Work Discipline, Work-Life Balance, And Public Employee Performance: Evidence From An Indonesian Local Government Agency
Keywords
Work Discipline, Work-Life Balance, Employee Performance, Public Sector, PLS-SEMAbstract
Public organizations require both rule-consistent behavior and sustainable management of work and non-work roles, yet these mechanisms are rarely examined jointly in highly regulated local-government settings. This study examines the effects of work discipline and work-life balance on employee performance at the Regional Personnel and Human Resource Development Agency (BKPSDM) of Bombana Regency, Indonesia. A quantitative explanatory design was employed using a census of 46 civil servants, excluding the head of the agency. Data were analyzed with partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS 4 with 5,000 bootstrap resamples. The measurement model showed acceptable convergent validity and internal consistency. The structural model explained 86.7% of the variance in employee performance (R² = 0.867). Work discipline was positively and significantly associated with employee performance (β = 0.416; t = 3.986; p < 0.001), while work-life balance showed a stronger positive and significant association (β = 0.553; t = 5.575; p < 0.001). The study contributes an integrative dual-regulation perspective in which formal behavioral discipline and personal work-nonwork resource balance operate as complementary drivers of performance in a public-sector context. Practically, public managers should combine fair, outcome-oriented discipline with workload management, supervisory support, and feasible flexibility rather than relying on attendance compliance alone.
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