IT professionals' person–organization fit with IT training and development priorities
Published online on January 20, 2017
Abstract
Person–organization fit (P–O fit) research and practice have been hindered on account of the difficulty of operationalizing the richness, complexity and subjectivity of the P–O fit phenomenon. P–O fit for technology professionals is further complicated by the rapidly changing demands the IT profession places on its constituents to continually engage in training and development. A human capital perspective is adopted as a lens through which to view the IT professional's P–O fit, and Social Cognitive Theory is proposed as a framework within which to incorporate the principles of Concourse Theory, which is the guiding philosophy of Q‐Methodology and Q‐sorts. The Q‐methodology was used as a means to operationalize the IT professional's P–O fit with respect to IT training and development. Analysis revealed five distinct P–O fit types of perspectives that explained 35% of the population variance. Post‐hoc analysis of the five types revealed that they are interpretable through the lens of the human capital perspective. The results show promise for continued research on the subject, as well as implications for both researchers and practitioners. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd