Enhancing employee performance in the public sector the roles of resilience, leadership, and work environment

Abstract

This study investigates how resilience (RS), leadership (LD), and the work environment (WE) shape public‐sector employee performance (PER). Grounded in Conservation of Resources (COR) and Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) theories, we theorize cross- level resource mechanisms and empirically test a PLS-SEM model using survey data from 359 public employees in Ho Chi Minh City. Results show that the work environment exerts the strongest direct effect on employee performance (β = 0.377), followed by leadership (β = 0.278) and resilience (β = 0.211). Leadership (β = 0.209) and the work environment (β = 0.225) also enhance performance indirectly through resilience, with significant mediated effects (βLD→RS→PER = 0.044; βWE→RS→PER = 0.048; p < .01). The model explains a moderate proportion of variance in performance (R2PER = 0.449) and a small proportion in resilience (R2RS = 0.134), indicating that contextual resources are pivotal while additional predictors may further account for resilience. These findings underscore the value of cultivating supportive organizational environments and leadership practices to strengthen resilience and, ultimately, performance in public organizations. The study contributes to public management by integrating resource-based mechanisms of resilience into the explanation of employee performance and offers actionable implications for capacity-building reforms in developing public sectors.