Beyond Intrinsic Drives: The Synergistic Role of Work Environment in Enhancing Employee Performance in Higher Education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55606/ijemr.v5i1.823Keywords:
Employee Performance, Higher Education, Self-Determination Theory, Work Environment, Work MotivationAbstract
This study examines employee performance in higher education, focusing on the role of work motivation and the work environment at STISIP Bina Putera Banjar. The research is driven by the gap between stakeholder expectations and institutional performance, as well as limited empirical evidence on the combined effects of motivational and environmental factors in Indonesian private higher education. This study aims to analyze the individual and simultaneous influence of these variables on employee performance. A quantitative approach with a census method was applied to 65 employees. Data were collected through validated Likert-scale questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression. The results show that work motivation has a strong and significant effect (r = 0.630; 39.7%), while the work environment has a weaker but significant effect (r = 0.227; 5.2%). Together, both variables have a substantial combined influence (R = 0.790), explaining 62.4% of performance variance. In conclusion, employee performance is shaped by both intrinsic and contextual factors, with motivation as the dominant driver. This study highlights their synergistic role and suggests integrated human resource strategies to enhance sustainable performance.
References
Aguinis, H. (2023). Performance management. Sage Publications.
Atiku, S. O., & Van Wyk, E. (2024). Leadership practices and work engagement in higher education: The mediating role of job demands-resources. SAGE Open, 14(1), 21582440241233376. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241233378
Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2017). Job demands–resources theory: Taking stock and looking forward. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 22(3), 273. https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000056
Bakker, A. B., Demerouti, E., & Sanz-Vergel, A. (2023). Job demands–resources theory: Ten years later.
DeVellis, R. F., & Thorpe, C. T. (2021). Scale development: Theory and applications. Sage Publications.
Dewi, R. C., Qamari, I. N., Wahyuningsih, S. H., & Shaikh, M. (2023). Enhancing employee performance with e-training and work environment through work motivation. Relevance: Journal of Management and Business, 6(2 SE-Articles), 188–203.
Dormann, C. F., Elith, J., Bacher, S., Buchmann, C., Carl, G., Carré, G., Marquéz, J. R. G., Gruber, B., Lafourcade, B., & Leitão, P. J. (2013). Collinearity: A review of methods to deal with it and a simulation study evaluating their performance. Ecography, 36(1), 27–46. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0587.2012.07348.x
Etikan, I., Musa, S. A., & Alkassim, R. S. (2016). Comparison of convenience sampling and purposive sampling. American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics, 5(1), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtas.20160501.11
Field, A. (2024). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics. Sage Publications Limited.
Ghasemi, A., & Zahediasl, S. (2012). Normality tests for statistical analysis: A guide for non-statisticians. International Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism, 10(2), 486. https://doi.org/10.5812/ijem.3505
Hair, J. F., Risher, J. J., Sarstedt, M., & Ringle, C. M. (2019). When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM. European Business Review, 31(1), 2–24. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-11-2018-0203
Howard, J. L., Gagné, M., & Bureau, J. S. (2017). Testing a continuum structure of self-determined motivation: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 143(12), 1346. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000125
Ichdan, D. A. (2024). The effect of training, work environment, motivation, job satisfaction, and career satisfaction on employee productivity. Annals of Management and Organization Research, 6(1), 57–69.
Kartali, A.-M., & Gkliati, A. (2024). The connection among burnout, work engagement, resilience and job satisfaction: Empirical research on the private sector employees in Greece. International Journal of Education & Psychology in the Community, 14.
Lesener, T., Gusy, B., & Wolter, C. (2019). The job demands-resources model: A meta-analytic review of longitudinal studies. Work & Stress, 33(1), 76–103. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678373.2018.1529065
Malinda, S., Masyita, D., Rahman, S., & Anwar, M. (2018). Financial literacy and work engagement as mediating variable to bank agent’s performance. European Research Studies Journal, 21(Special Issue 3), 503–518. https://doi.org/10.35808/ersj/1403
Nurhidayat, W. A., & Siti Mariam. (2025). The effect of work motivation and job satisfaction through employee engagement on employee performance. International Journal of Economics (IJEC), 4(2), 1157–1166. https://doi.org/10.55299/ijec.v4i2.1505
Nusraningrum, 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, Volume 9-2024. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2024.1392229
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000a). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 54–67. https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1999.1020
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000b). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68
Saunders, M. N. K., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2019). Research methods for business students (8th ed.). Pearson Education Limited.
Schaufeli, W. (2021). Engaging leadership: How to promote work engagement? Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 754556.
Sedarmayanti. (2009). Sumber daya manusia dan produktivitas kerja. Mandar Maju.
Sharif, S., Malik, S. A., Arooj, N., & Albadry, O. M. (2024). Human resource management (HRM) practices and organizational commitment in higher educational institution (HEI): A mediating role for work engagement. Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication.
Skaalvik, C. (2020). School principal self-efficacy for instructional leadership: Relations with engagement, emotional exhaustion, and motivation to quit. Social Psychology of Education, 23(2), 479–498. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-020-09544-4
Taber, K. S. (2018). The use of Cronbach’s alpha when developing and reporting research instruments in science education. Research in Science Education, 48(6), 1273–1296. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-016-9602-2
Taherdoost, H. (2019). What is the best response scale for survey and questionnaire design: Review of different lengths of rating scale/attitude scale/Likert scale. International Journal of Academic Research in Management (IJARM), 8.
Van den Broeck, A., Howard, J. L., Van Vaerenbergh, Y., Leroy, H., & Gagné, M. (2021). Beyond intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: A meta-analysis on self-determination theory’s multidimensional conceptualization of work motivation. Organizational Psychology Review, 11(3), 240–273. https://doi.org/10.1177/20413866211006173
Wang, B., Liu, Y., Qian, J., & Parker, S. K. (2021). Achieving effective remote working during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A work design perspective. Applied Psychology, 70(1), 16–59. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12290
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 International Journal of Economics and Management Research
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
