The antecedents of employee performance of Indonesian sharia bank

Purpose This study aims to examine the influence of Islamic leadership on employee commitment, knowledge sharing, sharia involvement, job satisfaction and employee performance in the Islamic banking industry in Indonesia. Furthermore, this study also aims to examine the mediating role of employee commitment, knowledge sharing and sharia involvement in strengthening the relationship between Islamic leadership and employee performance. Design/methodology/approach This study used a quantitative approach by distributing a structured questionnaire to 400 Islamic bank employees in Indonesia with at least three years of work experience. The data obtained were analyzed to test direct and indirect relationships between variables to validate the proposed conceptual framework. Findings The research results show that Islamic leadership has a positive effect on commitment, knowledge sharing, sharia compliance and job satisfaction, but does not directly impact employee performance. Instead, these three variables act as mediators that indirectly improve performance, underscoring the importance of implementing sharia principles through organizational leadership. Research limitations/implications This research is limited to the Islamic banking industry in Indonesia, so the results cannot be generalized to other Islamic sectors. The quantitative approach used also fails to deeply explore employees’ subjective experiences with the implementation of Islamic leadership. Furthermore, other factors such as organizational culture, management style and individual spiritual motivation have not been further analyzed. Practical implications This research provides managerial insights for Islamic banks that strengthening Islamic leadership can foster commitment, encourage knowledge sharing and increase engagement with Sharia principles, thus indirectly improving performance. Therefore, leadership development programs and human resource management systems aligned with Islamic values are needed. Originality/value This study is one of the first to empirically test the mediating mechanisms of commitment, knowledge sharing, and sharia involvement in linking Islamic leadership to employee performance in the Indonesian sharia banking industry.