Person-Environment (PE) fit theory, although relatively new has become more well-developed and mature since its inception in 1974 (Caplan 1987). PE fit theory or the idea that finding a "values congruence" between an employee and the organization or environment they work for and in has been studied for decades to determine to what degree PE fit or other subsidiary concepts and theories can help lessen negative consequences. Some of these consequences include hiring employees who are a poor match, or employee turnover, and increased worker burnout.
Positive consequences of using PE fit and other fit theories can include greater employee encouragement and career prospects, increased worker engagement, and potentially greater job satisfaction. The study that is supported by this literature review is a qualitative study on fit theory and how fit theory can be used with contracting organizations in the energy industry. This study is being performed to determine: (a) some of the challenges that new employees among contractors who support the energy industry face when they join a new organization, (b) how they deal with those challenges over their first three months, and (c) how the concepts of "fit" theory apply to these employees and the contracting organizations. The purpose of this research is to explore in what ways industrial contactors are motivated to remain at their organizations after several weeks of work within the organization as compared to their expectations about the organization and their career goals. A secondary purpose is to help determine if the worker's expectations for the organization and their goals for themselves and their careers align with the organization’s goals for their employees and career development.
The research questions this qualitative case study hopes to answer include:
- How do the participants express their career goals and expectations for their positions within the organizations?
- How do the participants express their lived experiences about their first two months of working within their new organizations, especially regarding fit theory?
This qualitative study follows a case study format, in that it consists of several interviews with multiple participants over three months. Focused on phenomenology, this study methodology will help in the exploration of a phenomenon within the particular context of contractors' first few months of work, through multiple interviews with a large variety of workers. This study will also undertake this exploration through a variety of lenses described in this literature review, to reveal multiple facets of this phenomenon.
Fit Theory
Fit is the idea, or a series of concepts that express the idea, that the values, traits, or characteristics of an employee, when matched with an organization with similar values, traits, or characteristics, provide a greater possibility for increased job satisfaction and long-term employment and growth for the employee. This concept has also been called, “values-fit” or PE fit. The subsidiary and tangential concepts and theories that PE fit is built on include: (a) Person-Organization (PO) fit, (b) Person-Group (PG) fit, (c) Person-Supervisor (PS) fit, (d) Person-Vocation (PV) fit, and (e) Person-Job (PJ) fit. Two concepts that make up PJ fit include: (a) Demands-Ability (DA) fit, and (b) Needs-Supply (NS) fit. All of these concepts have been researched in various studies to determine the relationships they might have with each other and with the challenges or potential positive outcomes from an employee's work experience.
Many studies, such as Westerman and Cyr (2004) have found that there is a complex and dense network of relationships between PO fit and the subsidiary fit concepts in terms of job satisfaction, organization commitment, and an employee’s intention to remain at the organization. They find that values congruence, a foundational element of PO fit is a significant indicator and predictor of an employee’s retention, satisfaction, and commitment. PO fit has its roots in values congruence, or values fit, according to Psychology magazine’s person-organization fit article (2016). This is founded on the idea that organizations hold and express a list of traits, characteristics, and idiosyncrasies that are expressed through their other employees' actions, the organization's style of work, and the organization's mission, vision, and work quality. According to fit theory and values congruence theories, aligning employees' values with organizations with similar values will yield employees that are more content in their work, have greater compatibility with the organization's workforce, and will yield an organization with less turnover resulting in less recruiting and onboarding costs.
This values or goal congruence theory is the cornerstone of the theory of attraction-selection-attrition (ASA). As Hoffman and Woehr (2006) write in their study of the relationship between PO fit and behaviors "according to the ASA framework, individuals will be attracted to organizations whose goals are instrumental in meeting the goals of the individual. Thus, goal congruence involves similarity between the goals of the organization and those of the organization's employees, and it is expected to relate to individual goal attainment such as job performance and individual attitudes such as commitment" (p. 391). Furnham (2001), discussing Holland’s views from 1959, writes, "Holland suggested that the choice of an occupation is an expression of personality and that interests are therefore personality inventories. He, therefore, developed questionnaires over the years (Vocational Preference Inventory, Self-Directed Search) that measured interest and personality types and the concept of fit" (p. 6). Fit, the concept of fit, and the lack of fit can create significant challenges for both the employee and the organization, whereas having a good fit could lead to greater job satisfaction and increased health for the organization. Using ASA as a framework, allowing employees to find organizations whose goals, and expanding it with the idea of PO fit and values and traits alignment, can help both parties in the job search and the selection of a position. Finding ways to decrease these variables and find a better PO fit between organizations and employees should lead to less stress, greater job satisfaction, and other positive benefits.
