What is Person-Job Fit?

Person-Job Fit

Lead consultant at Test Partnership, Ben Schwencke, explains what is person-job fit.

Person-job fit is the extent to which an individual's personality, skills, values and interests align with the requirements and characteristics of a specific job. A good fit between a person and a job can lead to benefits such as increased job satisfaction, motivation, and productivity, as well as lower turnover and absenteeism. A poor fit, on the other hand, can lead to dissatisfaction, disengagement, and a lack of motivation.

Person-job fit is closely aligned to other psychological constructs such as employee engagement and job satisfaction, and many employers will use these terms interchangeably. Person-job fit can be measured through various methods such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, and observation.

Improving person-job fit can lead to benefits such as increased productivity, better performance, improved employee retention, and a more positive organisational culture. When person-job fit suffers, organisations are likely to see a drop in morale, along with an accompanying increase staff turnover, sickness leave, and conflict between colleagues. Consequently, organisations often track their employees’ person-job fit closely using annual surveys and questionnaires.