The article considers the forms and results of the reform of the state administration system under Peter I, examines the reasons for the formation of the first models of servicemen, characterizes the specifics in regulating the order of their work and norms of behavior at the legislative level (“Maritime Charter”, “Table of Ranks”, “General Regulations”, etc.). The development and adoption of all those documents was an innovation in the field of public administration in Russia at the beginning of the18th century that allowed the use of structured and effective practices of organized administration. The methodological basis for governance established at that time is still in place today, as the collegiums turned into ministries that existed until the revolution of 1917. After the Bolsheviks came to power, the new leadership, in one way or another, in the form of People’s commissariats, retained almost all the previous ministries and the experience of their activities, and after the collapse of the USSR, the latter were inherited by the Russian Federation. In addition, the acts initiated by Peter I not only established requirements for the military, naval and state civil service, but also gave them all a completely different meaning and content. The priority goal of serving one’s Fatherland was put forward in the first place. That is, people were united not by blind obedience to the royal decrees, as it was before, but by the understanding that their activities were primarily related to the public good and bringing benefits to the state as a whole. Such a rethinking of work gave birth to new organizational values and increased the interest of employees in achieving socially significant results. The relevance of the article is to use the experience of the past years to find effective levers that motivate people to be useful to each other and their country.