TY - JOUR

T1 - Creaming among Caseworkers

T2 - Effects of Client Competence and Client Motivation on Caseworkers’ Willingness to Help

AU - Guul, Thorbjørn Sejr

AU - Pedersen, Mogens Jin

AU - Petersen, Niels Bjørn Grund

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Frontline employees cope with high workloads and limited resources by directing their work attention and efforts toward particular clients. Yet, the role of client attributes in the frontline employees’ efforts to help the clients remains undertheorized and empirically understudied. Using a survey experimental vignette design (2x2 factorial) among 1,595 Danish caseworkers, this article provides new knowledge on how two generic non-demographic client attributes—competence and motivation—shape frontline employees’ willingness to help their clients. We find that both the competence and motivation of the clients affect the caseworkers’ willingness to exert extra time and effort helping the clients. Specifically, caseworkers are most willing to help a client appearing both competent and motivated. Moreover, our data suggest that client motivation is more important than client competence for caseworkers’ willingness to help. We end the article with a discussion of policy implications and directions for future research

AB - Frontline employees cope with high workloads and limited resources by directing their work attention and efforts toward particular clients. Yet, the role of client attributes in the frontline employees’ efforts to help the clients remains undertheorized and empirically understudied. Using a survey experimental vignette design (2x2 factorial) among 1,595 Danish caseworkers, this article provides new knowledge on how two generic non-demographic client attributes—competence and motivation—shape frontline employees’ willingness to help their clients. We find that both the competence and motivation of the clients affect the caseworkers’ willingness to exert extra time and effort helping the clients. Specifically, caseworkers are most willing to help a client appearing both competent and motivated. Moreover, our data suggest that client motivation is more important than client competence for caseworkers’ willingness to help. We end the article with a discussion of policy implications and directions for future research

U2 - 10.1111/puar.13297

DO - 10.1111/puar.13297

M3 - Journal article

VL - 81

SP - 12

EP - 22

JO - Public Administration Review

JF - Public Administration Review

SN - 0033-3352

IS - 1

ER -