All of these theories are based on aspects of self-determination theory (SDT) and Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Travaglianti et al., (2016) write that "individuals will perceive high employment quality if, for example, their needs for safety, income, security, and skills development are fulfilled" (p. 2). This idea of employees fulfilling their own needs is in line with what Uysal and Genç (2017) write when they state, "Abraham Maslow’s theory of the hierarchy of needs comes at the forefront of the most important studies on motivation. Almost no motivation theory in the history of management has been as effective as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. This theory put forward by Maslow argues that humans are motivated not by external motives such as reward and punishment but by the internal needs program. In other words, needs underlie the motivation of an individual" (p. 211). The idea of fit, values congruence, and allowing employees to fit their needs with the demands, traits, and characteristics of their organizations can have benefits for both parties in the hiring and career development process if it is utilized appropriately and with a sound structure and goal in mind.
PO Fit
A majority of the articles reviewed for this literature review include studies on ways in which PO fit can help ensure greater job satisfaction and decrease employee turnover. Miller and Youngs (2021) include a focus on how PO fit affects first-year teacher (FYT) retention. Their work, which includes a focus on industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology, found that "perceived PO fit had a stronger association with FYT retention than school character, teacher characteristics, principal observation, or mentoring support" (p. 2). To build their study, Miller and Youngs (2020) build on work by Ellis et al., (2017) and Chan et al., (2008). Many of these studies found that a greater degree of PO and PJ fit perceived by the employee after hiring leads to a greater degree of job satisfaction. Boon and Biron (2016) focus on how PO fit and PJ fit can affect employee turnover, a byproduct of decreased job satisfaction by the employee. Their work has a particular focus and builds on a foundation of value congruence. Boon and Biron (2016) writing about findings from several authors develop the importance of value congruence and state that it "fosters communication between employees, enhances employee's identification with the organization, creates an environment of trust, and translates into positive work-related attitudes and behaviors" (p. 2181). This idea of "fit" both in terms of value congruence and PO fit, the concept of fit, and the various subsidiary concepts is a major focus of Furnham (2001) which provides an overall review of the concepts as well as dives into cross-cultural applications, occupational considerations, and social considerations of the different theories and concepts that make up PO fit theory. Instead of just having a general focus on PO fit theory as a whole, this project's stated goal is to review articles through different lenses or perspectives of PO fit theory. The studies reviewed for this project, and the interviews conducted during the writing of this literature review, exposed several predominant themes for this literature review including the following (a) PO fit to increase retention and decrease turnover, (b) PO fit used for recruiting and hiring, (c) PO fit and job satisfaction, and (d) PO fit and changing employee's mindset after they are hired. The four themes create the perspectives through which this study reviewed and analyzed the various articles in this project.
PO Fit to Increase Retention and Decrease Turnover
One area that is covered significantly by PO fit models regards employee turnover and retention. Many of these articles and studies work to find the direct and indirect relationship between the concepts of PO fit and worker retention and worker turnover. Miller and Youngs (2021) find an indirect relationship between PO fit and FYT retention and how this trait, retention, has a tangential relationship with FYT interactions with colleagues or relationships with co-workers. Newberry and Allsop (2017) also focused on teacher attrition and retention and provides an autobiographical, self-thematization of teacher fit after teachers leave their organizations to help determine what causes teachers to leave or stay. Although the authors do not expressly apply any of the PO fit theories or concepts to their work, Newberry and Allsop (2017) do find that many of the same emotional support and leadership structures that influence retention in other studies are present in their results as well.
Moving from teaching to other high-turnover industries, Olubiyi et al. (2019) find in their study of retail business employees and the ASA model that there is not a significant link between PO fit and job satisfaction. Olubiyi et al. (2019) find through their qualitative survey that employees usually report higher job satisfaction when their values align with the organization's values whether those organization values are perceived or stated. Their work confirms that employees perceived values congruence not only yields greater job satisfaction, but that the increased satisfaction leads to reduced turnover as well. Finally, Olubiyi et al. (2019) key in on five themes that affect PO fit: (a) flexibility, (b) workplace environment, (c) stability, (d) commitment, and (e) family orientation. Similarly, McHugh et al. (2020) use a qualitative study to examine the effects of turnover in the industry, in their case manufacturing. Like Olubiyi et al (2019), McHugh et al. (2020) also find five themes, or domains, within their study: (a) physical environment and safety climate, (b) workplace policies and culture, (c) health status, (d) work evaluation and experience, and (e) home, community, and society. Although McHugh et al., (2020) do not specifically list PO fit as an area of study or interest the five domains they list, as well as the five themes in Olubiyi et al. (2019) they are close in nature and type to the values and character traits expressed as a part of PO fit theories to make PO fit a factor in the study even if tangentially.
