Work values, person-Job fit and employee engagement: a case study of Millennials and Non-millennials in selected Organisations.

Abstract

This research examined the relationship between Work Values, Person-Job Fit, and Employee Engagement in selected organisations guided by six hypotheses. A Quantitative approach involving correlational and comparative research designs was used on a sample of 380 respondents as determined by Krejcie and Morgan’s table for sample size. Stratified sampling method was used to select participants. Data collection was done using already developed standardized questionnaires whose reliability was determined using Cronbach’s alpha test. The instruments used included Norene (2004) Self-Assessment Work Value Questionnaire, the Global Self-Report Measure of Person-Job Fit (Brkick, Jeffs & Carless, 2002), and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (Schaufeli et.al., 2006). Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSSV23) was used for analysing both descriptive and inferential data; a.) Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used for testing the relationships for hypothesis one, two and three, where findings revealed that work values are significantly related to person-job fit, person-job fit is significantly related to employee engagement and work values and employee engagement are significantly related. b.) Process Macro-V.4(Hayes,2019) was used to test hypothesis four which stated that person-job fit mediates the relationship between work values and employee engagement. The findings show that the indirect effect is a bit stronger than the direct effect, hence a partial mediation and therefore job fit partially mediates the relationship between work values and employee engagement. c) Independent t test was used to test hypothesis five and six, which stated that millennials and non-millennials are significantly different on work values and on employee engagement. The results show that millennials and non-millennials are different on both work values and employee engagement; however, the difference is not significant. In conclusion, there is a significant relationship between work values, person-job fit, and employee engagement and we recommend researchers to explore other aspects of job-fit such as person-group fit and their influence on engagement.