The Role Of Job Satisfaction In Mediating The Effect Of Leadership And Competence On Employee Performance At The Community And Village Empowerment Office Of Langkat Regency

Abstract

This study analyzes the effect of leadership and competence on employee performance, with
job satisfaction as a mediating variable, at the Community and Village Empowerment Office
of Langkat Regency. This study is motivated by the importance of human resource
management in supporting effective government administration and achieving organizational
goals. A quantitative approach was used, with a population that also served as the sample,
comprising 60 civil servants (Aparatur Sipil Negara, ASN). The sampling technique was
saturated sampling. Primary data were collected through questionnaires using a Likert scale
and analyzed with Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) using
SmartPLS 3.0. The testing covered evaluation of the measurement model, the structural
model, direct effects, and indirect effects through bootstrapping. The results show that
leadership has a positive and significant effect on employee performance, with a coefficient
of 0.291 and a t-statistic of 3.809. Competence also has a positive and significant effect on
employee performance, with a coefficient of 0.323 and a t-statistic of 3.740. In addition,
leadership and competence have positive and significant effects on job satisfaction, with
coefficients of 0.453 and 0.535, respectively. Job satisfaction has a positive and significant
effect on employee performance, with a coefficient of 0.473. The mediation test shows that
job satisfaction positively and significantly mediates the effect of leadership and competence
on employee performance. Accordingly, improving the effectiveness of leadership,
competence, and job satisfaction is an important aspect in supporting the optimization of
employee performance.