Work environment and leadership style on employee performance: Evidence of work motivation mediation

Authors

  • Kukuh Harianto Universitas Islam Kadiri, Jawa Timur, Indonesia
  • Rike Kusuma Wardhani Universitas Islam Kadiri, Jawa Timur, Indonesia
  • Kharisma Ayu Hilma Ricza Aziz Universitas Islam Kadiri, Jawa Timur, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12928/fokus.v16i1.15303

Abstract

Employee performance is a key factor in determining organizational effectiveness and productivity. Organizational factors such as the work environment and leadership style are widely recognized as influencing employee performance, both directly and indirectly through psychological mechanisms such as work motivation. This study aims to analyze the effects of the work environment and leadership style on employee performance, with work motivation as a mediating variable, at Bina Bangun Perkasa Kediri Company. This research employs a quantitative causal approach using saturated sampling involving all 34 permanent employees as respondents. Data were collected through questionnaires and analyzed using partial least squares-structural equation modelling with SmartPLS 4. The results show that the work environment does not significantly affect employee performance or work motivation. Leadership style does not directly influence employee performance but significantly affects work motivation, which in turn significantly improves employee performance. Mediation analysis indicates that work motivation mediates the relationship between leadership style and employee performance, but not between the work environment and employee performance. These findings differ from previous studies that generally report a significant influence of the work environment on employee performance through motivation.

References

Afonso, D. D., Domínguez, L. R., & Núñez, C. B. (2023). It’s worth it ! High-performance work systems for employee job satisfaction: The mediational role of burnout. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 108(103364). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2022.103364

Barroga, E., Matanguihan, G. J., Furuta, A., Arima, M., Tsuchiya, S., Kawahara, C., & Takamiya, Y. (2023). Conducting and writing quantitative and qualitative research. Journal of Korean Medical Science, 38(37), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2023.38.e291

Blau, P. M. (1964). Exchange and power in social life (1st ed.). John Wiley & Sons.

Bonini, A., Panari, C., Caricati, L., & Mariani, M. G. (2024). The relationship between leadership and adaptive performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Plos One, 19(10), 10. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304720

Bourlakis, M., Nisar, T. M., & Prabhakar, G. (2023). How technostress may affect employee performance in educational work environments. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 193(February), 122674. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2023.122674

Cabarcos, M. ´Angeles L., Rodríguez, P. V., & Pi˜neiro, L. M. Q. (2022). An approach to employees ’ job performance through work environmental variables and leadership behaviours. Journal of Business Research, 140, 361–369. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.11.006

Cahyadi, A., Marwa, T., Hágen, I., Siraj, M. N., Santati, P., Poór, J., & Szabó, K. (2022). Leadership styles, high-involvement human resource management practices, and individual employee performance in small and medium enterprises in the digital era. Economies, 10(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/economies10070162

Cheng, Z., & Zhu, C. (2025). Academics’ leadership styles and their motivation to participate in a leadership training program in the digital era. Education Sciences, 15(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15030369

Cherian, J., Gaikar, V., Paul, R., & Pech, R. (2021). Corporate culture and its impact on employees ’ attitude, performance, productivity, and behaviour: An investigative analysis from selected organizations of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 7(1), 45. https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc7010045

Cheung, G. W., Cooper, H. D., Rebecca, T., & Wang, L. C. (2024). Reporting reliability, convergent and discriminant and best practice recommendations. In Asia Pacific Journal of Management (Vol. 41). Springer US. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-023-09871-y

Collie, R. J. (2023). Teachers’ work motivation: Examining perceived leadership practices and salient outcomes. Teaching and Teacher Education, 135(104348). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2023.104348

Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.

Dash, G., & Paul, J. (2021). Technological forecasting & social change CB-SEM vs PLS-SEM methods for research in social sciences and technology forecasting. Technological Forecasting & Social Change, 173(August), 121092. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121092

Dumitriu, S., Bocean, C. G., Varzaru, A. A., Al-Floarei, A. T., Sperdea, N. M., Popescu, F. L., & Baloi, I.-C. (2025). The role of the workplace environment in shaping employees’ well-being. Sustainability (Switzerland), 17(2613), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17062613

Gagné, M., & Hewett, R. (2024). Assumptions about human motivation have consequences for practice. Journal of Management Studies, 62(5), 2098–2124. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.13092

Gazi, M. A. I., Yusof, M. F., Islam, M. A., Amin, M. Bin, & Senathijarah, A. rahman B. S. (2024). Analyzing the impact of employee job satisfaction on their job behavior in the industrial setting: An analysis from the perspective of job performance. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 10(February). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joitmc.2024.100427

