The factors impacting on work motivation and organizational commitment of civil servants in the municipal government. A case in People’s Committee District 3, Ho Chi Minh City

Abstract

Employees are considered valuable assets of any organization. The staff determines the existence and progress of the organization. In the current context, the “brain drain” issue has been increasing and become an urgent commission that human resource managers concentrate on. Especially, public organizations such as in Vietnam are seen as lacking preconditions to retain and promote the efforts of civil servants. How to propel the workability of employees and how to commit them to the organization are always crucial tasks for human resource managers. Answering to these questions would enable organization to maintain and enhance its competitiveness. Basing on the practice of human resource management at the People's Committee of District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, the study has been conducted towards three main goals. The study will increase the understanding of the factors impacting work motivation and the organizational commitment of civil servants, whether there is or is not a positive relation between work motivation and organizational commitment, and in order to offer solutions for human resource managers to work with these issues. The quantitative research method was a main method applied to answer these three research questions. Data collected from 313 civil servants working in District 3 was tested for reliability and validity by Cronbach’s Alpha and explore factor analysis (EFA). Confirm factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation model (SEM) were used to verify the appropriatedness of the proposed research model. The research results show that the work motivation of the civil servants in District 3 is influenced by four factors including serving the public good, relationships with leaders, relationships with colleagues, and promotion and career advancement. Another result found is that there is a positive relationship between work motivation and organizational commitment in the municipal government. This result is considered quite consistent with the context of Vietnam, in particular, in District 3. It can be a reference for human resource managers in formulating personnel strategies and plans for the unit. In addition, the study also discusses some implementation that the District 3 authority should focus on when developing human resource management policies