Public Organizational Culture’s Association With Quality of Working Life: The Mediating Role of Satisfaction With HRM Practices

Drawing on the Culture-Work-Health model, this research aims to determine public organizational culture profiles and assess the mediating role of HRM satisfaction in the relationship between public cultures and quality of working life (QWL). To achieve these objectives, a content analysis of the value statements of 26 public organizations in Quebec (Canada) was carried out, and an online survey of 784 public servants working in these organizations was conducted. The coupling of qualitative and quantitative data enabled cluster analyses and structural equation models to be performed. In Study 1, 51 public values were identified and grouped into seven categories. Cluster analysis revealed five public culture profiles: agile excellence, ethical benevolence, new public management (NPM), public interest protector , and sustainable benevolence . In Study 2, the associations between these profiles, satisfaction with HRM practices, and QWL were examined using the sample of civil servants. The results show that some types of public culture have a direct effect on QWL, while others have an indirect effect via satisfaction with HRM practices. In any case, public administrators should formulate their value statement with great interest since the articulation of the displayed values has significant implications for civil servants’ QWL.