The Role of Organizational Commitment in Mediating the Effect of Work Motivation on Employee Performance at the Medan Barat District Office

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the effect of work motivation on employee performance, the effect of work motivation on organizational commitment, the effect of organizational commitment on employee performance, and the role of organizational commitment in mediating the effect of work motivation on employee performance at the Medan Barat Subdistrict Office. The study employed a quantitative approach with a population of 60 civil servants (ASN). The sampling technique used was saturation sampling, meaning the entire population was included in the study sample. Data were collected through a questionnaire and analyzed using the Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) method with the assistance of the SmartPLS software. The test results indicate that work motivation has a positive and significant effect on employee performance (β = 0.195; p = 0.004), work motivation has a positive and significant effect on organizational commitment (β = 0.405; p = 0.000), and organizational commitment has a positive and significant effect on employee performance (β = 0.538; p = 0.000). The results of the indirect effect test indicate that organizational commitment positively and significantly mediates the effect of work motivation on employee performance (β = 0.218; p = 0.000). The coefficient of determination (R²) indicates that work motivation explains 16.4% of the variance in organizational commitment, while work motivation and organizational commitment together explain 41.2% of the variance in employee performance. Thus, increasing work motivation followed by strengthening organizational commitment can be an effective strategy for improving employee performance at the Medan Barat Subdistrict Office.