The Effect of Expectations Regarding Turkish National Elections: The Reactions of Public Employees

In an organizational setting, employees’ motivation which has critical consequences such as performance, job satisfaction, commitment, absenteeism and turnover may be influenced by different variables. These variables can be categorized as individual characteristics, job characteristics, work environment characteristics and external environment characteristics. Regarding the external environment, national political environment and political changes are one of the most important factors influencing the relationship between motivation and attitudinal and behavioral outcomes for public employees. In Turkey, a national election is going to take place in May, 2011 to elect the members of the Grand National Assembly. The expectations about the results of this election are expected to have a major impact on the behaviors and attitudes of public sector employees. Thus, a survey was undertaken in one of the public institutions to measure their expectations about the election, motivation levels, job satisfaction and commitment. In addition, Job Characteristics Model was also applied. Collected data was analyzed to see if there is a significant effect of expectations regarding the national election on the motivation, attitude and behavior of these public employees.