What drives young workers? Person‐organization fit‐in identity motives—A mixed‐method study

Abstract

Person‐organization fit theory is among the most productive theoretical frameworks used to assess the relationship between an organization and its employees. Nevertheless, the P‐O fit literature has often limited its scope to the evaluation of P‐O fit in the values domain, overlooking P‐O fit‐in needs. This study addresses this issue under the motivated identity construction theory (MICT, Vignoles, Handbook of identity theory and research, New York: Springer; 2011). In particular, we analyse how the fit between individual identity's needs and the organization identity's needs may influence the retention and engagement of under 35 workers. Findings demonstrated that the need for efficacy is fundamental for workers under 35 s. Not only this aspect of motivation is rated as more important in comparison with others but also P‐O fit‐in efficacy has a direct impact on identification with the company and a direct and indirect effect (through organizational identification) on engagement and intention to leave. Overall, this study gives evidence of how useful the intersection between P‐O fit with MICT can be. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

The impact of organizational politics on work engagement—the mediating role of the doctrine of the mean

“…This is primarily because organizational politics has the potential to impact employee performance, attitudes, efforts, and loyalty ( Bhattarai, 2023 ). From a theoretical perspective, the Person-Organization Fit theory posits that when an individual’s values, work attitudes, and career goals align with the culture, values, and objectives of their respective organization, it is likely to result in higher job satisfaction, lower turnover rates, and improved job performance ( Kristof-Brown et al, 2023 ; Manzi et al, 2023 ). Therefore, investigating the impact of organizational politics on employee work engagement becomes a highly meaningful research topic ( Guo et al, 2019 ).…”