Job characteristics, job resources and work-related outcomes: role of person-organisation fit

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine and understand the role of person-organisation (P-O) fit in mediating the relationship between job resources and work-related outcomes. The need to study the antecedents of P-O fit, dearth of its literature in India, and growing importance of ensuring congruence between the environment and the individual in a diverse workplace, to recruit and retain the employees, underlines the significance of this research. In addition to the mediating role of P-O fit, it was hypothesised that co-worker support and decision latitude will lead to an increase in P-O fit and, in turn, be positively related to work engagement (WE), job satisfaction (JS) and organisational commitment (OC). Design/methodology/approach - Two-phased time-lagged data were collected from a total sample of 213 middle- and senior-level executives working in India. The data consisted of a self-report questionnaire on skill discretion, decision authority and co-worker support in Phase 1 and P-O fit, WE, OC and JS scales in Phase 2. Findings - Structural equation modelling was simultaneously used to test the hypothesised relationships. It emerged that co-worker support and skill discretion positively correlated with P-O fit. It was found that P-O fit mediated the relationship between co-worker support and JS and OC. It also established partial mediation between co-worker support and WE, and between skill discretion and JS, organisational commitment and WE. The findings of this study, therefore, have profound implications for researchers as well as for practicing managers highlighting the need for a better job design and creating a supportive work environment. Research limitations/implications - Though the data were collected in two phases, the study design went through a time lag of four weeks, and thereby provided tests of association and not of robust causal relationships. A longitudinal design could be adopted for future research, to enable making inferences about the causal nature of these relationships. The second limitation of the study is its reliance on self-reports as the single source of data. Originality/value - This is the first study to examine job resources as antecedents of P-O fit using a supplementary fit argument. Further, very few studies have explored P-O fit as a mediating variable and less than 2 per cent of published papers on P-O fit have been studied in the Indian context. Practitioners can employ findings to create interventions to generate more positive organisational outcomes.