Strengthening Generation Z Employee Retention Through Work-Life Balance, Leadership, and Employee Engagement in the Banking Industry
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
High turnover among Generation Z employees poses a growing challenge for the banking industry, which depends heavily on service consistency and customer trust. This study examines the effect of work-life balance and leadership on the retention of Generation Z employees in the banking industry in Makassar City, with employee engagement as a mediating variable. A quantitative explanatory design was employed, involving 300 Generation Z respondents from commercial banks and Rural Banks in Makassar City selected through purposive sampling. Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 4.0. The results show that work-life balance and leadership each have a positive and significant effect on employee engagement (β = 0.341 and β = 0.378, respectively) and on employee retention directly (β = 0.198 and β = 0.172, respectively). Employee engagement was found to partially mediate the effect of both work-life balance (indirect effect = 0.144) and leadership (indirect effect = 0.159) on retention, and work-life balance and leadership simultaneously affect retention through employee engagement (β = 0.512). The model explains 51.2% of the variance in employee engagement and 58.3% of the variance in employee retention. These findings confirm that retaining Generation Z employees in banking requires an integrated approach that simultaneously strengthens work-life balance policies, transformational leadership, and employee engagement program.
Downloads
Article Details
Section
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
Agustini. (2024). Analisis strategi retensi karyawan untuk mengurangi turnover dan meningkatkan loyalitas karyawan. Jurnal Manajemen, 5(3), 306–320.
Avolio, B. J., & Bass, B. M. (2002). Developing potential across a full range of leadership: Cases on transactional and transformational leadership. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Badrianto, Y., Pratiwi, R., Ernawati, A., Jusri, & Sululing, S. (2021). Mengelola SDM produktif dan unggul. Media Sains Indonesia.
Bagheri, B. (2025). Generation Z & high turnover rate in the workplace. FLEDGEWORKS Blog. https://fledgeworks.com/generation-z-high-turnover-rate/
Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2017). Job Demands-Resources theory: Taking stock and looking forward. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 22(3), 273–285. https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000056
Blau, P. M. (1964). Exchange and power in social life. John Wiley & Sons.
Badan Pusat Statistik. (2024). Indonesia Gen Z: Profil Generasi Z Indonesia. Badan Pusat Statistik.
Cropanzano, R., Anthony, E. L., Daniels, S. R., & Hall, A. V. (2017). Social exchange theory: A critical review with theoretical remedies. Academy of Management Annals, 11(1), 479–516. https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2015.0099
Cropanzano, R., & Mitchell, M. S. (2005). Social exchange theory: An interdisciplinary review. Journal of Management, 31(6), 874–900. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206305279602
Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., Nachreiner, F., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2001). The Job Demands-Resources model of burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(3), 499–512. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.86.3.499
Djastuti, I., & Lestari, L. (2022). Determinan employee engagement generasi milenial. Jurnal Manajemen, 31(1).
Fisher, G. G., Bulger, C. A., & Smith, C. S. (2009). Beyond work and family: A measure of work/nonwork interference and enhancement. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 14(4), 441–456. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016737
Graen, G. B., & Uhl-Bien, M. (1995). Relationship-based approach to leadership: Development of leader-member exchange (LMX) theory of leadership over 25 years: Applying a multi-level multi-domain perspective. The Leadership Quarterly, 6(2), 219–247. https://doi.org/10.1016/10489843(95)90036-5
Hair, J. F., Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2017). A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications.
Hasnidar, Jusri, & Bakri, A. A. (2023). Navigating employee performance: The synergy of ethical leadership, communication proficiency and trust. Journal of Management Research, 01(01), 38–51.
Hidayatullah, M., Hatami, H., & Fauziannor, A. (2025). Retensi karyawan generasi Z di Indonesia berdasarkan kajian literatur sistematis. Jurnal Manajemen SDM, 3(2), 1–16.
Isliana, N., et al. (2023). Pengaruh budaya organisasi dan lingkungan kerja dengan motivasi sebagai variabel intervening terhadap kinerja karyawan (Studi pada teller Bank Kalsel). Jurnal Perbankan, 12(2), 53–67.
Mea, I., Haryanto, I., Deti, R., Harsono, M., & Marianti, M. M. (2024). Pengaruh leadership style dan internal communication terhadap employee engagement. JIMEA: Jurnal Ilmiah MEA (Manajemen, Ekonomi, dan Akuntansi), 8(1), 2381–2397.
Jusri, Risman, Wardana, M., Sudarmawan, I. W. E., & Wibowo, T. S. (2023). Increasing work professionalism in view of situational leadership, organizational commitment and organizational climate in Bank Sulselbar. SEIKO: Journal of Management & Business, 6(1), 380–388. https://doi.org/10.37531/sejaman.v6i1.3851
Khan, S. I., Haque, A., & Bartram, T. (2023). Unleashing employee potential: A mixed-methods study of high-performance work systems in Bangladeshi banks. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 1–22.
Miftahurrohman & Munifah. (2024). Dampak turnover pegawai terhadap kinerja organisasi perguruan tinggi di Jawa Tengah. Jurnal Bisnis Kreatif, 2(2).
Nardi, F. R., & Ginting, S. (2026). Improving Gen Z employee retention through work life balance with employee engagement as a mediating variable. Journal of Business Research, 6, 240–254.
Ng, C., Wider, W., Yang, C., Jiang, L., Vasudevan, A., Bhandari, P., & Lee, H. P. T. (2024). Keys factor affecting employee performance in the banking sector: a Delphi study. Cogent Business & Management, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2409942
Nova, K. (2023). Employee engagement, work life balance dan turnover intention. Jurnal SDM dan Organisasi.
Ringle, C. M., Wende, S., & Becker, J. M. (2015). SmartPLS 3. SmartPLS GmbH. http://www.smartpls.com
Rusilowati, U., & Bangun, C. S. (2025). The impact of leadership styles on employee engagement and organizational growth. Jurnal Manajemen, 9(2).
Saks, A. M. (2006). Antecedents and consequences of employee engagement. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 21(7), 600–619. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683940610690169
Schaufeli, W. B., Salanova, M., Gonzalez-Roma, V., & Bakker, A. B. (2002). The measurement of engagement and burnout: A two sample confirmatory factor analytic approach. Journal of Happiness Studies, 3(1), 71–92. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015630930326
Sergio, R. P., & Rylova, M. (2018). Employee engagement and empowerment as gateway towards retention: The case of Volkswagen Group. Journal of Human Resource Management, 5(2).
Sumarsid, P. (2025). Faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi retensi staf di kalangan generasi Z pada industri perbankan. Jurnal Manajemen SDM, 15, 13–22.
Sutrisno. (2024). Membangun talenta masa depan: Menganalisis kepemimpinan inovatif, pengembangan, strategi pemasaran, dan komitmen di era disrupsi. Jurnal Ekonomi dan Bisnis, 18(6), 4342–4369.
Yudhani, P. K. S. I. (2024). Pengaruh work life balance terhadap employee retention dengan job satisfaction sebagai variabel mediasi. Jurnal Manajemen, 3(2), 600–614.
Yuniasih, Y., Munawar, A. H., Maulana, I. A., Nafisa, N. A., Siliwangi, U., & Soedirman, U. J. (2025). Eksplorasi work life balance dan work engagement terhadap kinerja karyawan PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk. BanKu: Jurnal Perbankan dan Keuangan, 6(Februari), 51–67.