<![CDATA[Educational support staff play a vital role in ensuring effective university operations and service quality. However, maintaining employee performance remains challenging due to issues related to work-life balance, compensation, employee retention, and organizational commitment. This study examines the effects of work-life balance, compensation, and retention on employee performance, with organizational commitment as a mediating variable, among educational support staff at Kusuma Negara Polytechnic. This study used a quantitative approach and survey method, collecting data through structured questionnaires and analyzing it using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings show that work-life balance and retention have significant negative effects on organizational commitment, whereas compensation has a significant positive effect. In addition, work-life balance, compensation, retention, and organizational commitment positively influence commitment performance. Organizational commitment also significantly mediates relationships between the three antecedent variables and employee performance, with negative mediation for work-life balance and retention and positive mediation for compensation. This study contributes to the human resource management literature by demonstrating the differentiated mediating role of organizational commitment in higher education commitmentns. Managerially, the findings suggest that institutions should strengthen compensation systems while carefully evaluating work-life balance and retention policies to improve employee commitment and performance]]>
