Aligning Performance Expectations with Public Service Motivation: Strategies for the Public Sector

In the public sector, employees are often driven not solely by job stability or compensation, but by a profound sense of mission and a commitment to community impact. This concept, known as public service motivation (“PSM”), encapsulates the sector-specific desire to contribute to the public good and can be as important—or even outweigh—other conventional motivators. As organizations face challenges in employee retention, engagement, and alignment, leveraging PSM can serve as a critical tool for both driving employee engagement and mitigating potential legal risks.

Performance management practices, in particular, offer a powerful opportunity to reinforce PSM within the public sector. Clear, purpose-driven performance expectations allow employees to directly connect their work to the broader public mission, enhancing their sense of purpose and motivation. Conversely, unclear or subjective expectations can lead to claims of unfairness, favouritism, or discrimination. Establishing well-defined, mission-aligned performance metrics not only cultivates PSM but also reduces organizational liability by creating consistent, objective benchmarks that can become invaluable in dispute resolution or litigation.

Setting the Stage for PSM-Driven Performance Management

A crucial and foundational step in fostering PSM is socializing the organization’s mission and strategy. In our work conducting organizational reviews for municipal and other public sector employers, we’ve found that many employees lack clarity about their organization’s overarching mission or priorities. This lack of clarity can result in employees struggling to align their day-to-day work with larger objectives, ultimately diminishing their motivation.

To counteract this, leaders must step up and fulfil their crucial role in establishing, articulating, and reiterating an organization’s mission and strategy. By communicating how individual roles connect to the broader mission, leaders help employees see their work as integral to achieving public service goals. This values-driven approach inspires employees to align their efforts with organizational priorities, reinforcing their sense of purpose.

One practical step toward achieving this alignment is revising job descriptions. These documents should not only outline responsibilities and performance expectations but also demonstrate how each role contributes to the organization’s mission. This clarity serves a dual purpose: first, it reinforces employees’ understanding of their role in achieving public goals, and second, it provides a solid foundation for objective performance evaluations, reducing the risk of bias or mismanagement claims.

By establishing this alignment early, organizations can create a fertile environment for PSM-driven performance management.

Conducting PSM-Driven Performance Reviews

Performance reviews are an exceptionally valuable opportunity to reinforce PSM principles. When conducted systematically and documented consistently, these reviews also help build an audit trail for employment decisions, serving as critical information in disputes over promotions, dismissals, or perceived inequities.

Organizations can weave PSM into the following key areas of performance reviews:

• Assessment Criteria: Traditional performance reviews often focus on numerical targets and task completion. While important, these metrics fail to capture how employees contribute to the organization’s public mission. Considering PSM-driven criteria in tandem with conventional metrics expands the scope of the review to include how well employees embody public service values and align with the organization’s mission and strategy.

• Feedback: Acknowledging how an employee’s contributions advance the public good or align with the organization’s mission can have a profound impact. Purpose-driven feedback reinforces an employee’s sense of pride and motivation, ensuring they feel valued and connected to the larger purpose of their work.

• Recognition: Awards, commendations, or even informal acknowledgments show employees that their alignment with public service values is both seen and valued, and encourage employees to continue aligning their work with public service goals, creating a work culture where PSM is celebrated and reinforced.

The Broader Impact: Engaging Employees and Mitigating Risks

Public service motivation is a vital yet often underutilized driver of engagement and performance within the public sector. By integrating PSM principles into performance management practices, organizations can enhance employees’ sense of purpose and foster alignment with organizational goals, and proactively reduce exposure to employment-related claims.

Leaders who invest in articulating their mission, clarifying roles, and celebrating public service values will drive the creation a work culture where employees are not only productive but also deeply connected to the public good they serve. This alignment ultimately ensures that performance management becomes more than a procedural task—it becomes a means to inspire and sustain a committed public workforce.

Written by Inggrid Wibowo, Lawyer & Workplace Investigator