The Effect of Employee Religiosity on the Islamic Bank Performance:
Its Implication for Religious Education
Aldy Mochammad Faiz Raksayudha
1
and Dwi Suhartanto
2
1
Postgraduate Program of Finance and Islamic Bank, Bandung State Polytechnic, Bandung, Indonesia
2
Department of Business Administration, Bandung State Polytechnic, Bandung, Indonesia
Keywords: Education, Religiosity, Job Satisfaction, Job Performance, Bank Performance.
Abstract: Islamic banking is a dynamic segment in the banking industry. However, although having enormous potential,
Islamic banks, especially micro banks, which have emerged only recently are perceived as less popular and
as less experienced than conventional banking. Therefore, they need a proper strategy to compete and have a
high performance compared to their competitors. This study is intended to assess the effect of religiosity on
bank performance through strengthening employee job satisfaction and employee job performance as well as
its implication on religion education. For this purpose, the data from 210 Islamic bank employees, was
gathered using a self-administered questionnaire from Islamic banks in West Java Province, Indonesia. The
data were analysed by using multiple regression. The result shows that religiosity significantly impacts bank
performance through strengthening job satisfaction and job performance. This finding suggests that religious
teaching should be included in their curriculum. From the point of view of Islamic managerial practice, this
finding helps the Islamic micro bank managers to develop a proper strategy to improve their bank
performance.
1 INTRODUCTION
The current industrial revolution 4.0 is known as
cyber-physical. Currently, all areas of the industry
begin to touch the virtual world, shaped by human
connectivity, machines and data: the internet of
things. In the current industrial environment, both
conventional and Islamic banks are competing in
providing the best service with sophisticated
technology. However, technological innovation
applied in the industry must be followed by qualified
human resources. The Islamic banking industry has a
high potential to attract Islamic customers to meet the
need for banking services that comply with the
religious obligations of Islam (Amin et.al, 2013).
Besides attracting Islamic customers, sharia banks
can also attract non-Islamic customers because they
apply the principles of sharing the benefits and risks.
Although opportunities are many, there are
significant challenges for Islamic banks, as they are
less popular and less experienced compared to
conventional banks (Souiden and Rani, 2015).
Further, in line with the industrial revolution 4.0,
the application of technology in the Islamic bank's
industry must be accompanied by qualified personnel.
In order to continue to grow and run the business
properly, Islamic banks must develop their employee
capability. For this reason, providing an excellent
education to equip qualified employees is a must.
Considering the important role of employee
performance, the latest literature has indicated the
role of employee religiosity (Osman et.al, 2013).
Religiosity is also seen as a factor affecting customers
in the context of Islamic banks (Souiden and Rani,
2015; Suhartanto et.al., 2018; Wahyuni and Fitriani,
2017). Although many researchers have highlighted
the importance of the influence of religiosity, no
studies have examined the impact of religiosity on the
performance of an Islamic bank and its employees.
Thus, it is not known how religiosity can affect the
performance of the Islamic bank and its employees.
Conducting such research allows Sharia bank
managers to develop their employee potential from
the religious perspective to enhance banking business
performance.
This study assesses the influence of religiosity on
job satisfaction and employee performance on the
performance of Islamic banks. This research was
conducted specifically to (1) examine the direct and
indirect influence of religiosity on bank performance
Raksayudha, A. and Suhartanto, D.
The Effect of Employee Religiosity on the Islamic Bank Performance: Its Implication on Religion Education.
DOI: 10.5220/0008679601890193
In Improving Educational Quality Toward International Standard (ICED-QA 2018), pages 189-193
ISBN: 978-989-758-392-6
Copyright
c
2019 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
189
through job satisfaction and job performance (2)
discuss the implication of such relationships on the
religious education in educational institutions where
graduates intend to work in Islamic banks or finance
firms. This study was conducted in the context of
Islamic banking, especially the Bank Pembiayaan
Rakyat Syariah (BPRS) of West Java due to three
reasons. First, the growth of Islamic banking tends to
be stagnant with a small asset base of only about 5%
of the national banking assets (BI, 2017). Second, the
growth in the number of employees of BPRS
experienced a significant increase from 4,704 in 2014
to 5,102 in 2015 (OJK, 2017). Third, the number of
BPRS assets in West Java is higher than in other
provinces, with assets reaching Rp3,001,429 million
(OJK, 2017). Thus, understanding the influence of
religiosity on Islamic bank employees is very
important for the development of human resources for
any Islamic Bank.
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
Religiosity and religion are often used
interchangeably to mean the same concept; namely
respect, devotion, and individual belief in the divinity
(Souiden and Rani, 2015). Religion is a gift to
followers of certain beliefs, rituals, values, and
communities (Mathras et.al., 2016). Shyan Fam et al.
argues that religion is the ideal for life, which is
reflected in the values and attitudes of each follower
(Shyan et.al, 2016). Religiosity will affect the ethical
level of a person’s life so that people who are highly
religious are expected to act more ethically. However,
it would be a mistake to generalize for all adherents,
because each has a different level of religiosity and
different depths of religious commitments.
Stark et al. established an indicator of the level of
religiosity, they suggest that a person's level of
religiosity can be seen from the individual's religious
activities (Stark and Glock, 1970). These indicators
are Religious Belief, Religious Practice, Religious
Feeling, Religious Knowledge, and Religious Effects.
Some studies show that Religiosity determines an
individual’s attitude. Souiden et al. explain that a
person's beliefs tend to be closely related to his
religion, either directly through scripture or indirectly
through individual cultures (Souiden and Rani, 2015).
Hence, a person's religious identity will affect
behavior and attitudes (Tang and Li, 2015).
According to Suhartanto, job satisfaction is an
employee’s pleasant emotional condition and the
consequences of the achievement of given work
standards (Suhartanto, 2018a). Lambert et al. (2007)
state that job satisfaction is an employee’s reaction
regarding his work and whether he enjoys the work
he does. Another study indicates that job satisfaction
influences the organization's goals because the
organization rewards and provides a comfortable
environment both physically and mentally (Gursoy
and Swanger, 2007).
Employee performance is the behavior of
individuals or employees who contribute to the
technical organization of their place of work.
Performance is essential in assessing the
effectiveness of individuals who contribute to the
organization (Suhartanto, 2018b; Yang and Hwang,
2014). To optimize employee performance,
companies should be able to motivate and satisfy their
employees. Furthermore, employee performance can
be thought of as having three factors, namely
individual, organization and work climate factors
(Liao and Chung, 2004).
Performance is the overall achievement of an
organization’s operational activities and strategies.
The performance measurement of an organization has
several objectives, namely, for accounting records, to
provide an overview of a strategy and as a benchmark
achievement of an organizational goal (Al-Hawari
and Ward, 2006). A performance measurement can
help to clarify managerial decisions. There are two
approaches to measuring financial performance. The
first measurement can be done subjectively based on
evaluation, expectations, and comparison with
existing competitors; then the second is objectively
based on financial ratios (Appiah-Adu and Singh,
1998).
Based on the discussion above, the hypothesis was
formulated as follows:
H1: Religiosity positively affects Job
Satisfaction
H2: Religiosity positively affects Employee
Performance
H3: Religiosity positively affects bank
performance
H4: Job Satisfaction positively affects Employee
Performance
H5: Job Satisfaction positively affects Bank
Performance
H6: Employee Performance positively affects
Bank Performance
Figure 1: Research hypothesis.
ICED-QA 2018 - International Conference On Education Development And Quality Assurance
190
3 METHOD
This study focuses on the religiosity of Bank
Pembiayaan Rakyat Syariah employees so that the
variable of religiosity is used in the Islamic context.
The religiosity scale used is that of Stark et al. (Stark
and Glock, 1970). The application of the religiosity
scale is based on reliable and valid Islamic and
psychometric values. Data were obtained through
questionnaires distributed to 210 employees in Bank
Pembiayaan Rakyat Syariah of West Java Province
of whom 59.04 % were men and 40.96% women. The
majority of respondents were under 45 years of age
(94.28%) and the remainder above 45 years (5.72%).
Multiple linear regression analysis was used to test
the hypothesis. All variables were measured using the
Likert scale (from strongly disagree to agree
strongly).
4 RESULT
Table 1: The result of Multiple Linear Regression outputs.
Job Performance
Bank
Performance
t-Value
t-Value
(Constant)
1,773
7,066**
2,306
7,543**
Religiosity
0,205
3,061**
0,221
2,945**
Job
Satisfaction
0,295
7,29**
0,16
3,222**
Job
Performance
0,043
0,563
R²
0,347
0,191
F
55,052
16,163
Note: *significant at p<0.05, **significant at p<0.01
Table 2: Mean, Standard Deviation, Validity and Reliability
Check.
Loading
CR
AVE
0,848
0,529
0,721
0,682
0,795
0,678
0,752
0,883
0,715
Construct/ Item
Loading
CR
AVE
- Overall, I am satisfied
with my work
0,805
- In the future, I want to
keep working in sharia
banking
0,859
- I never thought about
quitting my current job
0,872
Level of Religiosity
0,902
0,508
- I read the Qur'an every
day if there is no
obstruction
0,655
- I love reading books
about religion
0,672
- I like to follow Islamic
studies on TV
0,591
- I forgive the person
who hurt my heart
0,638
- I always try to be
honest
0,682
- I feel disappointed
when I leave prayer
0,791
- I pray regularly and I
feel relief
0,797
- I believe that God sees
everything I do
0,786
- God will grant my
prayer if I mean it
0,768
Sharia Bank
Performance
0,886
0,721
- Your bank’s Financial
Performance
0,839
- Your bank's ability to
satisfy customers
0,893
- Your Bank's
Competition with Other
Banks
0,814
In the hypothesis testing, the first tests conducted
were validity and reliability tests. The validity test is
conducted to measure the accuracy of the construct.
