The research was published in the Formosa Journal of Multidisciplinary Research in August 2026. Trimaya and Abdurahman focused on the relationship between physical workplace conditions, job satisfaction, and employee performance in a production setting.
Manufacturing Growth Raises the Importance of Employee Performance
The study places its findings within Indonesia's rapidly changing automotive industry. The researchers noted that electric vehicle sales in Indonesia reached 43,188 units in 2024, increasing 152 percent from 17,051 units in 2023 based on Gaikindo data cited in the article. Rising demand for electric vehicles is also increasing activity across supporting industries, including component manufacturing and vehicle assembly.
CV TBS operates as a general trading company and subcontractor, providing trimming, hot-melt, logistics, and fabrication services for industrial customers, including companies in the automotive sector. Its production operations include a Cutting and Trimming Division, where employees process materials using specialized machinery according to technical specifications. Employee performance is therefore closely connected to production efficiency and product quality.
However, the company's 2024 performance evaluation showed that not all production employees had reached the expected standard. Of 30 employees, three were rated excellent, four good, 10 fair, eight low, and five very low. The company expected production employees to reach at least the good category.
The researchers examined whether two workplace factors—physical working conditions and job satisfaction—could help explain employee performance.
Workplace Conditions Were Generally Good, but Lighting Needed Attention
The physical work environment included tangible conditions such as lighting, comfort, odors, safety, workplace organization, ventilation, cleanliness, and supporting facilities.
Initial observations identified several shortcomings at CV TBS. Materials were not always arranged systematically, items accumulated in working areas, some fans were damaged or insufficient, and storage capacity was limited. These conditions could affect employee comfort and the efficiency of production activities.
Despite these issues, employees rated the overall physical work environment positively, with an average score of 4.03. Safety received the highest score at 4.13, indicating that employees generally considered the workplace secure. Lighting recorded the lowest score at 3.96, although it remained within the study's good category.
The researchers therefore identified lighting as an area where the company could make practical improvements. The article notes that several production areas relied heavily on natural daylight, with limited additional artificial lighting. Better lighting could improve visual comfort and concentration during production work.
Employees Reported High Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction also received a positive assessment. Employees recorded an average score of 4.14, placing the variable in the satisfied category.
The study found that employees generally viewed their jobs, responsibilities, and working conditions positively. The job-level dimension received a strong assessment, suggesting that employees perceived their duties as reasonably aligned with their skills and competencies.
However, organizational size received the lowest score among the job satisfaction dimensions. According to the researchers, this points to opportunities to improve internal communication, coordination, and employee participation in workplace decisions. Some employees reportedly felt insufficiently involved in communication and decision-making processes.
Statistical Analysis Shows Significant Effects
Trimaya and Abdurahman used a quantitative approach involving 30 production employees who had worked at the company for at least one year and one production supervisor. Because the population was relatively small, all 31 individuals were included. Data came from questionnaires, interviews, documentation, and literature, while multiple linear regression was used to analyze the relationships between the variables.
The analysis produced several key findings:
- Physical work environment had a positive and statistically significant effect on employee performance.
- Job satisfaction also had a positive and statistically significant effect on employee performance.
- The two factors jointly had a significant effect on employee performance.
- Physical work environment had a regression coefficient of 0.535, while job satisfaction had a coefficient of 0.634.
- Together, the two factors explained 52.5 percent of the variation in employee performance. The remaining 47.5 percent was associated with other factors outside the study.
The partial statistical tests further supported both relationships. The physical work environment produced a t-value of 3.233, while job satisfaction produced a t-value of 3.526, both exceeding the study's critical value of 2.052. The simultaneous test produced an F-value of 14.905 compared with an F-table value of 3.35.
In practical terms, the findings suggest that employees are more likely to perform well when they have adequate and safe working conditions and feel satisfied with their jobs.
Implications for Manufacturing Companies
For CV TBS and similar manufacturing businesses, the findings offer several practical directions. Companies can maintain strong occupational safety standards while improving weaker physical aspects of the workplace, particularly lighting and workplace organization.
Employee management is equally important. Stronger communication, coordination, and employee participation could help preserve job satisfaction. The researchers also recommend training, skill development, regular performance evaluations, and constructive feedback to improve work quality.
The findings should nevertheless be interpreted within the study's limitations. The research involved only one company and a relatively small number of respondents, meaning its results cannot automatically be generalized to all manufacturing companies. Future research could examine additional factors such as motivation, work discipline, workload, leadership, work stress, and organizational culture.
Trimaya and Abdurahman of Universitas Jenderal Achmad Yani essentially show that employee performance is not determined solely by individual ability. The physical conditions surrounding employees and their satisfaction with their work can also make a meaningful contribution to production performance.
Author Profiles
Adelia Trimaya is affiliated with the Business Management Study Program, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Jenderal Achmad Yani. Her research in this article focuses on physical work environment, job satisfaction, and employee performance.
Khaerul Rizal Abdurahman is also affiliated with the Business Management Study Program, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Jenderal Achmad Yani, with research interests represented in this article in the areas of management, human resources, and employee performance.
The published article does not state the authors' academic degrees, so no degree titles are added here rather than presenting unverified information.
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