Green Transformational Leadership, Work Motivation, and Sustainable Employee Performance: The Role of Employee Engagement

Abstract

Objectives: This study comprehensively investigates the underlying mechanisms through which green transformational leadership and work motivation influence sustainable employee performance. Specifically, the research evaluates the pivotal mediating role of employee engagement within the highly analytical and bureaucratic environment of Bank Indonesia, the nation's central bank.

Methodology: We employed an explanatory quantitative research design utilizing a cross-sectional survey approach. The empirical data were collected from a carefully determined sample of 158 permanent employees across four strategic departments at Bank Indonesia using a stratified random sampling approach. To test the complex structural relationships and mediation effects, we applied Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) using the SmartPLS 4 software, executing a rigorous bootstrapping procedure with 5,000 subsamples.

Finding: The empirical analysis reveals a compelling theoretical anomaly where green transformational leadership does not directly drive sustainable employee performance. Conversely, intrinsic work motivation exerts a strong, positive, and direct impact on the sustainability of employee performance. More importantly, both green leadership and work motivation are highly effective in cultivating deep employee engagement. Consequently, employee engagement emerges as a significant driver of sustainable performance, acting as a full mediator for green transformational leadership and a partial mediator for work motivation.

Conclusion: Employee engagement functions as an absolute psychological bridge in a central banking context. Without this deep emotional and cognitive involvement, top-down environmental leadership visions and latent intrinsic motivation cannot effectively materialize into resilient, long-term sustainable performance.