Meanwhile, the reliability test is to measure the
consistency of scores achieved, with a set of different
equivalent elements. Table 1 shows that all of the
constructs tested are valid and reliable. The result of
testing the hypotheses is depicted in Table 1
Based on the multiple linear regression, the equation
for job performance and bank performance were
formulated as follow:
(1)
Job Performance = 1,773 + 0,205 (Religiosity)
+ 0,295 (Job Satisfaction) + Error
(2)
Bank Performance = 2,306 + 0,221
(Religiosity + 0,160 (Job Satisfaction) + 0,043
(Job Performance) + Error
Then, the F-test was used to determine the effect
of the Religiosity Variable and Job Satisfaction
The Effect of Employee Religiosity on the Islamic Bank Performance: Its Implication on Religion Education
191
simultaneously on Job Performance in the first
equation. Based on the output of SPSS, F
Calculate
has a
value of 55.052 with a probability of p < 0.01 or p <
0.05. The test results show that Ho is rejected. So,
religiosity and job satisfaction have a significant
influence on job performance. Afterward, the F-test
was used to determine the effect of religiosity, job
satisfaction, and job performance on the bank
performance simultaneously. Based on the output of
SPSS, F
Calculate
has a value of 16,163 with the
probability of 0.000. The result shows that Ho is
rejected. Therefore, religiosity, job satisfaction, and
job performance have a significant influence on bank
performance.
At the t-test stage between religiosity and job
satisfaction has a value of t
Calculate
of 3.061 with a
probability of 0.000. The test results in 0.002 < 0.05,
so Ho is rejected. It indicates that religiosity has a
significant influence on Job Satisfaction.
Furthermore, in Job Satisfaction-Job Performance
(Y) has t
Calculate
of 7,290 with the probability of 0.000.
So, the test result shows 0.000 < 0.05, or Ho is
rejected. Therefore, Job Satisfaction has a significant
influence on Job Performance. Thus, job performance
is not a significant factor in determining the bank
performance.
5 CONCLUSIONS
The result of this study indicates the importance of
religiosity on bank performance as well as job
satisfaction. The effect of religiosity on bank
performance is not only direct but also indirect
through strengthening the employee job satisfaction.
This finding reinforces previous research which
suggests that religiosity and spirituality affect
employee performance [3]. As none of the previous
studies have explored such a relationship, this finding
indeed provides a significant input for business
practices for managing the Islamic banking industry.
For an Islamic banking manager, this study offers a
clue to improve their business performance through
strengthening their staff religiosity.
From an education perspective, although the
importance of religious education in Indonesia has
been well-reported (Parker, 2017), the importance of
religious education on job environment has never
been explored. The importance of religiosity on
Islamic bank performance offered from this study
provides a new understanding of the importance of
religious education. The current curriculum,
especially in the high school as well as in the
university, religious education is treated as an
essential subject to provide basic moral value for
guiding a person behavior. This subject also has a
small number of credits (normally between 2 or 3
credits). Thus the teaching of religion in those
education institutions is only superficial. Considering
the result of this study which highlights the
importance of religiosity, the religion curriculum,
especially for education institution which intendes
their graduate to work in Islamic banking (such as
Sharia Banking Study Program, Sharia Finance Study
Program etc.), needs to include more credit for
religion teaching. For those study programs, this
finding suggests that religion should not only be
treated as a peripheral subject but it should be treated
as important as any other main subject such as
Banking Management and Finance. The approach to
strengthening the religion education could also follow
scholars (Jackson and Everington, 2017; Yada and
Savolained, 2017) suggestion to use inclusive
religious education. Thus, religious values are
included and embedded in other subjects.
Although this study offers a meaningful
contribution for managing Islamic banks and for
improvement of education curriculum, this study
bears some limitations. The first limitation of this
research is related to data collection and the use of a
single administration cross-sectional design. This
design has limited ability to capture the dynamic
relationship between attitude and imaginary
constructs (employee performance and sharia bank
performance). So if the constructs tend to change over
time, the interpretation of the findings in this study is
limited. To overcome this limitation, future research
can use the old design and compare the results for
changes. The second limitation of this research is
related to the distribution of questionnaires, many
questionnaires distributed were not returned. Besides,
samples were selected only from Bank Pembiayaan
Rakyat Syariah. So, in further research, selected
samples could include staff from Bank Umum
Syariah, Unit Usaha Syariah, and Bank Pembiayaan
Rakyat Syariah to obtain a better number of
respondents easier.
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