Motivating Public and Nonprofit Sector Workers

Catalog description

Why do some people work harder than others? Why are public and nonprofit employees seemingly willing to forego higher levels of pay and compensation in exchange for their limited time and energy? And what is it about public and nonprofit organizations that appears to attract and motivate workers? In this cross-disciplinary course, students will explore a diverse body of concepts on work motivation and achievement (from the fields of public administration, psychology, business administration, economics, and sociology) to begin answering these questions. The course is structured to support three overarching goals: 1) to expose students to several major theories of work motivation, 2) to examine how work motivation unfolds in complex organizational settings, and 3) to investigate how organizations can be designed to maximize employee motivation. Sample topics include cognitive, needs-based, and reinforcement theories of motivation as well as public sector and public service motivation.