Work-Life Balance, Quality of Work Life, and Employee Performance among Indonesian Civil Servants: the Mediating Role of Job Satisfaction

Abstract

Employee performance among Indonesian civil servants has become a critical issue under fiscal-efficiency policy, which increases work pressure while limiting operational resources. This study examines the relationships among work-life balance, quality of work life, job satisfaction, and employee performance at the South Kalimantan National Road Implementation Agency. A cross-sectional explanatory survey was conducted with 158 operational civil servants. Data were collected using a five-point Likert-scale questionnaire and analyzed with Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. The model explained 55.4% of the variance in employee performance and 46.8% of the variance in job satisfaction. All proposed relationships were statistically supported. Work-life balance had the strongest relationship with job satisfaction (β = 0.537), while quality of work life had the strongest direct relationship with employee performance (β = 0.445). Job satisfaction partially mediated the relationship between work-life balance and employee performance (β = 0.196) and between quality of work life and employee performance (β = 0.147). This study contributes by showing that job satisfaction acts as a psychological mechanism linking recovery conditions and workplace resources to civil-servant performance in a fiscally constrained public-sector setting. Practically, agencies should improve workload distribution, schedule predictability, supervisory support, coordination, and non-financial recognition. Because the design was cross-sectional, the findings indicate statistically supported relationships rather than definitive causal effects.