How Person-Organization Fit Impacts Work Performance: Evidence from Researchers in Ten Countries during the COVID-19

It is important to provide researchers with the support they need to improve the Person-Organization (PO) fit in order to manage the negative impact of COVID-19 on work performance. Underpinned by the PO fit theory, drawing upon the survey data of 2321 researchers from ten countries initiated by Nature in 2021, this paper discusses how the independent variables of person-organization fit and organizational resources impact work performance, a dependent variable, moderated by career stages via a factor and path analysis. The results show that organizational resources and PO fit have significantly assisted researchers in managing the negative impacts of COVID-19 on work performance. In terms of national heterogeneity, for developing countries, it is more important to provide more organizational support to researchers than PO fit. However, for developed countries, personal demands would be focused on improving PO fit, which would be helpful for researchers' work performance more effectively than providing organizational support blindly. Therefore, in order to improve the efficiency of organizational support, those that fit less but had more helpful aspects should be increased appropriately, while those that fit more but were less helpful should be reduced accordingly. It implies that it would be significant to emphasize differentiated and career-stage-sensitive support to researchers in different countries to improve researchers' wellbeing and organizational performance.

Automated summary

This paper discusses the impact of person-organization fit and organizational resources on work performance, moderated by career stages, using the Person-Organization (PO) fit theory and survey data from 2321 researchers in ten countries collected by Nature in 2021. The results indicate that both organizational resources and PO fit significantly help researchers manage the negative impact of COVID-19 on work performance. However, the importance of providing support differs between developing and developed countries, with more emphasis on organizational support for developing countries and improving PO fit for developed countries. Differentiated and career-stage-sensitive support should be emphasized to enhance researchers' wellbeing and organizational performance.