The Effects of Incentives and Job Satisfaction on Employee Performance: The Mediating Role of Work Motivation in the East Kolaka Regency Government

Santi, Sudirman Zaid, Juharsah, Noval Nur

Abstract

This study examines the effects of incentive and reward systems and job satisfaction on employee performance, with work motivation as a mediating variable and demographic characteristics as a moderating variable, in the East Kolaka Regency Government. An explanatory quantitative research design was employed. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire distributed to 367 members of the Indonesian State Civil Apparatus (ASN), selected using proportional random sampling from a population of 4,260 employees. The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings indicate that incentive and reward systems and job satisfaction positively influence work motivation, which, in turn, significantly enhances employee performance. Work motivation also mediates the relationships between incentive and reward systems and employee performance, as well as between job satisfaction and employee performance. However, demographic characteristics do not significantly moderate the examined relationships. These findings contribute to the literature on public-sector human resource management by highlighting the central role of work motivation in translating organizational rewards and job satisfaction into improved employee performance. The results also provide practical implications for developing fair, transparent, and performance-oriented HR policies in local government institutions.

 

Keywords: incentive and reward systems; job satisfaction; work motivation; employee performance; demographic characteristics; public-sector human resource management; local government.

 

DOI https://doi.org/10.55463/issn.1674-2974.53.6.5


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