Gemeda, H. K., & Lee, J. (2020). Leadership Styles, work engagement and outcomes among information and communications technology professionals: A cross-national study. Heliyon, 6(4), e03699. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e03699

Grabowski, D., Chudzicka-czupała, A., & Stapor, K. (2022). Relationships between work ethic and motivation to work from the point of view of the self-determination theory. Plos One, 16(7), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0253145

Hair, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2022). A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80519-7

Hundie, Z. A., & Habtewold, E. M. (2024). The effect of transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles on employees ’ level of performance : The case of Hospital in Oromia Region, Ethiopia. Journal of Healthcare Leadership, 16(February), 67–82. https://doi.org/10.2147/JHL.S450077

Karim, M. M., Amin, M. Bin, Ahmed, H., Hajdú, Z., & Popp, J. (2023). The influence of leadership styles on employee performance in telecom companies of Bangladesh. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 21(3), 671–681. https://doi.org/10.21511/ppm.21(3).2023.52

Kaviya, A., Arumugam, V., Vasudevan, A., & Razak, A. (2025). Analysing the impact of work environment on job motivation and quality control practices and its effect on production output in the leather industry. Scientific Reports, 15(26696), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-08694-9

Kearney, T., Coughlan, J., & Kennedy, A. (2023). The influence of the physical work environment on retail employees. Journal of Services Marketing, 37(6). https://doi.org/10.1108/JSM-04-2022-0130

Kebe, I. A., Kahl, C., & Liu, Y. (2024). Charting success: The influence of leadership styles on driving sustainable employee performance in the Sierra Leonean Banking Sector. Sustainability (Switzerland), 16(21). https://doi.org/10.3390/su16219600

Khan, M. A., Ismail, F. B., Hussain, A., & Alghazali, B. (2020). The interplay of leadership styles, innovative work behavior, organizational culture, and organizational citizenship behavior. SAGE Open, 10(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019898264

Khan, S. I., Bartram, T., Cavanagh, J., & Dahanayake, P. (2025). The effects of human resource strength and social identification on employee performance: The case of Bangladeshi Private Commercial Banks. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 63(3). https://doi.org/10.1111/1744-7941.70024

Kohnen, D., Witte, H. De, Schaufeli, W. B., Dello, S., Bruyneel, L., & Sermeus, W. (2024). Engaging leadership and nurse well‑being: The role of the work environment and work motivation — A cross‑sectional study. Human Resources for Health, 22(8), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-023-00886-6

Lan, H. Y., Lewis, F. M., Tsai, Y. L., Liaw, J. J., & Chang, Y.-C. (2025). Exploring the mechanisms linking work environment with nurses’ physical and mental health, burnout, and productivity: A structural equation modelling approach. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 81. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.70367

Li, J., Ebabu, E. A., Yu, H., Yuan, D. P., Ning, J., & Xuanyi, X. (2025). Leadership, environment, and engagement: Psychological pathways to enhanced personnel performance. Acta Psychologica, 261(105963). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2025.105963

Lim, W. M. (2025). What is qualitative research ? An overview and guidelines. Australasian Marketing Journal, 33(2), 199–229. https://doi.org/10.1177/14413582241264619

Lin, C. P., & Li, Y. L. (2024). Motivating learning goal orientation and job performance: Leadership training and development. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 35(4), 409–429. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.21529

Liu, Y., Ali, A. A., Pan, J., Xiao, Y., Abdela, A., is, A., & is, J. P. (2024). The effect of leadership styles on employee’s performance in Ethiopian sports organizations with mediating and moderating roles. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-81788-y

Lyubykh, Z., Bozeman, J., Hershcovis, M. S., Turner, N., & Shan, J. V. (2022). Employee performance and abusive supervision: The role of supervisor over-attribution. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 43(1), 1–163. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2560

Marar, S., Hamza, M. A., Ayyash, M., & Shaheen, A. A. (2023). Development and validation of an instrument to assess the knowledge and perceptions of predatory journals. Heliyon, 9(11), e22270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e22270

Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370–396. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054346

Mazzetti, G., Robledo, E., Vignoli, M., Topa, G., Guglielmi, D., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2023). Work engagement: A meta-analysis using the job demands-resources model. Psychological Reports, 126(3), 1069–1107. https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941211051988

Mazzetti, G., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2022). The impact of engaging leadership on employee engagement and team effectiveness: A longitudinal, multi-level study on the mediating role of personal and team resources. Plos One, 17(6). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0269433

