The Influence of Career Development and Work Discipline on Employee Performance through Work Motivation as an Intervening Variable at Institut Syekh Abdul Halim Hasan Binjai

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the influence of career development and work discipline on employee performance, with work motivation serving as an intervening variable at Institut Syekh Abdul Halim Hasan Binjai, involving a total sample of 41 employees. The research employed a quantitative approach using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) based on the Partial Least Square (PLS) method. The results revealed that career development had a positive and significant effect on employee performance, with a T-statistic value of 5.744 > 1.96 and a P-value of 0.000 < 0.05. However, work discipline did not exhibit a significant effect on performance (T-statistics = 0.839; P-value = 0.406). Furthermore, work motivation significantly affected performance but in a negative direction (T-statistics = 2.353; P-value = 0.023), suggesting an imbalance between employees’ motivation levels and their workload. Mediation analysis indicated that career development did not significantly influence performance through work motivation, whereas employee engagement had a significant indirect effect on performance through motivation (T-statistics = 2.572; P-value = 0.014). Work discipline, on the other hand, showed no significant indirect effect via motivation. Overall, the findings emphasize that career development was  dominant factor in enhancing performance, while work motivation acts as a limited mediator and work discipline does not substantially contribute to improving employee performance within the educational institution context.