Person–job fit matters in parastatal institutions: Testing the mediating effect of person–job fit in the relationship between talent management and employee outcomes

Abstract

This article responds to recent calls for research examining the mechanisms through which talent management affects talented employee outcomes. Drawing insights from attraction–selection–attrition and ability, motivation and opportunity theories, the article examines one such mechanism, person–job fit, through which talent management influences talented employees’ affective commitment and quit intentions in parastatal institutions in Ghana. A sample of 232 talent pool members was used to test a partial mediation model using structural equation modelling. Our findings suggest that talent management has not only a direct effect, but also an indirect effect, on talented employee outcomes of affective commitment and quit intention via person–job fit. Implications of these finding are discussed.Points for practitionersHuman resource practitioners can attempt to increase affective commitment and reduce quit intentions by seeking to match job tasks with talented employees’ knowledge, skills and abilities while, at the same time, addressing their needs by the supplies that emanate from their jobs using talent management practices. Human resource professionals can choose to assess the person–job fit of talented employees during the pre-selection phase to their talent pool. Human resource practitioners can achieve the person–job fit of current talent pool members by using job design and career planning, as well as career progression. For human resource professionals concerned with the retention of talented employees and increasing their commitment, attention to creating person–job fit through talent management practices may be useful in reducing employee intentions to leave and maintaining high commitment.