Organizational confidence: An empirical assessment of highly positive public managers

There is a great deal of research investigating public servants’ perceptions of organizational problems (e.g. red tape, bureaucratic control); however, there is little research investigating public servants who have highly positive perceptions of their organizations. This paper assesses perceptions of state employees to investigate individual and organizational level correlates with highly positive government workers, which we define as workers reporting high levels of pride in the organization for which they work, and who believe that the organization provides high quality public services and operates by highly ethical standards. Using data from the National Administration Studies Project III, we draw from formal theories of worker attitude formation and change to frame our assessment of these ideal-type public managers in terms of contemporaneous perceptions of work and work environment, structural job characteristics, and career trajectory. We conclude with a discussion of the implications for public management and policy.