it has, it most definitely has. It affects your planning. It affects
your planning in [the sense that] if a political head comes up with a dream
he had last night, he comes to work and he want to give out food parcels
in Oceanview. You have to leave everything and hand out food parcels in
Oceanview irrespective of your plans you had for these clients in
Parkwood [and] there is not consultation with management…there’s
hardly any, not where there’s a political matter concerned. Because if
there is now a friend of a political head that needs to be assisted, then you
must do it now.”
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Interviewer: “So politicians call in favours?”
P3: “Yes, yes it’s a favour if it’s ‘my people who support me and I can get
the vote.’ Unfortunately it’s also the government we working for.”
In response to the same question the following participant had the following to say:
P4: “Yes it does ‘cause people [politicians] make promises we can’t keep
up with. Say for example the social relief of distress [grants] now it’s
almost crippling our ability to do anything else, but those are promises
made by political powers and now we have to meet those promises. And
it’s not an option not to meet them. You drop whatever you’re supposed to
be doing and you get on this bandwagon, but you still have to keep up with
your workload you had before, which becomes illogical or impossible to
do. It’s a very top-down structure. Also if your supervisor is afraid to
challenge or question the rules, that could be frustrating for you as well.
There’s no equality also, I think the relationship you have with your
supervisor plays a role…I think it comes down to management not having
a backbone, management at all levels; from your supervisor all the way
up.”
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In addition to the influence of external politics on the tasks social workers
were expected to perform, managers were regarded as being passive
recipients of orders, as highlighted by the following participant.
P6: “ Upper management do not question or challenge political decisions
even if it is not in the best interest of clients, staff, or the organisation. Any
decisions taken are just pushed onto staff. Management decides, orders
are given to supervisors, supervisors give the orders to us and we must
implement it. Once you start then you like…not in trouble, but it’s like you
are causing trouble and why would you challenge it?
Again coming back to South Africa, being an intake social worker in Cape
Town, you know close to elections and political events you have to issue
food parcels, you know, just for the sake of issuing the parcels. You must
make up numbers because government must look good. So yes it affects
the services that we render”.
4. The effect of money on motivation and job satisfaction
PSM literature holds that individuals with high levels of PSM invariably are attracted to
the public sector and place lesser value on extrinsic rewards than individuals in the
private sector (Houston, 2000; Perry & Wise, 1990). Public sector employee motivation
is directly related to the importance they attach to an organisations mission; with
financial incentive having little influence over their motivation to perform their tasks
(Wright, 2007: 54).
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Persons with the strongest identification with the organisation’s mission
tended to
remain in the public sector jobs for longer further suggesting that extrinsic reward did not
determine the motivation of public sector employees (Wright, 2007: 54). For motivation
to remain high however, public sector employees had to perceive their tasks as achievable
as this reinforced their feeling of job satisfaction and maintained higher levels of
motivation (Wright, 2007: 55). The broadest level at which PSM operates in the lives of
the social workers in the study was their feeling of altruism and their desire to do the best
they can for their clients by going the extra mile.
When asked what motivated them to do the type of work they do on a daily basis,
participant two – a female social worker, participant nine – a 31-year-old male social
worker, and participant three – a female social work supervisor, had the following to say:
P2: “Each and every one of us is somehow going to need others. So for me
you need to do for others as you would want others to do for you.”
The following social worker shared this view, and also believed that it was important to
share the values of the organization they were employed in:
P9: “Social workers inherently want to take a person from point A to
point B. So as a social worker and the values of this organisation I think
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it’s important that you do believe in it, because it will just give you that
extra motivation.”
To compensate for the low remuneration in public service, intrinsic motivation appeared
to be a key factor keeping social workers in the public sector, as expressed by the
following participant:
P3: “Salary is not the key motivator. I think the key motivator in the
public service is the inner motivation to do the best you can, that I can tell
myself ‘this is my job, this is my chosen profession, this is where I wanted
to be, let me do the best I can.”
Although their work and doing their best for their clients brought all of the social workers
interviewed a profound sense of intrinsic reward, intrinsic reward alone was not enough
to keep them in public service. All social workers expressed a feeling of discontentment
with their work conditions and remuneration. Poor remuneration in particular was a
recurrent theme amongst all of the social workers. Social workers felt that they were not
being paid the salaries their qualifications and workloads warranted.
Furthermore, the social workers felt that if they were at least fairly compensated for the
work they do, remaining in public service would be an option for them, however high
caseloads, the absence of support and no acknowledgment for work well done by
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managers combined with their salary packages made social workers desperate to leave
public sector employment.
