The Effect of Mutation and Compensation on Employee Performance, with Work Motivation as a Mediating Variable, at the Six Foreign Investment Tax Service Office

This study aims to analyze the effect of mutation and compensation on employee performance with work motivation as a mediating variable at the Six Foreign Investment Tax Service Office. The study uses a quantitative approach. The population comprises all 132 active civil servant employees of the Six Foreign Investment Tax Service Office, with a sample of 122 respondents selected using purposive sampling. Data were collected via questionnaires in July 2026 and analyzed using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) via SmartPLS 3. Results show all path coefficients (β) are positive, all p-values < 0.05, and all t-statistics > 1.96, so all hypotheses are accepted: (1) mutation positively and significantly affects work motivation; (2) compensation positively and significantly affects work motivation; (3) mutation positively and significantly affects employee performance; (4) compensation positively and significantly affects employee performance; (5) work motivation positively and significantly affects employee performance; (6) work motivation significantly mediates the effect of mutation on employee performance; and (7) work motivation significantly mediates the effect of compensation on employee performance. This study contributes theoretically by integrating Expectancy Theory and Equity Theory in the public tax sector context, and practically for human resource management policies within the Directorate General of Taxes