Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, volume 64

2nd Padang International Conference on Education, Economics, Business and Accounting (PICEEBA-2 2018)

The Effect of Leadership, Communication, and Motivation On Employee

Performance: A Literature Review

Sri Rizki Safitri1, Dina Patrisia2

1Universitas Negeri Padang, Padang and Indonesia,  [email protected]

2Universitas Negeri Padang, Padang and Indonesia,  [email protected]

Abstract
This paper is a literature study to analyze the effect of leadership, communication, and
motivation on employee performance.This type of research is explanatory research,
looking at the relationship of free variables is leadership, communication, and
motivation on employee performance. This study aim to gather and analyze published
articles regarding the effect of leadership, communication, and motivation on employee
performance. The research design is a literature review. Articles published in the last five
years appearing in six different academically. Based on the results of the review
literature that leadership, communication, and motivation has positive and significant
effect on employee performance.The results of this review are only a conceptual starting
point for starting an integrated discipline.
Keyword: leadership, communication, motivation, employee performance

Introduction
Performance is an action, not an event. The performance action itself consists of many components
and is not a result that can be seen right away. Various kinds of obstacles will surely be encountered
by individual agencies to be able to work well, so that their performance can be well received by
organizations and society. Many factors can affect performance, including: motivation, leadership,
work environment, incentives, work culture, communication, position, discipline, education and
training, and many others. All of these factors must be influential, some are dominant, some are not,
one of which is about the duties of employees in government.
Rivai (2009) revealed that performance is a real behavior that is displayed by everyone as work
performance produced by employees in accordance with their role in the company. Furthermore
Mangkunegara (2008) states that performance is the work quality and quantity achieved by an
employee in carrying out their duties in accordance with the responsibilities given to him. Feelings of
dissatisfaction and desire for achievement or power are more motivators for some people. Everything
will depend on the people concerned and their working environment.
According to Dharma (2008) the factors that influence performance are as follows: 1) employees,
namely the ability and willingness to carry out the work, 2) work that is concerning the design of
work, description of work and resources to carry out the work, 3) work mechanism that includes the
system , delegation procedures and organizational structure, 4) the work environment includes
location factors and working conditions, organizational climate and communication.
Leadership is a very important factor in the organization, because without leadership, the
organization is difficult to achieve goals, and the performance of employees is also not optimal.
According to Robbins (2006) leadership is the ability to influence a group towards achieving goals.
Furthermore Siagian (2007) argued that the role of leader or leadership in the organization or
company there are three forms, namely interpersonal roles, informational roles, and decision-making
roles. So leadership will affect the performance produced by employees, with a democratic and
attentive leadership to employees, will spur employees to work seriously and ultimately will produce
high performance for the organization where they work. Based on the above description there is
influence of leadership on performance employees are reasonable.
Besides leadership, communication is one of the factors that influence employee performance.
Good communication can solve problems that occur within the organization. According to

Copyright © 2019, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). 533
 Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, volume 64

Mangkunegara (2001) communication is an activity that causes others to interpret an idea. In

communication, the leadership factor becomes very dominant because leaders must understand how
to provide messages or ideas that are easily understood by employees with different levels of
understanding. A communication leader can give work orders, work motivation, appreciation of
work, work discipline to employees. Furthermore, work motivation is a factor that influences
employee performance. Work motivation according to (Sarwoto, 2007) is a driving force that directs
employees to work better and better quality, has a sense of responsibility and strives to improve work
performance. Motivation becomes a driver for someone to carry out an activity to get the best results.
For this reason employee motivation needs to be raised, so that employees can produce good
performance. Subordinates will not be motivated to achieve a high level of productivity, unless they
consider the high expectations of the leader to be truly realistic and achievable. If they are encouraged
to try to achieve goals that cannot be achieved, chances are they will stop trying and set results that
are lower than their abilities.
An organization that is said to be successful if it can effectively and efficiently utilize existing
resources, especially existing employees optimally and professionally. For this reason, the existing
human resources need to be managed properly and correctly, because the success of the management
of the Manpower and Transmigration Office of West Sumatra Province is determined by the quality
of the performance of its employees and their leaders. The success of leaders in managing the
organization is determined by high and low employee performance, while employee performance is
related to leadership, communication and work motivation. The relationship can be drawn on the
frame of mind which can be seen in the following figure:

Leadership (X1)

Motivation (X3) Performance(Y)

Communication(X2)

Figure 1 Conceptual Framework

The method used in this literetur study adopts Systematic Literature Review (SRL) proposed by
Biolchini, et al., (2005). SLR is defined as a way of identifying, evaluating and interpreting all
available research that is relevant to the question or domain of research topics or phenomena of
interest to researchers. Biolchini et al. (2005) divided the guidelines for implementing SLR into 3
phases, namely: (1) planning; (2) execution; and (3) analysis of results.
In this literature review the data sources that will be used are papers available on the website
page: (1) Emerald Insight; (2) Wiley InterScience; and (3) Science Direct. The strategy in conducting a
search is built through the determination of keywords and synonyms from the focus of the study.
Keywords and synonyms are connected to the logical OR and OR conector.
The paper selection procedure was carried out with the speed reading technique of all primary
study candidates. Fast reading is reading the abstraction section of the available paper. Furthermore,
based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria made, it can be determined whether the paper can be
used as a primary study. Based on the planned review, the next step is to execute the plan. Execute
search strings on web pages that are used as sources.

