Job-fit and high-performance versus high-empowerment HR: moderators of the PSM—organizational commitment relationship

Abstract

Research has not given enough attention to the contextual factors that interact with public service motivation (PSM) and moderate its impact (i.e. enhance or suppress its virtuous effects). The management of those factors is fundamentally a question of how PSM interacts with particular HR practices. As such, this study tests the differential effects of PSM on organizational commitment as a function of differing practices. Utilizing survey data from a Central Illinois municipality, it examines the moderation effects of job fulfilment (i.e. job fit evidence), high-performance HR, and high-empowerment HR. The findings show that high-empowerment practices strengthen the PSM – organizational commitment relationship.