Participants found the idea of life-long employment in the public sector absurd, as one
male social worker (participant four) with four years of social work experience put it: “If
I got proper remuneration it would make the job better. If you were to put two jobs next
to each other and say you’re an accountant with a four-year degree, you’re a social
worker with a four-year degree, the accountant earned R40 000 every month and he has
no job satisfaction, and you earn R10 000 but you get to make clients happy, how could
you say you want to be a social worker. It feels the longer I’m here the less willing I am
to go the extra mile for a client. Because of all of the frustration I just highlighted I can’t
do this for 20 years. Either you stay here five years and leave or you stay here 20 to 30
years and retire. People get comfortable.” I asked social workers how the salaries they
earned affected their motivation and feeling of job satisfaction. These were their
responses from two female social workers with eight years (participant two) and five
years (participant 10) of experience respectively:
P2: “[Low remuneration] affects job satisfaction negatively because I
think that I don’t earn what I think I deserve, especially if it takes into
consideration I studied for four years and I have a degree in social work.
A PA [personal assistant] for the manager would also be on level seven
[the same salary level as social workers who have a degree]. I think it’s
unfair knowing that [it makes me question] why did I study four years if I
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could’ve just done a secretarial course? I could have done that course and
shouldn’t have studied four years and not have still been paying my study
loans. It’s frustrating; I don’t think we earn enough.”
In response to the same question the following participant had the following to say:
P10: “I think that people would go the extra mile for their clients. Not that
there aren’t people that go the extra mile, but they would just enjoy what
they were doing man. I have a degree! People who only have matric that
are on the same level as you that [has] studied four years. It doesn’t make
sense! Then what’s the use? Why did you then study social work?? I mean
we are such an important part of government, I mean we are made
mention of in the Acts, but yet in a way we are not recognised, and you
had to pay for your education and it’s very expensive. I can’t be on the
same salary level as somebody who has matric, really now!”
Social workers in the public sector are on the same salary level as persons who have no
formal qualifications in the public sector. For example, a personal assistant would receive
the same salary as a social worker with a university degree. For the social workers,
money appeared to be the only reward they received for their work, for which they
received no non-financial acknowledgement or thanks. In addition to feeling that they are
unfairly remunerated relative to other public servants and other professionals who had
tertiary qualifications, social workers were overworked, but were compelled to render
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after-hour services to supplement their salaries – effectively having to work two jobs. The
following participant is a female social worker with eight years of experience working in
the public sector.
P2: “I don’t [think the pay is sufficient], that’s why I work after-hours,
from 16:00-20:00 [after a normal workday ending at 16:00] to get an
extra income. Daytime work gets taken home to complete for no extra
money and I complete after-hour services to earn extra money. It’s
difficult to get by on [my] salary alone.”
The social workers interviewed suggested that the low remuneration affected their feeling
of job satisfaction, contributed to a decline in their motivation to perform their duties, and
was deleterious to their professional identities. Social workers hinted at their knowing
that the social work profession would not bring them a life of affluence. They however
had the belief that an education, a university degree would bring with it remuneration that
warranted their gaining entry into university, paying for their studies, and earning a
degree. A female social work with 21 years of social work experience in the public sector
had the following to say:
P6: “I don’t feel like a professional. Let me say that from management
and top management they do not make me feel like a professional. My
motivation to be a professional comes from myself, from speaking to
colleagues, remembering what “I’ve been taught, and wanting to maintain
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some of that, but I don’t get that from management. And again
compensation should come with your qualification; you know why would
you go and study? Why would you study for years? Why would you want
to say that I have a degree? There was a time when I considered doing a
Masters [degree in social work], but then I though what would I gain from
having a Master’s degree as a social worker? My salary is definitely not
going to move to a different bracket. I’m not going to be given that
recognition in that maybe I will as a MA degree social worker be referred
to as a specialist. So why should I go and do my MA? And at the time I
opted [instead] to go overseas and not do my MA. My brother pays R3000
to their council – you know the board they belong to that regulates the
work that they do; but half of their fees are being paid by the employer.
And I’m thinking that I’ve been working so many years I don’t even want
to tell him what I’m earning [laughing bashfully].”
Little opportunity exists for upward mobility within the organisation, further detracting
from the non-monetary incentives required to motivate social workers to complete their
tasks. Following are excerpts from two male social workers. Participant nine is a 31-yearold male social worker, and participant four is a 25-year-old male social worker with five
years of experience as a social worker in the public sector.
