WORK PLACEMENT AFFECTS EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE THROUGH WORK MOTIVATION

The success of the banking industry in a crisis such as the Covid pandemic is highly dependent on employee performance. Employee performance in banking companies will increase employee efficiency and productivity. Employee performance improvement can be formed through accuracy in Work Placement and providing Work Motivation. Work Placement and employee motivation to improve performance are still debated in previous studies. Based on previous research gaps, this study aims to determine the effect of Work Placement and Work Motivation on Employee performance and to determine the effect of Work Placement on Employee performance through Work Motivation in employees of a government bank in Kediri, East Java, Indonesia. The number of respondents in this study was 58 people who were obtained by using the saturated sampling technique for employees. The data collection method used a questionnaire with PLS (Partial Least Square) analysis tool. The results of this study indicate that employee placement and work motivation influence the employee performance of a bank company. However, the Work Motivation variable as a moderating variable cannot be proven because there is no influence between the Work Placement variable on Work Motivation. The next researcher can retest and develop the concepts used in this research to contribute to the development and renewal of management science.

the company's success (Aini, 2013). Employee contribution and skill are factors that lead to company excellence. Some researchers argue that as the human resources of a company, employees are the most important asset needed by a company to improve its sustainability.
Employee skill is an indicator that determines the success and excellence of a company (Yani et al., 2016). Employee competencies will make it easier for them to adapt to technological developments and changes in the industrial environment. Employees have a very dominant role in responding to environmental changes and carrying out all company ac-Human resource is a very important aspect for an organization or a company is doing their activities (Dewi et al., 2016). As human resources, employees have a specific role that cannot be replaced by machines and technology (Abdullah, 2017). Employees contribute to their company in the form of energy, talent, creativity, and the effort they spend to achieve tivities. Banking is one of the industries that require its employees to maximize business systems and processes. This is proven by the workforce reduction in the banking industry during the Covid 19 pandemic because their direct role in company activities is reduced (Sitanggang, 2020).
The success of the banking industry through crises such as the Covid pandemic greatly depends on employee performance in responding to environmental changes. Employee performance in banking companies will increase efficiency and productivity. Employee performance is reflected in the actions and efforts spent by employees in carrying out the work given by the company (Handoko, 2010;Mangkunegara, 2011;Andi, 2019).
Employee performance in a company can be used to formulate human resource planning, recruitment and selection of human resources, conduct human resource training, career planning, and employee development, determine compensation, assign employees, and estimate employee capabilities (Mondy, 2008;Hidayat et al., 2018). Employee performance is measured by the quantity and quality of work or tasks done by employees as well as their consistency in doing their work (Hidayat et al., 2018). Therefore, companies, especially those working in the banking business, have to make good employee performance to realizing the company's success.
Several factors can push and improve employee performance, and two of them are work placement and work motivation of employees. Several previous researchers who had studied the same topic stated that work placement and motivation can improve employee performance (Chintalloo and Mahadeo, 2013;Yani et al., 2016;Hidayat et al., 2018;Andi, 2019;Siswanto et al., 2019, Rita et al., 2019. Work placement is determined by employee abilities, skills, and knowledge (Yani et al., 2016). Therefore, work placement that is done properly can increase the quality and quantity of work outcomes (Yani et al., 2016 andHidayat et al., 2018). Conversely, the studies which were conducted by Imawan et al. (2016), Narotama et al. (2016) and Anita et al. (2019) revealed that work placement has no significant effect on work motivation. This also in line with research which was conducted by Sarinah et al. (2016) that employee placement does not affect Employee performance.
The use of work motivation as a mediating variable has a significant impact (Hidayat et al., 2018 andAnita et al., 2019). Work motivation can lead to good employee performance by satisfying employees. In general, motivation can be defined as a need that encourages behavior for a specific purpose; therefore, work motivation can make employees enthusiastic or encouraged to work (Anoraga, 2005;Robins and Coulter, 2005;Suswati E, 2012, Anita et al., 2019. Variable work motivation has a direct effect on employee performance in a positive way. (Hidayat et al., 2018). Another research which was conducted by Siswanto et al. (2019) shows that the indirect effect of motivation as a mediating variable is not greater than the direct effect. Yani et al (2016) found that the effect of work placement on employee performance will be greater and more dominant through work motivation. In previous studies, not many have conducted thorough testing of each item and indicator used. Most of the previous researchers only tested the relationship and influence between variables using a simple regression method. In this study, the researcher will examine the feasibility of each item used to test the variables and models used. Researchers used the path analysis method using the PLS 3.0 statistical tool.
Based on the research gaps from previous studies, this study aimed to determine the effect of work placement on work motivation, the effect of work motivation on employee performance, and the effect of work placement on employee performance through work motivation at one of the regionalowned banks in Kediri City, East Java. The results of this study are expected to strengthen the findings of the previous studies.

LITERATURE REVIEW Work Placement
Work placement is the assignment of employees to handle specific and well-defined tasks that depend on the abilities and skills of employees (Owan et al., 2020). Bernadin and Rusel (1993) also stated that knowledge, skills, and abilities are crite-ria that must be met in employee placement. This is a challenge that must be faced by managers in improving employee performance. To place employees in jobs that are following their respective personalities, managers need to recognize the personalities of their subordinates well. It will not only give a positive effect on employees. Recognizing the personality of each employee will also have a positive impact on the company because employees feel comfortable at work.

Motivation
Motivation is something that pushes and encourages someone to take certain actions (Siswanto et al., 2019). Motivation can be described as a process in which one's internal energy is directed towards various goals and targets in one environment (Owan et al., 2020). It can inspire employees, both cognitively and emotionally, which in turn will increase their work productivity; it is reflected in the achievement of company goals. In addition, with work motivation, employees are more likely to work enthusiastically, so that they can finish their work according to the standard and within a predetermined time.

Employee performance
The success of a company is greatly influenced by its employee performance. To achieve its goals, the company must always improve its employee performance. Optimal employee performance is the reflection of quality resources. According to Mangkunegara (2011), performance is the outcome of an employee, both in terms of quality and quantity, in carrying out his duties following the responsibilities assigned to him. Performance refers to the work outcome obtained by a person based on his ability, motivation, and individual factors. It is expected that employee performance will increase. The final work outcome can be seen from the quantity of work that has been finished by an employee, the quality of work (whether it is following company standards), the timeliness, the attendance of an employee, and the ability to cooperate with their colleagues.

HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT The Effect of Work Placement on Work Motivation
According to the study which was conducted by Hidayat et al. (2018), the work placement of the General Staff of the Indonesian Army had a significant effect on employee work motivation. The results of this research are also supported by Anita et al. (2019), who stated that the work placement in Manpower Office Aceh had a significant effect on employee work motivation. To place employees properly and according to the readiness of each employee, certain aspects of motivation theory should be considered, because each job has different characteristics. Therefore, the first hypothesis of this study is: as follows H1: Work placement significantly affects work motivation.

The Effect of Work Placement on Employee Performance
The research which was conducted by Sarinah et al. (2016) revealed that work placement in PT. Sriwijaya Air Jakarta had a significant effect on employee performance. In addition, the study which was conducted by Andi (2019) also showed that employee work placement had a significant and positive effect on employee performance of PT. Bank Danamon because the improvement in employee performance would bring progress and benefits for the company as well to survive in an unstable business environment. The more employees who give a good performance, the better the overall productivity of the company, thus the company will be able to survive in the cruel global competition. Therefore, the second hypothesis of this study is: H2: Work placement significantly affects employee performance.

The Effect of Work Motivation on Employee Performance
The research which was conducted by Suswati E, (2012) found that Work motivation had a signifi-cant effect on the performance of midwives working for local government public hospitals in horseshoe areas in East Java. In his research, Hidayat et al. (2018) stated that work motivation had a significant effect on employee performance of the General Staff of the Indonesian Army. This is also supported by the result of a study which was conducted by Anita et al. (2019) that work motivation also has a significant effect on employee performance in Manpower Office Aceh. It was used to study the achievement of an organization. Thus, the third hypothesis of this study is: H3: Work motivation significantly affects employee performance.

The Effect of Work Placement on Employee Performance Mediated by Work Motivation.
The research which was conducted by Anita et al. (2019) found that work motivation mediated two variables, namely employee work placement on employee performance. Besides other variables, a company also needs to pay attention to performance. The achievement of company goals is greatly influenced by employee performance. To achieve its goals, a company has to always improve its employee performance by motivating its employees. Optimum employee performance is a reflection of quality resources (Mangkunegara, 2011). Therefore, the fourth hypothesis of this study is: H4: Work motivation mediates the effect of work placement on employee performance.

Conceptual Framework
Analysis results of the relationship between work placement, work motivation, and employee performance show that employee performance is an important point in each company to maintain its stability and survive. Work placement by taking competence and environment into account, supported by good employee motivation, will lead to good employee performance.

METHOD
This is explanatory research. The population involved in this study was 58 respondents. The sampling technique used in this research was saturated sampling, so all populations would have the same opportunity to be taken as a sample; therefore, the sample in this study was 58 respondents. There were 22 questions in the questionnaires distributed to the respondents. They contained 6 questions about work placement, 10 questions about work motivation, and 6 questions about employee performance. The re-sponses were measured using the Likert scale (score 1-5); starting from 1, which means strongly disagree, to 5, which means strongly agree. The data analysis technique used in this study was PLS (Partial Least Square).

Characteristics of Respondent
This study involved 58 respondents, who are employees of a regional-owned bank in Kediri City, East Java. The majority of respondents aged 20-30 (41 out of 58 employees (70.69%)). In terms of last education, most of the r espondents have a Bachelor 's degree (53 out of 58 employees (91.38%)). On average, the respondents has had been working for the bank for 5-10 years (37 out of 58 employees (63.79%)). In terms of sex, the percentage is not much different; they consist of 30 female employees (51.72%) and 28 male employees (48.28%).

Evaluation of Measurement Model (Outer Model)
The outer model test was based on the loading factor value, the output of composite reliability, Cronbach's alpha, and AVE. Each indicator has a minimum limit that must be met. The loading factor value must be above 0.6, the output of composite reliability must be above 0.7, Cronbach's alpha must be above 0.6, and AVE must be above 0.5. The results of the outer model test show that several items have loading factor values below 0.7, namely X2.1 Salary received according to duties, X2.2 Salary is sufficient to meet basic needs, X2.4 Obtain health benefits, X2.7 Leaders appreciate employee performance, X2.8 Company rewards employees with outstanding achievements, X2.9 Employees have the opportunity to develop potential, Y3 The employee can complete the work according to the time limit and, Y4 The employee tries to attend. Therefore, those items must be removed from this research. The retest results are shown in Figure 2 and Table 1  Evaluation of modified outer model is presented in Table 1 below: After making modifications by cutting off items that have an outer loading value below 0.7, the results of the other outer models met the predetermined conditions. The results of convergent validity Work Placement Affects Employee Performance through Work Motivation and reliability testing are described in Table 2

Evaluation of Structural Model (Inner Model)
Inner model evaluation is used to see whether or not the relationship between construct variables is following the theory. The measurement of the inner model evaluation was determined by the coefficient of determination (R 2 ), Q-Square Predictive Relevance (Q 2 ), and Goodness of Fit (GoF). The R square value of variable employee performance (Y) is 0.209. This means that variable employee performance (Y) can be explained by the exogenous variable of 20.9%, which is considered weak. Meanwhile, the R square of variable work motivation (X2) is 0.00. This means that variable work motivation (X2) can be explained by the exogenous variable of 0.00%, which is considered weak. JUNE 2021

Endang Suswati
The Q-Square Predictive Relevance (Q²) value in this study is 0.209 or 20.9%. This research model is considered moderate, which means that variable employee performance can be predicted by variable work placement and variable work motivation, while the rest was contributed by other variables that were not explained in this research model. Meanwhile, the Goodness of Fit (GoF) value is 0.244. It can be concluded that in general, the predictive properties of the structural model of this study are considered moderate (GoF Medium). This indicates that the research model has sufficient ability to explain empirical data. The results of the R 2 , Q 2 , and GoF test show that the model formed in this research is robust; therefore, the researchers could proceed with hypothesis testing.

Hypothesis Test
Hypothesis testing was conducted to find out the effect of work placement on employee performance through variable work motivation, either directly or indirectly. The hypothesis testing method used was bootstrapping. The estimation of direct effect is presented in Table 3   The results of direct effect hypothesis presented on Table 3 above can be described as follows: a. Based on the analysis of the effect of work motivation on employee performance, the path coefficient (M) obtained is 0.348, with a p-value of 0.025. The p-value obtained is less than 0.05; therefore, the null hypothesis was rejected. Thus, it can be concluded that there was a significant direct effect between work motivation and employee performance. Work motivation had a significant and positive effect of 0.348. b. Based on the analysis of the effect of work placement on employee performance, the path coefficient (M) obtained is 0.337, with a p-value of 0.007. The p-value obtained is less than 0.05; therefore, the null hypothesis was rejected.
Thus, it can be concluded that there was a significant direct effect between work placement and employee performance. c. Based on the analysis of the effect of work placement on work motivation, the path coefficient (M) obtained is 0.027, with a p-value of 0.92. The p-value obtained is more than 0.05; therefore, the null hypothesis was accepted. Thus, it can be concluded that there was no significant direct effect between work placement and work motivation.

Indirect Effect Test
The results of the indirect effect hypothesis are presented in Table 4 below:  Based on the data presented in Table 4 above, the p-value of the indirect effect hypothesis is 0.932. The p-value obtained is more than 0.05; therefore, the null hypothesis was accepted, meaning that the indirect effect was not significant (no mediation). Thus, it can be concluded that work motivation could not mediate the effect of work placement on employee performance.

DISCUSSION Work Motivation and Employee Performance
This study found a significant effect of work motivation on employee performance. This finding supports the studies which were conducted by Hartati et al. (2020), Anita et al. (2019), Hidayat et al. (2018), Yani et al. (2016), and Suswati (2012) and opposes the findings of a research that was conducted by Imawan et al. (2016). The work pattern in the banking industry has high pressure and workload. Employees need to adapt quickly to the new work environment. High work pressure and workload will have an impact on the work outcomes. Employees need both cognitive and emotional encouragement to improve their ability and increase their willingness to complete their work. Motivating can push employees to complete their work with good quality. Motivation can also direct employees to achieve the goals set by the company. Therefore, high motivation will lead the employees to consistently produce quantity and quality of work required by the company.

Work placement and Employee Performance.
This study also found a significant effect of variable work placement on variable employee performance. These findings support the results of studies which were conducted by Hidayat (2018) and Anita et al. (2019). Work placement should consider employees' abilities, skills, and knowledge; the employees should have the abilities, skills, and knowledge needed to do the job assigned to them (Hidayat et al., 2018). These three aspects can be used as indicators in producing work following company expectations. If employees are placed in the wrong position, they cannot complete the work assigned to them. If they are given a job that needs abilities, skills, and knowledge they don't have, they will need to need to adapt longer. In companies, especially those working in the banking industry, employees are required to quickly adapt to changes in the industrial environment; therefore, work placement is an important aspect and should be considered before doing a work placement. A company has to take performance achievement indicators that must be achieved by employees into consideration. It will lead to productivity and efficiency, which is good for the company.

Work Placement and Work Motivation
In this study, work placement did not have a significant effect on work motivation. This finding supports the studies which were conducted by Imawan et al. (2016), Narotama et al. (2016), andAnita et al. (2019). Work placement does not always affect worker motivation positively. The improvement in employee motivation is influenced by external and internal factors (Aini, 2013). Work placement is one of the external factors that can increase work motivation. These two factors have to be built simultaneously. Employees should be supported, both cognitively and emotionally to make them feel comfortable (Aini, 2013). In motivating employees, the companies should also consider the level of personal maturity, desires, and personal expectations. In this study, most of the respondents aged 20-30 years old and have Bachelor's degrees. Employee background can also be an indicator that can cause work placement not to have an impact on work motivation. In their youth, most employees have high hope and desire to continue learning and competing, so that they are willing to produce good work outcomes without being motivated.

Work Placement and Employee Performance Mediated Work Motivation
In this study, the effect of work placement on employee work motivation also affected other findings. Since the effect of work placement on employee motivation was not significant, work motivation didn't play a role as a mediating variable.
These findings are in line with the results of studies which were conducted by Imawan et al. JUNE 2021

Endang Suswati
(2016), Narotama et al. (2016) and Anita et al. (2019). In this study, motivation and work placement had a significant effect on increasing employee performance. However, improving employee performance at this company, a local-owned bank in Kediri City, does not need an intermediary or mediating variable (motivation). Work placement and employee motivation are factors that must be built simultaneously to improve employee performance.

CONCLUSIONS
Based on the analysis results, it can be concluded that the variable employee placement and variable work motivation affected employee performance at the company being studied, namely a regional-owned bank in Kediri City. In addition, the analysis results of work motivation as a moderating variable were not proven because work placement didn't affect work motivation.

IMPLICATIONS
This research has a direct impact on work practices in banking companies. Environmental uncertainty and organizational dynamics can increase work pressure and stress on employees. The ability of each employee to deal with problems and workloads is different and cannot be equated. The proportion of the workload that is adjusted to the capacity of the employees will encourage employee motivation to complete each job. Completion of work following the targets given will directly have an impact on employee performance. Companies to provide a proportion of work following the ability of employees must plan their work placement. Although in some industries job placement does not have a significant impact on employee motivation, job placement analysis is needed to measure the competence and ability of employees to complete and deal with job pressures. This research can be used as a reference for companies, especially those engaged in banking, to improve their company performance based on motivation and employee job placement.

LIMITATIONS
This research still needs further development. Further researchers can develop research concepts in other industries. The characteristics of each industry and the size of the research sample can be one of the suggestions in developing this concept in future research. In companies that do not have high dynamics or monopolists, it is possible to increase performance not to be influenced by work motivation. In addition, further research can be developed with larger sample size, such as in global or multinational companies. A large number of samples will provide various points of view and variations in answers. The development of research concepts and theories can contribute to the development and renewal of management science.

RECOMMENDATIONS
In variable work placement, the lowest average score is obtained by an indicator stating that employees do not need a long time to learn the tasks or jobs they are responsible for. Usually, it occurs because employees lack knowledge, preparation, and good adaptability skills; therefore, employees should prepare themselves well. In variable work placement, the lowest average score is obtained by an indicator stating that employees get a big salary. This occurs due to a lack of transparency between the company and employees, and usually, employees experience culture shock, so they need to adapt well. In variable employee performance, the lowest average score is obtained by an indicator stating that employees can finish their work following the standard set by the company. Therefore, before doing a work placement, companies should make sure that the employee they will move to have the abilities and skills needed to do the job.