The effects of person–organisation (P–O) fit on key work outcomes has been the subject of a plethora of research in the last few decades. However, scant attention has been given to exploring the antecedents of P–O fit in the workplace. This study addressed this gap in the literature.
The aims of the study were to determine if there was a relationship between procedural justice and P–O fit, and whether organisational trust could be considered a potential mediating variable in this relationship.
The research was conducted among permanent employees representing a range of businesses in KwaZulu-Natal.
In order to address the study objectives, a quantitative survey and cross-sectional design were used. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 118 permanent employees who were registered for degrees in commerce and business administration and attended part-time classes at a university in the province of KwaZulu-Natal.
The results of the statistical analysis revealed a significant and positive association between procedural justice and employees’ perceived P–O fit. Organisational trust was found to partially mediate this relationship.
The results make a significant contribution to P–O fit theory and the management of P–O fit in the workplace.
The concept of person–organisation (P–O) fit generated considerable research interest in the past few decades (De Cooman et al.
Although the extant literature revealed a sizeable body of research into P–O fit and its link to a variety of employee attitudes and behaviour, several gaps remain, particularly, in the area of the factors that influence employees’ perceptions of P–O fit (Vleugels et al.
One such variable that could potentially influence employees’ P–O fit perceptions is procedural justice. The concept of procedural justice generated considerable interest in the past few decades and is an important antecedent variable in organisational behaviour and management research (Colquitt et al.
A critical factor to our understanding of how procedural justice could influence P–O fit, is shedding light on the intervening mechanism through which this relationship may occur. Organisational trust has been submitted as a potential mediating variable in this relationship. In broad terms, trust has been described as ‘confident, positive expectations about the words, actions, and decisions of another in situations entailing risk’ (Colquitt et al.
The aims of the study were to determine if there was a relationship between procedural justice and P–O fit and whether organisational trust could be considered a potential mediating variable in this relationship. Linked to these aims, four research objectives were articulated. These included: (1) to examine the relationship between procedural justice and P–O fit; (2) to examine the relationship between procedural justice and organisational trust; (3) to examine the relationship between organisational trust and P–O fit; and (4) to test the mediating role of organisational trust in the relationship between procedural justice and P–O fit.
Past research exploring the antecedents of P–O fit have done so in the context of P–O fit serving as a mediating variable in a number of predictor–outcome relationships. These studies suggested that P–O fit may be influenced by certain specific variables, and in turn, affect a number of work outcomes. One such variable is the quality of the relations that employees have with their organisational leaders. Badawy et al. (
The next important variable is the type of leadership and how this may influence P–O fit. Grobler and Holtzhausen (
Employee perceptions of human resource management (HRM) practices have also been demonstrated to influence P–O fit. For example, Boon et al. (
In a study, examining the mediating role of P–O fit in the relationship between psychological contract breach and employee engagement, Lv and Xu (
The extant literature alludes to the possibility of exploring the predictive capacity of other work-related variables on perceived P–O fit. We propose the examination of procedural justice as a potential antecedent variable. Procedural justice is an important variable in the South African workplace and has been the subject of increased scholarly inquiry in recent years (Mrwebi, Smith & Mazibuko
To date, little is known about whether and how employee perceptions of procedural justice influences perceived P–O fit. Blader and Tyler (
Blau’s (
Past research has recognised organisational trust as a promising mediating variable in procedural justice’s influence on a range of employee outcomes. For example, Aryee et al. (
If procedural justice is related to organisational trust, then organisational trust could help explain the effects of procedural justice on P–O fit. However, for this to be realistic, it requires showing that organisational trust is also related to P–O fit. To date, not much is known about the effects of organisational trust on employees’ P–O fit perceptions. According to Schneider’s (
Evidently, there is a paucity of research that examined the link between procedural justice and employees’ perceptions of P–O fit. Moreover, the mediating role of organisational justice in this relationship has yet to be satisfactorily explored. This research sought to address this gap in the literature.
A positivist research philosophy was embraced. In line with this, a deductive approach using a quantitative survey and cross-sectional research design were employed. The approach was appropriate for a study of this nature wherein relationships between different variables were examined and inferences made to the wider population about the findings.
The target population consisted of permanent, full-time employees who were registered for degrees in commerce and business administration and attended part-time classes at a university in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Due to the red-tape and challenges of selecting a sample in this context, a non-probability, convenience sampling approach was used. A convenience sample is a simple, efficient, speedy and cost-effective way to select a sample of participants (Cooper & Schindler
There were 63% female and 37% male participants. These participants occupied various jobs ranging from non-managerial to senior management. Their organisational tenure ranged from under 2 years to over 21 years. A wide range of sectors were represented in the sample: public sector (29%), retail (21%), financial services (18%), health and welfare (16%), manufacturing (10%), and logistics (6%).
The researchers obtained the email addresses of participants from the course administrators. Participants were then emailed the self-administered questionnaire to fill in and return. A number of reminders were conveyed to ensure prompt completion. Self-administered questionnaires are useful quantitative data collection tools and offer a number of advantages such as a reduction in researcher bias and providing a convenient and non-threatening way in which participants may respond to questions (Bryman & Bell
Multi-item scales were used to measure P–O fit, procedural justice and organisational trust. All items were presented in statement form and participants were required to respond accordingly by marking their ratings on a 7-point Likert scale (1 = ‘strongly disagree’, and 7 = ‘strongly agree’).
