Competencies of the public servant and their impacts: a study in Brazil
International Journal of Public Leadership
ISSN: 2056-4929
Article publication date: 25 January 2024
Issue publication date: 12 February 2024
Abstract
Purpose
The authors aimed to investigate whether the competencies of public servants (self-competence, teamwork competence, change competence, communication competence (CC) and ethical competence) influence their organizational commitment and indirectly their job satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a structural model from the literature, the authors conducted a survey with 463 Brazilian public servants using a questionnaire, and the authors evaluated the measurement model through confirmatory component analysis (CCA). Then, the authors used partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze the structural model.
Findings
The authors' results showed that the ethical competence construct tends to have a direct positive influence on the organizational commitment construct and indirectly influences the job satisfaction of public servants. On the other hand, the authors found that the self-competence, teamwork competence, change competence and CC constructs did not impact organizational commitment or job satisfaction indirectly.
Originality/value
The authors conclude that developing ethical competence in public servants is likely to increase their organizational commitment and indirectly positively affect their job satisfaction. This research tested the five dimensions of competencies under a new focus, public service, seeking to evidence their relationships with the organizational commitment and job satisfaction of public servants, filling a gap in the literature.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research was funded by the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq/Brazil), (No: 307202/2021–6), Foundation for Research Support of Espírito Santo (FAPES/Brazil) [Nos: 2022-687 ZR (644/2022), 2022–31G9Q (1010/2022) and 2022-1RJWJ (323/2023)], by Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT/Portugal) through NECE (Núcleo de Estudos em Ciências Empresariais) (No: UID/GES/04630/2020) and by IFTS (Instituto Fucape de Tecnologias Sociais) (No: 2021–2024).
Citation
Mainardes, E.W., Nogueira, E.H.B. and Brugni, T.V. (2024), "Competencies of the public servant and their impacts: a study in Brazil", International Journal of Public Leadership, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 89-105. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPL-09-2023-0068
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited