From employee satisfaction to job performance: mediating role of affective commitment in Nepalese commercial banks

Purpose This study aims to investigate how employee satisfaction influences job performance among employees in Nepalese commercial banks, considering the mediating role of affective commitment. Design/methodology/approach This study employed a validated questionnaire to collect cross-sectional data from 302 employees of eight Nepalese commercial banks (two public limited, two joint venture and four private commercial banks). The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (Smart-PLS) was used to evaluate the hypothesized relationships and proposed framework. Findings The results reveal that employee satisfaction factors, including employee well-being, work–life balance and training and development, are positively and significantly associated with employee job performance. Additionally, affective commitment mediates the relationship between work–life balance and employee job performance as well as between employee well-being and employee job performance; however, it does not mediate the association between training and development and employee job performance. Originality/value The findings provide practical advice to policymakers and bank management, indicating that affective commitment may serve as a mediator within the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) framework. The findings indicate that soft resources, including employee well-being and work–life balance, necessitate an emotional connection akin to affective commitment, whereas technical resources, such as training and development, do not require similar emotional bonds. This study introduces a new framework for organizations to distinguish between resources that foster loyalty and those that focus solely on enhancing competence.