Understanding and Cultivating Workforce 2020

• Published date: 01 December 2020
• DOI: 10.1177/0091026020931551
• Author: Bangcheng Liu
• Date: 01 December 2020
• Subject Matter: Guest Editorials

931551PPMXXX10.1177/0091026020931551Public Personnel ManagementLiu
research-article2020
Guest Editorial
Public Personnel Management
2020, Vol. 49(4) 503 –507
Understanding and
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Cultivating Workforce 2020
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The importance of human factors is widely recognized. Even in the so-called era of
machine replacement of labor, the battle of COVID-19 epidemic has again verified
the recognition. Due to human beings’ initiative, autonomy, and self-determination,
how to attract, maintain, and motivate people are the key issues in general manage-
ment. The material and psychic returns to individuals generally constitute the major
determinants of the level of effectiveness of institutional functioning, even of the
existence of the institution. Thus, job satisfaction (a complex emotional reaction to a
given job) and motivation (including internal factors that impel action and external
factors that can act as inducements to action) have been studied since the 1930s.
Scholars in the public administration field are keeping up with the trends (Figure 1).
For example, until the end of 2019, there are 789 articles (including job satisfaction,
work satisfaction, or employee satisfaction either in the title or the abstract) published
at the English-language public administration journals listed in the Web of Science.
The top 10 journals are Public Personnel Management (94 articles), Review of Public
Personnel Administration (76 articles), Public Administration Review (63 articles),
Public Management Review (58 articles), Administration in Social Works (53 arti-
cles), American Review of Public Administration (52 articles), Journal of Public
Administration Research and Theory (50 articles), International Public Management
Journal (37 articles), Public Performance & Management Review (33 articles), and
Nonprofit Management and Leadership (31 articles).
According to Collins English Dictionary, satisfaction is the pleasure that individu-
als feel when they do something or gain something that they wanted or needed to do
or obtain. Pleasure is the consequence of (perceived) value achievements. A job is a
complex aggregation of tasks, roles, responsibilities, reactions, incentives, and
rewards, typically including work itself, compensation and benefit, promotion, work-
ing conditions, recognition, supervision, co-workers, organization, and management.
After more than 80 years, a widely accepted definition has been reached: Job satis-
faction is an emotional state resulting from subjective appraisal...