Employees’ perceived P–O fit was measured using Cable and DeRue’s (
Colquitt’s (
A 4-item scale adapted from Robinson’s (
All the statistical analysis was undertaken by using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 27). Descriptive statistics, reflecting the percentage distribution of the demographic profiles of the participates, were computed, as well as the mean, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis scores of the P–O fit, procedural justice and organisational trust variables.
To investigate the research objectives, inferential statistical tests were performed to determine the relationships among the different variables. The first test involved the calculation of the Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient which revealed the significant strength and direction of the relationships among the three variables. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the relationships between procedural justice and P–O fit, procedural justice and organisational trust and, organisational trust and P–O fit.
Hierarchical regression was utilised to test the mediating influence of organisational trust in the procedural justice and P–O fit relationship. The researchers were guided by Baron and Kenny’s (
Reliability refers to the consistency of a measuring instrument (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill
The validity of a measuring instrument relates to whether it actually measures the construct or concept it claims to measure (Saunders et al.
The Principal Component Analysis was used to extract the factors. Three factors had Eigen values of greater than one and explained a cumulated variance of 81.09%. After rotating the factors, using Varimax with Kaiser Normalisation, a total of three factors finally emerged, representing the variables in the study. The factor loadings were all above 0.50, which could be considered practically significant (Hair et al.
Common method bias is frequent in attitudinal and behavioural research, particularly when there are self-reported measuring instruments used. Guided by Podsakoff et al. (
The application of Harman’s (
Ethical standards as prescribed by the researchers’ affiliated institution were adhered to throughout the research process. Ethical clearance was obtained prior to commencement of data collection. The researchers endeavoured to act with integrity and transparency when dealing with participants. All participants were assured anonymity by not disclosing their names in the study findings. The confidentiality of their responses was also preserved. Informed consent was obtained from all participants.
Ethical clearance was obtained from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Humanities and Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee (HSSREC/ 00002231/2020).
The mean, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis were computed for P–O fit, procedural justice and organisational trust. These are reflected in
Descriptive statistics of the variables.
Variable | Mean | Std. Dev | Skewness | Kurtosis | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
P–O fit | 118 | 5.07 | 1.51 | −1.02 | 0.36 |
PJ | 118 | 4.65 | 1.49 | −0.40 | −0.75 |
OT | 118 | 4.84 | 2.01 | −0.74 | −0.74 |
P–O fit, person–organisation fit; PJ, procedural justice; OT, organisational trust.
A correlation analysis was performed to show the relationships among the three variables of P–O fit, procedural justice and organisational trust. The correlation matrix is shown in
Correlation matrix of the variables.
Variables | P–O fit | PJ | OT |
---|---|---|---|
P–O fit | 1.00 | 0.44 |
0.47 |
PJ | 0.44 |
1.00 | 0.57 |
OT | 0.47 |
0.57 |
1.00 |
P–O fit, person–organisation fit; PJ, procedural justice; OT, organisational trust.
, Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level, 2-tailed.
A multiple regression analysis was conducted with procedural justice as the independent variable and P–O fit, the dependent variable. The results reflected in
Regression analysis (dependent variable: person–organisation fit; predictor: procedural justice).
Model | Unstandardised coefficients |
Standardised coefficients |
Sig. | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Beta | Std. error | Beta | ||||
1 | (Constant) | 3.013 | 0.414 | - | 7.284 | 0.000 |
PJ | 0.443 | 0.085 | 0.437 | 5.236 | 0.000 |
PJ, procedural justice.
A multiple regression analysis was conducted with procedural justice as the independent variable and organisational trust, the dependent variable. The results reflected in
Regression analysis (dependent variable: organisational trust; predictor: procedural justice).
Model | Unstandardised coefficients |
Standardised coefficients |
Sig. | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Beta | Std. error | Beta | ||||
1 | (Constant) | 1.275 | 0.503 | - | 2.533 | 0.013 |
PJ | 0.767 | 0.103 | 0.569 | 7.446 | 0.000 |
PJ, procedural justice.
A multiple regression analysis was conducted with organisational trust as the independent variable and P–O fit, the dependent variable. The results reflected in
Regression analysis (dependent variable: person–organisation fit; predictor: organisational trust).
Model | Unstandardised coefficients |
Standardised coefficients |
Sig. | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Beta | Std. error | Beta | ||||
1 | (Constant) | 3.382 | 0.324 | - | 10.440 | 0.000 |
OT | 0.350 | 0.062 | 0.465 | 5.659 | 0.000 |
OT, organisational trust.
The findings of the first three research objectives fulfilled the first three requirements of Baron and Kenny’s (
Hierarchical regression analysis (dependent variable: person–organisation fit; predictors: procedural justice, organisational trust).
Model | Unstandardised coefficients |
Standardised coefficients |
Sig. | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Beta | Std. error | Beta | ||||
1 | (Constant) | 3.013 | 0.414 | - | 7.284 | 0.000 |
PJ | 0.443 | 0.085 | 0.437 | 5.236 | 0.000 | |
2 | (Constant) | 2.707 | 0.408 | - | 6.632 | 0.000 |
PJ | 0.259 | 0.099 | 0.255 | 2.618 | 0.010 | |
OT | 0.241 | 0.073 | 0.320 | 3.282 | 0.001 |
PJ, procedural justice; OT, organisational trust.
In step 1, procedural justice demonstrated a positive and significant relationship with P–O fit (
As highlighted in the beginning, there is voluminous research that investigates the effects of P–O fit on a range of work outcomes. However, scant attention has been given to the antecedents of P–O fit. To date, not much is known about whether and how procedural justice influences employees’ P–O fit perceptions. We sought to address this gap in the literature by articulating and accomplishing four key objectives.
The first objective was to examine the relationship between procedural justice and P–O fit. The results revealed that procedural justice was significantly and positively related to employees’ perceived P–O fit. This finding places in the foreground the importance of procedurally fair treatment received by employees from their organisations and the significant role it plays in influencing their levels of P–O fit perceptions. The relational models of procedural justice, namely, the group-value model (Tyler
The second objective was to examine the relationship between procedural justice and organisational trust. The results demonstrated a significant and positive link between procedural justice and organisational trust indicating that employees who were procedurally fairly treated by their organisations responded favourably by increasing their levels of trust in their organisations. This finding is consistent with past empirical research reporting that procedural justice had a positive impact on organisational trust when organisational trust was examined as a mediating variable in a number of procedural justice and work outcome studies (Aryee et al.
The third objective was to examine the relationship between organisational trust and P–O fit. Organisational trust was found to be significantly and positively associated with P–O fit. This result suggests that when employees show increasing trust towards their organisations, they will react by perceiving higher levels of P–O fit. Previous research has given scarce attention to examining this link. However, social exchange theory may offer a plausible explanation as to why organisational trust was found to be positively related to P–O fit. According to this theory, employees who developed high levels of organisational trust from being treated procedurally fair, will return this benevolence by reacting in a variety of positive ways (Jiang et al.
The fourth objective was to test the mediating role of organisational trust in the relationship between procedural justice and P–O fit. Organisational trust was found to partially mediate the procedural justice and P–O fit relationship. This result is significant as it sheds light on the previously untested procedural justice and P–O fit relationship. Accordingly, by including organisational trust as a mediating variable, we offer a plausible explanatory mechanism of how procedural justice could act as an antecedent variable to employees’ perceived P–O fit. In the past, organisational trust was shown be a useful mediator in procedural justice and work outcome relationships (Aryee et al.
The results have a few practical implications. This study shows that employees’ perceived P–O fit levels may be increased by ensuring that they are treated in a procedurally fair manner by their organisations. Therefore, this finding raises the prominence of procedural justice as an antecedent of employees’ perceived P–O fit in the workplace. This finding could prompt managers to ensure that fair treatment in terms of procedural justice is consistently applied when making decisions that affect employees. By doing so, employee P–O fit levels will be enhanced resulting in a number of positive attitudinal and behavioural outcomes. This study has also highlighted the importance of organisational trust as a mediating variable in the procedural justice and P–O fit relationship. Therefore, it is imperative that management take cognisance of this and seek ways to ensure that employees increase their levels of trust in the organisations they are employed in.
This study has some limitations that should be highlighted. Firstly, the convenience sampling method and the relatively small sample size limit the generalisability of the results across a wider population of employees. Secondly, the use of a cross-sectional design may have concealed the extent of the relationships among the different variables in the study.
This study offers a few suggestions for future research. Future research could replicate a study of this nature, using probability sampling techniques and across a more diverse and larger sample. This could improve the generalisability of the results. Future research should also examine the relationship between procedural justice and P–O fit using other mediating variables such as social identity. This could shed more light on the nature and dynamics of the relationship. Further research could also broaden the number of organisational justice dimensions as predictor variables, such as distributive and interactional justice. In addition, a more comprehensive operationalisation of the fit construct could be used as criterion variables that includes dimensions such as person–job fit and person– group fit. This could provide a more comprehensive picture of the link between organisational justice and person–environment fit. In order to establish a more accurate understanding of the nature and strength of the relationships among procedural justice, organisational trust and P–O fit, future studies should examine these relationships using a longitudinal design.
This study addressed the dearth of research investigating the antecedents of P–O fit by empirically examining the relationship between procedural justice and employees’ P–O fit perceptions. The results confirmed a significant and positive association between these two variables and thus elevating the prominence of procedural justice in the workplace and the impact it has on employees’ perceptions of P–O fit. This study also shed light on organisational trust, the potential intervening mechanism through which these two variables may interact. Besides reflecting links with procedural justice and P–O fit, the results showed organisational trust to partially mediate the procedural justice and employee perceived P–O fit relationship.
The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.
All authors have contributed equally to this work.
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, M.K.W., upon reasonable request.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated agency of the authors.