The Probation Period for Debutant Civil Servants. Influencing Expectancy

This study is part of a broader research on work motivation in the Romanian local public administration, based on Vroom’s motivational model. The research has tried to diagnose Romanian local public institutions (city halls in particular) regarding the work motivation level of their civil servants. Since the research was too broad to be presented entirely in this article, the authors will show only the findings obtained in one city hall from a city, county residence. Due to the same reason, this paper refers to just one of the Vroom’s model elements (the expectancy) and to one of the aspects that could influence it: the probation period for the debutant civil servants. The probation period is critical in preparing civil servants for their future job and career within the local public administration. That is why it can influence the expectancy of civil servants, which in its turn, (from Vroom’s’ model perspective) influences work motivation.