Competence work discipline career development and civil servant performance in an Indonesian local human resource agency

Abstract

This study examines whether competence, work discipline, and career development are associated with employee performance in the Regional Personnel and Human Resource Development Agency of Asahan Regency, Indonesia. The Ability-Motivation-Opportunity framework was used as an organizing framework, with an explicit qualification: the work-discipline scale measures attendance, rule compliance, work standards, conscientiousness, and ethics, so it represents compliance-related effort rather than motivation as a psychological construct. A cross-sectional census survey obtained responses from all 50 agency employees. Ordinary least squares regression explained 82.1% of the variance in self-reported performance, R² = .821, adjusted R² = .810, F(3, 46) = 70.47, p < .001. Competence was positively associated with performance (B = 0.637, 95% CI [0.397, 0.877], ΔR² = .111, f² = .620), as was work discipline (B = 0.246, 95% CI [0.020, 0.472], ΔR² = .019, f² = .106). Career development was not significantly associated with performance (B = -0.058, 95% CI [-0.163, 0.047], ΔR² = .005, f² = .028). The null result does not establish career plateauing, weak promotion instrumentality, or psychological-contract strain; these remain plausible mechanisms for future testing. Because all variables were self-reported at one time and the sample was small, the high R² and predictor-specific estimates require caution. The findings support competence and compliance-related behaviour as correlates of performance in this agency but do not establish causal effects or comparative investment returns.