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In many developing countries, despite the efforts made to roll out New Public Management, public service quality is still more of an ideal than a reality. Employee disengagement emerges time and again in reflections on the causes of the problem, without, in most contexts, having any precise explanations. The article sets out to identify the engagement drivers likely to secure the effective involvement of public officials tasked with providing the public administrative service. To do this, an empirical study is conducted in Cameroon. The analysis makes use of both statistical inference and content analysis. Its results tell us that the involvement of public officials is linked, in particular, to work organisation, human resources management practices and the recognition of their potential by their superiors.