Purpose: Identify some of the most relevant factors that trigger a private school's workforce to foster a sustainable competitive advantage by reinforcing the intrinsic job satisfaction and the levels of teacher self-efficacy, engagement and job performance. Design/methodology/approach: Surveys were applied to private school teachers to assess their perception concerning the studied variables, data were tested at a confirmatory level using the partial least squares path modelling (PLS-PM). Findings: Teachers with a high sense of self-efficacy and possessing elevated intrinsic satisfaction tend to be highly productive and results-oriented. Intrinsic job satisfaction is a key factor that influences more than extrinsic job satisfaction in the previously mentioned relationship. Research limitations/implications: Although the obtained results are constrained and apply to the Mexican context, we suggest that virtual limitation can be overcome by extending the study due to the proposed construct that can be applied in other regions or organizations. Practical implications: Principals will need to develop mainly the intrinsic job satisfaction in the teaching staff, to improve the job and organizational performance. This should be accompanied, secondly, by factors that encourage extrinsic satisfaction such as fair pay or recognition. Originality/value: Open up an alternative explanation, based on the evidence of this study, to the theory of social exchange, since the factor that most influences teacher's citizenship behaviours is not extrinsic but intrinsic satisfaction. That is, it is not what the employee receives from the institution, but what the employee does or gives to the institution the source of satisfaction that will encourage greater job performance.