Another industry with high turnover, call center agents, is investigated by McCulloch and Turban (2007) where the authors apply a field study to examine if PO fit can help in the selection of employees that might lead to a greater degree of job satisfaction and increase job performance once applicants become employees. McCulloch and Turban (2007) introduce the idea of complementary fit, which they define as point "when a person or the organization provides attributes that the other party needs" (p. 63), and supplementary fit, or a point "when a person and organization are similar on fundamental characteristics" (p. 63) to help develop and refine their study. McCulloch and Turban (2007) focus mainly on "perceived" rather than "actual" PO fit as perceived fit is closely aligned with how and why potential employees are attracted to an organization using a social rationale, and due to expected work outcomes. Their study, however, does not find a direct relationship between PO fit and job performance but does find that an employee's cognitive ability is directly related to performance. Finally, in terms of PO fit affecting attrition rates, Knekta and McCartney (2021) look into how a sense of belonging can affect retention among students in a biology department. Using Tinto's model of institutional action as a theoretical framework, a model that focuses on conditions that affect student success within institutions and organizations like schools, the authors find that an interaction they call the Quantifying Biology in the Classroom (QBIC) program, had a positive effect on student retention through creating a sense of belonging. A strong sense of belonging or a strong sense of social ties within an environment or organization is similar to the five themes that Olubiyi et al. (2019) identify in their study or the five domains found in the study by McHugh et al. (2020).
In summary, there are varying results on the degree to which job satisfaction, turnover, and retention can be affected by values congruence and PO fit theory. The goal, to find congruence between employees and organizations before hiring and onboarding to ensure greater job satisfaction after hiring may be a worthy goal, and it is investigated further in the next part of this project, but the study results from this project's survey of research, finds that a direct and fundamental relationship between PO fit determining or forecasting a greater degree of job satisfaction and thereby yielding less turnover, provides a variety of results.
PO Fit Used for Recruiting and Hiring
Other than using PO fit theories to help mitigate turnover and retain employees, there are a significant number of studies where researchers use PO fit assessments to help organizations make better hiring decisions. The rationale behind this use of the theory is that by using the PO fit theory as a framework for hiring, the population of employees within the organization will be more highly satisfied in their work and less likely to suffer burnout. The study by Arthur et al. (2006) focuses on using PO fit in the employment decision-making process. The authors focus on an approach that sees fit and environment as predicting factors for both positive or negative outcomes depending on the congruence of fit. Like other studies, Arthur et al. (2006) use an ASA model to help create a PO fit framework that strives to match employees' values, interests, and goals to the organization's values, interests, and goals during the hiring process. However, the authors do not find a direct relationship between using PO fit and hiring decisions creating positive hiring outcomes. O'Brien and Ackroyd (2011) have a similar goal in their work in recruiting nurses in the UK with the outcome of positively affecting retention. In their qualitative study using a perspective of critical realism, they find that by applying their assimilation model, the cohorts they study showed retention rates that were higher than the expected or average.
The study by Sekiguchi (2007) focuses on PJ and PO fit in employee selection and hiring. They provide a special focus on transactional psychological contracts which occur with recruits coming into an organization and relational psychological contracts which are more long-term and are built between the organization and the employees over time. Sekiguchi (2007) argues that these types of contracts, transactional or relational, provide an important criterion when selecting employees and highlight the importance of PJ and PO fit in the selection process. Simply put, their work tends to suggest that PJ fit may be more important during hiring, but PO fit may be a more long-term concern for retention. Following along in this vein of the changing nature of PO and PJ fit, Yen (2017) attempts to answer the question of whether applicants attach importance to either PO fit or PJ fit when making choices about which organizations they look to apply to and if these two fit concepts influence the applicants' choices across the different recruiting stages within the recruiting process. Yen (2017) finds that overall PJ fit has a stronger influence on the applicant’s decision-making than PO fit, but also points out that their results do not show that there is no factor of PO fit in their decision, it’s just not as big a factor as PJ fit. Carless (2005) finds something similar about the importance of PJ fit in the attraction of recruits and hiring in her study on PJ fit verse PO fit as a recruiting predictor. Just like Yen (2017), Carless (2005) finds that using PO and PJ fit framework in hiring does help predict attraction to an organization by an applicant based on their knowledge and abilities and the demands of the position, and that "PJ, and not PO fit perceptions were related to acceptance intentions . . . while both types of fit influence attraction to the organization, PJ fit perceptions are the key determinant of intentions to accept a job offer" (p. 422). Swider et al. (2014) also focus on the recruiting process and how an employee’s perceived PO fit might change as the applicant advances through the recruiting and hiring processes. The authors apply the differentiation-consolidation theory (DCT) to their work as they argue and find that applicants change their preferences and attitudes over time as they advance through the hiring process and gather more information about the organization they are applying to. This equates to the applicant having a greater or more refined "favorite" organization when being recruited.
The final study reviewed that researched using PO fit for recruiting and hiring to predict more successful employee outcomes was performed by Hsieh and Chen (2011) and investigates how referrals from friends or family members might affect the hiring process and how employee referrals might enhance PO fit. This study uses a framework of relationship orientation theory which Hsieh and Chen (2011) describe has three factors; (a) trust, (b) promise, and (c) communication. However, their research does not find a significant link between employee referral and higher PO fit for the applicant, nor a change in PO fit through the hiring process.
Just as the previous section of this paper found that there were no significant, repeatable, direct links between PO fit and retention and turnover, this section does not find specific, positive, significant positive results for hiring and recruiting. The results at best are varied but tend to show, though not in every case, that PO fit could be a good framework to ensure hiring and recruiting that leads to employees who will be more satisfied with their jobs after recruiting and onboarding are complete.
PO Fit and Job Satisfaction
Another area that this literature review focuses on relates to PO fit and job satisfaction for employees. Chen, et al. (2016) find in their study of 225 employees in 12 different catering organizations that PO fit not only predicts job satisfaction but that job stress mediates the relationship between the two. Chen et al. (2016) designed their experiment to examine how PO fit and supervisor support might affect both job satisfaction and job stress. In their conclusions, the authors find that job satisfaction and PO fit have a direct relationship and continue to discuss the role of leadership in the relationship as well, a topic that is covered later in this paper. McHugh et al. (2020), although they do not associate PO fit into the framework of their study, look into the negative effects of workplace policies like shift work and the negative effects on job satisfaction. In their study, they find that there are many negative effects of shift work on job satisfaction and define the negatives of shift work as: (a) long hours, (b) unpredictability,
(c) unclear schedules, (d) chronic negative health conditions, and (e) mental illness, as the converse of the traits and characteristics, domains, and themes that are the positive aspects of PO fit theory, expressed earlier in this paper.
Just as teacher retention and turnover was a subject within other studies reviewed for this literature review, teaching plays a big part in PO fit and job satisfaction studies as well. Lane et al. (2019) review teachers' morale using Bandura's self-efficacy theory as a conceptual framework for their interviews. Lane et al. (2019) find the following themes from their interviews regarding retention: (a) powerlessness, (b) excessive visitations, (c) loss of confidence, (d) ineffective instructional practices, (e) stress and burnout, and (f) ineffective professional development as challenges to morale and job satisfaction. Similarly, Ellis et al. (2017) research how an accurate or realistic job preview relates to job satisfaction and the role PJ and PO fit might have in the employee’s relationship with the organization. Shah and Ayub (2021) find the same relationship as Ellis et al. (2017), specifically that PJ fit and PO fit both have a positive significant relationship with job satisfaction. Shah and Ayub (2021) find that teachers who are hired with a high degree of perceived PO and PJ fit displayed more positive job satisfaction traits when the expectations of the position and the organization were met after hiring.
Job satisfaction can be affected both by workers' behaviors and attitudes. This is what the research of both Hoffman and Woehr (2005) and Leung and Chaturvedi (2011) focus on. With an aim firstly toward affecting turnover and retention, Hoffman and Woehr (2005) also provide a quantitative study into PO fit and behaviors. Building on work by Verquer et al, (2003) that found that PO fit was directly related to an intent to quit, low job satisfaction, and commitment to the organization, Hoffman and Woehr (2005) try to find a link between PO fit and behavioral outcomes such as performance, citizenship, and turnover. However, their results although positive, suggest only a weak relationship between PO fit and behavior outcomes, although they do confirm that a relationship exists. Drawing on Hoffman and Woehr (2005) and building on Verquer et al. (2003), Leung and Chaturvedi (2011) look to strengthen the links between PO fit and attitudinal outcomes with their study. Their model suggests that "an individual's "objective fit” perception influences his or her organizational commitment and job satisfaction through the construction of perceived fit and subjective fit" (Leung & Chaturvedi, 2011, p. 399).
