개인-직무 적합성과 과업 및 맥락 성과

Perceived Person-Job Fit and Task and Contextual Performance : The Moderating Effects of Task Significance and Autonomy

개인-직무 적합성에 대한 연구가 오랫동안 지속되어 왔음에도 불구하고 개인-직무 적합성과 직무 성과간의 관계에서 조절효과를 미치는 변수들에 대한 규명은 최근에 와서야 이루어졌다. 본 연구에서는 팀제와 임파워먼트의 확산 등으로 대표 되는 최근의 경영 흐름에 따라 직무특성이론이 제시하는 5대 직무특성들 중 과업 중요성과 자율성에 초점을 맞추어 개인-직무 적합성과 과업 및 맥락 성과의 관계에 대한 이들 두 가지 직무특성들의 조절효과를 고찰하였다. 보다 구체적으로, 본 연구에서는 과업 중요성과 자율성이 개인-직무 적합성과 과업 및 맥락 성과간의 관계에 각각 정(+)의 조절효과를 미칠 것으로 예측하였다. 이러한 연구 가설을 검증하기 위해 층화 표집을 통해 선정된 263개 기업의 종업원 6,044명을 대상으로 설문 조사가 실시되었다. 설문 데이터에 대한 위계적 회귀분석 결과는 개인-직무 적합성과 과업 성과간의 관계는 과업 중요성과 자율성이 높은 경우에 더 강하게 나타난다는 사실을 보여주었다. 그러나, 개인-직무 적합성과 맥락 성과간의 관계에는 과업 중요성만 정의 조절효과를 미치는 것으로 나타났으며, 개인-직무 적합성과 자율성은 맥락 성과와 각각 정의 관계를 보이는 것으로 발견되었다. 본 연구의 결과는 적합성 연구에 대한 이론적 시사점과 직무 배치 및 직무 재설계에 대한 실무적 함의를 갖는다.

Person-environment fit theory posits that congruence between individuals’ characteristics and those of their surrounding environments is positively associated with their work outcomes. Among various types of person-environment fit, person-job fit refers to a match between an individual’s characteristics and those of his or her job. While a vast amount of research has investigated the relationships between person-job fit and work outcomes, little attention has been paid to potential moderators between person-job fit and job performance. To fill this gap, we attempted to delineate moderators that can strengthen or weaken the relationship between person-job fit and job performance. Drawing on job characteristics theory, we identified task significance and autonomy as moderators of the linkages between perceived person-job fit and task and contextual performance. Due to the proliferation of a team-based organizational structure and empowerment, the role of task significance and autonomy in work contexts is increasingly important. In the current study, we proposed that the relationships between perceived person-job fit and task and contextual performance would be stronger when task significance and autonomy were high than when they were low. Our hypotheses were tested using large-scale survey data collected from 6,044 employees in 263 Korean companies representing diverse industries, locations, and firm sizes. The results of hierarchical regression analyses supported most of the hypotheses. As predicted, the relationship between perceived person-job fit and task performance was moderated by task significance and autonomy. More specifically, this relationship appeared stronger when task significance and autonomy were higher than when they were low. In addition, the linkage between perceived person-job fit and contextual performance was moderated by task significance. As expected, the association between perceived person-job fit and contextual performance was more pronounced when task significance was high than when it was low. However, we did not detect any moderating effect of autonomy for contextual performance. Instead, we found significant main effects of person-job fit and autonomy on contextual performance. Our findings have several theoretical and practical implications. First of all, the present study contributes to the fit literature by elucidating boundary conditions under which the relationship between person-job fit and task and contextual performance was strengthened. Our results suggest that there are important job characteristics that can intensify the effect of person-job fit, even after controlling individual characteristics such as growth need strength. Based on these findings, managers may need to increase the level of task significance and autonomy to maximize the effect of person-job fit on employee performance. Providing employees with a significant and autonomous job could be an avenue to enhance their task and contextual performance. In conclusion, the current study elaborates on the extant body of knowledge on person-job fit by exploring moderators of the fit-performance relationship using a sample with high external validity.