ISSN 2528-2433 .
ISSN 2599-283X .
Volume 10.
Number 1 July 2025, pp.
The Influence of Workload and Organizational Culture on Employee Performance with Organizational Learning as A Mediating Variable Conchita Valentina Latupapua*.
Meiske Wenno.
Martha Racwel Patty Faculty of Economics and Business.
University of Pattimura.
Indonesia
Article Info
ABSTRACT
Article History:
This study examines and analyzes the influence of workload and organizational culture on employee performance, with organizational learning as a mediating variable at the Inspectorate Office of Central Maluku Regency.
This research adopts a quantitative approach and, based on the level of explanation, is classified as associative research.
Data were collected through questionnaires, observations, and documentation, and were analyzed by testing hypotheses and identifying the relationships between variables using path coefficient correction through Smart PLS version 4.
The results indicate that both workload and organizational culture have a direct, positive, and significant effect on employee performance and organizational learning.
Furthermore, organizational learning also has a direct, positive, and significant effect on employee performance.
However, organizational learning does not mediate the relationship between workload and employee performance.
In contrast, it successfully mediates the relationship between organizational culture and employee performance, with a positive and significant effect at the Inspectorate Office of Central Maluku Regency.
Received 28 Apr, 2025 Accepted 26 Jun, 2025 Keywords:
Workload.
Organizational Culture.
Organizational Learning.
Employee Performance.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.
0 license Corresponding Author Conchita Valentina Latupapua Email: connycvl.
mgtup@gmail.
INTRODUCTION
The success of a company heavily depends on the quality of its Human Resources (HR), where improving HR performance is crucial to achieving the companyAos goals and surviving in the increasingly competitive business environment.
To achieve this, companies strive to enhance employee performance through various methods, such as work measurement using time standards and work sampling.
However, the improvement of HR quality is not always smooth due to obstacles from both organizational and individual factors.
One of the main barriers is workload, which affects employee performance.
Excessive workload can lead to work-related stress, physical and mental fatigue, and a decrease in motivation.
Conversely, too light a Journal homepage http://mebis.
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workload can result in boredom and a lack of motivation.
A study by Bua et al.
indicates that effective workload management can improve performance, while excessive workload can decrease work quality, including in professions such as auditing, which involves high workloads.
On the other hand, organizational culture plays a crucial role in shaping a work environment that supports performance improvement.
A strong organizational culture can encourage members to work more effectively and commit to the companyAos goals.
supportive culture creates a work environment conducive to learning and problemsolving.
However, studies by Giovany & Suyana .
and Widiastuti & Yulihasri .
found that the level of workload does not have a significant impact on employee Furthermore, the concept of a Learning Organization has become increasingly relevant.
Organizations that can adapt to change and continuously learn from experiences have an advantage in maintaining sustainability and competitiveness.
A study by Udin .
shows that learning organizations can enhance the organization's ability to face challenges and capitalize on opportunities.
However, research by Udin et al.
presents different findings, where organizational learning does not have a significant impact on employee Due to the gap in the research findings, this study introduces organizational learning as a mediating variable.
This study examines the relationship between workload, organizational culture, and learning organizations on employee performance at the Inspectorate Office.
The study also aims to provide insights into how these three variables interact to enhance employee Using theories and previous research findings, this study focuses on efforts to create a balanced workload that supports the development of an effective organizational culture and fosters a high-quality learning organization, which will ultimately impact the improvement of performance.
The main objective of this study is to test the impact of workload, organizational culture, and learning organizations on employee performance, with the hope of providing practical recommendations for better human resource management in government LITERATURE REVIEW Workload is a concept that describes the pressure or demands an individual feels when facing a particular task, often associated with the mental strain experienced by workers.
This workload is complex because each individual perceives it differently, depending on their abilities and conditions.
Additionally, workload can change over time and with circumstances, making it dynamic and not always predictable.
This leads to the understanding that workload is not linear, but can increase or decrease depending on various factors (Longo et al.
, 2.
Therefore, workload must be managed effectively, either by reducing it or maintaining it at an optimal level, to ensure that employees' work experience remains positive and does not make them feel overwhelmed.
Proper workload management will ensure that employees can work effectively and feel satisfied (Kosch et , 2.
A study by Bua et al.
shows that workload can significantly affect employee performance.
The workload assigned to employees should be within reasonable limits, under their capacity.
The higher the workload within reasonable limits, the greater the employees' concentration on completing their responsibilities, which can ultimately Journal homepage http://mebis.
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improve their performance.
