Examining Public Service Motivation (PSM) and Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory: Insights from the Sabah Department of Labour, Malaysia

Abstract

Past studies have shown that employee motivation is closely related to performance; hence, Public Service Motivation (PSM) is an important factor influencing employee commitment and effectiveness. According to the Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory, the quality of the relationship between leaders and members is important for employee motivation and performance. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between PSM and LMX among civil servants. It also examined how high-quality leader exchange, characterised by respect, trust, and obligation, could enhance civil servants’ contribution to organisational performance and public. This study adopted a quantitative approach to analyse the questionnaire data collected from 80 civil servants from the Sabah Department of Labour. The result of this study revealed that six dimensions of PSM namely 1) Attraction to Policy Making, 2) Commitment of the Public Interest, 3) Social Justice, 4) Civic Duty, 5) Compassion, 6) Self-Sacrifice have a low to moderate correlation on the relationship between superiors and subordinates based on the LMX Theory dimensions such as obligation, respect, and trust. The attraction to policy making, commitment of public interest, social justice, and compassion dimensions showed low correlations. At the same time, civic duty and self-sacrifice had moderate correlations and significant relationships with LMX. Dimension attraction to policy making showed limited evidence of a relationship and dimension compassion showed no meaningful relationship with LMX.