Gregory et al. (2010) look beyond job satisfaction and work to determine if other relationships also exists alongside job satisfaction, specifically they look at employee performance. Referencing ASA as a theoretical framework they propose four hypotheses ranging from PO fit being positively related to job satisfaction and performance to how psychological empowerment plays into PO fit, job satisfaction, and performance. Psychological empowerment, according to Gregory et al. (2010) is "an individual difference, whereby different people will interpret the same managerial practices to empower them in different ways" (p. 641). Their results positively prove their first two hypotheses regarding job satisfaction, performance, and PO fit, but did not show positive results regarding psychological empowerment. These results on psychological empowerment, which are focused on leadership and relationships with supervisors, play a part in the next section of this paper, but suffice it to say, Gregory et al. (2010) find that high PO fit does not influence the employees' perceptions of their performance or capabilities. Additionally, employee's needs, or performance, what was previously defined as NS fit, also did not influence employees' values toward the values that the organization hold. In short, PO fit and PJ fit may affect job satisfaction, but greater psychological empowerment does not empower employees to greater PO fit and PJ fit. However, when looking at the study of psychological empowerment when combined with an organizational learning culture like Joo and Shim (2010) do, the results show that psychological empowerment provides a significant effect for organizational commitment. While Lan and Chong (2015) show that employee attitudes, like organizational commitment in Joo and Shim (2010), is affected by transformational leadership and is mediated by psychological empowerment. So, unlike the results of Gregory et al. (2010) psychological empowerment seems to effect PO fit in some significant way when combined with leadership programs. This idea of leadership having an effect on employees is investigated in greater detail in the next section of this literature review.
Finally, work by Andela and van der Doef (2019) focuses on the relationship between PE fit and work-related outcomes including job satisfaction but also looked at burnout and turnover. Their work breaks down PE fit into four variables for study; (a) PJ fit, (b) PO fit, (c) PG fit, and (d) PS fit. Their study however suggests a few mixed results in that "job satisfaction, burnout, and turnover intention were mostly explained by PJ fit, PO fit, and PS fit, and to a lesser extent by PG fit" (Andela and van der Doef, 2019 p. 577). Unlike the two previous sections that focused on using the PO fit theory to bolster retention and hiring, and to stymie turnover, using PO fit theory to explain and determine if employee job satisfaction will remain high, shows more positive results through the studies that were selected for this literature review. Additionally, the studies reviewed above tend to show that when used with other tools, especially those that include supervisor support or leadership support, job satisfaction can be increased and measured via frameworks that relay on PO fit theory.
PO Fit and Changing Employee's Mindset
While many of the studies for this project focus on stopping the loss of workers, finding relationships between PO fit and employee satisfaction, and recruiting, many experiments within studies selected for this literature review look into how employees can change their situation and mindset at their organization after being hired. The rationale for this is to help employees evolve their PO fit to better align their values with their organization's values. Cooper-Thomas et al. (2007) investigate the changes in perceived and actual PO fit and the impact of socialization tactics on the employees' different variables of fit. Their investigation, which measured perceived and actual fit variables over an employee's first four months looked at how fit and socialization such as mentorship with senior employees, affected qualities like job satisfaction, commitment, and fit. What Cooper-Thomas et al. (2007) find is that in terms of actual fit new employees do not significantly change their values in the first few months of their employment and socialization within the new organization, but after the first four months, this changed and employees who had more social support showed higher perceived fit. This is the first study to imply that there are ways to adjust and change fit variables, including PO fit to help employees with job satisfaction after their recruitment is complete.
Among other studies that research an active approach to creating values congruence, there is Knekta and McCartney (2018). In their study of the QBIC program, they show how if applied over several semesters and years the program can affect student retention within a biology department. Also, Boon and Biron (2016) showed that there was a complementary focus on leader-member exchange (LMX) and PO fit. Boon and Biron (2016) specifically intend to determine what role the leadership of an employee plays in the job satisfaction and retention of employees, or how the tangential relationship of the leader affects the PO fit after being hired. Both Gregory et al. (2010) and Chen et al. (2016) discuss the role leaders play in terms of affecting job satisfaction, but Boon and Biron (2016) take it further to determine not just if LMX influences PO fit and how that affects the employee’s relationship to PJ fit, but also how LMX and PJ fit influence employee turnover intention. Taking the ideas of LMX's influence on turnover to another level, Zhang et al. (2016) focus on LMX in comparison to PS fit and guanxi; guanxi being a personal and social network around relationships. Zhang et al. (2016) theorize and find relationships between LMX and work-related qualities, then LMX should contribute more to PO fit and not just to PS fit.
