What inspires Career Professionals in Ontario's Non-Profit Employment Agencies to Remain Intrinsically Motivated?
Keywords:
Career professional, Non-Profit, Employment, MotivationAbstract
This exploratory case study sought to find out what motivates career professionals in Ontario’s non-profit employment agencies to reach and exceed their pre-set targets. Unlike profit-earning organizations, career professionals of non-profit employment agencies in Ontario do not get any additional financial incentives for exceeding their targets of helping job seekers find sustainable employment. In this study, seven mid-level managers and seven career professionals of non-profit employment agencies were interviewed. The research used a transformative learning theory lens (Mezirow, 1991), and also an interpretivist framework (Merriam, 1998) to understand the data. A semi-structured interview format was used for the oneon-one interviews. Additional data were collected via document perusal, field notes, and the researcher’s reflective journals. The data were coded and analyzed thematically using a
content analysis method. Triangulation and member-checking were performed for ensuring reliability of data (Yin, 2009). The study suggests that the career professionals of the seven non-profit employment agencies are by and large, intrinsically motivated, and three of their key motivators are “passion for their jobs”, “empathy for the clients” and “changing other people’s lives” in a positive way
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