Bowen, David E., Gerald E. Jr. Ledford, and Barry R. Nathan. 1991. "Hiring for the Organization, Not the Job." Academy of Management Executive 5:35-51.

Organizations are now adopting complex and time-consuming procedures to assess people with a good fit to the organization's culture and values as well as job ability. Individual performance is a function of the person's ability and the situation.

Often the ideology overemphasizes the situation and effect of socialization practices.

Hiring Process for Person-Organization Fit

1. Assess the Overall Work Environment

-- Job Analysis

-- Organizational Analysis

2. Infer the Type of Person Required

- Technical knowldege, skills and abilities (KSA)

- social skills

- personal needs, values, and interests

- personality traits

3. Design "rites of passage" for organization entry that allow both the organization and the applicant to assess their fit.

- tests of cognitive, motor, and interpersonal abilities

- interviews by potential co-workers and others

- personality traits

- realistic job previews, including work samples

4. Reinforce person-organization fit at work

- reinforce skils and knowledge through task design and training

- reinforce personal orientation through organization design

Traditional selection model is more focused on finding employees than retaining them.

Job satisfaction may be a stable personal attribute than a function of the situation. And the desire to learn new jobs is an attribute difficult to instil in people.

Multiple screening methods can also help select the right person. These 'rites of passage" also inform the new employee and make them feel special.

Some also use MBTI for assessment. Others include RJP (realistic job previews).

The Japanese auto companies have attempted to create a certain type of organization, characterized by ... teamwork, consensual decision making, peer control, egalitarianism, and non-specialized career paths. They have extensive OJT and job-rotation. They screen for interest in work variety, social needs and skills, and organization committment.

High Involvement Organizaitions look for people with teamwork skills and have high needs for personal growth and development.

Benefits of Hiring for Person-Organization Fit

1. Employee attitudes. Better job satisfaction and org committment.

2. Employee behaviors. Lower turnover, absenteeism, and grievances. They display more "organizational citizenship".

3. Reinforce org design. Get more high performers.

Potential Problems

1. Greater hiring investment.

2. Undeveloped selection technology on org-person fit.

3. Employee stress (in high-involvement systems).

4. Hard to do a complete job of hiring

5. Lack of org adaptation