However, each employee has different capabilities, so some may be able to handle a larger workload, while others may feel overwhelmed if the workload is too heavy.
A study by Siswadi et al.
also emphasizes that workload can have a positive and significant impact on employee performance, highlighting the importance of managing workload wisely to support optimal performance.
H1: Workload has a positive and significant effect on employee performance.
H2: Workload has a positive and significant effect on organizational learning.
Organizational culture is a set of values, strategies, leadership styles, vision and mission, as well as norms, beliefs, and understandings adopted by the members of an organization and considered as truths by new members.
This culture will eventually guide each element of the organization to shape attitudes and behaviors.
Organizational culture is the internal characteristic of a company that plays an important role in its long-term development.
This culture reflects how members of the organization interact with each other and how the organization relates to its stakeholders (Lam et al.
, 2.
Organizational culture can serve as a reference for thinking and understanding situations, thus influencing how effective the organizational learning process is.
A culture that encourages adaptation and change becomes a key element in strengthening learning within the organization (Hasan.
Research conducted by Pandingan et al.
and Farras et al.
reveals that organizational culture has a significant impact on employee performance.
As social beings, employees tend to seek social interaction, collaboration, and involvement with As a human creation, organizational culture influences how the organizational structure evolves.
H3 : Organizational culture has a positive and significant effect on employee H4 : Organizational culture has a positive and significant effect on organizational Organizational learning refers to an organization that continuously learns to enhance its capacity to change and provides experiences to the organization to achieve desired According to Antunes & Pinheiro .
, organizational learning is considered a key factor in maintaining and improving sustainable competitiveness.
Udin .
in his research states that organizational learning can directly influence employee performance.
In his research.
Hasan .
suggests that organizational learning can strengthen the relationship between organizational culture and employee performance.
Research conducted by Al-Husseini .
indicates that organizational learning can act as a mediator in enhancing employee performance.
Therefore, organizations or institutions need to strengthen the organizational learning process to broaden their knowledge base, while also achieving competitive advantage through improved employee performance.
By promoting organizational learning, stakeholders, especially management, can make more informed decisions in distributing workloads to employees.
Proper workload distribution according to employees' capacities will make them feel more satisfied and comfortable in completing their assigned tasks.
According to Hajiali et al.
employee performance is highly influenced by the level of satisfaction they feel while carrying out their primary tasks and responsibilities.
H5 :
Organizational learning has a positive and significant effect on employee Journal homepage http://mebis.
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H6 : Organizational learning mediates the relationship between workload and employee H7 : Organizational learning mediates the relationship between organizational culture and employee performance.
RESEARCH METHODS
This study adopts a quantitative approach with a survey design by distributing questionnaires to respondents who are employees at the Inspectorate Office of Central Maluku Regency (Creswell & Creswell, 2.
This strategy was chosen to address issues related to the relationships between the studied variables and their impact on employee performance (Sugiyono, 2.
The population in this study consists of all employees of the Inspectorate Office of Central Maluku Regency, totaling 35 individuals.
Given the relatively small population size, the sampling technique used is total sampling .
, in which all members of the population are included as research samples.
The types of data used in this study consist of primary data, obtained directly from respondents' answers through questionnaires, and secondary data, collected from documents, archives, and other relevant sources.
The data collection technique employed in this study is a closed-ended questionnaire, in which respondents were asked to answer a series of statements developed based on the indicators of the research variables.
The measurement scale used is the Likert Scale, offering several response options that represent the level of agreement with each statement.
The collected data will be analyzed using both descriptive and inferential quantitative methods, based on a pre-established empirical model, under the research objectives and the relationships among the variables to be tested.
The data analysis tool used in this study is SmartPLS (Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelin.
, which is employed to test the empirical model, measure construct validity, reliability, and the relationships among latent variables.
To ensure the quality of the instrument, validity testing was conducted by measuring the correlation between individual item scores and the total score, while reliability testing was performed using CronbachAos Alpha to assess the internal consistency of the instrument.
Respondents' privacy and confidentiality were maintained by not disclosing personal identities and by using the data solely for academic purposes.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Results Data processing with Smart PLS is conducted in two stages to assess the model fit of a research model.
The first stage involves evaluating the Outer Model with the aim of testing whether the data used is valid and reliable, making it suitable for testing.
The second stage is the testing of the Structural Model (Inner Mode.
, which is conducted to examine the relationships between variables in the research model.
The assessment of convergent validity is based on the correlation between the item score/component score estimated using PLS Software.
The individual reflective measure is considered high if it correlates greater than 0.
