The Relationship Between Organisational Culture, Employee Engagement And Organisational Performance In The Public Sector In South Africa: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach

This study critically examines the interrelationships between organisational culture, employee engagement, and organisational performance within the South African public sector. A quantitative approach employing Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) through Smart PLS was used to test a multidimensional conceptual framework comprising 21 hypotheses. A stratified random sample of 408 employees across three government departments was surveyed using pre-validated instruments that measured nine latent constructs, including inspiring leadership, open and transparent communication, a challenging and engaging environment, organisational commitment, job involvement, employee satisfaction, motivation, retention, and organisational results. The measurement model demonstrated excellent reliability and construct validity, with all constructs exceeding the minimum thresholds for Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability, and average variance extracted (AVE). The results confirmed strong and statistically significant relationships between organisational culture and employee engagement, and between employee engagement and organisational performance. Mediation analysis revealed that employee engagement partially mediates the culture-performance relationship, suggesting that a positive organisational culture influences performance directly and indirectly via enhanced engagement. Key cultural drivers such as inspiring leadership and a challenging work environment exhibited substantial predictive relevance, whereas open and transparent communication demonstrated limited statistical significance in some paths. The study makes a novel contribution to the limited body of empirical research on public sector management in emerging economies, offering actionable insights for leadership, policy reform, and human resource development in the South African public administration landscape.