Meirinhos, G., Cardoso, A., Neves, M., Silva, R., & Rêgo, R. (2023). Leadership styles, motivation, communication and reward systems in business performance. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 16(2), 70. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm16020070

Meiryani, Nelviana, Koh, Y., Soepriyanto, G., Aljuaid, M., & Hasan, F. (2022). The effect of transformational leadership and remote working on employee performance during COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 13(August). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.919631

Mphaluwa, G., Hui, L., Marere, R. S., & Banda, L. O. L. (2025). How do leadership styles influence employee engagement and performance in SMEs? Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, 12(1381). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05707-w

Nursaningrum, D., Rahmawati, A., Wider, W., Jiang, L., & Udang, L. N. (2024). Enhancing employee performance through motivation: The mediating roles of green work environments and engagement in Jakarta’s Logistics Sector. Frontiers in Sociology, 9(May), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2024.1392229

Oubrich, M., Hakmaoui, A., Benhayoun, L., Söilen, K. S., & Abdulkader, B. (2021). Impacts of leadership style, organizational design and HRM practices on knowledge hiding: The indirect roles of organizational justice and competitive work environment. Journal of Business Research, 137, 488–499. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.08.045

Pham, T. P. T., Nguyen, T. Van, Nguyen, P. Van, & Ahmed, Z. U. (2024). The pathways to innovative work behavior and job performance: Exploring the role of public service motivation, transformational leadership, and person-organization fit in Vietnam’s pub. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 10(3), 100315. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joitmc.2024.100315

Qalati, S. A., Zafar, Z., Fan, M., Limón, M. L. S., & Khaskheli, M. B. (2022). Employee performance under transformational leadership and organizational citizenship behavior: A mediated model. Heliyon, 8(11), e11374. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e11374.

Riyanto, S., Endri, E., & Herlisha, N. (2021). Effect of work motivation and job satisfaction on employee performance: Mediating role of employee engagement. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 19(3), 162–174. https://doi.org/10.21511/ppm.19(3).2021.14

Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2019). Organizational behavior (18th ed.). Pearson Education Limited.

Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2023). Research Methods for Business Students (9th ed.). Pearson Education Limited.

Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R. (2020). Research Methods for Business: A Skill-Building Approach (8th ed.). John Wiley & Sons.

Siraj, N., Cahyadi, A., Tangl, A., & Desalegn, G. (2022). Linking leadership to employees performance: The mediating role of human resource management. Economies, 10(5). https://doi.org/10.3390/economies10050111

Slater, P., & Hasson, F. (2025). Quantitative research designs, hierarchy of evidence and validity. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 32(3), 656–660. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpm.13135

Susita, D., Sudiarditha, I. K. R., Busharmaidi, B., Hutajulu, I. G., & Hutajulu, R. S. (2023). The influence of new leadership styles on employee performance in an automotive industry of Indonesia. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 21(2), 592–602. https://doi.org/10.21511/ppm.21(2).2023.54

Teoh, B. E. W., Wider, W., Saad, A., Sam, T. H., Vasudevan, A., & Lajuma, S. (2022). The effects of transformational leadership dimensions on employee performance in the hospitality industry in Malaysia. Frontiers in Psychology, 12(913773). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.913773

Thi, N. Le, & Thu, T. D. (2025). Effect of female leadership styles on employee performance: Mediating role of work engagement. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 23(2), 455–468. https://doi.org/10.21511/ppm.23(2).2025.33

Ulrich, M. D., Way, S. A., & Wright, P. M. (2024). Building strategic human capabilities that drive performance. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 35(20), 3341–3373. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2024.2408026

Wang, N., Luan, Y., & Ma, R. (2024). Detecting causal relationships between work motivation and job performance: a meta-analytic review of cross-lagged studies. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03038-w

Yalçınkaya, S., Dağlı, G., Aksal, F. A., Gazi, Z. A., & Kalkan, Ü. (2021). The effect of leadership styles and initiative behaviors of school principals on teacher motivation. Sustainability (Switzerland), 13(5), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052711

Zhenjing, G., Chupradit, S., Ku, K. Y., Nassani, A. A., & Haffar, M. (2022). Impact of employees’ workplace environment on employees’ performance: A multi-mediation model. Frontiers in Public Health, 10(May). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.890400

Downloads

Published

2026-03-26

How to Cite

Harianto, K., Wardhani, R. K., & Aziz, K. A. H. R. (2026). Work environment and leadership style on employee performance: Evidence of work motivation mediation. Jurnal Fokus Manajemen Bisnis, 16(1), 111–131. https://doi.org/10.12928/fokus.v16i1.15303

Issue

Section

Articles