534
 Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, volume 64

Based on the search results on the website page which made the data source produced as many as
1763 articles which were primary study candidates, then made one, then screened whether the title in
the article was the same or not. After screening, 50 articles were the same as the title. Of the 50 articles
then screened based on eligibility according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria obtained 20 articles
for further review.

Classification of the Literature

1. The influence of Leadership on Employee Performance
Leadership is a very important factor in the organization, because without leadership, the
organization is difficult to achieve goals, and the performance of employees is also not optimal.
leadership will affect the performance produced by employees, with a democratic and attentive
leadership to employees, will spur employees to work seriously and ultimately will produce high
performance for the organization where they work. Based on the above description there is influence
of leadership on performance employees are reasonable.
Some studies show that leadership has a positive and significant influence on employee
performance (Basit, Sebastian, & Hassan, 2017); (Syafii, Thoyib, Nimran, & Djumahir, 2015); (Ali,
Elmi, & Mohamed, 2013); (Taty & Basir, 2016); (Paracha, Qamar, Mirza, Hassan, & Waqas, 2012);
(Prabowo, Noermijati, & Irawanto, 2018).
2. The Influence of Communication on Employee Performance
A communication leader can give work orders, work motivation, appreciation of work, work
discipline to employees. Communication has a big impact on achieving good performance. Errors in
communication may result in low employee performance. Some studies show that communication
has a positive and significant effect on employee performance such as research conducted by
(Kusumandari, Suharto, & Silitonga, 2018); (Femi, 2014); (Hermawan, Rivai, & Suharto, 2018);
(Atambo & Momanyi, 2016); and (Kuncorowati & Rokhmawati, 2018).
3. The Influence of Work Motivation on Employee Performance
Motivation becomes a driver for someone to carry out an activity to get the best results. For this
reason employee motivation needs to be raised, so that employees can produce good performance.
Subordinates will not be motivated to achieve a high level of productivity, unless they consider the
high expectations of the leader to be truly realistic and achievable. If they are encouraged to try to
achieve goals that cannot be achieved, chances are they will stop trying and set results that are lower
than their abilities.Some studies show that work motivation has a positive and significant effect on
employee performance such as research conducted by (Shahzadi, Javed, Pirzada, Nasreen, &
Khanam, 2014); (Syafii, Thoyib, Nimran, & Djumahir, 2015); (Mohamud, Ibrahim, & Hussein, 2017);
(Ali, Bin, Piang, & Ali, 2016); (Kusumandari, Suharto, & Silitonga, 2018); (EK & Mukuru, 2013);
(Olusadum & Anulika, 2018) and (Prabowo, Noermijati, & Irawanto, 2018).

Results and Analysis of The Classification

After a study of the quality of the study, data extraction is then carried out. Data extraction is done
by analyzing data based on years of publication, journal, and country.

Table 1 Articles distribution by Year

No Publication Years Number of Articles
1 2014 6
2 2015 2
3 2016 4
4 2017 3
5 2018 5
Total 20

535
 Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, volume 64

As shown in the figure, the number of review studies has grown rapidly since 2014 and is likely to
continue increasing in the next five-year interval. The publication trend of review studies evidences
the increasing importance of review type studies in empleyee performance research and reflects the
maturity of the discipline.
Table 2 Article distribution between 2013-2018
No Journal Number of
Articles
1 International Journal of Development Research 1
2 International Journal of Development Research 1
3 International Journal of Business anf Applied Social Science 1
4 Journal of Arts, Science & Commerce 1
5 Internationa Journal Trade, Economics and Finance 1
6 International Journal of Business and applied Social Science (IJBASS) 1
7 International Journal of Research in Business Managemen 1
8 Journal of Humanities and Social Science 1
9 International Journal of Advance in Management and Economics 1
10 International Journal of Accounting & Business Management 1
11 Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR) 1
12 Journal of Business and Management. 1
13 Education Reasearch International 1
14 International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Science 1
15 International Journal of Economics and Business Administration, 1
16 International Journal of Engineering& Technology 1
17 Journal of Management and Strategy 1
18 Global Journal of Management and Business Reasearch 1
19 European Journal of Business and Management 1
20 Galore International Journal of Applied Sciences and Humanities 1
Total 20

Table 3 Articles distibution by Country

No Country Number of Articles
1 Kenya 3
2 Indonesia 4
3 India 1
4 Thailand 2
5 Vietnam 3
6 Jepang 2
7 Bangladesh 2
8 Malaysia 3
Total 30

Figure 3 shows the number of publications by country in ten-year intervals from 2013 to 2018.
Overall, 3 review studies were published from Kenya Country, and 4 review studies were published
from IndonesiaCountry, review studies were published from India Country, and review studies were
published from Vietnam Country.

