The Role of Employee Empowerment in Mediating the Effect of Leader-Member Exchange on Employee Performance in Dekranasda Riau Islands Province 2021-2024

Abstract

The decline in the performance of employees at Dekranasda in the eight districts/cities of the Riau Archipelago province is the background of this research. This study aims to uncover and analyze the effect of empowerment, which mediated the effect of Leader Member Exchange (LMX) on employee performance in Dekranasda, which is dispersed toward eight regencies/the city of Riau Islands Province. The study contributes to the development of the LMX concept, which fosters its relation toward employee performance mediated by engagement. Furthermore, the study uses survey methods for gaining the data by questionnaire. The total respondents involved in this study are 303 persons in the Dekranasda Office Riau. The analysis data used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). This study shows that LMX directly and significantly affects employee performance. Furthermore, empowerment affects employee performance positively but does not mediate the effect of LMX on employee performance. This study merely involves the employees of Dekranasda, who are dispersed in the eight districts/cities of the Riau Archipelago province. This study shows the importance of direct interpersonal relationships between managers and employees in the realm of public service. As suggested by the LMX theory, managers delegate responsibility and provide more support and appreciation to subordinates in the group, which is considered as empowerment. The results of this study are consistent with the LMX theory, which emphasizes the importance of interpersonal factors in the workplace, especially in the local government sphere. The results of this study can be used as a basis or input for stakeholders in Dekranasda in designing an ideal relationship between superiors and subordinates so that subordinates are able to produce good performance to achieve organizational goals.