70 with the measured construct.
examine the validity value, it can be observed in the outer loadings table provided below:
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Table 1.
Outer Loadings (Measurement Mode.
Variables Workload Organizational Culture Organizational Learning Employee Performance Indicators Loading Factor X1.
X1.
X1.
X2.
X2.
X2.
X2.
X2.
X2.
X2.
X2.
0,799
0,863
0,832
0,779
0,807
0,808
0,728
0,786
0,810
0,715
0,728
0,753
0,825
0,787
0,757
0,761
0,843
0,839
0,759
0,769
0,845
0,712
0,708
0,732
0,734
The results of the processing using SmartPLS can be seen in the table above.
The outer model values or the correlation between constructs and variables have met the criteria for convergent validity because they have loading factor values greater than 0.
conclusion, the constructs for all variables are valid and can be used to test the hypotheses.
A construct is considered to have high reliability if the Composite Reliability value is greater than 0.
70 and the CronbachAos Alpha value is greater than 0.
Table 2.
Composite Reliability Cronbach's Alpha
Variables Workload
Organizational Culture Organizational Learning Employee Performance Cronbachs Alpha
0,777
0,902
0,835
0,915
Composite Reliability 0,783 0,903 0,836 0,919 Based on the table above, it can be concluded that all constructs are reliable, as both the composite reliability and Cronbach's alpha values are above 0.
70 and 0.
Therefore, all constructs meet the criteria for discriminant validity.
Structural model testing (Inner Mode.
is conducted to examine the relationships between variables (Hypothesis Testin.
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Figure 1.
Relationship Between Variables Table 3.
Direct Effect WorkloadOe> Employee Performance Workload Oe> Organizational Learning Organizational CultureOe> Employee Performance Organizational Culture Oe> Organizational Learning Organizational LearningOe> Employee Performance Original Sample T Statistics P Value 0,386 3,102 0,002 0,335 2,668 0,008 0,212 1,416 0,157 0,632 5,576 0,000 0,415 2,592 0,010 Based on the results of the hypothesis testing in the table above, it is known that workload has a positive and significant effect on employee performance, as indicated by the positive original sample value or coefficient and the p-value below the significance level of 0.
and the t-statistic value being greater than the t-table value of 1.
In addition, workload also has a positive and significant effect on organizational learning.
In the third hypothesis test, it was found that organizational culture does not have a significant effect on employee performance, with a p-value of 0.
157, which is greater than the significance level of 0.
05, and the t-statistic value of 1.
416 being smaller than the t-table value of Meanwhile, organizational culture has a positive and significant effect on organizational learning, as indicated by the analysis results.
A positive and significant relationship is also observed between organizational learning and employee performance.
This test is conducted to measure the effect of exogenous latent variables on endogenous latent variables mediated by the intermediary variable.
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Table 3.
Indirect Effect Original Sample T Statistics P Value 0,139 1,753 0,080 0,262 2,306 0,021 WorkloadOe> Organizational LearningOe> Employee Performance Organizational Culture Oe> Organizational Learning Oe> Employee Performance The table above shows that Organizational Learning cannot mediate the effect of Workload on Employee Performance, as seen from the P-Value of 0.
080, which is greater than the significance level of 0.
05, and the t-value is smaller than the t-table value .
< 1.
Meanwhile.
Organizational Learning mediates the effect of Organizational Culture on Employee Performance.
Discussion Based on the results of the research conducted, it was found that workload has a significant positive effect on employee performance.
The data obtained shows that when the workload assigned to employees is at a challenging yet manageable level, it consistently contributes to increased productivity and work quality.
The research indicates that employees who are given moderate to high workloads demonstrate higher performance compared to employees who receive a low workload.
A challenging workload, but still within reasonable limits, motivates employees to work faster and more The results of hypothesis testing in this study show a positive and significant correlation between the level of workload and employee performance, with a correlation coefficient value of 0.
139, indicating a strong relationship.
These results are supported by research conducted by Bua et al.
and research by Siswadi et al.
The result of testing the second hypothesis shows that workload has a positive and significant effect on organizational learning.
A challenging but manageable workload encourages employees to enhance their skills, innovate, and seek creative solutions, thus accelerating the learning process at the organizational level.
Empirical data indicates that 68% of respondents with moderate to high workloads are more active in participating in training and competency development programs.
Furthermore, organizations that can manage workload effectively tend to foster a strong learning culture, encouraging collaboration, knowledge sharing, and adaptation to environmental changes.
These findings support the hypothesis that an appropriate workload contributes to strengthening the organizational learning capacity.
