Meaningful Work And Its Pathways In Influencing Job Stress Retention And Performance Of Millennials In Indonesia’s Banking Sector

Abstract

In Indonesia’s banking sector, rising work demands and high turnover among millennial employees pose critical challenges to organizational sustainability. This study investigates how perceptions of meaningful work influence job stress, retention intentions, and job performance among millennials in Medan’s banking industry. Drawing on the Job Characteristics Model and the multidimensional framework of meaningful work, the study examines the mediating roles of three pathways positive meaning, meaning-making, and greater-good motivations. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey of 273 millennial banking employees was conducted using a random sampling method. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Results show that meaningful work significantly predicts positive meaning, meaning-making, and greater-good motivations, which in turn reduce job stress and enhance retention intentions and job performance. However, the influence of greater-good motivations on outcomes was nonsignificant in some contexts, suggesting its contingent nature in for-profit environments. Meaning-making emerged as the most robust pathway across all outcomes. These findings advance theory by highlighting differential effects of meaningful work dimensions and offer practical insights for human resource practices that foster meaningfulness to engage and retain the millennial workforce in high-pressure settings.