The impact of job autonomy and communication practices on employee performance: the mediating role of public service motivation

Improving individual employee and organizational performance has been the main concern of many organizations for decades and several factors have also been studied as predictors of employee performance. However, the bulk of studies are mainly conducted in the private sector organizations with few attentions accorded to the public sector organizations, even though at present the difference between the two sectors is not much especially with introduction of privatization and New Public Management in the public sector. Drawing upon Social Exchange Theory and the application of Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS SEM), this study examined the mediating role of public service motivation on the relationship between job autonomy, communication practices and employee task and contextual performance. The participants were 288 senior staff of local governments in north-western part of Nigeria. The findings suggested that both job autonomy and communication practices predicted employee task and contextual performance. It was also found that public service motivation is an important mechanism (mediator) in the relationship.