Although work-related duties are performed via teleworking in all sectors, the U.S. federal government has taken the lead in offering telework arrangements to its employees; thereby causing a proliferation of the number of employees in the federal government who telework. In spite of this occurrence, public organization research has largely ignored the effect of teleworking on government employees. As a result, the goal of this article is to examine the association between several teleworking arrangements and work motivation in a federal government agency-a test of social exchange theory. After controlling for organizational, job, and individual characteristics, as well as mission attainment, the empirical analysis revealed that teleworkers (frequent and infrequent) did not consistently have higher levels of work motivation than nonteleworkers, providing only partial support for social exchange theory. The implications of these findings are thoroughly discussed in the article.

Given that an employee’s personal responsibilities can have an effect on their work, one method increasingly used by government agencies to improve performance has been to offer programs that assist workers in balancing work and personal obligations. Employee demand for such work-life programs is also increasing due to the growing amount of women in the workplace, two-career families, and workers wanting a greater ability to manage work and life. Yet despite the increase in supply and demand for work-life programs, empirical examinations regarding the benefits of these programs in government agencies are scarce. As a result, this article examines the association between employee satisfaction with work-life programs and two important factors that drive work motivation: organizational commitment and job involvement. Data was obtained from the 2010 Federal Employee Viewpoint survey, and the results from the analysis extended previous literature in several important ways. First, work motivation was not consistently affected by employee levels of satisfaction with work-life benefits in federal agencies. More specifically, employee satisfaction with most work-life benefits (i.e., telework, health and wellness programs, child care, and older adult care) were positively associated to organizational commitment, and none were associated to job involvement. Next, organizational commitment was influenced more by family-friendly programs and health and wellness programs than by flexible working arrangements. The implications of these findings are detailed in the study.

Teleworking is the most common alternative work schedule used in public organizations. Despite the adoption of teleworking in government agencies, no studies were found that empirically examined the effect it has on retention in these agencies. This article therefore extends the literature by examining the impact of teleworking on turnover intentions in U.S. federal agencies. In so doing, the findings suggest that teleworking did not exact a social exchange in public agencies. That is, teleworkers and nonteleworkers reported similar intentions to quit implying that telecommuting should not be used by managers and organizations "solely" to reduce the turnover of government employees. Furthermore, an examination of each of the teleworking and nonteleworking arrangements revealed that government workers were more likely to report a leave intention when they were denied the opportunity to telecommute. As a result, this finding validates the social denial hypothesis. The managerial and theoretical implications of these findings are thoroughly discussed in the article.

This article sought to understand the association between employee satisfaction with several family-friendly programs and turnover in U.S. federal agencies. It also built on previous cross-sectional studies that examined the relationship between these benefits and both attitudes and outcomes. More specifically, this article used social exchange theory to develop hypotheses regarding the effect of telework, alternative work schedules, child care subsidies, elder care, employee assistance programs, and health and wellness programs on turnover. Furthermore, 4 years of panel data were obtained from the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey and FedScope to test the hypotheses. Consistent with social exchange theory, results from the balanced panel model indicate that satisfaction with family-friendly programs in general had a significant, negative effect on turnover at the .10 level. The results also indicate that alternative work schedules, child care programs, and employee assistance programs reduced turnover. Child care and employee assistance programs were significant at the .10 level. Telework, elder care, and health and wellness programs, on the other hand, were not found to have an impact on turnover. The implications the results have for theory and practice are discussed in the article.

The direct and indirect impact of transformational leadership on individual performance has often been studied. Yet scholars have failed to fully explore the degree to which two motivators (i.e., public service motivation [PSM] and mission valence) interact with this leadership practice to influence employee performance. To close this lacuna in the literature, a nationwide survey was administered to federal, state, and local government employees in the United States. The findings revealed that transformational leadership and PSM had a direct, positive effect on employee evaluations. They also revealed that mission valence strengthened the positive relationship between transformational leadership and performance. However, PSM did not have the same influence on the association between transformational leadership and performance. The implications these findings have for theory and practice are discussed in the article.

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Scholars have argued that whistle-blowing is consistent with public service motivation (PSM), given that whistle-blowing is a form of self-sacrifice and concern for the public interest. Such a connection is also consistent with the Prosocial Organizational Behavior (POB) Model. However, only one article was found that examined the direct association between PSM and whether or not employees reported unlawful acts. Furthermore, no article was found to explore the relationship between PSM, whistle-blowing, and seriousness of wrongdoing-an important intervening factor that influences decisions to report. This is surprising because whistle-blowers can prevent detrimental harm to individuals and society and yet we still know little about the internal motives that cause them to come forward. Consequently, the connection between PSM and whistle-blowing was investigated further in this article. Consistent with the POB Model, PSM was positively associated with whistle-blowing generally, as well as internal and external whistle-blowing. Seriousness of wrongdoing was also found to have a positive effect on whistle-blowing. Furthermore, seriousness of wrongdoing was found to moderate the relationship between PSM and only internal whistle-blowing. The implications of the findings are discussed in the article.

Although transformational leadership and goal clarity have been linked separately to self-efficacy, extra-role behaviors, and turnover intentions, research has not fully considered how transformational leadership and goal clarity work together to influence these attitudes and behaviors. This article builds upon previous management and leadership theories by developing a causal model to explore exactly how transformational leadership and goal clarity collaborate to influence self-efficacy, extra-role behaviors, and turnover intentions. Moreover, the model was tested on public sector employees in the United States. The findings showed that goal clarity completely mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and both self-efficacy and extra-role behaviors. Goal clarity was also found to partially mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and turnover intentions. In addition, self-efficacy had a positive impact on extra-role behaviors and turnover intentions. The managerial and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed in the article.