The Influence of Leadership and Innovative Work Behavior on Human Resource Performance, Mediated by Motivation, in Maternal and Child Health Services at the West Muna Regency Regional General Hospital

Abstract

Maternal and child health services depend on health workers who can maintain professional performance while responding to changing clinical and organizational demands. This study examined the effects of leadership and innovative work behavior on human resource performance and assessed whether work motivation mediates these relationships among personnel providing maternal and child health services at the West Muna Regency Regional General Hospital, Indonesia. A quantitative explanatory design was applied to all 149 health workers in the study population, comprising physicians, nurses, and midwives, using total sampling. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and analyzed with partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS. Leadership had positive and significant effects on motivation (β = 0.380, p < 0.001) and performance (β = 0.538, p < 0.001). Innovative work behavior also positively affected motivation (β = 0.556, p < 0.001) and performance (β = 0.488, p < 0.001). Motivation showed a positive but statistically non-significant direct effect on performance (β = 0.198, p = 0.115). Consistently, motivation did not significantly mediate the leadership-performance relationship (p = 0.129) or the innovative work behavior-performance relationship (p = 0.141). The findings indicate that leadership and innovative work behavior are direct performance drivers in maternal and child health services, whereas motivation alone does not explain how these drivers are translated into performance. Hospital management should therefore strengthen leadership practices and create practical opportunities for health workers to generate, champion, and implement service innovations while maintaining professional standards and patient safety.