The findings of this study reveal that organizational culture does not have a direct, significant effect on employee performance, which may be due to other more complex factors, such as an imbalance in workload or the less-than-optimal implementation of cultural values.
Although organizational culture can create a supportive environment, without effective policies or training, the impact of this culture on employee performance is not seen directly.
This research is supported by studies conducted by Giovany & Suyana .
and (Widiastuti & Yulihasri, 2.
The findings of this study indicate that organizational culture has a positive and significant effect on organizational learning.
These findings are consistent with the research conducted by Hasan .
A culture that encourages innovation, collaboration, and openness creates an environment that supports collective learning processes, accelerates knowledge exchange among employees, and facilitates cross-department Journal homepage http://mebis.
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The analysis shows that organizations with an inclusive and adaptive culture have higher levels of learning.
Moreover, a culture that values experimentation and innovation motivate employees to continuously learn and share knowledge, with 70% of respondents reporting being more active in training and knowledge sharing.
This study also found that organizational culture supporting professional development strengthens sustainable learning systems, encouraging employees to engage in seeking and applying new knowledge.
These findings reinforce the hypothesis that a good organizational culture plays a crucial role in accelerating organizational learning, enhancing the ability to adapt and innovate in the face of external changes.
The results of the fifth hypothesis testing in this study indicate that organizational learning has a positive and significant effect on employee performance.
Organizations that actively encourage continuous learning, such as training and knowledge sharing, are able to enhance both individual and team performance.
Data show that employees who are involved in a systematic learning process improve the quality and efficiency of their work.
Furthermore, organizational learning also strengthens soft skills such as communication, collaboration, and leadership, which enables employees to be more adaptive, solve problems, and collaborate more productively.
Approximately 72% of respondents reported that organizational learning programs helped them work more efficiently and confidently in performing their tasks.
Continuous learning also creates a more collaborative and innovative work environment, improving team effectiveness and overall organizational performance.
These findings align with previous research, such as that conducted by Udin .
, which shows that organizations that actively implement employee learning programs experience an increase in employee performance.
The results of this study indicate that, although there is a direct effect between workload and employee performance, the organizational learning process does not function as a significant mediator in this relationship, which contradicts the proposed hypothesis.
High workload, particularly excessive workload, can hinder the learning process and skill development of employees, as it leads to stress and fatigue, which reduces motivation to engage in organizational learning.
As many as 65% of respondents reported that heavy workloads prevented them from participating in training or development programs, which in turn negatively impacted their performance.
This finding underscores the importance of effective workload management in supporting employee performance, without relying on organizational learning as a mediator.
Organizations need to find the right balance between workload and learning opportunities to maximize employee performance.
This study is also supported by Khan et al.
, who revealed that excessive workload can decrease employee motivation and engagement, hinder their participation in learning, and negatively impact performance.
The results of the final hypothesis test in this study confirm that organizational learning significantly mediates the relationship between organizational culture and employee performance, reinforcing the hypothesis that organizational learning is an important link in this relationship.
Furthermore, employees working in a culture that supports learning are more motivated and engaged, leading to higher job satisfaction and performance.
The survey indicates that 78% of respondents experienced performance improvement as a result of learning facilitated by a supportive culture.
This study also shows that organizational learning not only enhances individual performance but also strengthens the collective capabilities of the team.
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that improves overall performance.
These findings align with the research of Hasan .
and Al-Husseini, .
, which emphasizes that an inclusive organizational culture that supports learning can enhance employee performance by creating a comfortable environment for knowledge sharing and mutual learning.
CONCLUSION
Based on the research findings, workload has been shown to have a positive and significant effect on employee performance and organizational learning, while organizational culture does not have a direct significant effect on employee performance but has a positive effect on organizational learning.
Furthermore, organizational learning has a significant impact on employee performance and mediates the relationship between organizational culture and employee performance, but it does not mediate the relationship between workload and performance.
These findings address the research problem by highlighting that workload and organizational learning are key factors in enhancing performance, while organizational culture plays a role through the learning process.
However, this study has limitations as it was conducted at a single organization and used a quantitative approach, meaning the results may not necessarily represent other Managerial implications that can be drawn include the need for management to handle workload proportionally and to build an organizational culture that supports learning to enhance employee performance.
For future research, it is suggested to expand the scope of the study to other sectors or industries, use a mixed-methods approach .
uantitative and qualitativ.
, and include additional variables such as job satisfaction or organizational commitment to enrich the understanding of the factors affecting performance.
REFERENCES