56 AMERICAN Journal of Language, Literacy and Learning in STEM Education www. grnjournal.us AMERICAN Journal of Language, Literacy and Learning in STEM Education Volume 02, Issue 05, 2024 ISSN (E): 2993-2769 THE EFFECTIVENESS OF WORK MOTIVATION AND EMPLOYEE ABILITIES DISTRICT REGIONAL GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION SE GORONTALO PROVINCE Syamsu Qamar Badu Universitas Negeri Gorontalo syamsu@ung.ac.id Novianty Djafri Universitas Negeri Gorontalo Abstract. A government organization has predetermined goals. Success in achieving these goals does not only depend on government operational funds, facilities and infrastructure and technology, but also depends on human resources. Therefore, this research aims to examine the influence of work motivation and employee abilities on the effectiveness of local government organizations, with the hypothesis "there is a positive influence of work motivation and employee abilities on organizational effectiveness". The research method used is a causal survey method with multiple regression analysis techniques. This research is quantitative research so that the data obtained, processed and analyzed statistically (parametrically). Based on the data analysis that has been carried out, this research produces findings which are concluded as follows: (i) work motivation and ability together have a significant effect on organizational effectiveness; (ii) work motivation alone (partially) has a significant effect on organizational effectiveness; (iii) ability alone (partially) has a significant effect on organizational effectiveness. Key words: organization, regional government, work motivation. Introduction One of the most strategic instruments in regional development is Law number 32 of 2004 concerning Regional Government or better known as the Regional Autonomy Law. With this regulation, regional governments are given broad authority to manage regions within the framework of the Republic of Indonesia. For regions with abundant regional income, this is a golden opportunity. On the other hand, for poor areas, they always hope for a helping hand from the central government in the form of grant funds such as DAK, DAU, etc. For Gorontalo Province, which is only the age of maturity, there is still a lot of hope for assistance from the central government. Apart from the fact that its natural resources have not been maximally managed, it is also because of the quality of its human resources. Gorontalo Province consists of 1 (one) city, namely Gorontalo City and 5 (five) districts, namely Gorontalo, Boalemo, Pohuwato, Bone Bolango and North Gorontalo Regency. And of course the achievement of the province's vision and mission cannot be separated from the role of the districts and cities. In this case, in each district-city, technical offices are formed, according to regional mailto:syamsu@ung.ac.id 57 AMERICAN Journal of Language, Literacy and Learning in STEM Education www. grnjournal.us needs and priorities. This technical service, better known as SKPD (One Regional Work Unit), is led by an echelon II Service Head, assisted by a number of echelon III and IV officials and a number of staff. The main task is to plan and implement regional programs according to their respective fields. Therefore, the effectiveness of the SKPD organization is very important in supporting the achievement of the regional vision and mission. Mullins (2005) suggests that organizational effectiveness is related to organizational performance, namely efficiency and effectiveness. Meanwhile, Robbins & Judge (2007) say that effectiveness means achieving goals. Meanwhile, Handy identified more than 60 factors that have a direct or indirect influence on organizational effectiveness, including work motivation and staff ability. The same thing was stated by Arnold & Feldman (1998) that factors that influence organizational effectiveness include worker motivation and ability. Motivation is generally related to desires, wishes, hopes, drives, goals, needs, motives or incentives. The study of motivation is basically focused on why someone behaves in a certain way. The fundamental question is “why do people do what they do?” In a general sense, motivation can be described as the direction and persistence to carry out an action. Mitchell in Mullins (2005) defines motivation as an individual's desire and choice to do something with certain specific behavior. McClelland in Wieland & Ulrich (1978) stated that motive or motivation is a strong emotional attitude related to individual development and reactions in anticipation of achieving goals. Motivation is an individual determining factor in achieving a goal and therefore motivation influences organizational effectiveness. George & Jones define ability as a person's capacity to be able to do something. Meanwhile, Robbins & Judge (2007), ability is an individual's capacity to demonstrate achievement in various tasks in a job. According to Handy in Mullins (2005) ability is determined by several factors, namely: personality, intelligence (aptitude), experience, training and