APPLICABILITY OF THE VIE-MODEL IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

ABSTRACT Demographic change poses considerable challenges for the public sector when it comes to recruiting and retaining qualified junior staff. In order to ensure the long-term viability of public institutions, the focus is increasingly shifting to strategic personnel development. Against this background, this article examines the extent to which employee motivation in the public sector can be explained by Vroom's valence-instrumentality-expectancy model (VIE model) and the importance of individual motives and situational incentives. As part of a systematic literature review, motivation is understood as a dynamic, context-dependent process that arises from the interplay of personal needs and external incentive structures. The VIE model offers a differentiated theoretical frame of reference by describing motivation as the result of cognitive trade-offs between valence, instrumentality and expectation. The analysis shows that motivation in the public sector can be promoted in particular when both individual preferences, such as security, recognition or development prospects, and structural framework conditions, such as transparent target systems, feedback mechanisms and modern management concepts, are taken into account. The results show that the VIE model is a suitable instrument for explaining motivationally relevant decision-making processes. In addition, there are practical implications for human resource management in public organizations, for example with regard to the design of reciprocal incentive systems, the promotion of work-life balance and the establishment of life-phase-oriented personnel development. Motivation is thus understood not only as an individual characteristic, but also as a strategic resource for administrative modernization. Keywords: leadership strategies, public administration, motivation, VIE model.