When asked what effect the prospect of being promoted had on motivation, the following
participant had the following to say:
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P9: “Upward mobility means waiting for someone to either move, or – I
don’t want to say this, or, die. Then hopefully you can apply for that post.
Promotions would be more of a motivating factor because you get
recognition, but you also get [financially] rewarded for that.”
The lack of opportunities for upward mobility was a view that was
particularly shared by the male social workers in this study, as the
following participant:
P4: “you’ve also got five to six social workers in a team with one
supervisor; there’s not much possibility for upward mobility there. So
nobody leaves, they either have to retire or die and then the competition
for that one position becomes fierce.”
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Chapter five: Discussion and conclusion
This thesis took as its central theme the concept of Public Service Motivation (PSM)
which has been seen by some authors as the key reason why individuals choose to work
in the public sector and, thereafter, remain fully committed to their jobs. I argued that
over the years there has been a weakening of PSM globally and this is evident in the
context of contemporary South Africa where employees’ concerns about the extrinsic
benefits of a job seem to outweigh considerations of the intrinsic values of altruism,
professionalism and an obligation to serve the public good. Despite the significance of
this development, the subject has been under-researched in the country (notwithstanding
concerns about the lack of professionalism in the public sector) and no suitable measures
exist to determine the extent to which it has diminished.
Taking social workers from the Western Cape Provincial Department of Social Welfare
and Development as a case study, the thesis sets out to determine the extent to which
these officials were influenced by PSM in their choice of careers and in their decision to
remain in the profession. The research found that notwithstanding a desire to help others,
the social workers interviewed were, in general, motivated more by extrinsic factors
(salary and job security in particular) than by intrinsic considerations of altruism and a
desire to serve, and that they had expressed the view that they would likely leave the
profession if more profitable opportunities presented themselves. With this qualitative
study I explored the concept of public service motivation amongst social workers in the
South African context. Through the use of a qualitative methodology I explored the
reasons why social workers are attracted to the profession and the public sector, what
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kept them motivated to remain in public service, their perceptions of themselves as public
servants, and ultimately to gain insight into the variables that influence PSM through a
bottom up approach in the South African context.
The exclusive means of data collection in this study was in-depth semi-structured
interviews. With the use of semi-structured interviews I gained in-depth data on what
motivated social workers to enter the profession and the public sector, and the role of
intrinsic and extrinsic factors on the levels of social workers’ motivation.
The social workers I interviewed in my study were all employed in the public sector. The
final research sample comprised 11 social workers as opposed to the planned 15. Four
participants withdrew their participation from the study. Participants in the research
sample rendered services in geographical areas such as Gugulethu, Mitchell’s Plain,
Philippi, Retreat, Steenberg, Parkwood, Lavender Hill, Lotus river, and Grassy Park. This
however is not an exhaustive list of geographical sites the social workers worked in. The
research sample comprised five males and six females.
The age range of the sample was 25 to 60-years; with two of the 11 participants being
Black and nine participants being Coloured. At the time of accruing the research sample
it became clear that there was a dearth of White – male and female, social workers
rendering services in the above-mentioned geographical sites. There furthermore was a
scarcity of young male social workers, be they Black, Coloured, or White. The males in
the research sample alluded to two possible reasons for the lack of males not entering the
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profession. The majority of social workers at the various sites that participants emanated
from were females.
Male participants appeared to subscribe to a type of gendered thinking where males
should fulfill the role of providers, and therefore earn a living to achieve this end. Social
work was perceived as a profession that could not offer the financial reward to allow for
the fulfillment of this gendered role. Secondly, male participants placed emphasis on the
limited opportunities for upward mobility that existed for males in the social work
profession. Here male participants appeared to be further discouraged by the ratio of
female to male social workers in the profession as females formed the clear majority of
social workers. The male participants openly stated that they would discourage any
males from studying social work.
These social workers entered the public service for two reasons; 1 they entered the
government department due to bursary obligations and 2, they entered public service due
to the government paying social workers better salaries with better job perks. The public
sector in the South African context offers social workers the best remuneration packages
relative to the NGO/private sector. And money was the social workers’ main attraction to
public sector employment and the only reason social workers remained in the public
sector. For those social workers with 20 or more years of work experience, social work in
the public sector presented possibly the only opportunity they would have to earn a
tertiary level education and a meaningful career.