Conclusion
Based on the results of the review literature that leadership, communication, and motivation has
positive and significant effect on employee performance.The results of this review are only a
conceptual starting point for starting an integrated discipline. It is realized that this literature study
has several shortcomings, including the minimum number of publication provider websites that are

536
 Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, volume 64

used as data sources. In addition to the three websites that are used as data sources in this literature
review there are actually many more websites that provide scientific publications. However, the
website cannot be included because of the limited access that the author has. Thus further studies
need to be improved on the wider literature sources to gain an understanding of the implementation
of concepts in more diverse case studies.

References
Atambo, W. N., & Momanyi, D. K. (2016). Effect of Internal Communication on Employee
Performance: A Case Study of Kenya Power and Lighting Company, South Nyanza Region,
Kenya. Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR), 2(5), 328-340.
Basit, A., Sebastian, V., & Hassan, Z. (2017). Impact of Leadership Style on Employee Performance ( A
case Studi on Private Organization in Malaysia). International Journal of Accounting &
Business Management, 5 (No.2), 112-130.
EK, K., & Mukuru, E. (2013). Effect of Motivation on Employee Performance in Public Middle Level
Technical Training Institutions In Kenya. International Journal of Advance in Management and
Economics, 2(4), 73-82.
Femi, A. (2014). The Impact of Communication on Workers'Performance in Selested Organizations in
Lagos State, Nigeria. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 19(8), 75-82.
Hermawan, O., Rivai, A., & Suharto. (2018). Effect of Communication and Motivation to Employee
Performance Through Organizational Citizenship Behavior PT. Hexindo Adi Perkasa, Tbk.
International Journal of Business and applied Social Science (IJBASS), 4(4), 53-60.
Kuncorowati, H., & Rokhmawati, H. N. (2018). The Influence of Comunication and Work Discipline
on The Employee Performance ( A Case Study of Employee Performance of Dwi Arsa Citra
Persada Foundation in Yogyakarta, Indonesia). Journal of Arts, Science & Commerce, IX(2), 6-
13.
Kusumandari, G. T., Suharto, & Silitonga, P. S. (2018). The Effect of Communication and The Ability
of Employee Performance Through Motivation in PT CGGS Indonesia. International Journal
of Business anf Applied Social Science (IJJBASS), 4(6), 18-33.
Mohamud, S., Ibrahim, A., & Hussein, J. M. (2017). The Effect of Motivation on Employee
Performance: Case Study in Hormuud Company In Mogadishu Somalia. International
Journal of Development Research, 07(11), 17009-17016.
Olusadum, N., & Anulika, N. (2018). Impact of Motivation on Employee Performance: A Study of
Alvan IKoku Federal Collage of Education. Journal of Management and Strategy, 9(1), 53-65.
Paracha, M., Qamar, A., Mirza, A., Hassan, I.-u., & Waqas, H. (2012). Impact of Leadership Style (
Transformational & Transactional Leadership) On Employee Performance & Mediating Role
of Job Satisfaction" Study of Private School (Educator) in Pakistan. Global Journal of
Management and Business Reasearch, 12(4).
Prabowo, T. S., Noermijati, & Irawanto, D. W. (2018). The Influence of Tranformational Leadership
and Work Motivation on Employee Performance Mediated by Job Satisfaction. 16(1), 171-
178.
Robbins, S., & Coulter, M. 2012. Management (Eleventh ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education.
Shahzadi, I., Javed, A., Pirzada, S., Nasreen, S., & Khanam, F. (2014). Impact of Employee Motivation
on Employee Performance. European Journal of Business and Management, 6(23), 159-165.
Syafii, L. I., Thoyib, A., Nimran, U., & Djumahir. (2015). The Role of Corporate Culture and Employee
Motivation as a Mediating Variable of Leadershif Style Related With The Employee
Performance (Studies in Perum Perhutani). 2nd Global Confrence on Business and Social
Science-2015, (hal. 1142-1147). Bali, Indonesia.
Taty, S., & Basir, M. (2016). The Effect of Leadership Style, Work Environment and Organization
Culture on Employee Performance: A Case Study at Kawasan Industri Makasar (KIMA),
Indonesia. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 18(10), 49-55.

537