Organisational misfits: Exploring socio-political perceptions as mediators of employee responses to value incongruence

Abstract

Misfits—employees whose values do not align with their organisation’s values—are assumed to leave their roles in pursuit of a better match, yet little research examines whether individuals engage in alternative responses when they experience value incongruence with their organisation. Using data from Time 1 of a two-wave survey, person-environment fit and social exchange theories were integrated with the exit-voice-loyalty-neglect (EVLN) model in order to differentially predict reactions to misfit (N = 152 New Zealand employees). The findings show that misfit was positively associated with both exit and neglect, but had an inverse relationship with voice and loyalty. Parallel mediation analyses indicated that beliefs regarding the availability of two socio-political resources (personal influence and organisational responsiveness) provided partial explanations for some of these relationships, with job mobility illuminating further boundary conditions. The second component of this research investigated how misfit perceptions that were discrepant, or in agreement, between two time points may affect these outcomes. To do this, polynomial regression with response surface analyses were conducted using data from the remaining respondents at Time 2 (N = 72). These results indicated that high levels of misfit agreement between the two time points, was associated with higher levels of exit and neglect at Time 2, suggesting an additive effect. Consistent with theory, these findings highlight the integral role misfit plays in the promotion of negative outcomes for employees and organisations alike. Yet, perceptions regarding the availability socio-political resources, as well as exogenous factors, may be important predictors that explain why, and when, these relationships occur. Furthermore, the dynamic nature of misfit indicates that these perceptions may fluctuate, even over short intervals. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.