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Government under the apartheid regime represented stability, efficiency, power, and
employment longevity. For these social workers being public servants and also being
associated with and representing government brought with it a certain level of prestige
and respect that the private sector could not ensure its workers. These older participants
were exclusively Coloured social workers who had constrained educational and career
opportunities under the former apartheid regime. During this time – the 1970’s through
the 1980’s, government too was going through a period of rapid expansion, which
facilitated the entry of non-white citizens into the public sector, albeit at the lowest levels
of employment.
Although various paths led social workers to government employment, a common thread
keeping them in public sector employment was money. PSM literature suggests that
persons with high levels of PSM were naturally attracted to public sector employment
and that entering the public sector was an automatic process. The promise of extrinsic
reward is further inconsequential for these individuals whose only concern is their
commitment to civic duty. PSM literature however does not discern between the
motivation of public servants with educational qualifications and those without, and
importantly the influence having an education would have on intrinsic and extrinsic
rewards and its effect on PSM. For social workers in the South African context however,
extrinsic reward – be it status or money, determined their entering the public sector
challenging the notion that high PSM attracts individuals to public sector employment.
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Social workers interviewed however did place high value on intrinsic reward, which for
them only took the form of the satisfaction that accompanied taking a client through an
intervention process and seeing positive growth and development in a client or the
situation clients may have found themselves in. Other forms of non-monetary reward was
however not forthcoming.
Social workers felt that they did thankless work as they receive no support from
supervisors or managers, where the poor remuneration they received as employees with
professional qualifications worsening their overall feeling of job satisfaction and
motivation, where for them the low salaries warranted a low work turnover; where social
workers questioned why they had to go the extra mile for their clients if they were not
shown any appreciation or support from management and the organisation. Social
workers appeared desperate to leave the public service.
Earning a salary that reflected their professional qualification, the level of accountability
the job entailed, and their high workloads, was important for the social workers in my
study. The feeling amongst social workers however was that the money they earned
brought them little satisfaction, as they – as professionals, were remunerated on the same
salary level as persons in public service with no educational qualifications. Earning a
wage that was not commensurate with their level of education damaged social workers
motivation to remain in the profession and the public sector, and also injured social
workers sense of professionalism.
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Participants constantly compared themselves to university graduates with four-year
degrees in other disciplines, which made them question the importance of their
qualifications and their status as professionals. Social workers’ professional identities
were linked to having a tertiary qualification, which is supposed to be furthermore linked
to having an edge over persons in the labour market that did not possess a tertiary
qualification, as having a tertiary qualification was supposed to secure one employment
with fair remuneration.
Fair remuneration for the participants meant earning a salary that reflected their
professional qualifications, qualifications which should place them on par with other
university graduates. This was however not the case for social workers in the employ of
the public sector. Quitting the profession and exiting the public sector suggested that they
wanted to distance themselves from their present identities as social workers and public
servants.
In addition to a declining sense of PSM, social workers furthermore suggested that upon
entering the public sector, public sector employees are ‘re-socialised’ to be persons who
curried favour with superiors and to become acquiescent, a combination which either led
to social workers feeling apathetic towards their work, or that brought them material gain
in the form of nomination for bonuses.
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It was unquestionable that high levels of PSM attracted the social workers in my study to
their chosen profession. This research has however raised questions about the theoretical
underpinnings of international PSM theory and its relevance in the South Africa Context.
Perry’s 24-item PSM measurement scale was not used in this research due this being a
bottom-up study. An objective with this study was to gain insight into those variables that
could lead to the development of a PSM measurement scale pertinent to public service in
the public sector. Research results clearly indicated that research participants in the South
African context exhibited the attributes contained in Perry’s PSM measurement scale.
Perry developed his 24-item PSM scale along the following dimensions: attraction to
public policy making, commitment to the public interest, civic duty, social justice, selfsacrifice, and compassion. Participants shared a sense of altruism, social justice, and civic
duty that attracted them to a profession in the helping professions. A positive link existed
between the dimensions identified by Perry in his scale and the themes that emerged with
participants in this study. Money was a prominent extrinsic motivating factor in this study
however and strongly mediated the sector social workers chose to work in.
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Recommendations
The social workers in my study expressed that the absence of a structured mentoring
programme for new social workers entering public sector employment led to feelings of
isolation and being overwhelmed and unsupported by their managers. Upon entering the
profession, new social workers are immediately expected to intervene with social
challenges and overwhelming needs of communities that range from clients who are
victims of violent crimes, child neglect and abuse, to clients living in extreme poverty.
