Work Motivation Mediates Organizational Restructuring and Workload Effects on Public Employee Performance

Abstract

Institutional restructuring can improve organizational clarity while simultaneously redistributing tasks and intensifying employee demands. This study examines how organizational restructuring and workload influence employee performance through work motivation among civil servants at the Secretariat General of the Ministry of Transmigration during an institutional transition. A quantitative explanatory design was applied to eligible civil servants selected purposively from the study population. A total of 218 complete and eligible responses were included in the final analysis. Data were collected through an online Likert-scale questionnaire and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 4. Organizational restructuring had positive effects on employee performance and work motivation, while workload had no significant direct effect on performance but significantly reduced work motivation. Work motivation positively affected employee performance. Mediation analysis showed that work motivation partially and complementarily mediated the relationship between organizational restructuring and performance, while the workload-performance relationship operated through an indirect-only motivational pathway. The findings indicate that structural redesign improves performance when employees experience role clarity, coordinated work processes, and sustained motivation. High workload becomes detrimental when it erodes motivation rather than through an immediate decline in performance. The study contributes by demonstrating that restructuring and workload operate through distinct motivational mechanisms during institutional transition: restructuring strengthens performance both directly and by enhancing motivation, whereas workload primarily undermines performance indirectly through motivational erosion. Public organizations undergoing restructuring should align staffing, task allocation, communication, and employee development with motivational support to maintain performance during transition.