Public service values can be a powerful force in motivating public servants.When working in a stressful and high-pressure job with few resources, limited funding, and often ambiguous and even conflicting goals, it can be easy to lose sight of the importance of what public servants do.

Directions

Consider this scenario and answer the following questions:

You are currently the executive director of the Human Services Education Center, a nonprofit organization that offers free community seminars on various topics from parenting skills to healthy living. The seminars are currently well-attended by the individuals who reside in the low socioeconomic community surrounding the Center. While the seminars are free for participants, you have found that they are costing the organization money due to paying staff overtime to conduct the seminars.With the limited funding you currently have for the organization's operational budget, you cannot afford this additional cost.

As the leader of the Human Services Education Center, it is necessary to look at this scenario through the lens of both public service motivation and alternative funding when making a decision as to what to do about the free community seminars. According to the textbook, public service motivation is centered on the desire to serve the public and the public interest. These motives are related to factors such as loyalty, duty, citizenship, and values such as social equity. Although state funding for nonprofit organizations is often limited, there may be alternatives to funding or additional resources that can be tapped to cover the costs of running the seminars.

Of the decision-making techniques that were addressed in our textbook, cost-effectiveness analysis is a technique used to help decision-makers compare the program's output to the costs encountered. Consider the possible costs that are involved in maintaining the free community seminars currently being offered at your organization. What are two alternative sources of funding or resources available that would offset the overtime costs of the employees needed to run the seminars?

Reflecting on your own public service motives as the leader in this scenario, what motives do you see most being challenged and why?

How would you overcome these challenges?