Talent management and work motivation as mediators between Occupational Health and Safety Management and work performance among construction professionals in the Caraga Region, Philippines

Construction work remained occupationally demanding because dynamic worksites, changing hazards, and project-based employment complicated the coordination of safety, workforce development, and employee performance. Existing evidence had not established whether Talent Management (TM) and Work Motivation (WM) represented distinct parallel pathways linking Occupational Health and Safety Management (OHSM) with Work Performance (WP) in a regional Philippine construction context. The objective of the present study is to examine direct and indirect associations among OHSM, TM, WM, and WP among construction professionals in the Caraga Region. Cross-sectional questionnaire data from 350 respondents were evaluated through hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis and covariance-based structural equation modeling using WLSMV for ordered indicators, while indirect associations were reassessed through 5000 bootstrap resamples. The final model showed excellent fit (CFI = 0.997, TLI = 0.997, RMSEA = 0.008, SRMR = 0.044). OHSM was positively associated with TM (β = 0.450), WM (β = 0.478), and WP (β = 0.372), whereas TM–WM was unsupported (β = 0.013, p = 0.839). The findings support parallel rather than sequential statistical pathways and provide region-specific evidence for integrated safety and workforce-management practice. Future research should test temporal ordering using longitudinal, multilevel, and objective performance data.