The Effects of Job Placement Methods and Examination Category on Transfer Intention of Junior Civil Servants: Using Public Service Motivation as a Moderator
Yu-Han Kao, Hsiang-Kai Dong
Abstract
Civil service examinations have been held in Taiwan for more than 60 years. So far, the principle of fair, just, and open employment has always been adhered to, winning the trust of the public and candidates as well. The examinations have become an important way for government agencies to select and employ staff members. However, the current examination and selection system is generally insufficient to achieve a corresponding balance between the positions and job requirements of government agencies and the abilities and characteristics of individuals. As far as the core value of examination and selection is concerned, there seems to be an imbalance, which may lead to unstable staffing within organizations and high turnover rates. Therefore, this study aims to explore the impacts of civil servants’ “distribution methods” and “category of national examinations” on their “transfer intention”, and to explore the moderating effect of “public service motivation”. The data source of this study was the “2020 Taiwan Government Bureaucrats Survey – Panel Study” by Taiwan Institute for Governance and Communication Research, and the main research subjects were incumbent civil servants with less than 10 years of service experience in civil service agencies. After screening out the variables that conformed to the topic of this study and excluding missing values, the number of samples included in the analysis was 648. The results showed that if civil servants were distributed according to the training scores, their transfer intention would be significantly lower compared with distribution according to the national civil service examination scores. Besides, the occupational groups with the highest transfer intention were civil servants who applied for the economic planning and development occupational groups and general occupational groups. Finally, in the process of category of national examinations influencing the transfer intention, public service motivation had a significant negative moderating effect. In other words, the higher their public service motivation, the more it will negatively strengthen the influence of category of national examinations on their transfer intention. Based on the above research findings, a discussion was conducted and practical suggestions related to the national civil service examination system were put forward.
Keywords: transfer intention of junior civil servants, distribution methods, category of national examinations, public service motivation