Compounding these challenges is the high caseloads limited amount of social workers are
expected to manage. Limiting the shock effect that new social workers experience would
therefore better prepare and aid new social workers in coping with the challenges the
profession holds. According to PSM literature, the limiting of the initial shock new
labour market entrants experience is a defining feature of the public sector that sets it
apart from the private sector as it significantly contributes to lower employee turnover
when compared to the private sector.
Although the absence of structured mentoring and supervision was not exclusively
responsible for the social workers in my sample wanting to leave the social work
profession and the public sector, it did negatively affect their motivation to do their jobs.
All new social workers entering the public service should in addition to the compulsory
induction programmes (CIP), receive on-the-job mentoring from an experienced social
worker during their first six months in the public sector. As a measure to combat burnout
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and maintain employee motivation and feelings of job satisfaction, new social workers
should receive regular supervision on both a one-to-one and group basis.
The Social work council (SACSSP) should play a more active role in representing social
workers’ professional interests by negotiating work conditions, and remuneration
packages. Alternatively a social work union should be formed to further only the interests
of social workers. Currently a social work union does not exist and all of the social
workers that made up my sample were affiliated to unions that represented government
officials at all levels.
PSM was significantly affected by the lack of opportunities for upward mobility. The
lack of these opportunities adversely affected participants’ feeling of job satisfaction and
caused participants to feel demotivated and apathetic towards their work. Currently the
occupation-specific dispensation (OSD) policy regulates upward mobility opportunities
and also salary scales for social workers in the public service. This policy should be
reviewed to ensure more opportunities for upward mobility and salary levels that are
commensurate with social workers’ level of professional training, particularly at the entry
level.
Former Public Service and Administration Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has been credited
with reforming of a “dysfunctional department under Richard Baloyi” (Letsoalo, 2013).
When asked whether public servants were more loyal to politicians than they were to
delivering high standards of public service, Sisulu stated that; “Public servants are not
91
politicians, they must be loyal to the Constitution and laws of the country” (Letsoalo,
2013). In the South African context however, politics has played a seminal role in
shaping the quality, and the denying of public services to certain categories of citizens.
The influence of politics on public service delivery can therefore not be overlooked. In
my study, participants revealed that the services they rendered were often whimsically
dictated by politicians; not only to achieve an intended political end, but also for personal
gain. Social workers felt powerless to voice their opinions on this matter to management,
as doing so would make them seem subordinate; especially when the uncritical
acceptance of instruction is tacitly accepted in their organisation and integrated into the
organisation’s ethos. To achieve the objective of keeping politics and public service
separate, it is recommended that managers more actively encourage the upholding of the
tenets of the Service Charter (Department of Public Service and Administration, 2013),
Batho Pele principles, and the Public Administration Management Bill (2013).
Recommendations for further research
Based on evidence gathered in this study, PSM remains an under-researched subject in
the South African context. The research that has been undertaken has highlighted the
need for further research before a PSM measurement tool is developed for the South
African context. In this study extrinsic factors significantly affected the motivation of the
social workers interviewed; even though it was evident that intrinsic motives attracted
them to the social work profession. In order for a reliable PSM measurement scale to be
developed for the South African context, the extrinsic variables affecting intrinsic
92
motivation have to be reduced or mitigated in order to reliably measure public service
motivation in the South African context. Once this is achieved Perry’s PSM measurement
scale, containing his six dimensions of attraction to public service and its accompanying
items could be adapted to and utilised in South Africa.
93
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Appendices
APPENDIX I
List of all interviews conducted. This list contains attributes of the research sample as
well as places where interviews were conducted.
Interview Place of
Number
interview
1.
Wynberg
Date of
interview
5/9/2013
Age
28
Years
experience
6
2.
Wynberg
11/9/2013
46
8
3.
Wynberg
17/9/2013
51
30
4.
Wynberg
19/9/2013
25
4
5.
Wynberg
19/9/2013
31
7
6.
Wynberg
20/9/2013
42
21
7.
Gugulethu
23/9/2014
27
5
8.
23/9/2014
38
9
23/9/2014
31
6
10.
Mitchell’s
Plain
Mitchell’s
Plain
Wynberg
14/10/2013
29
5
11.
Wynberg
24/10/2013
60
30
9.