length of service. Meanwhile, the Katz Model in Albanese & Van Fleet (1983) states that the managerial abil ities or skills that leaders and employees must have consist of 3 (three) interconnected skills, namely technical skills, human skills and conceptual skills. All of these capabilities are needed in organizations at all levels to varying degrees and all influence organizational effectiveness. A. Method This research aims to examine the influence of work motivation and employee abilities on the effectiveness of local government organizations, with the hypothesis "there is a positive influence of work motivation and employee abilities on organizational effectiveness". The research method used is a causal survey method with multiple regression analysis techniques. The research population was all district government employees in Gorontalo Province with technical service analysis units. In each district, 10 technical agencies were selected, then from the selected agencies, 5 people were selected as sample members. Thus, there are 50 technical agencies which are the analysis units with 250 sample members. The data collection instrument is a questionnaire whose validity and reliability have been tested. There are 2 (two) instruments developed, namely the work motivation questionnaire (variable X1) and organizational effectiveness (variable Y). Meanwhile, the ability instrument (variable X2) is taken from the standard instrument used to measure cognitive abilities in the verbal aspect and reasoning ability. The standard instrument was adopted from the Differential Aptitude Tests (DAT) compiled by George K Bennett, Harold G. Seashore and Alexander G Wesman from The Psychological Corporation, New York, 1972 which was then translated by Cony Semiawan and K. Duha. The research model/design is described below: 58 AMERICAN Journal of Language, Literacy and Learning in STEM Education www. grnjournal.us X1 Y X2 B. Research Results and Discussion This research is quantitative research so that the data obtained, processed and analyzed statistically (parametrically). For this reason, before the hypothesis testing stage, several statistical assumption tests are carried out, so that the conclusions drawn are valid. The statistical assumptions tested are normality, autocorrelation, multicollinearity and heteroscedasticity. The test results are shown in the following tables: Residual Normality Test Basis for decision making Residual Normality Test Using the Kolmogorov Smirnov Test  Does not meet the residual normality assumption, if the significance value is less than 0.05  Meets the assumption of residual normality, if the significance value is greater than 0.05 Based on the residual normality test, the significance of 0.307 is greater than 0.05, so it can be concluded that the data meets the assumption of residual normality. Autocorrelation Test (See Durbin Watson value) Based on the "Model Summary" output table, it is known that the Durbin Watson value is 2.175. This value will be compared with the Watson durbin table value at a significance of 5% with (k; N) = (2; 50) so the Watson durbin table value for dL is 1.462 and dU is 1.628. The DW value of 2.175 is greater than the upper limit (dU), namely 1.628 and less than 4-dU = 2.372, so it can be concluded that there are no problems or symptoms of autocorrelation. 59 AMERICAN Journal of Language, Literacy and Learning in STEM Education www. grnjournal.us Multicollinearity Test (See Collinearity Statistics values) In the table above as a result of the linear regression test, pay attention to the VIF and tolerance values. These two values represent strong indications that are often used by researchers to conclude the phenomenon of intercorrelation of independent variables. If the VIF value is less than 10 and/or the Tolerance value is more than 0.01 then it can be concluded firmly that there is no multicollinearity problem. The table shows a VIF value of 1.111 and a tolerance of 0.900, so it can be concluded that there is no multicollinearity problem in the data. Heteroscedasticity Test Basis for decision making Heteroscedasticity Test Using the Glejser Test  Heteroscedasticity does not occur, if the calculated t value is smaller than the t table and the significance value is greater than 0.05  Heteroscedasticity occurs, if the calculated t value is greater than the t table and the significance value is smaller than 0.05 Based on the heteroscedasticity test using the Glejser method, the significance of variables X1 = 0.055 and X2 = 0.539 was obtained. So it can be concluded that the data does not have heteroscedasticity problems. Based on the test above, statistical assumptions apply to this research data. Next, a statistical test was carried out with the results of the analysis depicted as follows Based on the SPSS "Model Summary" output table above, it is known that the coefficient of determination is 0.613. This value explains that the variables of work motivation and ability simultaneously influence organizational effectiveness by 61.3%. Meanwhile, the remainder (100% - 61.3% = 38.7%) is influenced