How personal values shape job seeker preference: A policy capturing study.

Does the "ideal" organization exist? Or do different workplace attributes attract different people? And if so, what attributes attract what types of employees? This study combines person-organization fit theory and a policy capturing methodology to determine (a) which attributes are the strongest predictors of perceived organization attractiveness in a sample of Australian job seekers, and (b) whether the magnitude of these predictive effects varies as a function of job seekers' personal values. The design of this study is a randomized experiment of Australian job seekers who responded to an online survey invitation. Each of the 400 respondents received a random subset of 8 of 64 possible descriptions of organizations. Each description presented an organization that scored either high or low on six attributes based on the Employer Attractiveness Scale: economic, development, interest, social, application, and environmental value. Multi-level modelling revealed that all six attributes positively predicted job seekers' ratings of organization attractiveness, with the three strongest predictors being social, environmental, and application value. Moderation analyses revealed that participants with strong self-transcendent or weak self-enhancement values were most sensitive to the absence of social, environmental, and application value in workplaces, down-rating organizations that scored low on these attributes. Our results demonstrate how job seekers' personal values shape preferences for different types of workplaces. Organizations may be able to improve recruitment outcomes by matching working conditions to the personal values of workers they hope to employ.

Does Green-Person-Organization Fit Predict Intrinsic Need Satisfaction and Workplace Engagement?

The current study assessed whether high green-person-organization fit (GPO; the extent to which an organization's commitment to pro-environmental outcomes is congruent with its employees' environmental values) predicts employees' intrinsic need satisfaction and engagement in the workplace. The sample consisted of 818 full-time Australian workers, which is sourced from an online panel. Consistent with the GPO model, pro-environmental work climate was a more potent predictor of intrinsic need satisfaction and engagement for employees with strong ecocentric values than those with weak ecocentric values. Mediation analyses revealed that the effect of work climate on employee engagement was fully mediated by intrinsic need satisfaction, and this effect was strongest when GPO fit was high. Overall, our findings suggest that organizations with pro-environmental work climates that match their employees' values have more satisfied and committed workforces.

Can work climate foster pro-environmental behavior inside and outside of the workplace?

Guided by self-determination theory, we investigated the potential impact of work climate on employee motivation, and pro-environmental behavior (PEB) inside and outside of the workplace. We found that in workplaces with stronger pro-environmental climates and at least moderate levels of autonomy support, employees reported higher levels of autonomous motivation to engage in PEB. In turn, autonomously motivated employees engaged in more PEBs, both inside and outside the workplace. Controlled motivation played a more limited role in predicting employee PEBs. Overall, our findings suggest work climates that support pro-environmental actions and employee autonomy may not only foster PEBs within the workplace but also lay the foundation for PEBs in other non-workplace settings.