Employees' work motivation in service organizations: Comparing the for and the not-for-profit sector.

This contribution examines differences in four motivation-related concepts between employees in not-for-profit and for-profit sector service organizations. Using regression analyses, 630 knowledge workers from both sectors were compared. The majority of the hypotheses were supported by the data. Even after the impact of gender, age, seniority, type of employment, and job content were controlled for, employees from both sectors differed significantly. Not-for-profit workers valued more social service, perceived a better person-organization fit, and were more motivated by identified and integrated regulation. Their for-profit counterparts valued more advancement, and were more motivated by external regulation. These conclusions account for a broad range of activities within the service industry because a wide variety of organizations were included in the study.