Travaglianti et al. (2016) work to investigate how the concept of NS fit specifically affects PO and PJ fit for employees but takes the research further to investigate Job Crafting (JC) as well. NS fit, the authors explain, and the ability of the employee to change their job through JC is related to psychological needs fulfillment and is a part of positive employee attitudes. Additionally, the authors research Burn Out (BO) and Worker Engagement (WE) and how these might be affected by a greater focus on employee JC. Specifically, the authors hypothesize that workers engaged in JC behaviors will go out of their way to adjust, adapt, and change their specific jobs to enhance the PJ fit. The intent of JC and enhancing PJ fit is to increase WE and decrease the chance for BO in the workers. Travaglianti et al. (2016) provide evidence of underlying connections between JC and employee outcomes. One specific recommendation that the authors make is that "managers should, for example, ensure more job autonomy and increase interactions. In this way, employees may be able to modify their job demands and their job resources to match their own needs and abilities, to increase their well-being at work" (Travaglianti et al., 2016, p. 9).
Raja and Bouckenooghe (2017) look into leadership's relationship with employees' PO fit and apply a second variable to the study, that of organizational social capital. The authors contend that transformational leadership, similar to LMX, can lead to greater PO fit for employees, and then to more positive organizational social capital. Transformational leadership, which they define as a relationship-oriented style of leadership "characterized by idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration" (Raja and Bouckenooghe, 2017, p. 914) mediates this relationship between PO fit and organizational social capital.
This factor of PO fit, where it is used as a part of a system of supervisor support for employees, transformational leadership, and LMX tends to show the greatest promise for using PO fit theory for positive worker outcomes compared to the other factors studied for this project.
Conclusion
The four themes chosen for this literature review of PO fit theory and the subsidiary fit concept theories were identified as a part of the case-study interview process with the 10 participants who volunteered for this research study. These four themes also helped craft the questions and focus of the second, third, and fourth interviews with each of the participants. During the interviews, the researcher focused the questions around values fit and PO fit, specifically in terms of recruiting, job satisfaction, leadership, training, and commitment to the organization to determine to what degree PO fit theory was used naturally by industrial organizations during their recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and operations processes. This study has helped to determine what the results of these case-study interviews might be at the end of the study period.
The conclusions regarding using PO fit theory as a framework for hiring, to stop turnover, increase retention, or change employee’s mindset shows a mixed bag of results. While PO fit and job satisfaction studies show positive results, there are fewer positive results between retention and turnover and PO fit frameworks. The results of this literature review tend to show that when used aggressively to stop or predict turnover and improve retention, or for hiring and recruiting, applying aspects of PO fit theory yields positive, albeit not always significant results. However, when applying PO fit theory frameworks to a specific employee characteristic, in this case job satisfaction, the studies reviewed as a part of this project show more positive results. Additionally, this literature review highlights that in terms of job satisfaction, many of the studies reviewed, used a framework that included PJ fit rather than the broader PO fit. Using this more specific fit concept, could be a reason that area of focus had more positive outcomes. A second area of more significantly positive results are found when PO fit theory frameworks are applied to supervisor and leader relations. Finally, the results were also positive when PO fit theory is applied to an empowers employees to change their job or perform job crafting to move their values more in line with the organization’s values. It should be noted that both of these more positive results are more transformational in nature: (a) transformational leadership to improve PO fit, and (b) empowering employees to craft their jobs to align with the organization’s values. Negative results were found in terms of the more passive uses of PO fit theory application: (a) using it to predict retention and turnover, or (b) as a framework for better recruiting and hiring. Does PO fit theory and the subsidiary concepts that make up the cohort of "values fit" theories make sense to use for employee relationships both before, during, and after hire? As Morley (2007) writes "achieving a high degree of P-O fit is viewed in many quarters as desirable in terms of positive work-related outcomes, especially in the context of a tight labor market and the war for talent and in buttressing organizational culture" (p. 111). Based on the review of these studies, this paper finds evidence that Morley (2007) is correct. However, the results of this project tend to show it should be used either as a part of a larger system or framework, or with leadership and supervisor programs if the user wants to effect change.
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