Neo Journal of economy and social humanities
Vol 5 No 3 (2026): Neo Journal of Economy and Social Humanities

Digital Readiness, Psychological Empowerment, and Public Service Motivation as Determinants of Public Service Quality: The Mediating Role of Employee Work Engagement

Agung Edi Rustanto (Universitas Esa Unggul)
Fitri Aprian (Media Ilmu Indonesia)



Article Info

Publish Date
22 Oct 2026

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the effects of frontline digital readiness, psychological empowerment, and public service motivation on public service quality, with employee work engagement serving as a mediating variable. A quantitative approach with an explanatory research design was using a dataset representing 240 respondents from 12 public service organizations, comprising 120 frontline employees and 120 service users. The sampling framework combined purposive sampling for employees and service users with matched service evaluations. Measurement instruments consisted of structured questionnaires adapted from established scales assessing digital readiness, psychological empowerment, public service motivation, work engagement, and public service quality. The data were designed for analysis using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results indicated that digital readiness, psychological empowerment, and public service motivation positively influenced work engagement. Digital readiness and psychological empowerment also demonstrated positive direct relationships with public service quality, whereas public service motivation showed no significant direct relationship. Work engagement positively influenced public service quality and mediated the relationships between all three independent variables and service quality. The model explained 57% of the variance in work engagement and 63% of the variance in public service quality. These findings suggested that employee work engagement could play an important role in strengthening public service quality through organizational and psychological capabilities.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

Nejesh

Publisher

Subject

Humanities Economics, Econometrics & Finance Social Sciences

Description

journal principles aimed at publishing scientific works resulting from research, development and literature studies in the field of economics and social humanities, and Scope this journal: Macro and micro economics Accounting, Banking, Taxation, Human Resource Management, Administration Marketing, ...