Current
position
Social
worker
Social
worker
Social work
supervisor
Social
worker
Social
worker
Social
worker
Social
worker
Social
worker
Social
worker
Social
worker
Social work
manager
Race/sex
Coloured
female
Coloured
female
Coloured
female
Coloured male
Coloured male
Coloured
female
Black African
male
Black African
female
Coloured male
Coloured
female
Coloured male
APPENDIX II
100
CONSENT FORM
RESEARCH TITLE: Measuring public service motivation among social workers in
SA: a bottom up approach
I have read the information presented in the information letter about a study being
conducted by Gershwin Ederies towards the Masters / Doctoral Programme at the
School of Government (SOG) at the University of the Western Cape.
This study has been described to me in a language that I understand and I freely and
voluntary agree to participate. My questions about the study have been answered.
I understand that my identity will not be disclosed and was informed that I may withdraw
my consent at any time by advising the student researcher.
With full knowledge of all foregoing, I agree to participate in this study.
Participant Name
: __________________________________
Participant ID Number
: __________________________________
Participant Signature
: __________________________________
Date
: __________________________________
Place
: __________________________________
Student Researcher
: Gershwin Ederies
Student Researcher Signature : _________________________________
Student Number
: 2409149
Mobile Number
: 0788632909
Email
: gershwin3@mtn.blackberry.com
I am accountable to my supervisor
School of Government ( SOG )
Telephone
Fax
Email
: Prof. G. Ruiters
: +27 21 959 3850
: +27 21 959 3849
: gruiters@uwc.ac.za
APPENDIX III
101
Interview schedule
Opening
Purpose - I would like to ask you some questions about your background, your education,
and some of your experiences you have had working as a social worker in your
department in order to learn more about the value social workers place on intrinsic
rewards as opposed to extrinsic reward. And also why you entered the public sector as
opposed to the private sector. The significance of my research is that it could contribute
to the development/growth of PSM literature which is scant and under-researched in the
South African context.
Motivation - I hope to use this information to establish the role PSM plays in the value
social workers place on intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. My objectives include to: a.
examine the reasons why individuals enter social work practice in government, b.
examine why social workers remain in government service, c. explore social workers’
perceptions of their role as public servants, and d. establish the influence of extrinsic
incentives on their work turnover.
Time Line - The interview should take about one hour. Are you available to respond to
some questions at this time?
Section 1
1. Background questions
2. What made you choose social work as a profession?
3. What is your highest level of education?
4. Which university did you obtain your qualification from?
5. What made you choose this university?
6. Did you plan on entering the public sector while a student at university? If yes,
why?
Section 2
Employment history and attraction to public sector employment
1. How long have you practiced as a social worker?
2. What area of social work do you specialise in?
3. Did you enter this area of specialization voluntarily?
4. Do you have previous experience working in the private sector or an NPO/NGO
setting? If yes, why did you decide to leave this sector?
5. What attracted you to social work in the public sector?
6. What were your perceptions of social work in the public sector before you had
entered the public sector?
7. Have your perceptions of working in the public sector changed since entering the
public sector? If so, in what way has it changed?
8. With your experience working in the public sector, would you still have entered
social work in the public sector?
9. Do you consider your personal values to be similar to that of the organisation?
102
10. Do you think that it is important for you to share the same values as the
organisation you represent? Why?
11. Do you have any particular political affiliation?
12. How familiar are you with the Batho Pele principles?
13. How did you come to learn about the Batho Pele principles?
14. How do you apply these principles in your work?
15. How does external political activities influence the job tasks you are expected to
perform?
16. Is there a particular professional body governing your profession? If yes, what is
the role of this organisation?
Section 3
Job satisfaction and financial reward
1. What aspects of being a public servant, would you consider to be most
valuable?
2. What aspects of your work as a social worker in government do you place the
most value on? Why?
3. Would you consider your workload to be manageable?
4. What strategies do you employ to help you manage your workload?
5. Would you consider the remuneration you receive for completing workrelated tasks as sufficient? If yes what impact does this have on your sense of
job satisfaction?
6. Do you receive financial incentives for completing work-related tasks outside
of normal working hours?
7. Describe the effect financial incentive would have on your motivation to work
outside of normal working hours.
8. Is it important for you to do well financially as a public servant? Why?
9. What impact would greater financial incentive have on your overall feeling of
job satisfaction?
10. Has working in the public sector motivated you to go the extra mile for your
clients? Why?
11. Do you deal with government bureaucracy on a daily basis?
12. What bureaucratic procedures do you complete on a daily basis?
13. Describe the impact these bureaucratic procedures have on the quality of
service you render to the public.
14. What aspects of your work do you consider most frustrating?
15. Do you see yourself building a life-long career in social work in government?
If yes, why? Why not?
16. Would you pursue a profession in social work outside of the public sector?
Why? Why not?
103