The Role of Employee Engagement in Mediating the Effect of Talent Management on Employee Performance

Abstract

This study aims to examine and analyze the role of employee engagement in mediating the effect of talent management on employee performance at the Human Resources Bureau of the North Sumatra Regional Police. The study employed a quantitative approach with a population of 115 employees from the Human Resources Bureau of the North Sumatra Regional Police. A saturation sampling technique was used, meaning the entire population was included as the study sample. Primary data were collected through a questionnaire using a Likert scale. Data analysis was conducted using the Partial Least Squares–Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) method with the SmartPLS 3.0 software. The results indicate that talent management has a positive and significant effect on employee performance, with a path coefficient of 0.203, a t-statistic of 3.554, and a p-value of 0.000. Talent management also has a positive and significant effect on employee engagement, with a path coefficient of 0.300, a t-statistic of 4.893, and a p-value of 0.000. Furthermore, employee engagement has a positive and significant effect on employee performance, with a path coefficient of 0.562, a t-statistic of 10.568, and a p-value of 0.000. The results of the indirect effect test indicate that employee engagement positively and significantly mediates the effect of talent management on employee performance, with a coefficient of 0.169, a t-statistic of 4.614, and a p-value of 0.000. The R-squared value for employee engagement of 0.090 indicates that talent management explains 9% of the variation in employee engagement, while the R-squared value for employee performance of 0.425 indicates that talent management and employee engagement together explain 42.5% of the variation in employee performance. The research findings confirm that objective, targeted, and sustainable talent management can improve employee performance both directly and indirectly by increasing employee engagement.