by other variables outside this regression equation or variables that were not studied. Simultaneous Test (See Sig value) 60 AMERICAN Journal of Language, Literacy and Learning in STEM Education www. grnjournal.us By usingsignificance level α = 5% and decision criteriareject H0 if P-value (sig) < α then it can be decided that P-value (0.000) < α (0.05) then reject H0. So it can be concluded that the variables of work motivation and ability significantly influence organizational effectiveness together. Partial Test (See Sig value) a) Work Motivation Variables By usingsignificance level α = 5% and decision criteriareject H0 if P-value (sig) < α then it can be decided that P-value (0.009) < α (0.05) then reject H0. So it can be concluded that the work motivation variable significantly influences organizational effectiveness partially. b) Ability Variables By usingsignificance level α = 5% and decision criteriareject H0 if P-value (sig) < α then it can be decided that P-value (0.000) < α (0.05) then reject H0. So it can be concluded that the capability variable significantly influences organizational effectiveness partially. Based on the partial test of the regression model that can be written, namely: 𝑌 = 22,383 + 0,246 𝑋1 + 1,141 𝑋2 The model interpretation is that every additional unit of work motivation variable will provide an increase in organizational effectiveness of 0.246. Furthermore, every unit of additional capability will provide an increase in organizational effectiveness of 1.141. FromThe results of statistical tests concluded that the variables of work motivation and employee (cognitive) abilities simultaneously or partially had a significant effect on organizational effectiveness. Together, the influence of work motivation and ability on organizational effectiveness is 61.3%. The remaining 38.7% was influenced by other factors. Several studies conducted by experts show the same thing. Among others, by Min-Huei Chien, Assistant Professor at The Overseas Chinese Institute of Technology Chairman, Department of Marketing & Distribution, in his research entitled "A study of the factors effecting organizational effectiveness". This research aims to find important factors that influence organizational effectiveness, using a case approach. Researchers interviewed 20 workers (subordinates) and 10 managers. The data obtained was analyzed and the conclusion was obtained that there are 7 (seven) factors that influence organizational effectiveness, including personal characteristics of workers such as attitude, motivation and ability (cognitive). Likewise several other studies, for example by Mohammed S. Chowdhury from the School of Carrer and Applied Studies, Touro College, New York. He conducted research in 2007, to see the extent of the influence of supervisor behavior on the motivation and work performance of 61 AMERICAN Journal of Language, Literacy and Learning in STEM Education www. grnjournal.us salespeople at 2 companies in New York, with a sample of 105 salespeople. The research results show that supervisor behavior increases the intrinsic motivation of salespeople which in turn increases their work performance and that of the organization. Frederick PMorgeson and Kelly Delaney Klinger from Michigan State University in 2005 conducted research entitled "The Importance of Job Autonomy, Cognitive Ability and Job Related Skills for Predicting Role Breadth and Job Performance, with respondents of 871 workers in international companies in the United States. The results of the research show: (i) cognitive ability has a significant positive relationship with role breadth, (ii) role breadth has a signif icant positive relationship with work performance. ResultsThis research shows that work motivation and cognitive abilities have a direct influence on organizational effectiveness. This phenomenon is in accordance with the results of research and theories put forward by experts. Mullins (2005) clearly states that achievement is the product of ability and motivation, namely: Performance = function (ability x motivation). A similar thing was stated by Robbins and Judge (2007) that employee achievement is a function of the interaction between ability and motivation, or P = f(A x M). C. Conclusion Based on the data analysis that has been carried out, this research produces findings which are concluded as follows: (i) work motivation and ability together have a significant effect on organizational effectiveness; (ii) work motivation alone (partially) has a significant effect on organizational effectiveness; (iii) ability alone (partially) has a significant effect on organizational effectiveness. Reference 1. Arnold, Hugh J and Daniel C Feldman, Organizational Behavior, New York: McGraw- Hill Book Company, 1998 2. Albanese, Robert & David D Van Fleet, Organizational Behavior: A Managerial Viewpoint, Chicago: The Dryden Press, 1983 3. Bruno, Frey, Not Just For the Money: An Economic Theory of Personal Motivation, Brookfield VT: Edward Elgar Publishing Company, 1997 4. Forbes, D. 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