PERSON-ORGANIZATION FIT

The Relationship between an Organisation's Cultural Values And The Notion Of Person-Organization Fit



The Relationship between an Organisation's Cultural Values And The Notion Of Person-Organization Fit

Organizational culture is a very important concept in organizational behaviour. In spite of the differences in the definitions of organizational culture, there is universal agreement among management professionals on the fact that organizational culture is one of the major determinants of person-organization fit (Kilmann, Saxton & Serpa, 1986, p. 48). This is based on the philosophy that the reaction of an employee to a certain situation is influence both by the individual himself as well as the organizational culture.

Before we begin to assess the strategic fit between the people in an organization and the organizational culture, it is vital to discuss two concepts. These are Person-Situation Fit and Person-Culture Fit.

Person-Situation Fit

Person situation fit refers to the synchronization and match between individual characteristics of the person and the attributes of the situation in an organization. This could also be a fit between the characteristics of an organization and that of the person working for the organization or aspiring to work for it. For instance, a person who dreams big and is a high achiever will best fit in an organization that values this approach and provides exponential growth opportunities on the basis of performance (Brooks, 2009, p. 25).

Most successful organizations have their Human resource departments working to make this fit possible. They want that the organization should hire people who are able to deliver as per the expectations of the organization. This also leads to the elimination of further problems such as high employee turnover and employee dissatisfaction.

Person-Culture Fit

The latter concept of person culture fit suggests that there are certain types of organizational cultures that are more suitable for certain personality types. ...